Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Making Your Way Through Law School Preparations

Deciding to follow law as a career path is a very admirable; however, going through the schooling process requires a lot of preparation and focus. Becoming a lawyer is no easy task, especially with the amount of testing and applying one must go through to get into a great school and program.

This is not a profession that allows much last minute decision making and preparing. The majority of students that choose to go to law school have been preparing to do so since they were very early into their college career.

Maintaining exceptional grades and taking courses that will be applicable is very important, especially as you are going through the application process. There are many different undergraduate majors that will be applicable and appropriate for those who hope to take this career path.

The American Bar Associating (ABA) does not necessarily recommend any specific major during the undergraduate years. However, some of the more popular studies for law students are political science, social science, history, philosophy, English, and business.

The more an individual studies social society and practices, as well as language, problem solving, and critical thinking, the more likely they are to be prepared for the LSAT and everything that it requires. Those that want to successfully make it into graduate school must maintain a high grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0.

They must also score in the fiftieth percentile or above on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and have very strong and suitable letters of recommendation from professionals and professors that have been able to get to know the student and their work ethic. Very often, individuals are also required to submit a statement of purpose describing their strengths and talents and what they hope to accomplish with a law degree.

Each school requires different application materials and scores depending upon how credible and prestigious they are, but the previous mentioned parts are usually present in the process with any campus. If you are seriously contemplating becoming a lawyer, make sure that you first understand the work and preparation that is required of it.

Not only does it call for a lot of preparation and studying, but you will also have to prepare financially to be able to afford graduate school. Often, law programs are quite pricey and require a lot of dedication and seriousness if one is going to sacrifice the monetary amount necessary to pay for schooling.

The first preparation step is to take the LSAT; this, itself, is a pretty hefty part of the process and will call for a great deal of study time. It is not just a test that one can breeze through without very much preparation.

The test is only offered four times a year, once each season, so be sure to plan quite far in advance. The more notice you give yourself, the more time you will have to study.

If you are unsure about how to tackle the LSAT, try enrolling in a weekly preparation course; they are offered on many campuses throughout the United States, and some will not even cost you a penny. Professionals who create and score the test highly recommend those who are going to take it to also enroll in a course so that they can get to know tips and tricks regarding understanding the sections.

It will also give you a better understanding of what you are up against and possibly help you to earn a higher score than you would if you had not been enrolled in class. Students that are applying may want to also register with the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS), because they will gather all of one's information like transcripts and test scores and send them to campuses they hope to attend.

It is a good idea to spend a great deal of time on your personal statement. Not only do you want to make sure that it is grammatically correct; it should also be intriguing and unique to set you apart from other applicants.

Find the best recommendations that you can, and ask for them far in advance; professors and co-workers are already doing you a favor by writing one for you. You do not want to put extra strain on them because you procrastinated and neglected to ask for their help early enough to submit the recommendation before the deadline.

Applying for law school can be an exciting process. Prepare yourself ahead of time and try your hardest to set yourself apart!