<p>I'm currently a junior in high school, and really want to be a lawyer. If I take the LSAT this June I could get it out of the way early and have something really different to put on my undergrad app. On the other hand, this seems like one of those ideas that seems good only because it's so stupid you don't realize it. Are there any potential drawbacks? Will law schools care if I bomb in high school? Will life as we know it cease to exist? Your thoughts please. (BTW, I got a 170 on a full length diagnostic if that makes a difference.)</p>
<p>The score will stay on your report for five years and I think many law schools won't actually consider scores more than three years old. It seems like a good idea to me though. :) Just make sure you plan and keep your time frame in perspective.</p>
<p>Btw 170 is an excellent score but diagnostic tests are usually misleading. :o Unless, they are real LSAT's from previous years that your taking.</p>
<p>Drawbacks: (1) People, including both undergrad and law school committees, will wonder what the heck this kid is doing. (2) There are other things you need to work on first, including picking colleges and writing the best essays you possibly can. (3) You might bomb, and that's embarrassing, especially since you have no business bothering with it at this point anyway. (4) If you're already at approximately 170, then "getting it out of the way early" is of minimal benefit, since it won't really be that big a deal to you. (5) If you're not already at approximately 170 (i.e. a misleading diagnostic) then it'll be more work than it's worth while you need to be focusing on your college apps.</p>
<p>Also: congrats on what might turn out to be a very promising diagnostic score. Take the real thing in two or three years.</p>
<p>If you can get a 170 as a high school junior, it's very possible that your score will rise (possibly to a 180?) by the time you take it in college.
You should probably just wait and try to get the best score as possible vs taking it now to have one less thing on your to-do list.</p>
<p>right now you should be focused on your college application process. who knows, once you're in college you may even find that there is something other than law school that interests you?</p>
<p>i cannot see any advantage to taking the lsat now. if you don't do as well as you expect (read thru enough threads here -- people often complain that they score lower than they were expecting to) you'll just worry about whether your attempt at an early head start has sabotaged your opportunities. if you do as well as you expect, chances are you'd do even better in a couple of years. </p>
<p>you won't really be able to judge the level of law school you can aspire to until you start seeing how your gpa will look.</p>
<p>stop trying to rush things. you are a hs junior. enjoy being a hs junior and stop worrying about law school. (and i hope you are reading a lot of other threads here about what law school and the practice of law are like so that you can really start to judge if the law really is for you -- too many prospective students aspire to law without really knowing what is involved.)</p>