So I’ve kind of had a rocky start to my undergrad. Coming out of high school (2013 graduate) I knew I wanted to be Pre-Med and I knew I wanted to go to MSU. I was accepted to MSU and was offered a spot in their honors college but my parent’s encouraged me to take a full tuition scholarship through the honors program at Wayne State University. I was miserable at Wayne State. I felt like there was no campus life and I wanted the Big 10 school feel. I dropped out about halfway through my first semester and reapplied and was accepted again to MSU. I spent a lot of time at MSU before transferring in what was supposed to be my freshman winter semester of college, but with each visit to MSU and as the time came closer to transfer, I realized MSU wasn’t the right fit for me and I backed out at the last minute. I decided to take courses at my local community college to give myself more time to figure out what I wanted to do with my undergrad. I started volunteering at a local hospital and reaffirmed that I wanted to continue on the pre-med pathway.Meanwhile, I made a few visits to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and finally found home. I applied to Michigan and was accepted to transfer for the winter 2015 semester. So I picked up my associates, finished at my local community college with a 3.97, and packed my bags for Ann Arbor. Well here I am, 4 weeks in the semester and everything is just peachy except one thing- I think I’m making the wrong choice being a pre-med. I hate orgo so far and the thought of biochem, more physics, upper level bio, etc. is nauseating. I know I want to make a difference and work with people in my career but I’m starting to wonder if I’m just in love with the idea of being a doctor and am forcing myself into believing that I want to be a doctor (lots of other reasons I wanted to be a doctor and will have a hard time leaving this path, but I’m trying to get to my question). I don’t want to go into too much detail about what led me to consider law, but with my background (lots of science classes, kind of all over the place as far as transferring, close to the end of my sophomore year of undergrad) how difficult would it be for me to transition to being pre-law? Also, what kind of extra curriculars, internships, etc. do law schools look for with their applicants?
Being a lawyer is nothing like being a doctor, except you both work long hours, it takes more education beyond a bachelor’s degree and a lot of money to get there.
Pre-law isn’t a thing. Getting into law school really is just mainly about your LSAT and then your GPA. And if you are URM it helps.
I would intern at a hospital or with an attorney before deciding if you want to do either.
Neither path is easy and I don’t think doctors or lawyers in general are very happy people.
Just keep your grades up and you can keep the possibility open.
Most of my friends from high school are doctors and I am a lawyer (and now most of current friends are lawyers). A lot of us are not that happy. The people who aren’t miserable are the rich kids who don’t have to worry about money and get a more “fun” job that pays less money.
Anyway, I would do your diligence and intern with a doctor/attorney before you decide what to do.
Also, medical school isn’t like your orgo class. It’s 99% memorization and doesn’t require a lot of analysis or thinking. Orgo class is just the weeder - it’s not reflective of medical school itself. Ask any medical student - they’d say it’s 99% memorization. Very little analysis/thinking involved.
I’m not asking for details, but you need to ask yourself, after what you’ve been through-why do you want to go to law school, exactly? It’s an expensive proposition and it will take three years after college. If you’ve got a good answer for that question, don’t worry too much about your specific classes, as law schools pretty much only require that you have a Bachelor’s, rather than requiring specific courses. If I’m reading your post correctly, you’re at Michigan, a very well regarded school, so no worries there. You will want to do well on your LSAT to be competitive.
Regarding ECs, here on CC there is a divergence of opinion as to what they are worth on your law school app. At a minimum I’d suggest you participate in something that would help give you a sense of what a lawyer actually does. It’s not like on TV.
So GPA/LSAT are very important, and get some sort of experience with what lawyers do.
Believe me, I have a lot to consider and will definitely investigate both sides more before making a decision.
I guess a better question would be, do they require you to take certain courses during your undergrad to prepare you for for the LSAT/law school?
Thank you both very much for your imput
^ No, they don’t.
I think the LSAT requires a lot of natural test taking ability, but you can also improve your score somewhat by taking practice tests and using the Logic Games Bible. My score only improved 5 points though from my initial practice test to the actual exam, fwiw, and I think so did most of my friends’.