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A graduating college student

Hope2018Hope2018 Yearly Member
in General 76 karma

Hello,

I am a graduating senior who has majored in history / art history. I am very serious about applying to law school, as I would like to go into patent law/copyright law. I actually wanted to later work in an art institution like a museum or an auction house that needs specialists in copyright law :) But before I start dreaming too much, I will like some advice on how I should plan the next few months. My initial intention was to get a job and work in the art sector a bit more. I had several interviews, but ultimately I was rejected at the final rounds. I feel extremely bummed, because my plan isn't really falling through. And if I got a job, I was planning to apply in 2020 not in 2019. However, it seems like I won't be getting a full- time job and I have time to study during the summer. Should I focus on studying and apply in 2019?
- The reason I am thinking to study and apply in 2019 is because my internship supervisor who went to law school, and got a really good score is encouraging me to study for the few months and apply in 2019. She is saying it's possible to get the score I want in the few months, which is in the high 160's.

** disclaimer: I did start studying last summer and seemed to plateaued around low 150. Then I focused back on my undergraduate courses because I didn't want my GPA to drop.

Any advice will help! Thank you so much :)

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Comments

  • drbrown2drbrown2 Alum Member
    2227 karma

    Applications open up in September for Fall of 2020. Deadlines have passed for Fall 2019 start date. Some schools still accept applications for Fall 2019 but you will still need to take the LSAT (next one is June, then July) and you would be seriously limiting your options/scholarship opportunities. Most schools with median LSAT scores anywhere 160+ have firm application deadlines which have passed, and their classes are being finalized. You should focus on studying hard for one of the 2019 tests (July and September) and getting your applications put together afterwards. Application essays can take some time, and academic letters of recommendation can take some time, so plan accordingly.

  • Leah M BLeah M B Alum Member ⭐
    8392 karma

    I'm not totally clear on what your timeline is, but agreed with @drbrown2. Also, it generally will take quite a bit of time to go from the low 150s to high 160s. I improved from 155 to 168 with about 9 months of studying (on top of full time work). If I wasn't working and was studying full time, I think that might have been reduced to 5 or 6 months. But 3 months is not going to be enough, to be frank.

    As mentioned, the deadlines have passed for starting this Fall. If you were talking about applying this Fall for admission to school beginning in 2020, that also is going to be very tight. You might have a shot at being ready for the November test, but you will need to get letters of recommendation and transcripts sent in too which can take a bit of time. No matter when you apply, I'd ask your profs now for LORs while you are fresh in their minds. You can have them sent in to LSAC and they will still be good for a year or two at least. It would be a much less stressful timeline to plan on taking the LSAT in Spring/Summer next year and applying in the Fall of 2020 to begin school in 2021. I know that probably doesn't appeal since (so far) your plans for jobs haven't panned out. But that would give you plenty of time to really put in the work and get your best possible LSAT score, which can means literally tens of thousands more in scholarship money.

    I think if I were you, I'd ask my profs for LORs now to start working on that, and dedicate to studying for the LSAT. If the Fall comes around and you are not yet getting practice scores in the range that you want, then plan on taking the LSAT next year instead and really knocking it out of the park. And in the meantime, you can find a job whether it's in art or anything else.

    Hope some of that was helpful!

  • Hope2018Hope2018 Yearly Member
    76 karma

    Thank you so much everyone, and sorry for not being clear enough. When I meant Fall 2019, I didn't mean I wanted to apply for this term. I meant I wanted to take the September or November test 2019 and possibly apply for the Fall 2020 applications. If not, the Fall 2021 applications. Sorry that I worded this so oddly. I will study hard and have in mind that I most likely will have to study more than 3 months to get the score I want.

    -- And in regards to the recommendations and transcript, where do professors upload the recommendations, and how to I request a transcript from college? Sorry for the novice question.

  • Hope2018Hope2018 Yearly Member
    76 karma

    Please ignore my recommendations comment. I read your comment that professor upload on LSAC. How dumb of me :(

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