<p>So here's my situation. I'm a sophomore, and although I think I want to pursue law school, I'm a bit worried because I keep hearing about how important it is to go to a T14 law school, but I haven't done that well thus far. A few knocks against me are:</p>
<ol>
<li>I've transferred a couple of times (I can explain each)</li>
<li>I've changed a 2-3 classes to pass/fail and withdrawn from 1.</li>
<li>I haven't done horrible GPA-wise, but I haven't been getting 3.8+. I'll probably finish up to this term with a 3.4-3.5.</li>
<li>I've taken practice LSATs and am getting MURDERED on everything except the logic/games section.</li>
</ol>
<p>So basically, I was wondering if there is still time for me to turn it around. I really, really am willing to give it my all these next 2.5 years or so in terms of dedicating myself completely to academics and preping for the LSAT (this means no more social life ever for the rest of college if that's what it takes). I'm hoping to get no less than a 3.7 GPA in econ (which can be a tough major sometimes) and to score 170+ on the LSAT, which is going to be an uphill battle from the looks of it so far. Here are my questions though:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is econ a good major for law school? It's something I enjoy, but do law schools only want political science, philosophy and stuff like that? That stuff is somewhat interesting to me, but in case law school doesn't work out, I'd also like a degree that might get me somewhere, which econ can.</p></li>
<li><p>What ECs should I do? I'm thinking about trying a startup company with some friends, doing internships whenever possible and starting a club at my school, but what else should I try?</p></li>
<li><p>My LSAT sucks right now aside from the logical games, so what kinds of things do you recommend I do to improve the skills needed for the other sections, aside from practice problems? Also, I didn't do that great on the ACT in high school (I got a 30, although I did alright on every section except science, which I doubt will exist on the LSAT), so does that mean I'm screwed?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Your major doesn’t really matter for law school. Certain majors may prepare you better for the study of law or for your field of interest (econ possibly being one of them), but you are encouraged to major in whatever is interesting to you that you can do well in.</p>
<p>I got a 23 on the ACT in high school and my last LSAT practice was a 165, 5pts higher than my first one last week. So I don’t really think the two tests correspond. They test completely different skills, anyway.</p>
<p>I think the logic games section is supposedly the easiest to improve, so some might say you’re in trouble, I disagree. Logic games is also my best area, and I think we are at an advantage because that is easily the weirdest section in the test, and the rest can be improved with practice. I know you said besides practice problems, but in general for standardized tests familiarizing yourself with the format of the questions can really make a big difference-- eventually you are able to recognize common wordings of questions and don’t have to spend time deciphering what they are really asking you, on the LSAT perhaps less so than on other tests, but that should still help.</p>
<p>I am only a year ahead of you, just starting to get ready for my application process, so hopefully some people with experience further into the application process can respond, too. It’s good that you’re starting to worry about the LSAT so early. I bought prep books when I was a sophomore and didn’t touch them until recently. Whoops.</p>
<p>From an admissions perspective, it doesn’t matter at all. In terms of what prepares you for law school better, I’d say that majors along the economics and philosophy lines are best. Many of my first year courses had a significant economic flavor, and others were just dominated by the law and economics movement. My torts class, of course, went into Coase’s theorem, as did property. Contracts was super-economics laden, going into analyses of transaction costs, the nature of contracting, how those two concepts relate, the assumption of risk, and other concepts.</p>
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<p>Try to do something substantive every summer. Other than that, I can’t think it matters too much. It really is just a numbers game.</p>
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<p>Nah. Take a prepcourse and practice, practice, practice.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. Just out of curiosity, what stats (numbers) are needed for the T14 schools? Duke/Cornell/Virginia are my dream law schools, so what type of GPA/LSAT is needed to at least get into those schools?</p>
<p>^one more thing: Lets say that I take some more advanced calculus classes such as multivariable and things like that. These are obviously difficult classes, but will law school admissions give me a break since I’m taking harder classes and challenging myself, or could they care less if it means a lower overall GPA?</p>
<p>lawschoolnumbers.com has a variety of excellent graphs.</p>
<p>Law schools will cut you a very small amount of slack if you’re taking VERY difficult courses. Otherwise it’s mostly about the raw numerical GPA.</p>
<p>^So basically, is it safe to say that I shouldn’t touch some of those really difficult math classes if there is a great chance of it lowering my GPA, especially since it isn’t necessarily needed then? I’ve been good at math, but I’m by no means a genius when it comes to that stuff, so should I only take what is necessary for my major?</p>
<p>Also, where are good places to do practice problems? I know a few third party sites have random questions, but do schools generally have a bank of LSAT questions or something? Any standout books for not only practice, but for teaching someone like me common strategies for attacking various LSAT questions?</p>
<p>One last thing: I’m really interested in doing international work and doing a lot of traveling when I start working. I was wondering, since countries have different degrees and whatnot for law, if I got a JD in the US, would I be able to offer advice/practice in India for example? How does that work? I know for business, it doesn’t matter, but medicine, for example, is really strict about where your degree came from, so does law work the same way as medicine in that regard?</p>
<p>No one class is going to affect your GPA that much (unless you flunk it or something), but it’s up to you.</p>
<p>Law is even more strict than medicine, for the obvious reason that biology is relatively constant internationally but the law is not. You cannot practice overseas as a lawyer unless you’re separately qualified in that system. Many civil law countries (e.g. non-British world) don’t even have equivalents for certain types of lawyers here in the US.</p>
<p>Well, are there any avenues to pursue international routes in law? What areas could lend themselves towards traveling abroad and things like that?</p>
<p>A lot of various laws are exported overseas. For example, a corporation headquartered in China could potentially be sued under US law if it harms a consumer in America. Visits to plants, with board members, etc. might thus require int’l travel. There’s also “international law,” in which international treaties must be complied with and such. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) often involves companies that own international arms purchasing each other, and that might involve travel as well.</p>