<p>I was wondering if anyone would be able to provide some advice for how to succeed in law school/law. My questions are as follows:</p>
<p>1) What skills/activities will contribute the most to success in law school? Debate? Actually doing all of the reading for my classes? Networking?</p>
<p>2) Off of that, how different are the skills useful in law school different from, say, the type of work one would do in Biglaw. I've read (Brazen Careerist) that unlike law school, those in the profession benefit more from the ability to market themselves and network rather than critically analyze cases (I'm not attempting to undermine the intellectual merit of either, I've just heard that while an LSAT score may be a fairly good indicator of law school performance, it may not be as accurate for on-the-job performance)</p>
<p>3) This is an unrelated question but if anyone were to obtain an LSAT score that didn't meet their expectations (for example, if they had wanted to break into the top 14), would you advise applying for scholarships/fellowships/jobs to "buy time" and study in the off hours of that year in hopes of obtaining a higher score?</p>
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<li><p>Writing well; logical reasoning; puzzle solving; able to speak clearly; the ability to take one subject and spend days, weeks and months trying to master it, reading everything you can find, and then writing a clear paper of what you learned; the ability to remain calm under pressure and not panic after you have spent 4 weeks on something and still feel like you understand nothing; acceptance that having a 3.7 college GPA only means in law school you are average and the understanding that your belief coming out college that you are a really smart person will be quickly shattered early on but may ressurect later; and the ability to absorb and analyze information at the rate of sticking a firehose in your mouth, turning it on and keeping it that way for the entire first semester.</p></li>
<li><p>Post-law, you go from theorectical law to real law but basic law you learned is important, excellent research and writing and analytical abilities are imperative, and learning to deal with clients and please them and market yourself is a skill that you need to develop although often not immediately or in your first few years.</p></li>
<li><p>LSAT is most important factor for admission to law school. Problem with most high ranks is that they still do not just consider highest LSAT for admission but instead consider all scores and weigh bad ones against you. As a result, though repeating and getting higher can help a lot at many law schools it is not much at high ranks. Having two to three years work experience after college(regardless of whether you took LSAT earlier) can add a factor in your favor. In any event, with LSAT you should approach it as something you should take only once and score high if at all possible.</p></li>
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<p>My kid just finished first semester at a school where he was wait-listed and near the bottom of the stats…grades are coming in, and so far As! My kid is in happy shock, and is crediting the book “Getting to Maybe” and the Law Preview boot camp. </p>
<p>My kid also said it helped to do his own outlines (many other students bought outlines from the 2L and 3L students).</p>
<p>In my opinion, the most important thing is to practice writing exams. Most of your first year grades will depend on this. </p>
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<p>I’m not sure about transactional work, but as a Biglaw junior litigation associate, some of your work (writing memos and briefs) will entail a lot of the skills you learned in law school. Other work does not. </p>
<p>A big difference is that as a Biglaw junior litigation associate, your work will consist of endless hours of mindless tedium, micromanaged by some pretty loathsome people.</p>
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<p>That’s probably true in terms of ultimate success in the Biglaw game, i.e. becoming a rainmaking partner. </p>