Starting list for pre-law

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Retired law firm partner here. Your kid is only a HS sophomore and you're looking at pre-law programs? You might want to ease off the gas a little.

Rest assured that if your child continues to perform in high school as s/he is now and tests as you anticipate, plenty of doors will open up at strong colleges and any one of them and any major chosen will be fine for law school admissions purposes. All that will matter is the general reputation of the college, the GPA and the LSAT score. That's it. There's no magic formula and no particular course of study needed.

Thanks Gramps! Back to your hard copy WSJ.

I'm in my 50s, thank you. And I retired early from a law firm that I have a strong hunch never would have hired you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went to a top 10 law school and the editor in chief of our law review went to Montana State. Go where you like, just be sure to get good grades. Law school teaches a new way of thinking, so IMO there’s very little “prep” work other than finding an area you may like to focus on and helping establish that expertise (finance, environmental, etc)

You are exactly right.

-- Gramps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Retired law firm partner here. Your kid is only a HS sophomore and you're looking at pre-law programs? You might want to ease off the gas a little.

Rest assured that if your child continues to perform in high school as s/he is now and tests as you anticipate, plenty of doors will open up at strong colleges and any one of them and any major chosen will be fine for law school admissions purposes. All that will matter is the general reputation of the college, the GPA and the LSAT score. That's it. There's no magic formula and no particular course of study needed.

Thanks Gramps! Back to your hard copy WSJ.

I'm in my 50s, thank you. And I retired early from a law firm that I have a strong hunch never would have hired you.

Or a younger partner on the committee that counseled you out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Retired law firm partner here. Your kid is only a HS sophomore and you're looking at pre-law programs? You might want to ease off the gas a little.

Rest assured that if your child continues to perform in high school as s/he is now and tests as you anticipate, plenty of doors will open up at strong colleges and any one of them and any major chosen will be fine for law school admissions purposes. All that will matter is the general reputation of the college, the GPA and the LSAT score. That's it. There's no magic formula and no particular course of study needed.

Thanks Gramps! Back to your hard copy WSJ.

I'm in my 50s, thank you. And I retired early from a law firm that I have a strong hunch never would have hired you.

Or a younger partner on the committee that counseled you out.

Huh?

[Anonymous]

I am a younger attorney and everything that Gramps said is still exactly right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to a top 10 law school and the editor in chief of our law review went to Montana State. Go where you like, just be sure to get good grades. Law school teaches a new way of thinking, so IMO there’s very little “prep” work other than finding an area you may like to focus on and helping establish that expertise (finance, environmental, etc)

You are exactly right.

-- Gramps.

I would just add to this that studying philosophy is great prep for the LSAT. I was a philosophy major and I am confident that that training in analysis and logic helped me do well enough to overcome my pretty mediocre background with a great LSAT score. Helped a lot in law school itself, too. May be a bit of a chicken and egg, though - I liked philosophy because I liked that type of thinking. But yes, I would recommend your kid go where they like, study what they are interested in, and take at least a couple of philosophy classes.

[Anonymous]

I'm used to the divide between "CS" and "comp sci," but how did people decide it's "poly" sci? I mean, it's not more than one science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get into a SLAC such as Williams, Amherst, and Bowdoin, it would be best. Your child can hone individuality there. For prelaw, I would highly recommend Bowdoin where students are collaborative rather than cutthroat.

Thank you! Those are all on the list. Along with Swarthmore. It’s really great to hear some of these comments. Much appreciated.

Consider a philosophy major because it brings together analytical thinking, strong writing schools, and logic. Philosophy majors do very well on the LSATs.

https://nationaljurist.com/prelaw/classics-philosophy-majors-do-best-when-it-comes-getting-law-school/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Retired law firm partner here. Your kid is only a HS sophomore and you're looking at pre-law programs? You might want to ease off the gas a little.

Rest assured that if your child continues to perform in high school as s/he is now and tests as you anticipate, plenty of doors will open up at strong colleges and any one of them and any major chosen will be fine for law school admissions purposes. All that will matter is the general reputation of the college, the GPA and the LSAT score. That's it. There's no magic formula and no particular course of study needed.

Thanks Gramps! Back to your hard copy WSJ.

I’m curious what you think is wrong about anything pp said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get into a SLAC such as Williams, Amherst, and Bowdoin, it would be best. Your child can hone individuality there. For prelaw, I would highly recommend Bowdoin where students are collaborative rather than cutthroat.

Thank you! Those are all on the list. Along with Swarthmore. It’s really great to hear some of these comments. Much appreciated.

OP, I'm sorry, but this is complete nonsense. Your child does not need to attend any on of these schools to get into a good law school, and Bowdoin is not any more special than the rest of them.

Glad someone said it. Save the money for law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm used to the divide between "CS" and "comp sci," but how did people decide it's "poly" sci? I mean, it's not more than one science.

it’s probably autocorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get into a SLAC such as Williams, Amherst, and Bowdoin, it would be best. Your child can hone individuality there. For prelaw, I would highly recommend Bowdoin where students are collaborative rather than cutthroat.

Thank you! Those are all on the list. Along with Swarthmore. It’s really great to hear some of these comments. Much appreciated.

OP, I'm sorry, but this is complete nonsense. Your child does not need to attend any on of these schools to get into a good law school, and Bowdoin is not any more special than the rest of them.

Glad someone said it. Save the money for law school.

Gramps here. I said it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The discussion about patent law is a good point. Intellectual property firms will usually want you to have a hard science background. I think the patent bar has a list of science or engineering degrees that permit you to sit for the exam.

I learned this the hard way when I was a law student in the mid-90s. I was interested in this new thing called "the Internet" and thought maybe I could work a legal career around it. That's when I learned about the IP/hard science connection. My poli-sci/history background didn't qualify.

You only need to pass the patent bar to practice before the USPTO. Plenty of IP litigators are not members of the patent bar (at least not if you define it as having a USPTO reg number)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a younger attorney and everything that Gramps said is still exactly right.

Thanks. It's all pretty simple, really, and certainly not anything that a high school sophomore or their parents need to get too worried about. I should add, though, that the poster who called me Gramps is a good example of why going to law school or being a little can be a pretty challenging profession. So many needlessly mean and nasty lawyers out there. While my career certainly was a lucrative one, I don't miss being a lawyer one bit and don't recommend it to anyone who asks for my opinion.

[Anonymous]

being a lawyer, not being a "little". ha ha