I don’t know if any of you have followed the Saga of my law school admissions process, but I always wonder how other people’s little life stories turn out, so here’s the conclusion to my tale for those who are interested.
I wasn’t accepted to any of my preferred schools. I was wait-listed at three but haven’t heard anything to date, so I took that as a “no.” So, I accepted a spot and a sweet $25k/year scholarship to Hofstra, my safety school.
I just got an apartment in Queens with my pal phatlewt and will soon be a non-traditional commuter first-year law student. Things didn’t turn out quite the way I’d hoped but I’m still damn excited. And my parents are absolutely beside themselves that I’m coming back to NYC.
Congratulations Hello Again. I followed your story in passing, and I’m glad it worked out.
As a fellow non-traditional student, I can assure you that you’re in for a hell of a ride. Have fun, study hard, and remember the two sayings that got a friend of mine through law school:
Whatever problem can’t be solved with alcohol can be solved with caffeine. Nil illegitimus carborundum
Sign up to be a BarBri or PMBR rep in your first year. Your only responsibilities for 3 years will be sitting at a table and handing out highlighters. For this you get to take a 3000$ course (it will probably be more by that time) for free. You really don’t need this course to pass the Bar (I didn’t study for the Bar I passed) but you’ll FEEL like you do.
Don’t pussyfoot on bar registration. Register for a bar early on. It means you won’t be shelling out 1000-something in registration fees while your classmates whizzed in at the rate of a 100-something.
Congrats on getting into Hofstra (especially since they turned me down) and on the scholarship. I’ll be starting law school in a month, as well, and I’ll be interested to know how you’re doing. Keep us informed.
Oh yeah, that’s right! We’ve got two non-traditional student Dopers starting on the fast-track! Congratulations to you both, Hello Again and Sausage Creature! Give 'em hell!
I assume you know that you will have reading assignments due on the first day of class? There’s usually a bulletin board that the Faculty uses to post such things. You do not want to get caught unprepared. Watch The Paper Chase for grins. Classes really do go pretty much that way, at least during the first year. You may also want to read 1L for another perspective. Good luck.
Well, long story really. But to summarize, for the past two years I’ve been a barn manager and riding instructor on a horse farm. I was shoveling poop one day – an activity which truly offers unparalleled opportunities for reflection – thinking to myself, I’ve got to get my shit together/ cause I can’t live like this forever.* When I added up the fact that my two favorite hobbies are Memorizing Minutae and Being Right (with Schmoozing running a close third) and my slow-burning fury over the way the Bill of Rights is being pissed on these days, law seemed the obvious choice as a new career in which I could make some money while stickin’ it to the man.
Hmmm. Well, good luck. I suspect you'll find that law school is absolutely nothing like you seem to be expecting it to be. The emphasis is on analytical thinking, not so much memorizing. Law school also has very little to do with the actual practice of law. Mostly you'll be reading lots of cases, and trying to grasp the elusive "big picture".
I was being facetious. “It seemed like something I’d enjoy” just wasn’t pithy.
It is actually is quite amusing how every single person tells you that “law school isn’t anything like you think it’ll be” while giving a wildly different account of what it is “actually” like from the previous person who spieled you on the subject.
I’m nearing the end of my law degree. I’d echo what **Northern Piper ** said. You’ll find that your studies run the full range of very challenging to very dull.
You know, if I weren’t firmly jacked in to my fields of study, I might have considered going to law school, too. It does seem fascinating (once you get past the tremendous workload), and it also gives you very useful skills for doing research.
Hey, congrats. My advice: as a 1L, bust your ass. Get the highest GPA you can, really push for it 40+ hours a week or whatever it takes you. Make sure you meet your school’s requirements for the law review. After that, you can spend the next two years coasting on that high GPA, working in the field, and otherwise doing jackshit.
On the flipside, if you party the first year, you’ll spend the next two years trying to fix the damage, and you’ll probably miss your shot at the law review and the second year summer jobs with the big firms. My way is better.
