<p>I am a sophomore at a very small private school. Academics aren't that great, but i went there because the financial package they gave me was enough that i could work and pay for college as i went. I was a terrible high school student but got my act together. i have a strong gpa, 3.75 currently and shooting for higher and i am planning on studying hard for the lsat and get a 160 at least, preferably higher. I want to apply to good law schools and i am trying to set myself apart by doing volunteer work and applying for certain internships. The problem is that many internships are 9-5 or just conflict with me work schedule! i feel like I'm stuck! i can't stop working at my restaurant/coffee shop job because i have to pay for school, but i can't get experience that will look good on a law school app if i don't! i work 30+ hours a week during the school year. Will law schools take this into consideration?</p>
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<p>This does not matter in law school admissions. It is all about LSAT and gpa. If you want to go to a top law school, you will need a much higher score than a 160. You should not be doing anything that will compromise your gpa. The time that you want to put into an internship, you should be putting in to the LSAT to get the best possible score.</p>
<p>caruiz93: it might help you if you are first-generation college, or come from a family with very little money (of course, GPA and LSAT are overriding factors). “I worked my way through school because my dad died when I was 5 and my mom’s a waitress” could be turned into a good essay, or be fodder for interviews at schools that give them, but otherwise will not matter that much at most schools.</p>
<p>Also, be aware that you will be prohibited from working during 1L year.</p>
<p>yeah, i definitely want a score higher than a 160. 160 is the “floor” of what i am going for. i want to go to a good law school but i am not obsessed with going to an ivy league school. i feel ilke a 160 is enough to get me into somewhere decent. Thanks for the advice! i am going to focus on GPA and LSAT. I just see that a lot of friends of mine whose parents are paying for their undergrad have the time over the summer and school year to do internships and be very involved with extra curriculars and i feel like i am at a disadvantage. I was just wandering if law schools will see the whole picture, and be like well, he didn’t intern, but he was busy working throughout school.</p>
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<p>Yes, that’s right.</p>
<p>Or, if you prefer, two wrongs make a right. They won’t care whether you did any internships in the first place, so your working throughout school will be more than enough for that.</p>
<p>Going off track for a moment to say that it is good to see Aries and BDM back on the boards.</p>
<p>Back to our regularly scheduled programming</p>
<p>at this point, you should focus on one thing: the LSAT. most anything else besides your GPA is a waste of time for law school admissions.</p>
<p>unfortunately, the LSAT dictates which school you go to, and in that way, dictates what career options you will likely have.</p>
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<p>while the LSAT is important, it is only ~half of the criteria. GPA is the other 40-50%, depending on school. And the OP has plenty of time to raise that GPA to a 3.8+, the unofficial floor for H. Continue to earn A’s, and only then focus on the LSAT.</p>
<p>i guess my academic advisors at schools have been advising me wrong. I am a history major, economics minor and the faculty members who have advised me have experience applying to graduate history programs, not law school. I knew that GPA and LSAT score were important but not basically the whole picture. Ive been told by them that i need to be involved in the community and I’ve been stressing myself out trying to fit it all in. Not that i don’t think that volunteering is a good thing, its just not something i particularly am drawn to and doing it on top of work and school makes me dread it.</p>