<p>So I will be a freshman at a top ten lac in the fall. For a long while now, I have had my eyes set on H, Y, or S Law School. My understanding in regard to admissions is this:
-LSAT score is <em>REALLY</em> important
-GPA is really important
-Your profile and application (i.e. how you present yourself) are also key
-The things you do besides study and sleep also play a role (albeit a smaller one)</p>
<p>Is this accurate?</p>
<p>My question is this:
Is rowing in a pretty intense (and year round) rowing program worth it?</p>
<p>It would be about an 18 hour a week commitment. On top of school and work study, this seems like a lot.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with year round sports combined with academics? I am afraid if I get involved with the crew team it could jeopardize my grades. </p>
<p>Will the decrease in GPA outweigh the benefit of having rowing on your resume?</p>
<p>Is this just too shallow sounding? I like crew, but I would like to get into my top choice of Law School more.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input, time, and what not.</p>
<p>I had the chance to meet Anita DeFrantz a few months ago. She and I were invited to make presentations at a UCLA public policy class.</p>
<p>If you are not familiar with her background, she is a current member of the International Olympic Committee. She received an Olympics medal in rowing (I forget now which one) and was competing in rowing WHILE ATTENDING LAW SCHOOL AT PENN.</p>
<p>I was a coxswain at the UW-Seattle (class of '80.) I completed my BA, political science, in three years and went directly into what is now the Evans School of Public Affairs for my MPA, emphasis public finance. An MPA education isn’t as rigorous as law school, bit it’s no cake walk (I actually was allowed to take a class on taxation from the law school and did well.)</p>
<p>I swam in college, varsity. Practice started in September and went through March. I did it for 2.1 years. It really screwed up my academic and social life. I ate after everyone else, then I had to nap, then I was up late every night to get my work done. I did go to law school, but my grades could have been better in college had I not been involved in such a time eating sport. I thought I was having fun doing the sport, but looking back on it now 35 years later, I should not have done it. But others managed to do everything. My swimming certainly made skiing easier when I started skiing after quitting swimming. At my college, when the water was frozen, the crew teams ran stairs – up and down the 22 floor building on campus across from the boat house. They also rowed indoors in the tank. Crew guys I knew whined a lot about practices, but liked winning. Many people droped it after freshman year. I am not aware of any law schools that have any sports teams, so if you’re going to do it, do it in college, or wait until you can buy a one-man skull when you eventually get your lake house retreat.</p>
<p>My sense is that the kind of people who get into YHS law school do so despite very demanding EC schedules. Look at how many people they draw from HYP undergrad. It’s practically unheard of for people at HYP undergrad to just focus on their grades without a significant activity. Nobody does that (maybe some scientists whose big activity is research).</p>
<p>There is intramural rowing at HLS (not sure about the others) – in my class, it was mostly UG rowers.</p>