I'm a newbie to this law thing. So be gentle.

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>Hello everyone. I am currently a sophomore at the University of Michigan majoring in sociology. I am interested in studying law and eventually working in the field. </p>

<p>I really know nothing about the law school process, so I have some basic questions for all you experts.</p>

<li>When do people usually take the LSATS?</li>
<li>What does the LSAT cover? (Is it like the reading portion of the ACT?)</li>
<li>Is sociology a good major for entering into law school?</li>
<li>When do people usually apply for law school admissions? </li>
<li>Besides a solid academic record, what do law schools look at in an applicant?</li>
<li>I heard that majoring in criminal justice/pre-law as an undergrad is really bad for law school. Is this true? And why?</li>
<li>Once you get accepted into law school, can you hold off enrollment for a year or more so that you can work? I know that some people dont go to law school right after they graduate from undergrad…they tend to hold off for a year right?</li>
</ol>

<p>I would really appreciate anyone who would shed some light on these questions!</p>

<p>cheers.</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>If you take the LSAT while you're still in undergrad, as most people do, then the most common time to take it would be either the June after junior year or the September/October of senior year. Either test date gives you plenty of time to prepare your applications and have all materials sent out early in the cycle.</p></li>
<li><p>The LSAT has six sections, each lasting 35 minutes. Of the first five sections, one is experimental and does not count towards your score. Of the four scored sections, two are "logical reasoning" sections, each of which contains roughly two dozen short "arguments", each "argument" followed by one to two questions. These questions are very varied, but the more common ones fall along the lines of "Which of the following is an assumption necessary to the author's conclusion", "Which one of the following can be inferred from the passage above", "Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument", etc. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>One of the scored sections is the dreaded "logic games" section. In this section, there are four discrete "games". In a standard game, there is a scenario (i.e. arrange seven packages lettered A through G in a sequential fashion), several rules (i.e. packages A and B must always be placed with exactly two other packages between them), and the questions. This section focuses on abstract variable manipulation and puzzle-solving and for many students is the most daunting, but given the right preparation, it is also the most coachable. </p>

<p>The last scored section is reading comprehension, which has four passages and is set up very much like the RC section of the SAT. The passages typically draw from topics in economics, history, literature, law, and the sciences. The questions in this section are very similar to those of the logical reasoning sections. </p>

<p>The experimental section will be an additional logical reasoning, logic games, or reading comprehension section. The sixth section is an unscored writing sample. Absolutely no topic-specific knowledge is required to do well on the test, as it focuses on logical relationships, not trivia.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Sociology is a fine major for law school admissions. Undergraduate major has almost no impact on your admissions chances, though most people believe it's best to avoid so-called "vocational" majors such as Business or Pre-Law. </p></li>
<li><p>Again, if you apply during undergrad, then it should be done during your senior year fall or spring. Just remember that the earlier you apply in the cycle, the better. Law school admissions function on a somewhat rolling basis. </p></li>
<li><p>Law schools also look at recommendations, your work experience, extra curricular activities, and your personal statement. However, you should know that all of these things are secondary. Unlike undergraduate admissions, law school admissions are almost entirely dominated by numbers. Focus on getting a strong GPA and a strong LSAT, though you shouldn't ignore other things either. </p></li>
<li><p>The reason why "criminal justice/pre-law" and other such majors are looked down upon is because they aren't seen as being that academically rigorous. Such programs are usually a joke. Law schools prefer to see applicants with backgrounds in more canonical fields like the sciences, social sciences, humanities, etc. </p></li>
<li><p>Every law school has its own policy as far as deferring enrollment goes. Some schools are stricter and would require you to have a pretty convincing reason for deferment (i.e. Teach for America, Peace Corps, etc.). Others are much more flexible and will let you defer for work or other reasons. For instance, I'm in the midst of my year off before I start at HLS this fall. I deferred so I could study Chinese in Taiwan, though I'm pretty sure HLS would've given me the deferral if I'd said I wanted to read comic books in my mother's basement for a year.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<p>does the unscored writing section of the LSAT have much weight? </p>

<p>Also, how much does the caliber of the ECs and work experience matter?</p>

4

<p>The only impact that the writing section could have on your LSAT is negative. In other words, if you literally leave it blank, write just a few sentences, or write something completely incomprehensible, then it'll hurt you (assuming admissions councils read these things at all). Otherwise, don't bother trying to craft anything all that great. Law schools understand that the writing sample is one last silly hoop to jump through after having just finished 3 hours on the actual test. As long as it's legible, topical, and passable, one need not worry about the writing sample. </p>

<p>Again, conventional wisdom is that admissions are mostly numbers-driven. ECs and work experience are nice but will rarely push a candidate over the top unless we're talking about Stanford/Yale (both of which place a bit more focus beyond the numbers than do comparable schools) or the candidate is truly border line. In that case, the ECs/WE probably have to be very strong to make a difference.</p>

5

<p>thank you so much crnchycereal, that information was extremely helpful and greatly appreciated.</p>

6

<p>Often law schools will also look at the writing sample portion of the LSAT in comparison with your personal statement. My understanding is that they are qualitatively assessing how well you write on the spot versus in a prepared and edited (perhaps by third parties) statement. It is also a mechanism used to detect whether someone may not have written their personal statement for themselves.</p>

7

<p>crnchycereal, you are the king/queen of law school knowledge. Thank you.</p>

8

<p>Great response, crnchycereal. One minor modification:</p>

<p>The Reading Comp passage no longer has 4 passages. It only has 3 long passages. </p>

<p>Starting in June 2007, the 4th long passage has been replaced by 2 short passages on a related topic. These short passages are called Comparative Reading and are given as part of Reading Comp.</p>

<p>See 10</a> Strategies for LSAT Reading Comprehension for more information.</p>

9

<p>Also, if you're at UM and you want to go to UM for law school, there's a program called Wolverine Scholars that might interest you (it's only for UM juniors who have a 3.8 or over and haven't taken the LSAT yet).</p>

10

<p>well, I highly doubt I'll get a 3.8 by junior year.</p>

11

<p>One site you need to become entirely familiar with is lsac.org. LSAC administers the LSAT test, and provides quite a bit information about the test on its site, and law school applicants must register with its LSDAS (Law School Data Assembly Service). You actually submit your supporting application materials (transcripts, LSAT scores, recommendation letters) to it and then when you apply to a law school, the school gets those materials from LSDAS.</p>

12

<p>Hi, I'm new to this law thing also and if you don't mind me hijacking your thread, I have some questions to ask</p>

<p>Someone mentioned that law school is mostly driven by numbers. Does this mean that they don't pay attention to the types of courses that one takes? I am an senior chemE looking to get a masters (already applied) then possibly law later on. The thing is, I've taken only 3 humanities/ social sciences classes - ever. Do you think that this would place me at a disadvantage when I apply to schools? I have a concept that lawyers are broadly educated and wasn't sure schools look for this in applicants.</p>

13

<p>Your lack of humanities classes shouldn't hurt you. If anything, your specialization in a hard science would make your more attractive, as the majority of law school applicants come from humanities and social sciences backgrounds.</p>