All of Your Law School Questions, Answered

Last week, I asked my instagram followers for all of their law school + law school admissions questions. Here are all of those questions answered, rounded up in one post!

• Best way to prepare/self study for the LSAT? + Any tips for studying for the LSAT? You can find my entire blog post on this subject here. I can’t really speak to self-studying for the LSAT because that isn’t the route I took. But my main tip is practice practice practice! In order to increase your score, you need to learn and improve from mistakes, and you can only do so by practicing and scoring your exams. This way, you can learn how to conquer specific types of questions better. Take practice tests frequently but make sure to score them and figure what kinds of questions you are missing and why you are getting them wrong. Taking full length practice tests also helps you to build up the patience and stamina to sit through the real thing.
• What was the hardest portion of the LSAT for you? I struggled really hard with reading comprehension. I was consistently bombing those sections and doing perfectly well on logic games/logical reasoning. Also sitting through that long of an exam is tough and even taking practice tests every weekend leading up to it didn’t help me enough.
• What did you major in for undergrad? Is there a major best for law school? I majored in environmental policy, which gave me a good mix of environmental science and political science. There are definitely some majors that might give you more knowledge complementary to what you’ll learn in law school, like political science or philosophy, but really try to pick a major that interests you instead of what you think is best for an application. There is definitely not a “right” or “best” major for law school. You can have any major and apply! Law schools love having a diverse group of majors in their student bodies.
• What classes do you think helped you the most being pre-law? I want to be an environmental attorney so this answer is super specific to me and my interests. I took an undergraduate environmental law course and that was definitely my most helpful class. I came into law school having already learned the basics of the environmental law course I am in now. Another class that was helpful for me was environmental assessment, which basically taught me all about CEQA/NEPA (environmental stuff, again) and the details of what goes into environmental impact reports. It honestly depends on what kind of law you’re thinking about doing! If your college has undergraduate classes on law (business law, environmental law, legal writing, etc.) you should try to take one! And then generally, some political science, english, and philosophy classes could be good to take in undergrad. I would try to consult with a pre-law advisor if you have one at your college.
• Is there anything I can do to prepare as a freshman in college? My best advice is to join some organizations or extracurriculars (not too many) and put effort into them and make connections with other students. Also, plan out your courses on an academic plan with your advisor/counselor in order to plan a smaller workload for the semester/quarter you’ll be studying for the LSAT (timing discussed in my blog post on the LSAT). Other than that, enjoy college for now!
• How did you prepare to ask for letters of rec? and how many did you ask for? I have a full blog post on this topic (find it here), so i’ll just give some tips briefly: Establish good relationships with your professors AHEAD of when you have to ask for a letter of rec. Go to office hours, email questions, and maybe even discuss your interest in applying to law school. Make sure to keep in touch with professors by emailing them semi-frequently if you aren’t in their class anymore, or try to find another class they teach to continue the in-person interaction. Ask them for letters of rec way in advance of when you need them (I’m talking add a month of time from when you need it to give them time to write it) To answer the second question, I asked two professors for letters, and two professional connections (intern supervisors). Applications will often specify if they want academic, professional or both.
• How many schools did you apply to? I applied to 10 or 11 schools, I forget the exact number. All but one of them were in-state (All California and sent one app to Arizona). I chose to apply to 4 or 5 that were my “safety” schools, a few right in my zone, and a few that were more out of my league. I think this is a good number, but you can certainly do more/less depending on your finances (there are application fees).
• How do you know/plan which schools to apply to? The way that I could determine what schools were my safety schools, in my zone, and out of league was by looking at my LSAT score and GPA. Then I would go to see what each school’s median LSAT and GPA were. If it was right around my LSAT score, it was in my zone. If their median was far below my LSAT score, it was a safety, etc. Although your stats are not a complete indicator, it’s a great place to start to see if you’re going to have a chance to get in because law schools really care about these two numbers. I would even say your LSAT score is more indicative than your GPA, and some would say your LSAT score matters five times more. I had a lower GPA than the medians most of the time, so I didn’t let that stop me from applying somewhere. This also largely depends on your major. For a bachelor of science, for example, the admissions team might be a little more lenient of a lower GPA because you take tough classes.
• Do you have to know what area of law you want to go into before starting law school? Absolutely not! There’s people who don’t even know what area of law they want to go into when they graduate law school. Everyone gets the same degree, so you don’t have to declare or choose any area. If you have an idea of some areas of law you might be interested in, you can take upper division courses to learn more once you’re in law school and join organizations tailored to those interests.
• Do I need to know I want to go into law school while i’m still in college or can I decide to apply to law school later? You can absolutely apply later! A ton of law students take time off between undergrad and law school, either to work for a bit or because they simply had a chosen career path and changed their minds. There really isn’t a pro or con that I’ve personally seen for applying right from undergrad versus taking some time off in between (aside from perhaps the financial aspect and having time to save up some money for law school tuition).
• What is the average age/yrs of work experience of your classmates? The ages of my classmates range quite a bit, from early 20s for those who came straight from undergrad (they call us K through JDs) to ages upwards of 40! I’d say the average age of the students is mid 20s (the last entering class at UC Davis had a median age of 24). Most people who took time off between undergrad and law school have 2-3 years of work experience. Side note: Work experience does NOT have to be in the legal field. People have all kinds of jobs before they come to law school! For example, I have some classmates who were in the peace corps, worked at media companies, and some who had jobs in tech sales. The K through JDs obviously come straight from college with no “real” work experience, but most have done at least an internship or something equivalent during their time in college.
• What are some good resources to help with studying during law school? I pay for a subscription to Quimbee which is essentially spark notes for law school readings, but only to supplement my own notes and understanding (not to get lazy with readings). They also have good videos and practice questions/exams for studying a TON of different subjects! Another resource I always find myself going to is Examples and Explanations. They have supplement books on most law school subjects and really explain the concepts in an easy-to-understand way. They also come with practice questions. My law school has them available to borrow through the academic success program, but you can also find them on amazon and the older editions are usually fairly cheap. I would check with your law school because they likely have supplements like this available to check out either through an academic office of the library. The last resource that I find very helpful is youtube. There are a handful of channels that explain law school subjects in very simple terms and they are lifesavers for studying! My favorite is Studicata. I would say just search whatever subject/concept you’re studying and something will likely pop up.
• What’s the hardest thing about law school? For me personally it’s just the amount of reading we have assigned in each class and having the patience to sit and read them all the way through. Some cases are either boring or way too long, or both.
• Do you think you’d be able to have a pet during this? Many of my classmates have pets (dogs, cats) and find time to play with them/walk them! I think it’s also a great way to de-stress. And hey, maybe if pets aren’t your thing, try becoming a plant mom 🙂
• Do you have tips for managing time? I have a post on how I stay organized which touches on this! Linked here. I think everyone operates differently, but for me, I sticky-note everything I need to accomplish, write out due dates in a planner, and dedicate specific blocks of time for various tasks like doing the assigned class readings, attending lecture, and working on summer internship applications. There’s more on scheduling in my blog post linked above. Other than that, it really just comes down to your own level of motivation and efficiency. Time is easier to manage if you’re able to sit and study without wasting a ton of time. I pop in my headphones and play the Spotify “all nighter” playlist to get my work done.
• Do you feel like you have enough free time? I have a lot of free time when I choose not to study HAHA. But really though, if you’re motivated and on top of your work, your weekends should be completely free with the exception of any weekend law school competitions or events. I always choose to relax and recharge and spend time with my significant other/family on the weekends. This is only possible by getting all of my work done on the weekdays and by managing time well! I will note, however, that when the midterms or finals start coming up, the “free weekends” idea goes out the window.
• Do law schools offer scholarships? Yes! Law schools provide financial aid through FAFSA and award academic merit-based scholarships and grant to students. I was fortunate to be awarded quite a bit of financial aid/grant money from my law school and it reduced my tuition substantially. How much money a school awards you when they extend an offer of admission is actually a huge factor for some people in choosing a law school.
• Can I work part-time during law school to help pay for it? Generally, law students are discouraged (prohibited, at some schools) from having any sort of job their first year. I can understand this because figuring out law school and getting used to it is a hard task even without other commitments. I can’t say how hard it would be to work part-time AND do law school as I have no experience with that, but I would recommend looking into law schools with an evening program if having a job while in school is something that’s important to you.
• Is law school super competitive? Yes and no. On the one hand, at my school we generally have a reputation for being a really nice student body and you don’t really sense the competition. We’re all very helpful and encouraging to one another. On the other hand, law school grades typically are awarded on a curve and in order to succeed you need to do better than others. There is definitely a competition aspect to law school even if you don’t necessarily feel it around campus.
• Do you get stressed? How do you manage it? I definitely do get stressed out. Law school is a stressful place! I also feel imposter syndrome and law students don’t talk about this enough. Check out my imposter syndrome post for more on why law school creates a stressful environment, and my tips and tricks for managing it.
• Do you have to get dressed up for class/”what is the dress code”? For the most part, I would say the outfits girls wear to class are “casual cute”. No one comes to class in pajamas, and usually no one is in class in a full suit (exception when on campus interviewing). Some jeans and a nice top should be fine. I’ve also been known to show up to lecture in athleisure from time to time.
• Is law school anything like how it’s portrayed in movies/tv? Generally, no. Movies and tv make it seem more tough and serious than it is (see my next answer about “tough” professors). It’s also not as cut-throat as the media makes it look, as least not at my school.
• Are the professors really tough? Generally law school professors are really nice and willing to connect with students just like college professors! I’ve only had one professor who I generally disliked but that was because his cold call questions were a bit tough. Usually cold-calls are why professors in law school get portrayed as mean in the movies/tv.
• What is a cold call? Professors use the socratic method in law school, where they will call on you in lecture and ask you questions about the reading you were assigned or pose hypothetical scenarios. Everyone gets very stressed out about this before starting law school but once you get some practice in class, they are no big deal (just make sure to stay on top of your readings!)