Law school students probably have had a lifelong ambition of becoming a lawyer – they are incredibly focused individuals who have taken steps throughout their life to get them to where they need to be. These steps begin in the high school days and continue throughout their career in Law, a highly competitive but rewarding field.
If you are a student and want to go to law school, don’t waste your high school days – the hard work begins now! On the other hand, law school applications are lengthy processes, so it’s best not to stretch yourself too thin. Find a balance between high school classes and college prep, and remember to take time off!
Here are some tips for students who are aiming for law school.
Learn how to research
This can be as simple as taking AP classes that require heavy reading, writing, and research. These skills will be invaluable for you throughout your law school life and your career afterward. You should know by now that being a lawyer isn’t all what we see on the TV- it’s not just arguing in court and shouting ‘objection, your honor!’ Instead, the law profession requires a lot of research – reading and understanding heavy, difficult texts, and using skills like skimming and scanning to extract key details or the broad argument of the text. As a lawyer, you’ll be expected to be familiar with the law (duh!) so familiarizing yourself with difficult texts is a must.
Moreover, you’ll need to strengthen your writing and referencing abilities, too. It’s a good idea to get a head start on these abilities before law school begins!
“Many students suffer from a low GPA in their freshman year as a law student simply because they don’t know how to write college-level essays,” says Euan Rios, an educator at Writinity and Researchpapersuk. “Those grades can be the difference between being accepted into a good law school and a great law school.”
Having these skills shows law school admissions officers that you’ve worked towards building the skills you need to get into law school. This shows them you are serious about your studies. AP classes show on your transcripts, so be deliberate with which classes you take.
Broaden your mindset
Majoring in the humanities isn’t necessarily an advantage when it comes to progressing into the law profession. Although a humanities major will certainly give you the essay writing and research skills you need, a science major might show you as a more well-rounded individual who can contribute to a more diverse law school student body.
Don’t forget your extracurriculars
“There are a whole range of extracurricular activities you can take that will not only stand out on your resume, but help you build the skills you need for your law degree,” says Dollie Adams, a legal writer at DraftBeyond and Last Minute Writing. “Consider taking activities like debate club, which will help you miles in debating and developing your logical thinking skills, and some more ‘out-there’ extracurriculars too.”
Some hands-on experience never goes amiss: if you can take a summer job or internship in a law firm, courthouse, representative office, or elsewhere, this will hugely help your law school application. That’s because you’ve gained some real-world knowledge about the law profession!
Although not the most glamorous way to spend a summer, it is invaluable for both your own knowledge and experience and for law school admissions offices and future employees.
Don’t overwork yourself!
Spending all your time planning for the future is sometimes unhelpful – you need to focus on the present, too. You still have classes, college applications, AP exams, SAT or ACT prep, your hobbies, and your social life! Try and focus on a few at a time and don’t worry too much about getting into law school – if you work hard, it will work out.
Overloading yourself not only leads to you becoming anxious and stressed but can hurt your grades and burn you out before you’ve even graduated from high school!
Like many things in life, law school is a competitive process, but over-preparation can be worse than not doing any at all! That means not studying for your LSAT whilst you are in high school – you have plenty of time to worry about that later!
Author information: Cheri.S.Jones is an aspiring entrepreneur and business writer at Luckyassignments.com and Gumessays.com. She has been involved in many daring business projects and managed to find success.
