Best and Worst Advice

[UFBoldAsLove]

Worst Advice:

Go T14 or don't go at all... or, Choose ranking over monetary, personal/family, and QOL considerations.

Wait, you're not in a position to evaluate this piece of advice yet! 

 

[sockwok]

Best Advice:

(1)Take as many timed LSAT tests as possible, in real conditions.
(2) Apply Early (Before Nov. 1st at least... saves you so much stress!)
(3) Do a "Why X" essay for every school you love.
(4) If WLed, VISIT and keep in contact.
(5) Ask/apply for all scholarships, use scholarships as collateral at peer schools.
(6) Apply to 10+ schools.
(7) Assume your cycle will mirror those with similar numbers on LSN, and apply accordingly.

Neutral Advice: (Bad for me, but maybe not for you.)

"LSAT prep courses are a must".... might be true for others.

"Apply ED" ... if I did this I would be at UVA with no scholarship, when I would be just as happy at Vandy, with much less debt.

Worst Advice:

Go T14 or don't go at all... or, Choose ranking over monetary, personal/family, and QOL considerations.


I really hope the 2008 kids listen to these!!!

hi, im new on here. this is a really good thread.
What is a "Why X" essay?
What does LSN stand for?

I see most of the advice as to apply early which sadly I cannot do. Any advice for people taking the December test(will be my first and only test) and applying to schools Nov-Jan?

[Changed Name]

Best Advice:

(1)Take as many timed LSAT tests as possible, in real conditions.
(2) Apply Early (Before Nov. 1st at least... saves you so much stress!)
(3) Do a "Why X" essay for every school you love.
(4) If WLed, VISIT and keep in contact.
(5) Ask/apply for all scholarships, use scholarships as collateral at peer schools.
(6) Apply to 10+ schools.
(7) Assume your cycle will mirror those with similar numbers on LSN, and apply accordingly.

Neutral Advice: (Bad for me, but maybe not for you.)

"LSAT prep courses are a must".... might be true for others.

"Apply ED" ... if I did this I would be at UVA with no scholarship, when I would be just as happy at Vandy, with much less debt.

Worst Advice:

Go T14 or don't go at all... or, Choose ranking over monetary, personal/family, and QOL considerations.


I really hope the 2008 kids listen to these!!!

hi, im new on here. this is a really good thread.
What is a "Why X" essay?
What does LSN stand for?

I see most of the advice as to apply early which sadly I cannot do. Any advice for people taking the December test(will be my first and only test) and applying to schools Nov-Jan?

"Why X" essays are essays which explain why you want to go the particular school you're applying to.  The "X" stands for the school you're applying to.  For instance, if you were to apply to Yale, a "Why X?" essay, would be a "Why Yale?" essay.  In it, you would explain the reasons for choosing the school.

LSN =  www.lawschoolnumbers.com

I didn't apply in December or January, but I don't think you're severely disadvantage.  I think that's when the majority of applications get sent in.

Only thing is, unfortunately, you won't have the option of taking the LSAT twice (although you can take it Feb. and try to send in that score before decisions are made).

Good luck!

[augusta]

Thanks for bumping this, PJC

[pasm]

i think this should be stickied.

AND i think more people should input with their best/worst advice!

[Ninja1]

Worst: Don't read about the stuff you'll cover in law school the summer before you start.

While I agree that you shouldn't try to learn every nuance of contracts (and everything else) before you head off and that a lot of what your professors want you to learn will vary from professor to professor, there are certainly more than a few basic concepts about everything that you can teach yourself before you get to law school. I wish I would have done that, it would have cut down on the learning curve a bit, especially for the first couple of weeks.

Don't kill yourself or spend a ton of time, but do try to learn some basic terms and concepts about your subjects before you get there.

[LegallyAccepted]

Even if you won't be taking the LSAT until December, I would still try to get my applications in before then, and just let them know that you will be taking the LSAT in December.  You want to atleast be in the file, because most schools won't even begin to look at applications until mid-late December.  So, if you put your application in, it will probably go complete right around the time they begin looking at apps and your app will already be in the stack.

[studymaster]

Best advice: apply early apply often. (works well with voting fwiw)

Worst advice: take a course

I am a tricky wicket, but I didnt do well, I took a kaplan course and had a final score of 177. Needless to say Kaplan was a waist of large amounts of money. I wound up actually doing the kaplan course long before I took the LSAT. I practiced on my own ALOT to prepare and I think I will add my own best and worst advice to law shcool students here:

Best advice: Work on the LSAT over a very long period of time. Let the material sink in. Read critical thinking books. Analyze lots of arguments, arguments are all over I swear. This takes alot of dedication, but I knew I wanted to go to a damn fine school, so I did it. If my cycle doesnt look like a train wreck, it should have served me well.

Worst advice: go to law schol straight out of undergrad. It is what I am doing and I dont know its the best plan.

[IUB09]

I basically did everything wrong when I applied.  I didnt put much effort into studying for the LSAT. No prep course, no practice tests other than doing a few individual sections in the kaplan book.  I honestly had no idea how critical it is to the admission process. I applied late, at least later than I should have (November I think). I was a splitter, but a crappy LSAT and a really crappy GPA.  I applied to schools that were desperate for higher LSAT scores. That was the one smart move I made. 
Apply to a lot of places, especially schools that like your admission index.  I didnt really get into any "reaches" but I had no soft factors. One additional piece of advice. 
If you are not getting into a T17ish type school (I would include UCLA, Texas, and Vandy), take the scholarship $. The job prospects at Iowa, Indiana, WUSTL or a similar school are not significantly better than they are at Loyola or other tier 2 or 3 schools. 
I am staring at 150k of debt when I graduate in May.  It is daunting.  Dont put yourself in that position if you are not going to a good school, t17ish. I took a big, foolish risk and luckily it paid off.
If you dont crack the t17 or so, then take the money, unless it is from Cooley or a similarly bad school.  Also, kick ass as a 1L. You have no idea how important your first year is. I did well and it set me up. I transferred to a very good school and I am going to start work at my 2nd choice firm next fall (Wachtell rejected me, but I knew I had no shot). To succeed as a 1L there are a couple of things you should know. 

If you cant type 40+wpm, then improve your typing. Some law school exams are a race.
Someone said not to read the basics on 1L subjects during the summer before your 1L year.  That is bad advice. I didnt do it, but it cant hurt and the highest GPA after my 1L year did this. 
Take practice tests. As many as you can.
Make your own outlines, at least as a 1L.
Don't ditch class, at least as a 1L.

Good luck.

[vap]

Best advice:
Go to the school that you would be happiest graduating from at the middle of the class.

In other words, balance job prospects for a median student against the cost of attendance and your debt level.  This means it's probably not a good idea to take on a full load of debt at a generic T1 or T2 school.