The June LSAT is on its way. If you’re a student, so are finals. The best part of college. The memories you’ll revisit with your friends for years and years. If you’re on the semester system you’ll probably have finals well out of the way before the LSAT. If you’re on the quarter system, finals will likely be there to distract you in the final weeks leading up to the LSAT. Either way, you’ll have to balance studying for finals with studying for the LSAT.
If you’re unhappy with your performance on the LSAT or you didn’t quite put the pedal to the metal in undergrad, hope is by no means lost.
Harvard Law recently decided to allow applicants to submit GRE scores in lieu of LSAT scores. The move has added fuel to the fire that law schools are needlessly lowering their academic standards. Good news for those who are about to apply, right? Well … lower standards come with ramifications both positive and negative.
A) All that you ever wanted to know about undergrad and transfer GPAs. That might be an exaggeration; some of what you ever wanted to know about undergrad and transfer GPAs. U.S. News and World Report
B) When and how to ask for letters of recommendation. Prelaw Guru
C) A new partnership between four law schools is aimed at helping recent law grads get jobs and experience… by following the example of medical residencies. I can’t wait for the Scrubs spinoff. Above the Law
D) Five ways to approach your job everyday that maximize positivity and efficiency. Ms. JD
E) When a jellyfish loses a limb, it just reorganizes the rest of them. I wish I was that resilient when I lose my car keys. New York Times
A) Above the Law‘s interesting law school decision series is back with a Google employee’s two-school conundrum.
B) Use your application addendum to highlight improvements in GPA. U.S. News & World Report
C) Is it cheating to ask for help when you search for a legal job? Short answer: No. Long answer: Nooooooooooooo. About.com
D) Top law firms won’t represent anti-gay marriage cases in the Supreme Court. New York Times
E) The best and worst moments from the MTV Movie Awards. (This is for anyone older than 22–I’m going to assume the rest of you already saw it.) Rolling Stone
Today’s post comes to us from our friends at Anna Ivey Consulting. We asked Anna to answer a question posed to us in the blog comments:
I had about two semesters worth of credit from US undergrad schools, then another two from St. Andrews in Scotland, before leaving school for awhile. I’m finishing up through the University of London International Programme this May. The LSAC put my US GPAs on the report and then just put “foreign” for the st. andrews and uol grades. How might law schools consider this? Do they look at the individual transcripts or just the lsac report? My US GPA was really great, but the uol classes have been so-so given that I also am working beyond-full-time while finishing.
Here’s what she had to say.
A) Evaluate your GPA and LSAT score to set a law school application strategy. US News & World Report
B) Six areas of the law you might be interested in exploring. Ms. JD
C) British Columbia revoked approval for a discriminatory Christian law school. Oh, Canada. CBC
D) A Spiderman web shooter is forcing SCOTUS to reconsider a 50-year old decision. But WHEN will they hear my infringement case regarding the Batpoon? Wall Street Journal
E) “If you have become dissatisfied with mass-produced legal representation, stop by my scriveners shop; for I am an artisanal attorney.” McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
The best law schools for making money. Cash money milionaires, y’all. Above The Law
But wait! A high post-law school salary still might not make you rich. I retract the previous link. Bloomberg
LSAT and GPA medians for the class of 2017. Check out the competition. LawSchooli
The Koch Brothers did something… not evil? Good for the poor? Huh? Wall Street Journal
Is President Obama smooth enough to steal this guy’s girlfriend? Probably. DailyDot
Further reflections on our student survey from Blueprint’s own Jodi Teti. Above The Law
3 traps of the LSAT’s Logical Reasoning section. Note: they won’t be this obvious. US News & World Report
One prof says law school should be funnier. Rubber chickens and banana peels: coming to a syllabus near you. Wall Street Journal
Holy crap, Ray Rice is an awful human being. CNN
Columbia law bros, these girls are looking for you… Buzzfeed
Today on the LSAT blog: a guest post by Law School Expert Ann Levine, the former director of admissions for two ABA-approved law schools and the author of The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert and The Law School Decision Game: A Playbook for Prospective Lawyers.
If you are disappointed in your LSAT score, you need to start by putting it in perspective. Is your LSAT score really, objectively lousy (for example, in the 130s) or is it lousy based on your abilities, or lousy compared to what a particular law school accepts? If it’s simply that all of your friends did better, or that it won’t give your parents bragging rights, then that’s probably reason to book an hour with a therapist. But if it’s disappointing because of its impact on your goals, here are some strategies to consider:
1. Evaluate reasons for your poor performance.
