Uh oh.

[jman888]

Ok i a m a Sophomore in high school and recently decided i want to be a lawyer one day. Have pre moving always got 3.4+ GPA and been in the best of my advanced classes. But moved a few years a go and was mad and let my grades slip.

Am now trying to get a 3.5+ and know in the future will score high on sat's Etc.(Always have got in the 95 percentile on most big tests. Its what im good at)

Do you think i could still get into a top school and then a top law school if i cracked down and stopped slacking now and could get a good law job (And not be doomed and stuck doing something unrelated and crappy.)

or should i choose something different.

[syntheticapriori]

going to a top undergrad only moderately increases your chances of being accepted at a top law school.  bottom line, do the best you can in undergrad and study hard for the lsat.  those two factors alone are paramount.

[Ender Wiggin]

going to a top undergrad only moderately increases your chances of being accepted at a top law school.  bottom line, do the best you can in undergrad and study hard for the lsat.  those two factors alone are paramount.

Yeah--your undergrad school doesn't matter that much.  How you do there matters. 

[Astro]

Debt from your UG should be a huge concern, since a top LS without a scholarship will cost you ~150-200k these days.  Go to a school where you can pay very little.

TITCR

Go to the cheapest, best school you can go to.  Kick the *&^% out of your UG courses.  Study hard for the LSAT and get 170+.  Your high school grades don't matter. 

[jman888]

wouldnt going to like a top college look bettor on a resume

[dashrashi]

wouldnt going to like a top college look bettor on a resume

It might look slightly better under some circumstances, but the importance of that is miniscule compared to your GPA and LSAT. Just do well in college and on the LSAT.

[starfish86]

I couldn't agree more with all of the posters who are advising you to save $$$ on undergrad and then aim for the top law schools by grubbing up a stellar GPA and an excellent LSAT score. This is exactly what I wound up doing, and since I am now just as admitted to Harvard Law as those who attended pricey Ivy League undergrads, I couldn't be happier about this decision. Other than the top rungs of legal academia, which I think might be somewhat difficult for me to attain without an undergrad degree from a "name" school, I believe that my college choice won't have much of an impact on my career prospects in the legal field.

As an added bonus, because attending a more affordable but lower-ranked institution will most likely make you something of a big fish in a small pond, you may be able to develop close relationships with professors who are impressed by your comparatively exceptional academic abilities. This can lead to great recommendation letters!

If you're not entirely sure that you want to practice law, however, this might not work out so well for you. I feel that the best thing you can do for yourself to determine if you will eventually be able to get into a top law school is to take a properly timed LSAT PrepTest and see how you score before selecting a college with the goal of ultimately attending law school in mind. I took my first timed PrepTest during my senior year of HS just to see how I would do, and when I revisited the exam to commence serious prepping during my junior year of college, my initial diagnostic score had increased by all of one measly point.

If you score in the 160s or above on your first timed test, I think you've got a good shot at being able to work your way up to the 170s with further prepping. If you're below 145, in my opinion it will probably be a struggle for you to get your score into the range that top schools (assuming that by "top" we're talking "top 14") look for, and you might want to consider other careers if you're determined to attend a top school or not go at all. Good luck! 

[dashrashi]

Are you out of your mind.

No one needs to take a practice LSAT "just to see" while they are still in high school. The LSAT is very learnable. I think the vast majority of people could learn to do very well on it given enough study time, and four years is far, far, far more than enough.

OP, do not take a practice LSAT.

[jman888]

Are you out of your mind.

No one needs to take a practice LSAT "just to see" while they are still in high school. The LSAT is very learnable. I think the vast majority of people could learn to do very well on it given enough study time, and four years is far, far, far more than enough.

OP, do not take a practice LSAT.

im still thinking i will check out a few books tomorrow on the lsat because 1. others in my class are already studying. and 2. i could see the job market being supercompetitive in the future and i need all the dazzle i can manage.
any online sites to study on?

(seriously i see the market for stuff being a near bloodbath depending on who you listen too or be awesome if you listnen to others.

then again they say medicine will blow up in bad and good ways (Lotta openings though) and they say it could implode because of advanced level nurses (do most everything a doctor does but for 1/4 the pay) they say that could kill potential doctors. oh well if all else fails there ibanking (nobody knows about that or really cares. and its something im decent at(Well stock market is something i play around with and love it)

law is my fav carrer and ibanking is a good backup for me. I love both but find law more something i could be near the best at where ibankers are crazy workers and would be a bit much work for me (Lots say hours from 10a to 10p.) But it is more money then law(But money doesnt influence me that much i know whatever i do i will make good money. Actually that is conforting to me because i used tow worry a lot but now i know whatever i do i will make enough and should do what i love to do.

[dashrashi]

Fine, make yourself miserable. My advice for the sane continues to be that only the non-sane think about the LSAT in high school, and that only the stupid and obsessive continue to do so after having been told about the futility and wastefulness of doing so.