<p>Guys I genuinely appreciate your concern for my social well being and skepticism that I will get into the T4 law schools but if worst comes to worst I’ll come out of a decent UC with a bachelor in a decent field that I can get a job in. It’s not like I’m studying family relations/social work and will get a 20k starting salary. Originally I wanted to go the 4.0 psychology route because psych was going to be an easy GPA boost major but now I’m thinking about computer science, petroleum engineering, and materials engineering. Even though my GPA will probably come out to be lower than if I was doing psychology, the overall safety of jobs and high starting salary of those majors is extremely promising should I realize that a future at a T4 LS is not correct or possible for me. And on the flip side, I’d only be about 20 in the meantime.</p>
<p>Jimihendrix, speaking up in class or even to other people doesn’t mean you’re not socially awkward. The most socially awkward person I know is the biggest contributor in class and loves to talk to people. The problem is HOW he talks to people: everyone is put off by him because speaking to him is strange and uncomfortable, and he has no friends as a result. Hence, socially AWKWARD.</p>
<p>Gold3n you REALLY need to get your priorities straight. Call prom trivial and pointless and don’t go, that’s fine if you want. But having friends and a social life is NOT trivial, it’s critical to being healthy and happy. I really think you should speak to a professional about rearranging your priorities because you are going down a VERY dangerous path. It’s good that you have definitive goals, but think about it: if you get to Harvard Law, what’s the point? Your goal, like almost everyone’s, is to ENJOY life, and by your unhealthy practices you are forsaking that.</p>
<p>Do I care? No. I’m receiving great grades, have a great relationship with my family, and enjoy myself in solitude. I wouldn’t give that up for anything.</p>
<p>“Also the reason why I prefer HLS over Yale is just the public name of Harvard”</p>
<p>No. Just no.</p>
<p>I haven’t actually read most of this thread, but op sounds just like me. </p>
<p>lol</p>
<p>Finished preptest 24 tonight, 171. Ick. Never mind guys, maybe I need more practice because that was way below what I thought I could do. I was going for over 175 which did not happen obviously. Back to the drawing board. My Saturday night I guess will be filled with 5 hour energy drinks, taco bell, pencils, and a mighty serving of LSAT questions on the side…</p>
<p>“If your grades go down substantially when you transfer, you’re not getting into a top school. LSDAS DOES give you a cum gpa, but when you go to 2 different institutions, it also calculates a gpa for each institution. If your gpa from the degree granting institution is lower than your cum, it’s going to hurt.”</p>
<p>Is this really true? I’ve always read that law schools only care about cumulative GPA because they want to keep their GPA averages up. One law school book I read went so far as to say that they don’t differentiate between community college courses and hard science courses at Caltech. Also, what would be considered “go[ing] down substantially”? What if he went from a 4.0 at CC to a solid 3.6 at a top 20 or top 10 university with an equal number of credits at both? Would this not be considered a 3.8?</p>
<p>I don’t know much about law school admissions, but it reminds me of something I read in Princeton Review’s “Cracking the System.” What they said was that college applicants are like politicians: they need to be ambitious but should try not to appear ambitious. </p>
<p>I think this is a good point. No politician ever says that he really wants power and prestige and that’s what motivates him. Instead, he will blather on about wanting a life of public service; wanting to make a difference in the world, etc. Even though it’s almost certainly a complete lie.</p>
<p>Similarly, I would guess that with law school admissions, you probably don’t want to seem like a gunner.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would guess that’s true. </p>
<p>The whole thing is kinda ridiculous when you think about it. I’m pretty confident that the halls of Yale and Harvard are full of gunners who very calculatingly planned things out to maximize their chances of admission, which plan includes obscuring their machinations. </p>
<p>I remember my old roommate in college was like this with med school. In addition to the usual biology and chemistry classes, he carefully chose and took bunch of classes in some other subject, like art history or literature so that his major would not be biology or chemistry. He was not particularly interested in literature or whatever it was, it was just a scam to enhance his med school applications. And it worked.</p>
<p>lskinner, I wouldn’t really call it a “scam” to increase chances per say but more like “calculated plan.” It’s completely honest and smart from a aspiring grad school student’s stand point to rack up the GPA/courses for the sole purposes of grades and major. After all, undergrad is a means to an end for the grad school hopeful and honestly doing whatever it takes in undergrad even messing with the system with questionable honesty is fair game and recommended as far as I’m concerned.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would call it a scam, since my roommate was feigning interest in a subject which did not interest him at all.</p>
<p>That said, I agree it’s not unethical. Any moral culpability belongs with the admissions committees with their silly preferences.</p>
<p>The fact is that there’s no shame at all in being ambitious per se.</p>
<p>(1) Get the highest grades and the highest scores all you want, but if you’re not old enough or schools perceive that you’re immature, you will not even taste a whiff of the T10 law schools.</p>
<p>You seem rather immature from this thread alone. If I can gather that much from some forum posts, you’re in deep trouble with an admissions committee.</p>
<p>(2) Even if you manage to fool an admissions committee, and you somehow earn good grades at a top law school, you will have to interview in person for your job. Sociability counts as much as grades at even the most selective firms, and I’ve seen too many people not get jobs simply because they lacked the personality. </p>
<p>And practice interviews don’t really cut it. Becoming sociable isn’t something that happens overnight. You can’t cram for it. Being sociable is a habit or something you develop over time. You develop this by meeting people, developing relationships, and generally being someone who can stand to be with you for more than a few hours at a time.</p>
<p>“(1) Get the highest grades and the highest scores all you want, but if you’re not old enough or schools perceive that you’re immature, you will not even taste a whiff of the T10 law schools.”</p>
<p>I agree with flowerhead; even graduating one year early from college is a significant turn off for many top law schools, let alone taking such an accelerated route.</p>
<p>flowerhead, you seem to be getting really critical about some personal aspects about my life. How about you let me worry about those “problems” that you perceive. I highly appreciate you expressing your concerns about my ambitions although I feel they are extremely misunderstood since you do not know me on a personal level.</p>
<p>If being even one year younger is such a turn off then let me find that out the hard way. I simply asked about LSAT scores on this thread.</p>
<p>What do your parents think of this? It’s great that you have life goals, but don’t go so fast through life that you miss the little things. Everyone is guilty of this from time-to-time and foresight is certainly good. But, for the love of god, you’re a bit ahead of yourself. One day you will look back and realize all the things you missed out on in life because you were so single-minded.</p>
<p>I’m an introvert, really focused on academics and my future, and I generally don’t have to go to huge fraternity parties to have a good time, but even this seems ridiculous to me. You’re going to burn yourself out, I find it hard that anyone can exist without social interaction with friends, or even acquaintances. Humans are social beings.</p>
<p>I would agree with that last statement. Being an introvert isn’t a problem, but I would recommend finding some acquaintances or if possible, some “friends” (they don’t have to be close or anything). I have never been invited to “hang out” with a friend (like at a party, going to watch a movie ect.) in recent years, but when I see people I know and like to talk to, we have a nice chat once in a while. </p>
<p>So I don’t believe that you need to have meaningful or particularly close relationships with other people, but I think it is a good idea to talk and be generally sociable with others, even if your conversations are superficial.</p>
<p>Guys guys, I think everyone is getting the wrong impression of me. I just don’t party. I by no means live in a cave with dim candle light and ragged beard studying for the LSAT. Today I went to a birthday party for one of my friends, yesterday I went out for lunch with another buddy, and tomorrow I plan on going to my college class after school. I definitely try to live a decently balanced life. I understand your concerns and appreciate them, but really, let’s just talk LSAT secrets to getting 180s. I am decently social enough, maybe not enough, but definitely not a cold, robotic isolationist.</p>
<p>“I have all the powerscore bibles and I pretty much eat, sleep, and breath solely to get into HLS (and no I am not ■■■■■■■■, I legitly have no friends nor look forward to going to prom this year, I just don’t care at all) so that was the reason I made this thread. All serious answers are welcome.”</p>
<p>Your post #4 definitely left the wrong impression. Glad to hear you’re maintaining balance. It never hurts to have goals, on the old theory that if you reach for the stars you may end up on the moon. I think people are just trying to help you realize the odds are against HYS, even for top applicants. Keep track of successful applicants for your target schools on law school numbers as you go through college, and good luck with your LSAT.</p>
<p>Thanks Neonzues, sorry that was a slight bit of exaggeration, I just wanted to portray my determination but I guess that left the wrong impression. I was trying to emphasize how much I care about my education, not that I would take a bullet straight through my brain to get admitted to HLS. </p>
<p>So back on topic, what are some tricks that I can use to get my score up higher? What did you guys with the 180s do to get that coveted score?</p>
<p>Truthfully, natural intelligence combined with practice and drilling can only ever really get you up to a 175 or so. I hate to say it, but beyond that it’s just luck. There’s no way to guarantee a 180.</p>
<p>It cannot be impossible. If there is one person that can do it, it will be me. I am determined and will not relinquish this endeavor. I will make you guys have confidence in me and that confidence shall not be in vain. But you guys must wait a bit more because I am not done with my major yet. I have 11 courses to go and plan on taking 3-4 each semester at a UC so I got some time left.</p>