What's the difference between a Pre-Law Major and law school?

Dustyfeathers
Fri, 20 Nov 2015 16:38:55 +0000

Law school in the US is a graduate degree. First you do a BA (4 years) in any major. JAMCAFE was right. Then you apply for law school. Law Schools tend to be 3 years in length to earn your JD degree (juris doctorate). There’s also an LLM and a JSD (equivalent to a PH.D.). It’s best to get into a top law school for your JD because 1) cost of attending is high for all law schools (meaning loans) and 2) top law schools tend to attract top recruiters and you will get a good-paying job to pay the loans (the school offers serious networking opportunities) and 3) if you decide to go into public interest law (which tends to not pay well), top law schools tend to have loan forgiveness programs. Because employment statistics vary greatly from law school to law school, you should research thoroughly what percentage of graduates work in a field requiring a JD degree, rather than say go into bar tending because they can’t find law work. Most schools post their stats prominently–I think they’re required to. The ABA also lists employment stats for schools. Expect to score in the 98th percentile or above on the LSAT (the entrance exam) if you hope to attend a top law school. The schools themselves don’t have score cut-offs, but the competition is such that your fellow law-student wannabes will have pounded their heads against LSAT practice tests so much that you’ll have to score at that level to beat them in order to get into UMich, Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley, etc. If you decide that you want to go to a smaller or lesser-named school, plan to be in the top 10% of yoru class so that you can get a decent job. The jobs market tends to have two means. One at about $160K starting salary and one at about $50K starting salary. Being in the top 10% guarantees that you’ll be in the top group and so can pay your school loans, unless you are in public interest and your school offers loan forgiveness.