Law School Questions

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>I am currently a junior at Boston University. I am a major in hospitality administration with a minor in business. I have always been interested in the practice of law and people have always told me that I have the qualities that would lead to success in law (great writing, speaking, logic, problem-solving, etc.) Ideally, I would love to do corporate law for a hotel company. I just had a few general questions seeing as I am very unfamiliar with law schools and the process involved. </p>

<p>-When is the best time to take the LSAT? I heard from many people that a prep course is the way to go. Would it be smart to take a prep course the summer after my senior year and take the LSAT right after? Also, is there a limit on how long you can wait before a score is no longer accepted by law schools and you must retake the LSAT? </p>

<p>-I did very poorly during my freshman year at BU. This is largely due to my financial situation at the time. I had to work far too much and had essentially no time for schoolwork. This left me with a 2.3 for the year. However, my GPA since then has been a consistent 3.9, capped off by the 4.0 I received last semester. Would a simple explanation in a supplemental letter be enough to clarify? And do you think this situation would work against me? </p>

<p>-As I mentioned earlier, I am a hospitality major and would love to work for a hotel company. Next year, I will have the opportunity to take a permanent position with a hotel company as a management trainee. Would it be wise to take such a position if my ultimate intention is to attend law school or is it smarter to just hold off on any real permanent employment if I would need to stop after a year or two anyway? This is probably a matter of opinion but I would love to know what others think. </p>

<p>-Will my major work against me in admission to law school? Hospitality administration isn't a hugely popular major and I'm not sure that it is exactly relevant to a traditional law school preparation (i.e. poli sci, english, philosophy, etc.) However, as I said earlier, I have very solid written and oral communication skills and possess a strong grasp of logic and reasoning. Do law schools typically look for students of particular disciplines or is there no problem with having somewhat of a "different" major?</p>

<p>-Finally, I am a hispanic student. Some people have told me that my racial heritage will help my chances in law school admission. Is this true or just a myth?</p>

<p>Sorry that my post went so long. I am just very unfamiliar with the whole process and want to understand it as best I can. Thanks for your help.</p>

2

<p>LSAT scores are good for five years. Your coursework doesn’t really matter, so whenever you have a few weeks that you can set aside to study is a good time. I would take a “diagnostic” (just to see where you are) before signing up for a prep course. It might turn out that you don’t need it. If you do take one, it will be designed so that you are at the “peak” of your skills right at the end, so the end will be the best time to take it. (Summer after senior year was when I took it.)</p>

<p>A supplement will certainly be enough to help, especially with an upward trend, but your freshman year will still work against you, as your overall GPA is still going to be very important. It is dominantly a question of math, and the freshman year grades won’t get erased even with a very good reason. Your GPA is currently about a 3.3, if my math is right, and can go to 3.5 by the end. This is **not **an insurmountably bad GPA.</p>

<p>This is really a discussion between you and your potential employer; if they don’t mind having you leave after a couple years, then that’s their prerogative. Law schools won’t really care – most will be glad to see the work experience.</p>

<p>Your major probably will be a mild disadvantage. I would speculate that actually having the work experience will help offset this – it will certainly help offset the GPA – as anything you do to make college seem “farther away” will downplay its importance. A little – again, it’s mostly a question of math. But it’ll help some.</p>

<p>Underrepresented minority status definitely helps.</p>