Considering law school can be an immense investment; therefore, you should carefully weigh all of your options when making this decision. Your family may depend on you financially as well as be aware of the higher living costs in many locations.
Finding the appropriate law school can be intimidating, yet essential in finding your ideal match. Unfortunately, no single undergraduate major, activity, or background guarantees acceptance into law school.
Location
An investment of time and money, earning a law degree requires significant time and money. Many students pursue it to change careers or as the easiest path toward repaying student loans – but doing so could push you toward decisions you may have otherwise thought unwise before enrolling, as well as harm other aspects of your life.
Location can make a significant impactful statement about the experience of law school. For example, if employment law is of particular interest to you, consider attending a law school near major employers so as to gain hands-on experience and network. Furthermore, international law requires consideration of schools with active alumni networks or partnerships with foreign law schools.
Experienced law school students know that making connections is central to their law school journey, which is why it’s vitally important to research each school on your list and speak to as many individuals as possible in order to gain an accurate picture of its student body and campus culture. Review sites can also be useful; just remember these should only serve as one data point.
Additionally, consider how committed the school is to diversity through recruitment and retention efforts, mentoring opportunities, and student body diversity. A diverse student body and faculty will enrich your education as you are exposed to different clients as a lawyer. Finally, examine its history in helping students secure jobs or internships after graduation.
Specializations
Law school can be an intense and emotionally draining experience. Before making the leap into law school, it’s wise to explore whether attending would help achieve your goals and whether there might be more promising alternatives available to you. Unfortunately, many law students feel as though they made the wrong choice when their grades decline or their career takes unexpected turns.
Specialization is another viable strategy when searching for work. A legal specialty can set you apart from other candidates and make you more attractive to employers; additionally, it may allow you to pursue work you find exciting and meaningful. Deciding upon one can be challenging, but attending campus pre-law events, applying for relevant internships or taking part in law school clinics are great ways to find one you enjoy!
An ideal pre-law major should include English – written communication is central to legal practice and English can develop critical thinking skills essential to case analysis and writing legal documents; history provides insight into past laws and their predecessors; psychology provides insight into psychological forces driving human behavior; sociology provides knowledge of how groups behave as laws are guidelines on how people should behave within them;
Labor and employment law is an expansive field that covers representing employees, employers, job applicants, or recruiters in matters such as overtime pay, parental leave and compensation. Labor and employment law often overlaps with immigration/naturalization/corporate/healthcare law as well as issues such as discrimination/sexual harassment/employment law if applicable.
Cost
Cost is one of the primary factors in selecting a law school for prospective law students. Tuition may be the main expense, but additional expenses such as fees and deposits can quickly add up and significantly increase total debt accrual. Be sure to factor all associated costs before making your final decision and research each school you are considering thoroughly; some are highly-ranked for offering strong programs in specific legal disciplines while others stand out due to academic rigor or diversity recruitment and retention initiatives.
Culture of a school should also be taken into account before enrolling. Some law schools boast of more competitive student cultures that may benefit those who thrive under pressure; however, others may find the environment stressful or discouraging; therefore it’s wise to assess this before making your decision.
Finally, when choosing the appropriate law school to suit your desired area of practice, location can be of vital importance. Private practice firms that specialize in your desired practice area will need to be close by for you to operate effectively and gain hands-on experience as part of their externship opportunities. Furthermore, community service and student groups offered by each law school provide invaluable networking opportunities and demonstrate to potential employers your passion for helping others.
Letters of Recommendation
Letters of recommendation play an integral part in law school admissions decisions, so make sure that those you select can speak to your strengths as a student and future lawyer; such individuals could include professors, academic supervisors and TAs for seminar courses. It is wise not to select recommenders with too high of an authority figure in your community as law schools tend not to take seriously boilerplate letters from Senators or CEOs.
General guidelines allow applicants to submit up to two letters of recommendation, though three or more is preferred. If you need help selecting which professors to contact, consider reaching out to former instructors who know about your interest in law school; most will gladly help out and write strong letters on your behalf.
When seeking letters of recommendation, be prepared to supply your recommender with all necessary materials. This will allow them to highlight your skills and qualities as well as give concrete examples of your accomplishments. It’s also important to remember that recommenders can be busy people; be sure to arrange meetings well in advance of any deadline for submission of applications.
Before making your final choice, take time to research each law school’s career outcomes. Compare employment stats of students who graduated from each program with those of graduates in similar geographic regions, then pick one known for placing its graduates successfully into private practice, government work and public interest work positions. Also take into account its curriculum and extracurricular activities as well as how much tuition you can afford each year.
Bar Exam
An investment in law school should not be undertaken lightly; you should carefully consider your goals for using it and whether the field you’re interested in fits with you personally. Being a lawyer requires complex intellectual work that demands high levels of rigor – without an ideal mindset in place, law school could become overwhelming and cause burnout.
If you know exactly how you plan to utilize your law degree, law school may be an appropriate route. But other options should also be explored – for instance if your goal is not practicing law but instead working in research or academic positions then an LLM would give you the credentials required for these roles.
Keep an eye out for a law school’s size and quality of its student body and faculty as this will determine how much one-on-one interaction there will be with professors as well as your overall classroom experience. Also consider what legal niches the school specializes in as well as how well it prepares its students to take the bar exam.
Make sure that you are on an upward trend with both your GPA and standardized test scores, to ease the admissions process for law school. The ABA recommends checking LSAC grids to see the range of UGPAs and LSAT scores of admitted students at each school; this information will allow you to identify dream schools, realistic schools and safe schools, while tailoring your application.
