Looking for input/opinions

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>I have read some of these boards and evaluated some of the advice, it seems reasonably sound. I'm curious about your input on the following:</p>

<p>I am a junior at Penn State
My major is Health Policy and Administration with a minor in Sociology
I currently have a GPA of 3.52
I will take the LSAT in June, most recent practice exam yielded 159</p>

<p>One: I am well aware I probably will not be a top 15 candidate. Hopefully this will shift out some of you Yale, Harvard posters.</p>

<p>Two: My primary interest is in Health and Elder law. I have extensive volunteer experience as an assisted living facility and a renowed Hospital.</p>

<p>Three: I have no interest in politics. Last summer I interned for a U.S. Representative. Those who are interested in getting involved in the institution of politics are brave souls. Those who think they understand the political system and have not had that type of involvement are sorely misguided. I will be interning for Social Security this summer and continuing my volunteer experience.</p>

<p>Four: I was recently accepted into Mortar Board (a national senior honor society), and am involved in the Undergraduate Law Society along with Mock Trial here at Penn State in addition to my volunteer work. I am also an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant here at Penn State.</p>

<p>Five: I have been interested in healthcare since the age of 15 (when I started volunteering), my personal statement will assumingly tell a solid story. My letters of recommendation will also be quite strong and far from vanilla.</p>

<p>I know which area of the law I would like to get involved in, but as far as practice goes I see a lot of options. Questions:</p>

<p>One: Judging by what one might see on this post, would I be a desirable candidate for at least a few schools in the top 100? How far up might I reach for and have a reasonable chance (please use intelligent disgression)?</p>

<p>Two: What is the real benefit of attending a program that "specializes" in a field a potential student is interested in? Examples: St. Louis Law and Houston Law both have Health law specialities. Buffalo law has an Elder Law clinic. Or if I attend one of these "specialty" schools will I be stuck practicing in that state? Not to say Texas or NY would be a bad place to practice.</p>

<p>Three: From a little bit of Mock Trial, and I will whole-heartedly admit television (court-tv, etc) I have a curious interest for Trial Law. Are these accurate representations? Humor me and give other ideas as to where a health law/elder law attorney might practice or be involved in.</p>

<p>To me, law school and being an attorney has been something I have always wanted (although perhaps hidden or strayed from because my mother is an attorney). </p>

<p>Answer my questions if you have the time, chew me up, whatever suits you behind that computer screen. If you provide information though, please give some sort of a source. If you're an attorney, tell me. Did you pass the bar in your state? If your kid is in law school, which one? Please just don't post garbage without anything substantial to make your opinion even the least bit worthwhile.</p>

<p>Thanks for your time, by the way. Have a good night!</p>

2

<p>I don't know what "intelligent digression" means, but you are considerably above the median at several of the schools that make the cutoff for top-100. No doubt, you should gain a few admissions if you apply intelligently. Quite easily, in fact. (US News.)</p>

<p>From what I've been told, the US News specialty rankings are pretty unhelpful. I was surprised to hear this, but you can observe a very high year-to-year variability as well as take note of a very shoddy methodology. Actually having the specialties might matter, especially among peer schools, but the rankings for those programs are probably very difficult to get an accurate feel for. Most law schools, even with specialty programs, will place you regionally.</p>

3

<p>intelligent discretion, maybe?</p>

<p>irony is grand.</p>

<p>but i digress...</p>

4

<p>My limited knowledge of the specialty rankings comes from an environmental lawyer who attended Vermont Law School (#1 in environmental law according to US News). She said many aspiring environmental lawyers have a hard time breaking into the field after school and end up doing property law or something like that. Anyway, she said her top-notch environmental law program gave her an edge in getting into the field. Take from that what you wish.</p>

5

<p>A single misspelling on internet forum boards was worth someone's effort and time, I feel special.</p>

6

<p>Hi Tc-</p>

<p>without an LSAT score, it is hard to judge what schools are appropriate to consider- but with that said, you should continue to keep University of Buffalo on your radar for a number of reasons.<br>
--the elder law clinic
--health law clinic
-- dual JD/MPH (which i assume is a master in public health)
--dual JD/MSW
and really low tuition. Even for OOS kids, the tuition is $20,000</p>

<p>As a NY parent, I know U of Buffalo is a decent school and has a good reputation. I'm certainly not going to compare it to NYU-Cornell or Forham but it does have a solid reputation.</p>

<p>There may be a "higher level" of law schools with similar programs, but I'm not aware of them.
so all I am saying is to study for those LSAT's- see what schools seem appropriate based on grades and LSAT's and compare the elder law and health clinics at those schools to the ones that are offered at UB. </p>

<p>As i have a mom and father-in-law who are both in their 90's, I can attest that elder law with a health care background will be VERY useful in your career endeavors.
good luck!!</p>

7

<p>also check out U of Pittsburg. They too have joint jd/mph , JD/MSW and a Center for bioethics and health law.<br>
It may not be geared solely towards elder law , but any course of study regarding public policy and health care will certainly overlap into concerns of the elderly.
you may want to think of Universities that have schools of social work as well as public health, as those schools may have programs that combine an area of study with a law degree.</p>

8

<p>I assume Penn State has a pre-law adviser. Go see him/her. Most colleges keep grids showing where students from that college applied and were admitted. These include grades and LSAT. If Penn State keeps these, they will be very helpful to you. </p>

<p>Go to LSAC.org</a> Homepage. There's a lot of good information on that site. One thing it permits you do do is plug in your gpa and LSAT and see your chances of admissions at most ABA-accredited law schools. You can also download and take a LSAT. Take it under timed conditions to get a rough idea of your probable LSAT score. </p>

<p>I don't think the speciality rankings are of any use, unless you are comparing acceptances to similarly ranked law schools. However, I do think clinics matter.</p>

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10

<p>Great job buddy.</p>

11

<p>About 25 years ago my college roommate decided he wanted to be a podiatrist. He researched the top 5 fasted growing cities and decided Austin, TX was the best of the five. He attended UTexas Austin to get his degree, stayed there, and is now one of the top podiatrists ($$$, reputation, etc) in Austin.</p>

<p>Research where the fastest growing cities are for increases in elderly populations (St. Petersburg, FL?). Apply to a law school within a 2 hour drive of that city.</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
Research where the fastest growing cities are for increases in elderly populations (St. Petersburg, FL?). Apply to a law school within a 2 hour drive of that city.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yea, it probably is somewhere in florida.</p>