Prospective Lawyer (Last leg of Senior Year in HS)

[Ambitious]

Well I'm  in Gardena, California. I'll be going to driving school immediately so I've got transportation covered.

[cooleylawstudent]

just search that area for free legal aid offices. They'll let you know. Since its volunteer most will let undergrad and even highschoolers help out. (just to a lesser degree)

Well I'm  in Gardena, California. I'll be going to driving school immediately so I've got transportation covered.

[bigs5068]

If your in high school you when you go to college sign up for a lot of bogus 1.0 unit classes and rack up as many free A's as you can get.  Schools don't really care about what classes you take and if you take classes like ultimate frisbee, weightlifting, etc and get free A's your overall GPA will jump and you are more likely to get scholarships. It is not right, but if I was in high school and would have known that I would have signed up for even more B.S. classes and saved myself 1,000's more dollars. Just my two cents.

[Thane Messinger]

You're taking just the right approach, asking the right questions with years to get everything right. Good job.

In addition to the above, read Planet Law School, which has quite a bit in terms of getting ready, and, if I might, my own book Law School: Getting In, Getting Good, Getting the Gold, which takes a more moderate approach. 

In terms of an internship, this is also an excellent approach.  There are two possibilities: finding a job in a firm or law office, usually as an assistant, secretary, or even office runner, or volunteering at an organization of interest.  In the latter, you'll likely have much greater opportunity to see the real world of law practice, but of course these are often unpaid.  Even so, these are well worth it.  A note of caution: these are great for answering some of the basic questions, and in getting valuable professional feedback and references, but be careful in not putting too much of this in your law school applications (for reasons explained in the latter book above).

Good luck!

Thane.

[Thane Messinger]

Right now I'm focused on working hard at community college so that I can transfer into a good 4 year college, but there definitely has to be more to that to get into a good law school so I wish to know what.

I'm also interested in joining the JAG Corps in the Marines after law school, so I was wondering if there were any available programs that could help me in that field as well.

Thank you.

As mentioned, LSAT and GPA are critical, so be sure that that focus remains consistent. 

Also, a career or start as a JAG officer is an excellent approach, especially if aided with ROTC or enlistment scholarships.

[cmd758]

I suggest that you don't major in Political Science. You might change your mind about going to law school and even if you don't, you want to have a useful degree just in case something wouldn't work out or plans would need to change. The Political Science major is basically useless by itself and law schools like to have a diverse student body. I can't advise you about what would be a good major for you because I don't know your strengths, but make sure it allows you to be employable. Sure, with a major in Political Science, you could work for the government after you graduate if you didn't go to law school or if you would have to work and go to law school at night because of financial reasons. However, you wouldn't have any real, useful skills that separate you from any other graduate in any other major. You might have a great breadth of knowledge and understanding, but that doesn't mean you have skills to do a job that pays well. Now, someone with a degree in accounting for example, could go to law school and become a great tax or corporate lawyer or not go to law school and be an accountant or work for the IRS. They have skills that others don't have and that are in demand.

Also- make sure the major isn't overcrowded (e.g. Communication).

Just a bit of advice. A lot can change in a few years. You want to have backup plans and have a lot of skills that make you valuable. The other people gave you good advice too, but GPA/LSAT scores are the most important things when applying to law school. One final note- a lot of law schools also mention that they consider "the strength of the course of study" alongside your GPA. So I wouldn't plan on taking a bunch of easy classes to boost your GPA. A regular mix of classes is fine. Just go to class, do the homework/reading, and review your notes weekly. Don't cram. It isn't fun and might get you an A on the test, but not every time. The above method will ensure an A if you're dedicated.