This weekend is an LSAT weekend! Hopefully you're well prepared for and not too stressed out over the exam.

Compelling Interests blog (from the people behind LexPrep Law School Preparation Course) gives some last minute advice.

Here you can find some good advice for the day before and the day of the test.

Here is some more advice for the day of the test.

Good luck!

I realize that a lot of the readership of this blog comes from hoodlums, hooligans, or general ne'erdowells. So I found this week's reader question especially appropriate:

• Can i get into any law school if i have a criminal record? Does it depend on how bad the crime was or am i just ineligible? If so, then is there anything that i can do to help myself and get into law school?

Answer below...

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The University of Chicago Law School Admissions Department is maintaining a blog for law school applicants called "A Day in the Life."

Even if University of Chicago is not on your radar in terms of potential schools, I suggest keeping up with this blog. Especially the upcoming posts in the "Tips and Tricks" series (first post is on the personal statement).

There is a new CALI lesson that of freely available at learnthelaw.org. Incoming law students should especially be aware of this lesson.

Professor Diane Murley of Southern Illinois University School of Law and Law Dawg Blawg has generously created for CALI a lesson called "Where Does Law Come From?".

The material in this lesson is basic, but the law school you attend may expect you to intrinsically pick up these concepts along the way if you don't already know them coming into law school.

Every future law student should run through this lesson at some point before law school in order to brush up on these concepts.

To run this lesson click here.

A listing of other CALI lessons can be found here.

Another great question submitted by one of our readers.

• I'm in a similar situation as the chemical engineering student from Northwestern, but my university isn't nearly as prestigious, nor is my major as difficult (Political Science with an emphasis in Public Relations). Due to an incredibly bad sophomore year, I have a low gpa . . . but I do not want to give up on my dream of going to law school . . . . Another option that may be feasible is to apply to a lower ranked (but still accredited ) law school, do well during the first year, and then transfer to a higher ranked school the following year. Should I just forget that I once dreamed of attending Harvard(completely out of the question at this point) and Duke? I still have time to improve my GPA and prepare for the LSAT, as I have two majors, my graduation date (2007) has been delayed by a year, but I would like to give myself peace of mind regarding my situation. Thanks.

There are several good questions in here, but let me address the most general question that is probably applicable to many law student hopefuls who cannot get into a big name school...

Should I apply to a less reputable school with the plan of transferring out after first year?
Unfortunately it is a very poor strategy to go to one law school and counting on transferring to another between your first and second years (generally the only point at which a law student can transfer).

Look at it this way, to transfer to a big time school you have to prove that you are far and away a better student than the students at your current lower reputation school. To transfer upward, you probably need to be in lower than top 25% and the highest reputation law schools to which you wish to transfer will require you be in the very, very top of your class.

Most of the students at the school you attend your first year are going to be, assumedly, of similar intelligence as you. Afterall, your LSAT's will likely be within the same range. And obviously, almost all law students are going to try to achieve elite status academically during their first year; whether their motivation is transfering, scoring a biglaw job, law review, etc.

So in your first year you'll have all of these students of similar intelligence vying for a top spot in the class. Because of this you just don't know whether you will be at the top of your class at the lower ranked schooll, which will be the major factor to ability to transfer upward.

In general to anyone thinking about the transfer up idea, I highly advise against taking this strategy. If you go to a certain law school, you need to be comfortable with the idea of finishing your JD at that school. After the first semester if your grades and rank are high, then you can think about transferring upward.

Should I rule out going to law school?
I don't think you should rule out law school until you know what your capabilities are on the LSAT. I can't stress enough that the law school you attend is highly dependant on LSAT.

Your major or undergrad school alone is not a big enough strike against you. But if your GPA is as low as you lead on, there is a chance that it will hurt, maybe completely eliminate, your chances at some elite schools. The LSAT, though, can mask that low GPA and still get you into some pretty good schools.

For now you should concentrate on getting that LSAT score as high as possible to make up for your GPA. In addition keep improving the GPA to show an upward trend. Take plenty of practice tests and have an idea of your potential score on the LSAT.

As mentioned in the previous post, map out scenarios using information provided by lawschoolnumbers.com and LSAC's Official Guide to ABA Law Schools. Come to a conclusion on what you think it would take, LSAT-wise, to get into your target schools and go from there. Estimating what schools you have a chance of getting into becomes easier when you have done plenty of practice LSAT exams and know where your score could fall.

At that point you will have the ability to make an informed decision about law school and, if need be, the ability to rule out attending law school altogether if your target schools are completely out of reach. But as of right now, you just can't do that. It might cost you some time and effort to prepare for the LSAT, but I think you have to keep up the dream for now.

One more note on a low GPA
Also, you need to make sure that your grades are continuing to rise. But I have to be honest, if you have trouble keeping up grades in undergrad with a less than difficult major at a less than competitive undergrad school to the point where you feel you are underperforming, you may need to seriously think about whether you are up for law school.

Succeeding in law school is much more effort and requires better study habits than undergrad. Unless you have a legitimate reason for your poor performance (and if you do, note it on your personal statements to law schools), you will have to be willing to change the way you do things in terms of school work.

I'm not assuming anything about the reader, but for people out there who know they have the ability but don't apply themselves in undergrad, just changing as soon as you step into the halls of law school might be harder than you think. The same temptations and distractions that might have kept you from doing well in the past in undergrad also exist in law school.

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*I am a law student. That means I don't have all the answers. I may be lacking knowledge in certain areas, namely the real world practice of law. But I have done a lot of research into the law school process as a whole and I am currently living through law school. I am also surrounded by a lot of smart and experienced people with unique insight into the law school world who either work at CALI or with whom CALI has close relationships. I hope that you seek others' opinions and insights in addition to mine in order to make an informed decision.

John has a great post on podcasting law school class lectures here.

There is no doubt that digitally recording professor lectures and posting them for the entire class has numerous advantages for the students in that class (ability to review a lecture from earlier in the year, supplement notes with things you missed, listen after emergency situations that caused you to miss class).

He alsom mentions a student who decided to take the podcasting into his own hands:

• We had a student (link to interview with the law student) volunteer to record and post all of his instructor's lectures and we provided him with a digital recorder to do so (after he got permission from the instructors, of course) and I have blogged on the idea that students would probably be more than willing to handle the small amount of work necessary to create and post the podcasts. With CALI providing the blog, disk space and bandwidth via Classcaster, there is almost no cost to law faculty who want to make their classroom lectures available to their students and others.

I think this is a great idea because some professors are too busy/just don't want to deal with the hassle of learning how to post a digital recording to a blog.

In fact, I tried to get the professors teaching my two traditional classes this semester to participate. I asked them if I could record and podcast their lectures by setting up a classcaster blog for them (I got one to agree but I ended up dropping the class so another student took over the reigns).

So if any of the more technologically inclined law students at CALI member law schools with digital recording devices think that being able to go back and listen to a lecture at will is a good idea, approach your professor and let him/her know that you are willing to do the work for them using our classcaster blogging system.

Professors who happen to be reading this who wish to participate but don't want to deal with the posting and recording part will likely easily get a volunteer to do the work by simply asking the class for one.

Setting up a blog on classcaster is free, simple, and a service to your fellow students. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Note: Do not record classes and especially do not post them publicly without the professor's admission! They may have to go through other steps in order to conform with your school's policy on recording (for example, asking everyone in the class for permission to record).

Edit: Also see this post by a professor on the topic of recording classroom lectures. Also a good discussion in the comments section.

With the number of complex questions I've been getting for the reader submitted questions, I thought I'd take on a truly simple one this week:

• How many years does it take to finish law school?

Generally it takes a law student three years to finish a full-time law school program and four years to finish a part-time evening program. Do not forget that you must complete a degree from a four year university before that.

That was easy.
But that simple question has left me so unfulfilled for the reader submitted question this week. So I'll delve a little deeper into the basics of law school curriculum at an extremely basic level for those of you just starting to research law school.

This is going to be very, very basic stuff for a lot of you so feel free to skip this posting.

Law school curriculum
Generally the core courses taken in the first year are all required. A student cannot choose his or her classes during the first year. In fact most of the time first year law students have a schedule that they have no control over whatsoever. A wholly set schedule.

Some law schools break a certain course topic into two semester and some schools will push a required basic course or two into your second year. Here are the core classes at most law:

Torts:
Basically you study civil harms done by one person to another. The person who commits a tort (tortfeasor...yeah, that's what it's called) may have to pay or fix the harmed person in some way, but the tortfeasor won't go to jail under tort law.

Another basic difference between a tort and crime, it's easier to convict a person of a tort (need proof beyond a preponderance of the evidence) than a crime (need proof beyond a reasonable doubt). This is why OJ Simpson still had to pay a lot of money but didn't have to go to jail for the murder of his wife.

Contracts:
The study of agreements made between people.

Criminal Law:
This is probably the side of law you are used to seeing depicted (pretty inaccurately) on TV and movies; that is, things people do that can get them sent to jail. Study of issues involving the law that surrounds crimes like homicide and rape.

Property:
Legal issues relating to personal and real property.

Constitutional Law:
Study of issues that fall within the scope of our Constitution. Lots of monumental Supreme Court decisions.

Civil Procedure:
A study of the rules that govern the processes leading up to a civil trial, during a civil trial, and after a civil trial. All the technical stuff regarding how civil actions work. For example, how the decision is made that certain courts can hear certain suits (jurisdiction).

Legal Writing/Research:
You'll learn how to do research by book and by using Westlaw or Lexis (online tools for legal research). And you'll learn to write like a lawyer.

2nd and 3rd year of law schoolThe second and third year of law schools is basically a time when you can choose to take whatever classes you want, though there are still may be certain requirements like an ethics course. Just depends on the school. There are different techniques for choosing classes (discussed here).

Most people will agree that the first year is the toughest year. After that law school becomes easier and less stressful.

In Conclusion
If you're interested in learning more substance of the first year courses CALI offers a subscription plan for pre-law students that gives access to our first year CALI lessons through learnthelaw.org.

I realize I answered more than what the reader asked. But I think the contents are something of interest to many who will find this post in a search because the original question is a very basic one that a person just starting to research law school might ask. Because of that I tried to keep the descriptions in very simple terms.

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*I am a law student. That means I don't have all the answers. I may be lacking knowledge in certain areas, namely the real world practice of law. But I have done a lot of research into the law school process as a whole and I am currently living through law school. I am also surrounded by a lot of smart and experienced people with unique insight into the law school world who either work at CALI or with whom CALI has close relationships. I hope that you seek others' opinions and insights in addition to mine in order to make an informed decision.

California Western is producing a series of podcasts called Law in 10 with some of its law school professors. The podcasts are about 10 minutes long and topics covered involve the legal aspects of current events.

I would recommend the podcasts as an easy way to start thinking about the legal aspects of current events.

I'm trying out Feedblitz, a service that allows you to receive emails of new posts at a blog.

If you'd like to get the Pre-Law blog delivered straight to your inbox, please give it a try!

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Following up on this post about public interest law programs amongst the law schools, Law.com reports on an NALP study done to help determine how much lawyers in the public interest arena are currently making.

Unsurprisingly, public interest lawyers' salaries are, on average much less than first year associate's salaries.

Nationwide average salaries listed for attorneys less than a year out of college range from $36,000 for civil service organization attorneys to $50,000 for deputy attorney generals. Somewhere in the middle are local prosecuters and public defenders making in the mid-$40,000 range.

Obviously, those who enter into public interest law aren't in it for the money and there are many advantages to going into public interest law over other types of law.

Read the article for more information.

What is public interest law?
For those of you who do not know, I answered the question "what is public interest law" earlier on the Pre-Law Blog in the previously mentioned post with help from the eguide referred to in that same post...

In the About section (here), the guide states that "'Public interest,' 'public service,' and 'social justice' are often used interchangeably to refer to issues and activities serving the public good."

It goes on further to specifically define "public interest" as programs that help the legal needs of:

• persons of limited means and charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations in matters that are designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited means; and
• individuals, groups or organizations seeking to secure or protect civil rights, civil liberties or public rights, as well as law-related service to charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations of limited means in matters in furtherance of their organizational purposes.

Today's reader question:

• I am trying to decide whether I should apply straight to law school or take a year off. I am Chemical Engineering major @ Northwestern U. Due to my hard major, my gpa is not that attractive for freshmen and sophomore year. But very strong my junior year. My LSAT score is very high. Should I wait to apply after my senior year or risk it? I would like to go to Top 20-50 schools.

To be clear for our other readers, our reader with the question would need to apply to law schools right now during his senior year (fall '06) in order to have a good chance at attending law school next fall (fall '07). But doing so means the law schools will initially only see his undergrad grades up to his junior year.

He is considering taking a year off of school before attending law school, if I understand this correctly, and counting on his senior year grades making a difference in his GPA in order to get him into a better school.

My Take:
Honestly I don't see how sitting out a year before law school will help that much. For one, you hopefully can update your potential schools of your academic progress after the fall semester of your senior year by sending an updated transcript before they make a decision on your application.

I don't know that the marginal difference in your GPA from after fall to after spring is likely to make a difference at most schools.

Your one year worth of experience is probably not going to increase your chances at any school and it may be tough to find meaningful employment for just that year.

Not to mention one year off means you graduate a year later than you could have. I know this feeling. I had a year off before law school. Man it was boring. Nearly impossible to find a meaningful job where I could just quit within a year. Plus I wouldn't be in school right now if I hadn't waited to attend law school.

Some other things to consider when applying in your situation.

How high is your LSAT?:
Something you must know: LSAT is king in terms of getting you into law school. GPA is a distant second. You characterize LSAT as "very high." Is it high relative to the other applicants at your target schools or just high relative to other LSAT takers? This makes a big difference.

That is to say, if your LSAT is very high compared to other applicants at your target law schools, it can mask a lot of problems including mediocre and even low GPA. If it's on par with many applicants, your GPA becomes more of a factor.

How low is your GPA?
With that in mind, if your GPA is really low, below merely mediocre, it could lead to rejection at some of these schools even in the face of a high LSAT.

But if I had to guess, your GPA will likely not be looked upon as unfavorably as you may think for a number of reasons.

1. Northwestern is a very reputable undergrad university.
2. Your major is a very challenging one.
3. It sounds like your grades are trending upward.

These are factors you may want to bring up in your personal statement.

Sources:
You need to gauge your chances at target schools based on your LSAT and GPA. The LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools is a great place to start.

Besides the less helpful LSAT and GPA medians and percentiles on the "ABA Law School Data" sheet (example: upper right corner of second sheet), many schools provide a detailed grid of applicant data based on LSAT and GPA on the "Law School Description" sheet (example: bottom of second sheet). You can gauge your chances pretty well with this grid, as well as estimate what kind of difference a slightly increased GPA would make.

Also, take a look at lawschoolnumbers.com. Find people with similar attributes to yours and see where they applied and where they were accepted. Check your target law schools and to see if people how the people with similar attributes to yours were received at that school. Of course lawschoolnumbers is all user generated content, but I think a vast majority of user accounts on lawschoolnumbers are legit.

In the end, I just don't see that much of a risk to applying to law school now or that much of a reward for waiting.Good luck with your decision!

Anyone else want to weigh in on this in the comments? Any other readers with questions about law school can submit them here.

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*I am a law student. That means I don't have all the answers. I may be lacking knowledge in certain areas, namely the real world practice of law. But I have done a lot of research into the law school process as a whole and I am currently living through law school. I am also surrounded by a lot of smart and experienced people with unique insight into the law school world who either work at CALI or with whom CALI has close relationships. I hope that you seek others' opinions and insights in addition to mine in order to make an informed decision.

Do you have questions about law school? Fill out, anonymously if you like, and submit the form below.

I'll answer honestly and the best I can from a current law student's point of view. If I can't answer it, I'll try to find someone who can...hey, we have connections here at CALI. Click here to see previous reader submitted posts.

Thanks!

Professor Jennifer Martin has posted on her blog a podcast on the ten most common mistakes students make in taking law school exams.

Professor Martin is a professor at Western New England College School of Law and a very active CALI lesson author She also podcasts many of her classes through CALI's Legal Education Podcasting Project.

We have posted to the Pre-Law Blog several other similar podcasts with law school exam advice from professors. You can find those podcasts here, here, here, and here.

About.com has a nice timeline for future law school applicants. It's a good idea to keep up with this or another checklist/timeline to see where you should be in your application process.

Prospective Fall '08 Applicants
If you you want to start law school in Fall '07 (2 years out from law school) you need to start seriously thinking about the LSAT and researching different law schools. More importantly now is the time to research the LSAT and different schools even if you are not 100% sure you will be attending law school.

I know 2 years from now sounds like a long time. But you'll end up in a better position if you start the process in motion now than you would if you wait too long to start the process.Waiting too long to start the process can hurt you in a number.

Prospective Fall '07 Applicants
For those of you looking to start law school in Fall '07 (next year), hopefully you've started the whole application process and taken the LSAT or at least plan on taking the October LSAT by now. If not, you're in a tough position and have to take the December LSAT to get in next year.

To be honest, it is possible though as I did take the December LSAT the year before I entered law school. I decided very late in the application cycle to go to law school. But I would not recommend doing this because I had only one shot at the LSAT and I'll never know if my late application and LSAT score hurt my chances of being accepted at some schools.

In reality here are the things the About.com timeline says that you should be doing in the September, a year before you start law school:

• Order the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) catalog and application or complete an electronic version.
• Finish writing your personal statement.
• Update your resume.
• Ask faculty for letters of recommendation.
• Ask a professional acquaintance or employer for a reference. Provide employers with a sample reference.
• Request financial aid information.
• Continue to visit Law schools.

So you should still be having a pretty busy month! Check out the timeline and make sure you are now on track.

This article reports that 2006 applications to law schools are expected to continue their decline from the previous year for the third year in a row.

Why are law school applications down?
The theory is that as that the pool of law school applicants reduces as the economy gains more upward momentum. In other words, an improving economy equals more people receiving jobs out of college and not as many experienced workers being let go from their jobs. In turn, there are less people applying for law school as a "last resort" sort of option.

What this means for applicants?
Less applications to compete with is good news in the short-term for those of you applying to law schools because it means a better likelihood of acceptance at a more competitive law school.

So if the economy continues to improve, assuming the theory is correct, you are going to see less and less law school applicants. This reduces the competitiveness of the application process a little bit in the years which applications to law schools are down making it easier for you to get into the school of your choice.

I try to be realistic in this blog by mentioning both the good and bad aspects of law school. I'm not trying to scare anyone who is heading into law school.

But reading this article (thanks to JD2B for the link), I think it's important to inform you that law schools sometimes do ask students to leave when those students' performances are unsatisfactory grade-wise. Read more about flunking out of law school...

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This is part II of this reader submitted question (part I here):

• I am 36 yrs old and have never been to college...(see previous post)...Should I begin with a degree in Criminal Justice or is there another route I should take? I may not be able to attend full time because I work full time. I am also a single mom. Will this be a problem?

What undergraduate major should I choose?
There's an easy answer to this. It doesn't matter.

To add a litte more, there are no major requirements for getting into law school other than you must have a four year degree. Law school admissions look to admit a wide array of all majors into law school as to increase diversity.

Find a major in which you are interested and/or one that could lead you to a career field in which you could see yourself working should your law school plans become derailed. I would go as far to say do not choose something like criminal justice or pre-law unless they fit those criteria.

As an aside, I cited this study a while back. It says economics majors who attend law school tend to earn more money in the long run. But clearly, that shouldn't factor into your decision unless you were already interested in an economics degree.

Can I achieve a law school degree as a single mother/ full-time worker?
You certainly can get a law degree in that position. But undergraduate and law school will be a significant time commitment. Since you already have one full-time job it will often seem like you have two full-time jobs with the additional school work throughout this time.

Also consider the length of time it will take to finish everything. You're looking at around 10 years (maybe 5-6 for undergrad + 4 for law) or so if you go part-time the whole way through. Bottom line, it's going to be a personal choice dependent on a lot of things personal to you.

OVERALL ADVICE:
I highly suggest right now you just concentrate on getting your undergraduate degree in a major that would be useful or interesting to you even without the law school degree. Pretend as if law school is not ultimate goal at this point.

I say this because the undergraduate college you attend is of little significance in terms of getting you into a law school and your major is of even less significance. The only thing you should worry about for the first few years of undergrad is doing well grade-wise.

This way if situations change in the years to come and law school isn't an option for whatever reason, simply finishing your undergrad degree can become the ultimate goal. A goal that could open many doors career-wise for you with the possibility of a law being one of those many doors.

Start seriously considering law school and the LSAT once you're two years or so from graduating. Study very hard for the LSAT and take the test between 1 and 2 years before you graduate. But for now, just get your undergraduate degree because that is the only hard requirement for law school besides an LSAT score.

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*I am a law student. That means I don't have all the answers. I may be lacking knowledge in certain areas, namely the real world practice of law. But I have done a lot of research into the law school process as a whole and I am currently living through law school. I am also surrounded by a lot of smart and experienced people with unique insight into the law school world who either work at CALI or with whom CALI has close relationships. I hope that you seek others' opinions and insights in addition to mine in order to make an informed decision.

This week's reader submission has several questions so I'm going to break this up into two parts...

• I am 36 yrs old and have never been to college. I am now ready to finish my dream. I want to make sure I take the correct steps. Should I begin with a community college or should I begin at a 4 yr university? ...(see next post for the rest of the question)

It's great that you are ready to take the steps and finish a dream. Here are my thoughts on your questions.

Am I too old for Law School?
I tackled the age question a couple of weeks ago here. Make sure to read Dave's comments to that post as he adds some great perspective. You should not let your age stop you from taking the steps to pursuing a law school degree.

Will attending a community college hurt my chances at a law school?
I don't think it really matters where you begin prior to law school as long as you finish with a four year degree.

From a law school admissions perspective, a community college likely won't hurt you at all. LSAT score is THE most important factor for getting into law school. GPA is a distant second. And then it seems pretty much every other factor (except something exclusionary, say past criminal record) is just a slight bump up or down in admissions' eyes.

When law school admissions judge GPA, some credence is put into the reputation/difficulty of your undergraduate school and major. But as long as your GPA is relatively good everywhere you've been before law school, you're going to be fine. Just try to make sure you have a high GPA throughout. But even a low or mediocre GPA can be masked by a high LSAT.

In all, I just can't see an admissions decision-maker bumping you down for attending a community college. Especially since your age and situation (single mother wanting to turn your life around) will be be taken as a positive.

Advantages of a Community College?
Community college sounds like a great start for you in your situation. It will be a good way for you to ease back into school as it will likely be a little less challenging and time consuming than a four year university. In addition, community college is probably going to be cheaper.

Once you finish a two year community college degree you can transfer into a four-year university. In some states, like in Illinois where I'm from, transferring from community to bacaccalaureate college is very easy. But from what I understand, elsewhere it can be complicated.

But in my experience, a lot of good universities are very willing to accept community college transfers. The community college you want to attend may even have a program that sets you on track to transfer to certain universities. So talk to someone at your prospective school.

More on transferring from a community to four year here. So I guess the decision comes down to the ease with which you would be able to transfer from the community college to a four year university. I can see a lot of advantages to starting out at a community college for someone in your situation.

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*I am a law student. That means I don't have all the answers. I may be lacking knowledge in certain areas, namely the real world practice of law. But I have done a lot of research into the law school process as a whole and I am currently living through law school. I am also surrounded by a lot of smart and experienced people with unique insight into the law school world who either work at CALI or with whom CALI has close relationships. I hope that you seek others' opinions and insights in addition to mine in order to make an informed decision.