Long post, please read and help me with a question about admissions into Law School.

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>To make it short and simple, but not so short and simple…
Currently: 23 years of age, attend SUNY Stonybook, known for their sciences and medical internationally. Majoring in Computer Science.</p>

<p>Previously I had a really rough time getting through a portion of my undergrad…
1st year, flunked out of one school.
2nd year, flunked out of a second school.
3rd and 4th year attended a community college and have a 2.8 GPA.
This here is NOTHING to brag about by any means. But I feel the more honest I am, the more honest of an answer I will receive.</p>

<p>Heres the catch, 1st year and 2nd year, I owned my own Graphic Design firm coming right out of high school. Was doing well with it, then the Design bubble burst and alot of the companies that were clients ended up ditching us and hiring inhouse designers for a fraction of the price…</p>

<p>My 3rd and 4th year, I managed to get through with a 2.8 all I needed to get my foot into Stonybrook, so thats what I shot for, and recieved that gpa when I graduated with my associates from there, with the mentality that I will focus on a fresh start when I enter SBU.</p>

<p>Another catch, my 3rd and 4th year I traveled the country while doing my work in a very successful band. Playing to 1000+ people almost every night of touring, which we did quite often. And I feel like I saw and accomplished alot.</p>

<p>**So here are my few questions (also I would like to just take the time to thank anyone who has read this far into my post)</p>

<li><p>I read on here that grad, or law in particular look at all undergraduate institutions, first I was pretty bummed about that considering that they are going to take into account the community college I attended for two years. Are they also going to focus on my first two years?! I really hope not. And will some of my entrepreneurship spirit shine at all on my applications? Will my “artistic” accomplishments shine? Should I even put either of them?</p></li>
<li><p>Youre all probably asking yourself, why is he choosing law school, or is he serious?? The truth is, at SBU ive been here and recieved a 3.8 this semester, and it is said to be my “toughest” semester here in the CS program, where the first year the CS department shakes the tree a bit to weed everyone out. Will this matter in a year and a half, my grades from SBU?</p></li>
<li><p>Also I took an old LSAT and I recieved a really really good score. Will this matter also? I know LSAT is the deciding fact, but I guess what I am really asking is, If they do take into account my first two years, then look at my 3 and 4th…but then see my determination of the remaining years of my undergrad…will a good LSAT score give me enough to put me in? And will me reading this 500 page LSAT prep book be a waste of time even if I did recieve a perfect score?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks to anyone who has made it this far.
I appreciate it so much</p>

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<p>Playing in a band and running your own business sounds more fun than law school. Why switch gears? Keep playing music, and find something else to do on the side, would be my first advice. </p>

<p>However, while I don’t know anything about SBU, I can tell you that if it’s a real university (or close), and if you get good grades for two years there, and IF you get a great LSAT, you’ll almost certainly be able to get into law school. </p>

<p>The LSAT the most important thing, and even though they obviously look at grades, etc., they also look at grade trends. A 2 year positive grade trend, combined with a good LSAT, should put you in pretty good shape for admissions. </p>

<p>Obviously, your earlier grades (and dropouts) won’t help. But you can always chalk that up to being young, immature, unfocused, etc. As long as you have more recent concrete evidence of academic achievement, and a good LSAT, then you should have some options. </p>

<p>Your business experience, and your musical experience, should both make you a more interesting applicant as well. </p>

<p>Again, I’m not sure if law will really be a positive direction for you, if you enjoy your current lifestyle. But if you want to be an attorney, I do think it’s still within your reach, provided you do well your next two years, and score well on the LSAT.</p>

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<p>I had a lousy undergraduate transcript. Particularly tanked one year. I don’t remember my primary college gpa but it was certainly not impressive. 7 years later I was accepted to top tier law schools including my first choice, U of Ch, a school renown for its emphasis in academic achievement. Now I had top LSAT scores, and I had been taking all sorts of courses in that time that raised my cumulative gpa including all schools to well over a 3.5. I had experiece in benefit consulting and worked with a number of law firms. I could pinpoint areas of law where I was more familiar than nearly any attorney. I would not recommend my path, but I can tell you that I know a number of adults who ended up in med school, law school business school, grad schools, all top tier who did not do so well initially at college and raised their gpas taking courses once they finished college and showed demonstrated interest and proficiency in a related field of study. Also very high test scores are helpful. However, age 23 seems awfully young to have the weight of wisdom and knowledge and having turned a new leaf help you out. I was nearly 30 and those I know who have been successful that way were even older. My friend in med school is 50+!</p>

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<p>thanks so much or the replys so far…
cardozo, thanks alot for your help/criticism. I have always been facinated with the legal system. Music is a love, but just as though golf may be someones passion, being a pro golfer, or working at a golf course may not be someones ultimate goal in life (not saying that goal is a poorly chosen one, just that maybe they have other career goals in mind). As a computer science major, I love it, basically I have worked for a software firm for 3 years, and was hired im not going to lie, luckily because my uncle is high up in the ranks and landed me a job. Even the month here and there I was on tour, I was doing work from the road. I love the study of algorithms and thinking analytically, its fun for me. I also love reading, and I recently joined the debate team. I love business also (hence me starting a design firm that did fairly well, and running my own booking company on the side that I still run for weekend concerts). I feel that BS in computer science, and a joint JD and MBA is my best route. It will make me more rounded which ultimately I would like to be, for my own goals.<br>
I appreciate yours and ‘jamimom’s’ reply, it is a help. Not as though I was looking for…YES!! youll get into Yale! But its nice to hear that as you start maturing, and start feeling what is right and wrong, its nice to know that what you did in a short but very important maturing first 4 years out of highschool wont be the focal point of my application. That yes, LSAT and two more years of doing well at a larger, somewhat credible university will keep me in the run.</p>

<p>Another short question, College of William and Mary, ranks around 25-30 in a few law school rating systems. Any opinions on that school, think that could pose as a “safer bet” as far as getting in?</p>

<p>Again, MUCH appreciated, any other replys are welcome also.
Thank you</p>

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<p>IF you are going to go ahead with law school, (and considering that you seem to get bored with things fairly quickly, I would really consider this before going ahead with it) then you should really take advantage of the addendum that most schools allow you to write to explain your first few years. I would then also focus on your entrepreneurship and interesting experiences in your personal statement. </p>

<p>The real questions here is what your LSAT is. There is a calculator on the <a href=“http://www.lsac.org%5B/url%5D”>www.lsac.org</a> web site where you can plug in your lsat and gpa and see what schools have similar stats. If your lsat is outstanding as you say it is (meaning 170+) then yes, you should have a shot at William and Mary, as that should balance out your GPA. But no law school is ever a guaruntee, so apply to several schools.</p>

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<p>Fish,</p>

<p>I was playing music professionally seven nights a week right before I went to law school. I’ve been practicing law for 20 years. For five years or so after I started practicing law, I performed with bands two or three nights a week. Seven years after I started practicing law, I sold my interest in a thriving partnership to devote more time to playing music. I went back to practicing law full time after the band I was playing with broke up. Six years ago, I put my performance career on hiatus when the first of my two children was born. I now work in-house for a software company, drafting and negotiating complex licensing agreements.</p>

<p>That’s a round-about way of saying I know where you’re coming from. Financial success playing music is precarious, and ephemeral. I know several musicians who played with bands I used to hear on the radio regularly, who now support themselves by working in retail. It’s good to have a Plan B when the steam goes out of your musical career, or you just get tired of life on the road.</p>

<p>Yes, law school admissions committees look at all your grades in college, and your LSAT score. If you do well on the LSAT, and maintain high grades at Stonybrook, you’ll be in the running for some decent law schools. Not Yale, but schools that will prepare you just as well to practice law. (The chief advantage of going to the schools at the top of the pecking order is that doing so increases your odds of getting a job with a big law firm where people work 70 or 80 hours a week. I’m guessing that sort of a life wouldn’t particularly suit you anyway; it wouldn’t have suited me.)</p>

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<p>Before I saw Jamimom’s post, I was going to suggest taking some time off… so now I’ll be redundant and suggest taking time off. If you apply to law school at age 23 or 24, the student you were at age 20 is still a fairly relevant factor in admissions. If you apply at age 26 or 27 or 30, having done very well the last few years of college and done well in post-graduate work (courses, stuff at night for a masters, etc), then you can really say that you’re just one of the late bloomers, but you got yourself together. </p>

<p>Law school is VERY numbers-oriented. I’m a chemical engineer from a good undergrad with a few years of good work experience, and I had a rough go of law school admissions - even with an explanation of medical issues which were beyond my control and wrecked havoc on my grades. I can’t imagine trying to go the same route with the explanation of immaturity/other endeavours instead of things like chronic pain that went undiagnosed for two years. </p>

<p>Not trying to discourage you - but, in retrospect, I think I would have had an easier time of admissions if I waited a few more years - just too impatient for that route. </p>

<p>As for W&M, check their website. They have a GPA/LSAT grid. Use the cumulative GPA for all undergrads (which is what they will use), and find your projected (realistic, not optimistic) LSAT. My guess is that you’ll have between a 1 in 5 and a 1 in 10 chance of getting in - it’s a really good school that favours Va. residents (being a state school). B/B- cumulative GPA, LSAT around 170, if I recall, will put you around a 1 in 15 chance of getting in. (Those were my stats, and I was thrilled with my waitlist.) For W&M, get your cumulative GPA up to at least a 3.2 or so.</p>

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<p>First, I want to apologize for my earlier conditional statement about SBU – I somehow missed your intro statement where you described it. Clearly, as part of the SUNY system, it’s a “real” university, and your grades there will have impact with adcoms. (More so than your CC grades.) </p>

<p>Secondly, I certainly meant no crticism of you, and I realize that music can rarely pay all the bills. And, again, I think you’ll be able to get into law school, and probably a top-tier school if you really want to.</p>

<p>However, I do still think this is something you should consider more first. You say you “love” computer science. Most attorneys don’t love their work, and many have trouble finding jobs in their field. When you tack on the enormous investment that law school represents for most people, I would generaly discourage anyone who is happy in their profession from entering the law. (It’s a lot of money to pay to simply become more well-rounded.) </p>

<p>However, only you know what your real interests and motivations are, and maybe you would in fact be happier as an attorney. (If you just want another credential, I’d go for the MBA, which will be easier and cheaper.) I did personally find legal study interesting and fun, though I’m not sure I’m in the majority. I’ve also met some businessmen who said having a J.D. gave them additional credibillity, though again, this is a lot of time and money for a little credibility. </p>

<p>So just make sure it’s what you really want to do. If you’re not sure you want to practice, and just want the education/experience, there is one option you should consider. If you ace the LSAT, you should have scholarship options at a number of schools, regardless of grades. (Many schools simply want to boost their numbers.) So if your focus is on the education, experience and degree, as opposed to definitely getting a job with a higher-paying firm, then you may want to look for a full-ride at a somewhat lower-ranked school. On the other hand, if you’re committed to working in a firm, you’ll probably want to attend the best school possible, unless you get significant scholarship money from a comparable school. </p>

<p>One thing you could also do, of course, is combine your computer science interests with the law. Working in an area of intellectual property might be good for you, as I imagine there’s plenty of copyright and patent issues related to computer science. </p>

<p>Ultimately, you do seem like someone who’s intellectually curious, so I’m sure you’ll do fine, as long as you’re pursuing something that engages you.</p>