lawyers and law students help me out!!...(please)

[checkyourprez]

Hey guys,

I know there are some of you on the board. After a lot of thinking and soul searching I have decided that I want to go to law school. I’m taking the LSAT's in June and I plan on taking one of the preperation courses when it gets a little closer to that. I have a couple questions if you guys wouldn't mind.

Other than a course for the LSAT’s, is there really anything else I can do to prepare?

I would like to practice environmental law, do schools specify in certain types of law, and do you know of any with a concentration in EL (or at school thais particularly know for it)?

Comparing law school to your undergraduate education, what are/were the differences in terms of difficulty, work load, ect?

As hokey as it sounds, I honestly would appreciate anything that would help me out on my journey. Any other bits of advice just lay it on me. I’ll probably have questions about your response anyway, so once again thanks in advance.

CYP

[Bob]

Hey guys,

I know there are some of you on the board. After a lot of thinking and soul searching I have decided that I want to go to law school. I’m taking the LSAT's in June and I plan on taking one of the preperation courses when it gets a little closer to that. I have a couple questions if you guys wouldn't mind.

Other than a course for the LSAT’s, is there really anything else I can do to prepare?

practice exams! find old exams or practice exams, and take as many as you can. make sure you take them in a simulated environment too; sit down, set a stopwatch (part of what makes the LSAT hard is the time limit), don't listen to music or anything else, just make like you're actually taking the test, so there won't be any surprises when you go in to take the real thing.

a lot of people have trouble with the logic games section (i know i did). apparently something called the powerscore logic games bible is one of the best things you can buy to learn how to do them, so check that out if you're having trouble with that section.

take more practice exams! i know i said that already but it's really the best way to prepare for the exam.

I would like to practice environmental law, do schools specify in certain types of law, and do you know of any with a concentration in EL (or at school thais particularly know for it)?

i'm not quite sure about that actually. i don't know if schools are particularly famous for particularly good legal areas. i know that the one i go to touts itself for its public interest program, but i'm not sure if other schools are specialized like that.

really the best advice i can give you for choosing a law school is, pick the best one that you get accepted to. maybe choose a lower ranked one if you want to practice in a particular area, but definitely try to get into the best law school you can. i didn't realize how important law school prestige was during my application process; i even got accepted into a tier 1 and turned it down to go to a tier 2, which apparently was a dumb thing to do but i'm still not sure i regret it because i like the location i'm in right now.

but anyway yeah, get into the best law school that you can, and then people will be more willing to hire you. the us news and world report rankings seem to be the thing to look at.

Comparing law school to your undergraduate education, what are/were the differences in terms of difficulty, work load, ect?

definitely a lot more reading to do in law school. and you kind of have to do it, too. i barely read anything or showed up to class at all in college, but that definitely wouldn't fly here. that's because when it comes time for exams, you basically have to know every single thing that you learned in the course, and if you skipped a reading/class about a subject, you have to go back and make it up and try to understand it yourself or hope a classmate can bail you out with notes or something.

studying for exams is a lot more arduous than it was in college. you have to sit down, go through your notes, and put everything you know into an outline. most exams are open book, so you're allowed to have an outline with you; it behooves you to spend a lot of time on it so that it's as useful as possible.

i mean it's not as bad as they make it look in the paper chase or anything (or maybe it is at harvard, i wouldn't know) but it is pretty damn hard, you do have to do a lot of work.

[Gareth]

study hard
pass exams
get money
keep listening to ja rule

seriously though, i think its a good thing that you know what area you are interested in and want to practice in.

[checkyourprez]

ha no doubt. definatly dont hit the boards enough to keep my stats up to date though.


but yea on the law part yea i just like the enviornment. id like to keep it how it is, id like to save the planet in a small way, as corney as that sounds.

[Tompz]

Turn on. Tune in. Drop out.

[like2_drink]

bob, what field of law are you studying? you seem to know your shit lol, what year are you in?

[Bob]

i'm a 2nd year, but i still don't know what kind of law i want to do. i'm in a criminal trial practice class, and i'm really enjoying it, but i'm thinking that actual criminal cases would be a little less enjoyable, i don't think criminal law is for me. i am getting interested in litigation, though. so something in that area, i'd hope.

[like2_drink]

right on man, thats good to hear youve got a perspective on things. im rockin uni. right now, first year. im only there until i can attempt the LSAT, i was wondering which field id attempt if i were interested in like contracts, estates and wills. seems like the right area for me.

[Documad]

I would like to practice environmental law,
I strongly suggest that you volunteer for a while doing something related to environmental law before you go to law school. The best thing would be to volunteer someplace where you hope to work after law school. Many people get all the way through school and then get their first job as a lawyer before figuring out that it wasn't what they want to do with their lives. Volunteering will also give you something on your resume and maybe even help you get into a better school. It will also help you know whether being a lawyer is really the best way for you to have a positive impact on the environment. I have doubts about that.

I practiced environmental law for a while but I wound up on the side that helped polluters. That's what many environmental lawyers do.

Of course, if we get a new president, perhaps some day we can start enforcing environmental laws again and there may be more job opportunities. ;)