+1.
Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 01/07/2011 2:34:07 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
My son is in his last semester at Georgia Tech. He scored in the 99th percentile on his LSAT and his GMAT and he wants to go to law school with a possible double major in business (he said that would take him 1 extra year). He is obviously intelligent and motivated.
Unfortunately he's reached a point where intelligence and motivation doesn't count for much. He's trying to get into a top-tier school and it seems like if you don't have a parent who graduated before you or some incredibly good connections the odds are stacked against you no matter how well qualified you are.
Have any of you who have beat the odds and made it into a graduate program at one of the elite schools any tips to share on how he can increase his chances of getting accepted? Is it the way you write your application letter, or if you can find a judge to clerk for, or some internship that will make you stand out? I don't have money or connections, all I can do is pray for his success. Last I heard he was applying to Stanford, Duke and Emory. TIA for any advice.
If he can play the tuba he can get a band scholarship. You cannot have a marching band without the tuba.
Vanderbilt is in the top 25 business schools and has a 3-year joint Law/MBA program.
I also say that your son should be prepared to find a marketable specialty and to start his own practice upon graduation. Many law graduates cannot find jobs now. Most law graduates are not prepared to start their own practice.
Why are you and your son so concerned about entry into an "elite" school when there are scores of equally good law schools around the country?
There's no "secret way in" to those schools, they either take you or they don't and it usually is predicated on their academics .........
For what it's worth, my nephew had to wait a year following his graduation from Williams College before he was accepted into University of Michigan Med School but that gave him the opportunity to go to Europe and play semi-pro hockey for a year. The reason he wasn't originally accepted was due to the students who were accepted that were not only older but already had advanced degrees.....After U of M then the University of Pittsburgh and ultimately Harvard's school of Thorasic Surgery.........He did it on brains and hard work, no connections......
As much as I want to make this political, if your son has good grades as well, he’ll be fine. Don’t worry and good job on raising your son.
No offense, but last semester of undergrad is a little late to be trying to enhance a law school application. Only exception is if he’s willing to wait a year or two and get some real world experience. If so, I’d recommend the Peace Corps or teaching public school in an urban area.
Another possibility: find out if any of his former professors have a good track record of landing students in good schools and seek out a recommendation.
If his applications aren’t already completed and turned in, however, he’s going to be at a huge disadvantage this cycle.
Vanderbilt had better give this individual a scholarship ;)
She took her LSATs in October and scored a crushing 150. She took them again in December and scored a 162. That should be good enough for a top tier. That being said however, some other things need to be considered.
Most professsional law jobs are filled with graduates of said law school in the area within a 25 mile radius. My daughter is chosing University of Memphis, because the federal district court, State Court, Shelby County Court, and Memphis munuicipal court are all in the same four square blocks. Working as a clerk while in school is equally vital. There will be plenty of volunteer work as part of her school, offering legal aide to those entities.
The cost of law school needs to be considered as well. We are not well heeled blue bloods with trust funds. We paid cash for my daughters undergrad, and took out no loans or obtained any grants. We don't believe in that. She did get several academic scholarships based on her performance at school. That made up about 5% of her total undergrad costs.
We had to select a law school which had tuition at or below $20,000 per year.
Good luck with your son's journey.
“Peace Corps”
Just as long as you never want a security clearance, perhaps.
Well, without the bagful of money as stated above, you could
try a Masters in Sweden....
http://www.studyinsweden.se/Scholarships/Erasmus-Mundus-in-Sweden/
If he has any interest in international trade/law/contract law... find a state Uni in the US, find a professor to be an advisor for a custom Masters, and travel to Europe for degree program, on the European taxpayers’ dime. Looks great on CVs when returning to the States. Cheap as you pay only minimal US State Uni fees, ...
NYU Law is pretty unbiased in regards to admissions, they simply only take the best, your son would be in the hunt.
Germany, Norway and China also have free tuition programs for postgrad foreigners.
http://www.ntnu.edu/ is one of the best Universities in the world, and it is free to your son if he applies early. http://www.ntnu.edu/studies/international/master
Come out of there with a business related Masters and return to a ANglophone Uni for his Law degree....
Lots of options out there, not sure if the US is going to be the place to have a degree from in 10 years.... I’m in my 30’s, considering all of the above myself, including Australia’s Foreigner masters degree/residency program too.
If Obama wins reelection... Washington DC will be the place to be for the next 5 years... the Federal bureaucracy will grow and grow... places like Georgetown and GWU and U of V and U of Delaware become very attractive options.
... and yet we really don’t need any more lawyers. Remind him about the forced sterilization of lawyers that is coming! See if he reconsiders an honest living.
I digress here briefly:
I was on a plane into Chicago. Sat next to a nice young woman. Probably in her 30s. Told me she was a lawyer. I was nice. Later told me about her new kid. Then mentioned her husband was a lawyer.
I couldn’t take it any more.
Me: “Wait. You said you were a lawyer. Your husband is also a lawyer? AND you have a kid?”
Her: “That’s right.”
Me: “I thought lawyers were allowed to marry, only if they didn’t reproduce?”
Her: silence. Great rest of the flight...
i doubt my 2¢ will count, but here goes.
don’t.
instead of plugging into the elitist/super-leftist world of ‘top-tiered’ schools, activate your brain. live life and learn from your expieriences. capitalize on those experiences!!!
would you rather pursue the path taken by the likes of 0bama or Bill Gates?
I'm not sure if that's a new trend or not, but that's what my daughter found. She's temping in finance until the fall. She's been working with insurance laws and the prelude to Obamacare with a consulting firm. It's a job getting clients ready for Obamacare compliance.
I agree. The only way I would consider being an attorney would be a trust or tax attorney. Develop into doing a financial advisory business. An attorney I know does alright as a sole practitioner with no secretary. He does business transactions, leases, some trust work, real estate, etc. His prices are very fair and he is honest which is almost impossible in the legal field.
Large firms - disgusting. They just bill and bill and have no clue what they are doing.
I don’t know if any colleges give out full scholarships unless its for a football player or a minority.
Don’t worry about a top-tier school for undergrad. The key is to get into a top grad school program (e.g. Harvard MBA or Berkeley Law). To do that you’re much better off getting A’s from a lesser school than you are getting B’s from an Ivy League school.
I do not know about law school, but I review candidates for a top-tier program in the health care arena. Aside from grades (everyone has them), we are looking for scholastic achievements, such as tutoring, research activities & publications; health related experience, such as work or volunteering; leadership in community related programs, especially in our area; scholastic achievement, such as deans list and honors societies; strong/creative communications skills in the essay department; and letters of recommendation that support the above along with integrity and values. Hope this helps a bit.
+1.
Don’t bother. I have a BA and an MA from an Ivy League University and I call tell you that they are way over-rated and have little effect on how much income your child will earn.
Don’t bother. I have a BA and an MA from an Ivy League University and I can tell you that they are all way over-rated and have little effect on how much income your child will earn.
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