Considering Law School? Perhaps You Should Reconsider
My Experience with the Law Field, the LSAT Test, and a Plug for Public Policy
I purchased my LSAT books and begin preparing for the all important. The LSAT is an aptitude test that is required for entrance to law school. Unlike the SAT, ACT, or GRE, which end up being a small factor, the LSAT is a major factor in the admissions process. To law schools, the one-day LSAT test tells whether a student will be a good lawyer. The test is so important, many students spend over $1,000 dollars for a professional to teach them how to do well on the test. Others study and practice the test over and over again. One student who lived near me studied so hard, he was missing sleep and getting sick. The LSAT is generally considered equally with the college GPA, making the test hugely important in the law school admissions process.
My goal was to score around 160 (about the 80th percentile of LSAT test takers). With my GPA and that LSAT score, I could get into a top law school that wasn't Ivy. Northwestern University, Boston College, and Boston University came to mind. With a 160 LSAT, I would be almost assured of $125,000 per year.
Well I bombed the test, scoring in only the 57th percentile. Not good. To be fair, many students dole out more than $1,000 to be taught to take the LSAT by a professional, and I didn't. But regardless, this was a terrible score for me, essentially ruining my prospects of going to a top law school. They put a lot of emphasis on one day!
Around that time, I had been reading One L by Scott Turrow. I recommend this book to all who aspire to law school, even though you might end up deciding law isn't for you. This book gave me a feel for the realities of law school. There's a certain culture to the law field. Long hours, tedious work, ultra-competition...all stuff that I realized I wasn't particularly interested in. Why would I want to join a field that made me compete this much just to get into the school? I had to study this hard and spend over $1,000 dollars, just to do well on an entrance test? Law school clearly wasn't for me. And I'm glad I realized this before I wasted money on it.
In the end, I chose to go to graduate school in the Public Policy field. It's more laid back, and idealistic. With jobs in public policy, I feel like I am making a more meaningful contribution to the world. But the pay is much lower. For unsure but aspiring law students, I suggest looking more into public policy schools and then deciding which route is best for you. Don't go blindly into law school just to find later that law school wasn't for you. Soon I'll be writing an in depth article on public policy school. If you'd like to read it, just click on my name to see my other articles.
So I decided law school wasn't for me, and that I wanted to go to policy school. But I had one more task to complete before I could be done. Since taking the LSAT the first time, I didn't study, prepare, or spend any money to have somebody teach me how to take the test. But I retook the LSAT, and scored 159 (78th percentile), which was what I intended to score originally. I just wanted to show that I could do it, and that my original score was an aberration. Good test, huh? Good thing students study so hard and spend so much to prepare for the test. Good thing this erratic test makes or breaks one's prospects of attending a good law school. (I'm being sarcastic).
Yes, I definitely made the right decision. I don't want to be a part of the field of law.
Published by Scott Schlimmer
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- The LSAT test is as important as grade point average to the law school admissions process
- I scored in the 57th percentile on the LSAT the first time.
- After that, I didn't study or prepare any more. I retook and scored in the 78th percentile.
40 Comments
Post a CommentIn my opinion obtaining a "Law degree"
can be very rewarding. It doesn't tie you down to just practicing law but "OPEN DOORS" to numerous employement/business opportunites.
"Yes, I definitely made the right decision. I don't want to be a part of the field of law."
I love how you came to this conclusion only after the field of law said that it didn't want you! First of all, no you don't have to spend $1000 to take an LSAT prep course; you could do self study, join your undergrad school's pre-law society (If they have one) and study with peers. That's how most students do it. Furthermore, the LSAT shouldn't be so hard for you if law is your natural calling; analytical and critical thinking skills are things that come naturally to a person, they are hard to teach. And you have weak ambition if you let one bad LSAT derail your goal of law school. In fact, you said so in the opening of this piece, that you didn't know what you wanted to do with your life. Bingo. Some of us law students actually have a drive and passion for the law and not just the paycheck that comes with a law degree. Allison's comments are exactly right. The point of the LSAT is t
Judging by all of the grammatical errors in your column about how you decided to do something easier only after failing to work hard enough to succeed, I would also have to agree that the easy way out was right for you. Why would you want to make more money when you could just settle for public policy? Beats me.
You were part of the system. The system relies on weak individuals like yourself to drop out. The LSAT is used to weed YOU out. So in a way, I should say thank you. You have made my dream possible. :)
Grr, why is this one of the top hits that show up when you search for Considering Law School. The idiot who wrote this only whines.
Yea, you "decided" not to go to law school only after you were limited to bad schools by your LSAT score. It seems like you wrote this article just to make yourself feel better about your poor performance.
This article is rather obtuse; I'm not sure if you're writing skills are solid enough for a career in law anyhow. Best of luck.
Do we really need an article telling someone that getting into law school will be difficult, and that law school itself will be even harder? I feel like I'm reading the Onion.
those law school prep books are horrible..I don't see how explaining why the person who bought the book shouldn't go to law school is law school prep. Imagine how many great lawyers decided not to because of these pessimistic assholes...
I think some of you missed the part where I got the score I was shooting for.
Apparently, studying for the LSAT didn't teach you how to write even a single decent sentence in your native tongue. A 'top student' you must surely have been.