Lawyers are a fixture on the nightly news. They're seen regularly on popular television shows such as "Ally McBeal," " Law & Order" and "The Practice." Jerry Seinfeld jokes everyone is playing a game and lawyers are the only ones who know the rules. But, after seven years of education, lawyers have to know something, and you can know it too.
The road to a law degree is a long one. Law school applicants must excel in undergraduate studies, perform well on an admissions exam, and convince law schools they have what it takes to learn the law.
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) is a good starting point for prospective students. The site provides information on the admissions process as well as the services provided by LSAC, which nearly all law applicants will use.
A typical full-time law program takes three years to complete. Part- time and evening students finish the degree in four. Getting into law school is a competitive process. In his book, "Master the LSAT," John Martinson states that in a typical year about 100,000 applicants compete for fewer than 50,000 seats.
Law schools want students who are intelligent, motivated and likely to succeed. Martinson's book says schools use two things to assess a student's abilities: the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) score and undergraduate GPA.
The LSAT is administered four times a year. It tests logical and analytical reasoning, reading comprehension, and writing ability. Many bookstores carry LSAT study guides for under $20. LSAT prep classes exist, but can cost up to $1,000. The fee to take the test is $90. Sample questions can be found on LSAC's web site under the free sample test link.
Applicants are required to have an undergraduate degree for admission to law school. According to LSAC, law schools will consider applicants within a variety of majors. What they consider to be most important is how well a student does in courses that require writing and problem-solving skills.
Some undergraduate universities offer what is called a pre-law degree, but Dr. Robert Gill, Radford University's pre-law advisor, recommends a broader program of study. "What you want is a pre-law advising program, not a pre-law major," he said. Having good GPA and LSAT marks is just the beginning. Applicants must choose from more than 175 law schools and begin the application process. Each school will want official academic transcripts, LSAT scores and letters of recommendation. To simplify this process, applicants use the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS), also found on the LSAC Web site.
The LSDAS acts as a central collector of an applicant's information. Instead of sending transcripts and letters to every school, applicants send them to the LSDAS. Upon request, the LSDAS forwards certified copies of the transcripts and other information to the desired schools. Almost all American Bar Association approved schools require applicants to use this service. A 12- month subscription to the LSDAS costs $95, which includes one law school report. LSDAS charges $9 for each report issued to additional schools. Minorities interested in law school can find further help through the Council On Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) formed by the American Bar Association.
Minorities have always been under represented in American legal professions. According to LSAC, no minority group accounts for more than four percent of the lawyers in the United States. CLEO provides pre-law recruitment, placement assistance and training to members of under represented groups. According to the CLEO Web site (http:// www.abanet.org/cleo/) the CLEO program has put more than 6,000 economically disadvantaged students into law school since 1968.
Law school isn't cheap. An education in the law can cost more than $20,000 a year, not counting expenses. According to LSAC, most law students use federal and private loans to pay for their education. Each school is the best source of financial aid information since the school determines the type and amount of aid a student receives.
Repaying the tuition loans isn't a problem for most lawyers. The median starting salary for 1998 graduates was $45,000 a year, according to the National Association for Law Placement.
For students interested in a law education, Gill conducts a pre-law information session twice a year at RU. The next session is on March 19 at 7 p.m. in Davis Hall, Room 151. For more information, call 831-5534.
Upcoming LSAT test dates at Virginia Tech:
Monday, June 11, 2001
Saturday, Oct. 6, 2001
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2001 (Saturday Sabbath Observers)
Saturday, Dec. 1, 2001
Monday, Dec. 3, 2001 (Saturday Sabbath Observers)
Saturday, Feb. 9, 2002
Monday, Feb. 11, 2002 (Saturday Sabbath Observers)
Visit www.lsac.org for registration, fees and more information.
Radford University's Pre-law information session:
March 19, 7 p.m. in Davis Hall, Room 151
Name: Dave
Name: Dr. Doom
Comments:
BAH! In Doom's coming world order, all lawyers will be placed on time platforms and dispatched to the era of dinosaurs. Then there shall be only one law, and that will be the law of...DOOM!
Comments:
And then after that you have to listen to bad lawyer jokes for the rest of your life. Good job Dave.