Who Is Law School For?
Legal professionals require an array of skills: problem-solving; analytical thinking; critical reading and editing skills; as well as effective oral communication.
Experts advise students applying to law school to set long-term career goals before enrolling. In order to gain experience through clinical or externship experiences, moot court or mock trial competitions, summer fellowships or pro bono work.
1. You’re a hard worker
Law school can be an immense commitment that demands lots of hard work. Additionally, its culture is completely different than undergrad – you’ll be working toward an obvious professional goal all day every day with courses focused on fundamental laws pertinent to your field of interest.
Classes will focus on legal research, writing and argumentation. Most law schools grade mostly through essay exams with grades distributed according to a curve (meaning only a minority of students earn an A).
Alongside studying torts, contracts, criminal law and legal research as fundamentals, you’ll take courses focusing on constitutional law, labor and employment law and more. Furthermore, clinics, externships, moot court or internships will give you real world experience while networking opportunities will help find your perfect legal job after graduation.
2. You’re a creative thinker
Law school courses place emphasis on teaching students how to think like lawyers rather than simply regurgitating facts. Students learn through case method or Socratic teaching styles which use case briefs or summaries which highlight legal issues, apply relevant laws/rules to them and analyze any resulting consequences to reach a conclusion.
Study groups are an integral component of law school life, particularly during the first year, where law students gather together in study groups to review class notes, draft outlines and receive valuable feedback. Furthermore, law students spend hours each week prepping outside the classroom in preparation for class.
Law school applicants should first consider their long-term career goals and assess whether obtaining a J.D. will meet them.
4. You’re flexible
Law school can be an incredible career-altering decision; however, not everyone finds its pursuit worthwhile. The time and financial investment required may be difficult to justify if pursuing law won’t lead to rewarding results in your future career path.
Undergraduate students majoring in history, English, philosophy or political science tend to be well-prepared for law school; however, students from every academic discipline can and have been accepted. One of the main advantages of law school is being able to follow your passion in whatever field it may lie; don’t shy away from going where your passion leads!
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5. You’re committed
Law school can be an intense and competitive environment. At first it may feel daunting and daunting; but being fully committed to your success will lead to life-long benefits such as learning new ways of thinking and developing important career-enhancing skills that you’ll use for years after graduating from law school. You will meet some amazing professors as well as making connections that could become mentors or colleagues over time; all this effort may well pay off!