Community College Student

[Shant]

I just discovered this site today and i've been reading on the boards for the last few hours. I am a 3rd year community college student. My grades were decent out of high school, but my 2 year plan to transfer out of CC turned into a 3 year plan. I will be transfering to a University this coming fall. My grades are currently horrible: barely making a 2.7. I am a political science major and I am truly interested in international relations as well as foreign policy. I am also a member of my school's debate team and I love argument, logic, and debate. I enjoy reading and I have started to party less and read more recently. I have also reformed my study habbits and have been getting straight As the last two semesters. I want to go to law school mainly because I enjoy debate as well as philosophy and also because my parents can financially support me until I get through law school. Here is a list of my questions, I would appreciate any honest answer to any of the questions:

1. Am i hopeless case?
2. Should I switch over to a communications major since i'm so interested in speech and debate?
3. Since I wasted an extra year in community college, have my chances of acceptance gotten any worse?
4. Should I go to University of California in Santa Barbara or California State University in Northridge?(UCSB is harder than CSUN but also more prestigious and more expensive. I feel as though I will have more time to prepare for LSATs if I go to CSUN and it will be much easier for me to get straight A's.)
5. Should I be studying for LSATs? If so, how should I get started?
6. What type of books/authors should I be reading in preparation for law school and LSAT.
7. What type of law should I be interested in? Do I even have to decide now?
8. What should I emphasize/change in my study habbits?
9. Is there a light at the end of my law school tunnel?(I am not the perfect student, and I don't have perfect grades. Should I give up on law school?)
10. Anything else you would like to suggest?

I know its a lengthy list and some questions may be trivial, but I feel as though some answers to these questions would truly guide me and other prospective law students as well. I look forward to reading your take on my situation and I plan on utilizing this web site as a resource for my future endeavors.
Thanks!

[Sweet Tea]

"2. Should I switch over to a communications major since i'm so interested in speech and debate?"

Yes.  I'm a Communications: Debate/Rhetorical studies major and I love it.  But only be a comm major at a school with a respectable DISTINCT rhetoric track... I feel like my Comm major's rep as an "easy major" can hurt (even though I'm at a highly-ranked public school and my program is well-known) because I'm in the same major with the performance art, documentary filmmaking, interpersonal comm, organizational comm, speech and hearing, etc. 

Also:
Come up with alternate career plans and decide what the lowest you'll settle for is (would you go to a provisionally accredited or non-accredite law school?)

You've got a long, long way to go before you're at the LSAT decision point, but if you want to get started take a cold practice test under testing conditions so you'll have a good diagnostic score (to know where you started).  This will give you a better ability to determine which schools you may get in and if it's worth it to you -- you can go up 10-20 points on the LSAT from your diagnostic, but don't plan on going to anything higher than your diagnostic until you've got a higher score in hand from the testing service.

Main piece of advice is just to be REALISTIC. Reach for whatever your goals are but know that applying to law school will destroy your ego anyway, so it's better to be honest with yourself first.  Miracles happen, just not to everyone. 

[shae]

I just discovered this site today and i've been reading on the boards for the last few hours. I am a 3rd year community college student. My grades were decent out of high school, but my 2 year plan to transfer out of CC turned into a 3 year plan. I will be transfering to a University this coming fall. My grades are currently horrible: barely making a 2.7. I am a political science major and I am truly interested in international relations as well as foreign policy. I am also a member of my school's debate team and I love argument, logic, and debate. I enjoy reading and I have started to party less and read more recently. I have also reformed my study habbits and have been getting straight As the last two semesters. I want to go to law school mainly because I enjoy debate as well as philosophy and also because my parents can financially support me until I get through law school. Here is a list of my questions, I would appreciate any honest answer to any of the questions:

1. Am i hopeless case?
2. Should I switch over to a communications major since i'm so interested in speech and debate?
3. Since I wasted an extra year in community college, have my chances of acceptance gotten any worse?
4. Should I go to University of California in Santa Barbara or California State University in Northridge?(UCSB is harder than CSUN but also more prestigious and more expensive. I feel as though I will have more time to prepare for LSATs if I go to CSUN and it will be much easier for me to get straight A's.)
5. Should I be studying for LSATs? If so, how should I get started?
6. What type of books/authors should I be reading in preparation for law school and LSAT.
7. What type of law should I be interested in? Do I even have to decide now?
8. What should I emphasize/change in my study habbits?
9. Is there a light at the end of my law school tunnel?(I am not the perfect student, and I don't have perfect grades. Should I give up on law school?)
10. Anything else you would like to suggest?

I know its a lengthy list and some questions may be trivial, but I feel as though some answers to these questions would truly guide me and other prospective law students as well. I look forward to reading your take on my situation and I plan on utilizing this web site as a resource for my future endeavors.
Thanks!

you are fine- just keep your GPA up

[Sweet Tea]

"you are fine- just keep your GPA up"

Shae's got a 2.7 at a community college. It totally depends on what law school Shae wants to go to and what he/she wants to do with the degree on whether or not everything's fine...

[1Laspirant]

Shae,

I was a CC student as ann UG and transferred from my CC to a decent university. While my stats aren't anything to brag about necessarily, I have gotten into several schools that I know I'd be proud to join.

I'd say the major is less important than really, really bringing up that GPA. While it's way early (as another poster noted) to start studying for the LSAT, it wouldn't hurt to begin working on developing some of the basic skills that the LSAT tests and that all law schools look for: good, fast reading comp. skills, logical reasoning skills and argument skills. You could also get a book such as the Logic Games Bible (I wish I'd used this book, because I've heard some people get some great results from this). You can start playing with the logic games on your free time, and that might help you.

That's my two cents. That and a $1.50 might get you a cup of coffee. Don't sell yourself short. Do as well as you can with your GPA and those skills, and (as another poster noted) have a backup plan.

Good luck....1LA

[jorge]

I spent 4 years at a community college--in part because I was screwing around, but mostly because I was working a lot.  There was a time when my GPA was less than stellar, as well. So far as I can tell, it hasn't hurt me too much. Get your GPA up and prepare well for the LSAT. Given your interests and goals, I'd consider philosophy for a major. In the end, LSAT scores matter more than GPA for law school admissions, but you have more control over your GPA than your LSAT score.