My introduction and International Law question

[deleted]

I’ve been lurking on this board since I discovered it a few weeks ago. First let me introduce myself, I am a junior at FIU (Miami) and my majors are International Relations and Economics. I am involved in school (honor societies and clubs) as well as worked part time my whole college life. I have a 3.96 right now and I am testing in the low 160’s with no prep work. I am taking the October LSAT and will use the second half of my summer to prepare for it. Obviously I want to score as high as possible and this board has served well as a wealth of information and insight. I am considering getting my MAIS before going to law school and I have two questions:
First - Good idea concerning the MAIS?
Second – What are some good schools with IL reputation, if possible maybe break it down into difficulty of acceptance… i.e. schools in the 170+ range, 165-170 range, and so on.

Thank you

DM

[V00Jeff]

A few things:

1) Work your butt of for the LSAT!  It will pay off.  I started testing in the low 160's and really, really worked at it (I think I took more than 20 practice tests) and got a 176. 

2) I wouldn't recommend getting more than one graduate degree.  The debt will add up, and the masters won't add much to a J.D.'s resume unless you want to teach (and even then, you'd be better off going all the way and getting a Ph.D., possibly in addition to a J.D.).  So I would try to figure out what you are more interested in -- economics or law -- and go to one or the other schools.  If you do go to law school, you can take a lot of law and economics or international relations classes.

3) Check out this site:  http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/bleiter/rankings/
There is a lot of good info on there, and there's a section on school strength within the different specialties that will answer your international law question.  Going beyond what Leiter things, pretty much everyone should I agree that the top IL schools are NYU, Harvard, Columbia (one of the reasons why I picked it), and Yale.

[V00Jeff]

Oops, I just read the acronym again.  I think you mean Masters in International Studies. In that case, I re-double my advice.  This masters is worth even less than the econ one, in my opinion.

[Gummibearz]

Hey DM,

I also go to FIU, but I'm in the evening MBA program.  Just nice to see some fellow panthers on this board. 

[towanda03]

Don't get an MAIS just to get one.  Go only if it's an amazing, prestigious program.  Even then it might not be worth the extra debt.  Of course, if you get a fellowship, that's a different story entirely.   

I talked to some pre-law counselors about this and, unfortunately, an extraordinary number of applicants write about how much they want to go into international law.  So, you will need to distinguish yourself.  Do your research, demonstrate that you know what you're talking about.  If you have a skill that uniquely qualifies you (like you're fluent in a foreign language--particularly one that's really in demand), be sure to play it up.  Since you have a year left of school, you might consider developing some such skill.

Regarding rankings, I would read faculty profiles at schools in which you are interested and see if they're a match for the particular niche of international law you want to practice.

Best of luck!

[WKRUSE]

Hey DM,

I also go to FIU, but I'm in the evening MBA program.  Just nice to see some fellow panthers on this board. 

How do you like the school.  I start there in the fall.