<p>[LSN</a> :: donbarzini](<a href=“Recently Updated J.D. Profiles | Law School Numbers”>donbarzini | Law School Numbers)</p>
<p>God, please, please, please let there be another donbarzini.</p>
<p>@marny1: Those are some very good points you raise about me possibly leaving the world of academia for say two years before reapplying to LS. I’m still left with the problem of what to do this summer. Would preparing for the LSAT be a complete waste of time if I don’t plan on taking it freshman year? I feel like at the very least I should take a few practice tests to see where I stand. I also feel like I’m losing my summer between sophomore and junior year when I could be doing something more exciting than LSAT prep. Hmm…looks like it’s back to the drawing board for me and this coming summer. Now you see why I’m trying to think everything through so early. ;)</p>
<p>@flowerhead: I don’t understand what you mean. I’m not applying to LS yet…and I have some pretty solid “soft” factors too.</p>
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<p>For a high school senior, you don’t have any soft factors worthy of being called “pretty solid” for the purposes of law school admissions. The fact that you think this shows that you’re pretty full of yourself, but it’s not as if other posts in this thread don’t show that either.</p>
<p>PB- I hear there is a “burn out” factor if you study for too long a period of time. I guess if you only do a practice test or two for fun and curiosity during the summer, it probably won’t do too much harm. But don’t go overboard as the test could change again (wasn’t reading portion changed recently?) and all your studying could be for naught.</p>
<p>I’m also gonna suggest you just use the summer before college to chill- you do seem to have an intense type of personality.<br>
be a camp counselor- enjoy the countryside.
work at the beach- enjoy nature
just try to do something non-academic and have fun.
Good luck.</p>
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<p>Yep, PB should go out and make some friends.</p>
<p>Oh, please! You’ve already drunk the UC cool-aid. </p>
<p>Look, UofC is a fine school. However, too many of the students who attend it buy into the idea that it is somehow much tougher than other top schools. It isn’t. The famous Chicago “core” is IMO, no longer a core at all. It’s no more stringent than the distribution requirements at many other top colleges. Nor is UC grade-deflated. There ARE colleges that still are–notably Swarthmore. But the way LAW SCHOOLS measure grade inflation, as demonstrated by bluedevilmike in an old thread, U of C is MORE grade-inflated than Harvard and about the same as Yale. </p>
<p>I’m not going to go argue with a bunch of U of C kids–and their parents on the parents board–who have convinced themselves that U of C has the hardest grading college in the nation. The idea that U of C students have less time to study for the LSAT than students at other colleges is, IMO, a symptom of drinking too much of the U of C Kool-Aid. </p>
<p>Before I get thrown into the flames, let me say I think U of C is a fine institution. I honestly and sincerely do. Moreover, time was when U of C DID have a tough core and where U of C was VERY grade deflated–but those days are at least 10 years in the past. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the fact that U of C has now changed its grading system to align with that of other top schools–I think it should have. I just think that it ought to let its students know that it has. </p>
<p>If you can’t come up with a better plan for the summer after high school than veging out with TV or studying for the LSAT, I don’t want you to be the lawyer for anyone I care about. You’d be one heck of a lot better off doing some sort of community service or reading the 100 best novels of the 20th century or watching the 100 best films or taking a course in photography, CAD, cooking, or some other area in which you probably won’t have time to take any courses while you are at UChicago.</p>
<p>This summer is a very special one. You’re under no pressure to do something to “look good” on your college apps or prepare for a career or earn money to meet your expected contribution if you’re on fin aid. Enjoy it.</p>
<p>Amazing post, jonri.</p>
<p>@marny1: I think everyone’s repeated assertions of the LSAT’s paramount importance is freaking me out. 
I’m normally not intense at all, though yeah, I do dream big. I’m just worried about myself not taking the LSAT seriously enough because like I said, I barely prepped for the SAT while I see others starting to study for it before freshman year!! Also, I’m sure I will do a lot that is non-academic anyway over the break, it’s just that I don’t need guidance on what to do there. In previous summers I’ve written a novel, designed a videogame, learned to be a pyrotechnician (July 4th FTW!), etc. I’m just paranoid about falling behind the curve, so to speak because I’ve always depended on being fairly intelligent and leading a very interesting life for things like college admission so I’m a bit freaked by the whole emphasis on the LSAT+GPA of LS, which leads me to think that I will be blown out of the water by the “grinds” of the world.</p>
<p>@flowerhead: Will you be my friend??? I sent you a friend request!!</p>
<p>@jonri: Would you happen to have a link to that thread? I searched for bluedevilmike and inflation but didn’t see it (I’ll look more closely later tonight). I’ll also draw your attention to what I said to marny1: I’m not some kind of studying machine. That’s why I’m so worried about LS admission. I’m precisely the kind of person that reads a ton of books over the summer or learns how to cook. At the risk of you thinking this is another U of C boast, I’ll say that if I wasn’t the kind of person that did these kinds of things, I’d apply to the Ivies, not U of C. I’d also like to remind you that studying for the LSAT was NOT the first thing that came to mind, but my first few choices are untenable now.</p>
<p>BP- yes the LSAT probably is the most important component of your law school application package. But don’t let it consume your essence and let it ruin the next few years of your life.</p>
<p>ok- let’s compromise. Take a test or two over the summer. Analyze where you need to improve. Use your first 2 years of college to help guide you take SOME courses that may help you improve your LSAT test taking skills ( logic/philosophy/ and I’m sure the students on board may suggest other classes) and then FORGET ABOUT THIS DAMN TEST for 2 years. Go on with your life- enjoy school- take advantage of everything college has to offer including study abroad-intramural sports-become a college DJ if that strikes your fancy.
Learn- grow-have fun. And I bet that being a more mature and wiser person down the road, will only help you at the time you take the LSAT exam.</p>
<p>ps- a pyrotechnician? that’s unique. I suggest you occassionally use the skill and help out with a July 4th celebration. Law schools just love those unique character traits. I can just see it now on the Yale letter re: background of incoming class. They just love the out of the ordinary background of their class members.</p>
<p>^ One problem with the “compromise” (LOL, I’d prefer to think of this as a discussion than an argument) is that whereas I am not able to take advantage of what college has to offer this summer, I will the summer between sophomore and junior year. That’s one of the major reasons I want to knock out the LSAT so early. </p>
<p>And yeah, fireworks are really cool. When I wrote that I have some pretty solid “soft” factors, I wasn’t trying to brag or imply that I was going to be self-complacent with what I’ve accomplished, but instead I meant that I’m not as concerned about soft factors as much as I am about the LSAT+GPA. I can definitely understand why I come off as someone who would spend fourteen hours a day studying for the LSAT for months on end, but the thing is, I’m not, and that’s what’s worrying me.</p>
<p>To be clear, I’m not considering studying for the LSAT and doing absolutely nothing else this summer, but I’m considering whether I should study for the LSAT this summer AT ALL. I like my summers to be wonderfully disorganized but with at least one “formal”, more or less quantifiable thing, such as taking some college courses or studying for the LSAT. Like I said before, for a number of reasons, my original summer plans which were much more traditional are simply not feasible. Thus, I’m considering a variety of unorthodox summer plans, one of which is studying for the LSAT. I fully understand that this is out of the ordinary and that is why I sought advice on CC. </p>
<p>Self-indulgent rant:</p>
<p>I’ve learned a lot about the problems with taking the LSAT so early (thanks guys!). I really appreciate having the adult perspective, because honestly I don’t have many resources in that regard, and after all, I am still very young and foolish. I realize that I may have presented myself in a poor light in the beginning because I didn’t provide any context for my ideas, and hope that everyone will take the time to learn more about me and eventually come to respect me. I’ve found CC to be a fantastic resource and hope to benefit much from its collective experience, and perhaps even contribute back some things.</p>
<p>Mea culpa, my memory played tricks on me. AS MEASURED BY LAW SCHOOLS UC has exactly the same amount of grade inflation as Princeton, almost the same as Harvard, and somewhat less than Yale. (As of 2006 when Mike did the calculations.) UC is MORE grade inflated AS MEASURED BY LAW SCHOOLS than MIT, Penn, CMU, Hopkins, Swarthmore, UC-Irvine, Dartmouth, and William & Mary. (I may have accidentally left out a couple.) </p>
<p>You’re lousy at searching threads, kid…
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/266240-question-about-top-law-schools-2.html?highlight=deviation+grade[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/266240-question-about-top-law-schools-2.html?highlight=deviation+grade</a></p>
<p>If link doesn’t work title is “Question about top law schools” begun by NCStateGuy 11-25-2006. See especially posts #25 (to understand background) and #29 to see Mike’s calculations.</p>
<p>Oh, and yes, I take your comment to mean that you’ll fit in really well with the others who have drunk the UC Kool-Aid. </p>
<p>Again, please understand that I am NOT knocking the quality of education you’ll get at UofC. It’s great.</p>
<p>Sorry - Princeton has grade inflation?</p>
<p>What planet do I live on?</p>