being a lawyer

[superchau88]

does anyone know any good colleges that specialize in law (preferrably in so cal)? also what classes should i take in high school.

[vaultmom]

An interesting fact that a lot of people don't know is that Law Schools love math majors. THe majority of tier one law schools accept mathmajors over students with other majors, all other things being equal. If you like math ...focus on your math classes. The reason why is... Good math students are good problem solvers and by that they tend to become good attorneys. They are logical and rational. But then it doesn't really matter what your high school focus is. Just get good grades so you can get into a good college. There are several good law schools in SO Cal. THere are three tiers of law schools... so often you don't get into a school of your choice. Start studying of for the LSAt your junior year in college so you can take it your senior year and start wapplying for schools before you graduate.

[Russ]

Let me preface my remarks by saying that I'm a professor at New England School of Law in Boston. I've been a full-time law professor for 15 years (currently in my 16th year). I've served on our admissions committee for a number of years. I went to UCONN Law School, and I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill undergrad (PHI BETA KAPPA with a double major in Latin and Education).

I'll echo some of what's already been said.

The better your grades in high school, the better chance you have of getting into a top tier college. Law school admissions committees look at lots of factors. But the quality of undergrad school and the rigor or your undergraduate major are important factors. I agree, math majors make good law students and lawyers. But foreign language majors, philosophy majors, science majors, and English majors do well too. Writing well is a distinct advantage.

College grades and LSAT scores are the most important factors that law school admissions committees look at. But we also look at the total person.

If you have more specific questions, I'd be happy to give you my opinion. Remember to get a number of opinions because different points of view can be helpful.

Southern California has many strong law schools.

Good luck. Work hard.

[superchau88]

do colleges look into your senior year of high school even after you have sent in your college applications?

i believe i write well enough and i excel in math but grades from my freshman year wasn't so great. however my specialty is not foreign language. i managed to get by three years of french (8th to 10th grade) with As and Bs but stopped after french 3 because i didn't think i'd survive in french 4.

my overall GPA isn't so great right now because of my screwing up freshman year. i think it is 3.7 right now unweighted. my sophomore year's grades were all As with the exception of one B. i am currently in my junior year of high school. my reason for asking if colleges pay attention to your senior year is because i'm not sure whether or not to have a free year where all of my classes are basically nothing or actually try to take challenging classes.