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Related Discussions
Do universities consider whether the LSAT taker had been working full-time?
I wanna sleep
Member
Hi Everyone,
I am one of the LSAT takers who are working full-time. I graduated with my B.A. around a year ago. I have been working at a Los Angeles law firm since then. The firm is really busy, which is great, but that means that I work a lot of overtime hours. I cannot just quit and focus on LSAT because I am supporting myself and my mom. I am taking the June LSAT and my preptest scores do not represent my abilities.
I am just wondering if say I get 163 on the LSAT and two other students got 168, and those students show they were mainly studying for the LSAT for four months or so. Would the universities consider the fact that I had been working full-time (average of 55 hours) since graduating? I am just struggling with the idea that this test will determine my future, whether in getting into my preferred schools or getting some scholarship money. At the same time, I really find it unfair if a university selects a student who gets a higher LSAT score that I could not achieve because I did not have as much time to study. Btw my undergraduate GPA is 3.86.
Idk I think I am just upset with my preptest scores and wanted to let off some steam.
Comments
Depends on many factors (e.g. what your score is, what your target schools are, etc). But other factors notwithstanding, my guess is that they will not care much (if at all). Heard of one legal assistant/paralegal who worked at a biglaw. He had a sound UGPA, but didn't have too much time on his hands because of the sheer amount of workload. As a result, he earned a relatively low LSAT score and had to choose from local law schools.
Lots of people work full-time and study for the LSAT. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but schools are not going to care at all and I would recommend against writing to that effect.
They only care about 3 things: LSAT, GPA, race. Trust me. Law school is a business and the above 3 factors count the most because they influence school's rankings.
No, they won’t likely give you any sort of leniency on your score because of it. However, it is a good soft factor that they will consider, that you are racking up some very good work experience.
I know, it’s really difficult and frustrating trying to study while working. It will likely take you a lot longer to reach your goal score because of it. But, if you make sure your study time is really efficient, you can get there!
The work experience is good for you and your chances, but it won't make up for lost points on the LSAT.
If you are not scoring your potential, then you need to retake after studying for long enough to get to your potential. If that takes longer because you are working full time then take another year of work experience before applying.
Personal question I am curious about but you are free to ignore: If you are helping to support your mom, what are you going to do during law school when you don't have much of an income if any?
@"Seeking Perfection" thanks for asking... I will have saved up enough money by law school time for the first 12 months of living expenses (I live frugally haha, not a choice) ... After that, I'll be working 20 hours a week during school time, and full-time during summer ... But most likely I am gonna have to take some loans for living expenses during the second & third years. I've worked since high school, so studying and working at the same time won't be a major issue for me, though I am sure law school will be a lot tougher than poli sci.
@olioliber yeah I heard from a friend, whose uncle worked in law school admissions, that they discard most applications without looking at anything other than LSAT score and GPA. Although race is in my favor I guess (I am Syrian), but I hate the idea that just being from a minority gives me an advantage. The schools' concern about ranking is getting so ridiculous, but we, as applicants, are also supporting this status quo by mainly comparing schools based on their ranking.
Haha no thank you for your honesty and for replying. I'll most likely use my work experience to negotiate for more scholarship money (if any) later in the process. Also, I agree many students work full-time and study, and I shouldn't make working full-time an excuse for not studying well enough to get a higher score.
That case is very relevant to my situation.Thank you for sharing!
Btw, I am aiming for UCLA, UCI, USC, and others in Southern California. My GPA is higher than the median of these schools, but I just want my LSAT score to be higher than the median as well.
You are totally right, and I'll be focusing on areas with more potential for improvement to get a higher score.
I think that is the right attitude to have! I had the same sentiment as you at one point in time... but I think that, ultimately, law school requires sacrifice just to have a chance at getting admitted and a big part of that is the LSAT
I'm assuming that wasn't a hyperbole. Softs can be a huge factor. Not only can they break you, but they can make you. But I think by the time most people are visiting the 7sage website, the only thing they have control over is their LSAT score.
And to answer the OP, I have never heard of a school giving weight to that.
Yeah it would be really odd for schools to somehow create a formula like +2 on your LSAT score for this kid that worked a high stress full time job but only +1 for this guy who worked a low stress full time job and -1 for this one who didn’t work at all.
There’s no way for schools to tell your exact work schedule, when exactly you studied, and how/if your work or lack thereof impacted your studies.
Someone who studied and got a 170 very well could have done the same if they worked full time or worked a more stressful job, just like someone who got a 150 could very well have not done any better had they quit their job to study.
I do work a full time high stress job and although I wish I had more time to study, I think it would be absolutely unfair to essentially add/take away points to your LSAT score based on hours worked during your studies.
Something you could do is write a diversity statement about supporting your mom.
I had amazing softs: 3 scientific publications (nature, cell) not American citizen( permanent resident), graduated high school in a different country, learned English at the age of 18, single parent household, worked full time while doing 30 hours of research and full time school and Dean's List. Previous professional degre and work experience....etc And take my word for it, it counted for maybe ONE lsat point... I got accepted to schools where I was around the average. Maybe two in 25% lsat/gpa. I applied to 23 schools. No great surprises.
I don't think that softs are supposed to adjust LSAT or GPA at all... and that is not how we should be thinking about, because that's not how schools think about it either. GPA and LSAT are king.... when you and another candidate have the similar GPA and LSAT then softs will be what tips the scale.
getting accepted to schools where you are "around" the average is exactly what softs are intended to do. i can promise that MANY people "around" the average don't get accepted. that shows that your softs did count and you should be very happy!
the fact of the matter is, unless you are HYS, GPA/LSAT are the two things that schools know for sure are legit and they aren't gonna go digging around an applicant's background to make sure they aren't lying or exaggerating. not only that, but they have lots of data on the correlation between law school success and a student's GPA/LSAT while not so much on varying softs. its also hard to compare success in STEM with law school success (i was STEM as well).
It is impossible to verify so it doesn't matter. Anyone can say they worked 40+ hours a week while studying or they started 15 clubs and learned how to walk on their hands and play 100 instruments. It doesn't matter, the top schools want raw intelligence and strong academic performance because academics is what you will be doing while in school. You should take out a loan and dedicate more time to studying LSAT if you are super worried about it, or just push back your timeline? Just remember anyone can work 40 hours a week but not everyone can get the questions right.
That scale would have been nice for me. I would have loved to give up a point or three to not have to worry about the impact of weak softs.
If you are working a full time job you don't hate, just keep doing that while studying as much as you can until you do as well as you can on the LSAT.