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rvinarcik128

Joined: Apr 2025
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LSAT · ⚖ Official August 2022 LSAT Discussion Thread ⚖

rvinarcik128

Tuesday, Aug 16 2022

@ said:

I would say over all wasn't a horrific test. However, one thing I would say is that I had to take the test at 6pm at night and I could definitely say I was a tad tired. I wasn't ready for 2 sections of RC. I would say I wish the test was still on paper for RC. I like being able to underline and circle important info and when you do that online the highlighter was being wild and not highlighting. Overall, not horrific but I wish I was more prepared for 2 sections of RC.

I agree, this caught me way off guard and I felt unprepared for the additional section.

LSAT · ⚖ Official August 2022 LSAT Discussion Thread ⚖

rvinarcik128

Monday, Aug 15 2022

I had 2 RC sections and I was so confused because I had never seen anything like that in practice, and one was for sure harder than the other. I'm also worried because I thought LG wasn't too bad but I've seen a lot of people saying they were struggling. Hope everyone did well!

Admissions · Should I work a few years or go right to law school?

rvinarcik128

Sunday, Jun 12 2022

@ said:

LOL top 100? what does that even mean

I know that's not really a thing, I just meant that I go to a university that's in the top 100 in the country instead of some small college or something lol

Admissions · Should I work a few years or go right to law school?

rvinarcik128

Sunday, Jun 12 2022

@ said:

Let me start by saying that whether or not you work before law school is a highly personal decision. I wouldn't advise that you base your decision to work solely on how you think it will affect your law school admissions odds. With this being stated, I'll say a few things:

First, don't feel like there's a "right" or "wrong" decision here. During my junior year, I was torn on whether or not to go straight to law school. I did quite a bit of research on the matter and, for what it's worth, I can confidently say that work experience is only a marginal factor at most schools. To be sure, there are some exceptions to this rule; Northwestern places a lot of emphasis on students working before matriculating and Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, because of their prestige, are able to place a lot of emphasis on "soft" factors (like work experience). Far more times than not, however, your LSAT and GPA are what will control you being accepted or rejected from a school. Even at Northwestern, Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, numbers are king. Additionally, as your post indicates, you've done some internships and have solid extracurricular experience. While those factors may not be extremely "competitive" against someone who, say, held a high-ranking position at a company or who served in the military, they offset the damage that may be done if you had nothing on your resume. Admissions offices understand that when you apply straight from undergrad, you're not going to have the same experiences as someone in their 30s. Your GPA and LSAT will serve to almost totally level this playing field.

All of this is to say that if you have the desire to work before law school, then I'd encourage pursuing it. Perhaps you'd like to save some money, perhaps you're aiming for a school like Northwestern that places a lot of emphasis on work experience, or perhaps you'd like a bit of a "break" from the college environment before attending law school. There are a ton of reasons one may choose to work before law school, and almost all are valid. If, however, you have no desire to work before law school and you're begrudgingly considering it because you feel you'll be at some sort of disadvantage without work experience, I'd advise that you go straight to law school. While there may be some truth to the idea that T14s are placing more emphasis on work experience before law school, admissions always have been and, as far as anyone can tell, will continue to be a numbers-driven game. An extra point or two on the LSAT will benefit you far more than a couple of years of work experience.

Regarding whether or not your age will affect your work chances, I wouldn't think so. I have a couple of friends who graduated extremely young and they both obtained great jobs. One went into a more corporate setting while the other went into a more public interest-oriented field. When interviewing for jobs this year (my senior year of college), I was never asked about my age, and as long as you don't come across as extremely immature (and I'm sure you won't!), I don't think a company will bat an eye at you being 19 rather than 20 or 21.

Also, while I may not be of much help, if you'd like to chat about searching for jobs I'd be happy to! I just graduated from college and will be starting my first job in August, so I'm fresh off of the job search. It's likely that we don't live near each other or have the same interests, but many of the jobs I applied for and received offers for were virtual/not confined to a particular geographical area.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do! Again, there is no wrong decision to be made. It all depends on your unique interests and desires.

That makes a lot of sense, especially the part about just working because I think it will help my admissions chances. Thank you so much!

Admissions

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Saturday, Jun 11 2022

rvinarcik128

Should I work a few years or go right to law school?

I currently go to a top 100 undergrad, but my specific college within my university has a good reputation with many of the top law schools since many students go on to succeed there. I've heard a lot of different things, some people say going right through is easiest since you don't have as many responsibilities, but others say that work experience is becoming far more important for T14 schools. My GPA is a 3.8mid and I'm registered for the August 12th LSAT. My scores have been 16mid but I'm showing fairly steady improvement as I get better at focusing on the test for the entire duration. My goal score is a 175+ and I am fairly confident that I can get close to it as I keep practicing.

However, I'm worried that my age will make it difficult for me to find work experience, since I am graduating from college at 19 since I'm doing my undergrad in 3 years. I think if I have a few more years before I get into the "real world", then it will be a lot better for me. I have 2 internships so far, 2 e-board positions in school organizations, I mentor for 2 different organizations, and I'm a researcher for my school's Human Rights Lab. I hope that my school involvement can make up for my lack of work experience, and I hope that the leadership positions will show maturity and ambition despite my age. My GPA was also a 3.8high before this past semester, but I have heard that you can include an addendum to explain a slight drop in grades, since this was my first fully in-person semester of college and many of the facilities were not fully operational, making the semester especially difficult.

I would really appreciate any thoughts!

Thanks :)