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What to do for a year or so after college (paralegal?)
Noff
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Basically I started college in '04 in a field that I thought was the right one but I ultimately sucked at. I tried to stick it out well after a change was due and drug my GPA down a lot more than I should have.
So a few semesters ago I change to a pre-law major. It's basically the major for those who want to go to law school and those who want to be FBI/CIA/etc agents. Some of the classes were kind of a joke, but some of the advanced law classes were for real. I end up getting A's in all of my classes in major, and I have at least one professor who is a former attorney who loves me and I can count on to write any letters of recommendation that I might need. So my GPA is like a 3.1 but much higher in my major.
Because of the late switch I decided to take the LSAT's at kind of late stage in the game, I'll be getting my scores back in a few days and I'll be really surprised if I don't get in the low 160's at least, but I scored much higher on some practice tests and felt really good about this particular exam, so I've high hopes for that.
Right now I'm doing an internship with a defense attorney in the same town as my college, and overall I really think that's what I'd like to do. I realize there's a lot of people here who really try to convince people not to go that route, but I really think it depends on your expectation of how much you want to make. I'm pretty sure I'm not interested in the corporate lawyer 'make tons of money but burn out in five years.' The guys I work with aren't burned out and have lives and decent money so I don't see a problem.
Because I'm going to be applying to law schools late, and with a relatively shitty GPA, I'm looking for something to do in the meantime to maybe make me a bit more appealing. I should be getting some good recommendations from the guys I'm working for now, and I can type well, use MS office stuff, etc so I was thinking about trying to be a legal assistant/paralegal somewhere else for a while. I know the requirements vary tremendously, but I'm thinking college degree + recs from actual lawyers should get my foot in the door somewhere decent.
One of my biggest motivations is getting out of this town for at least a while, as most of my friends are leaving, and it's just generally not as fun to be in a college town when you're no longer in college. I haven't lived outside of central Pennsylvania since I was three so I'd kind of like that experience.
I'm going to get some suggestions from my boss on this tomorrow (he's pretty cool and I'm sure I'll get some insight), but I'm just really mulling over this now so I wanted to know what you guys think. This got kind of lengthy so thanks to anyone who read all of it.
So a few semesters ago I change to a pre-law major. It's basically the major for those who want to go to law school and those who want to be FBI/CIA/etc agents. Some of the classes were kind of a joke, but some of the advanced law classes were for real. I end up getting A's in all of my classes in major, and I have at least one professor who is a former attorney who loves me and I can count on to write any letters of recommendation that I might need. So my GPA is like a 3.1 but much higher in my major.
Because of the late switch I decided to take the LSAT's at kind of late stage in the game, I'll be getting my scores back in a few days and I'll be really surprised if I don't get in the low 160's at least, but I scored much higher on some practice tests and felt really good about this particular exam, so I've high hopes for that.
Right now I'm doing an internship with a defense attorney in the same town as my college, and overall I really think that's what I'd like to do. I realize there's a lot of people here who really try to convince people not to go that route, but I really think it depends on your expectation of how much you want to make. I'm pretty sure I'm not interested in the corporate lawyer 'make tons of money but burn out in five years.' The guys I work with aren't burned out and have lives and decent money so I don't see a problem.
Because I'm going to be applying to law schools late, and with a relatively shitty GPA, I'm looking for something to do in the meantime to maybe make me a bit more appealing. I should be getting some good recommendations from the guys I'm working for now, and I can type well, use MS office stuff, etc so I was thinking about trying to be a legal assistant/paralegal somewhere else for a while. I know the requirements vary tremendously, but I'm thinking college degree + recs from actual lawyers should get my foot in the door somewhere decent.
One of my biggest motivations is getting out of this town for at least a while, as most of my friends are leaving, and it's just generally not as fun to be in a college town when you're no longer in college. I haven't lived outside of central Pennsylvania since I was three so I'd kind of like that experience.
I'm going to get some suggestions from my boss on this tomorrow (he's pretty cool and I'm sure I'll get some insight), but I'm just really mulling over this now so I wanted to know what you guys think. This got kind of lengthy so thanks to anyone who read all of it.
Noff on
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See if you can continue that internship. Ask your boss if (s)he would let you keep working up until law school would start. Work in your field always looks good. Taking time off between undergrad and grad school almost never looks good.
Working as a legal secretary/paralegal can be very valuable in building up the practical skills you need to operate as an attorney. Depending on how you decide to practice, you may have to acclimatize yourself to different courts, rules, procedures, and the like. State court rules, for example, are often byzantine and bizarre. Which item goes on which line of the pleading paper, how to format documents, what kind of recycled paper you have to use to file an appeal (I'm not kidding about this), etc. They don't spend a lot of time on these things in law school, and it wouldn't hurt to understand them.
A lot of paralegals do legal research as well, which is a key skill for an attorney.
First, your GPA isn't going to hold you back, especially if you LSAT score is as good as you think it is going to be and you have a few positive legal references. Law school look to LSATs first anyway, then GPA if you're a borderline candidate.
Working as a paralegal/legal secretary is a good idea, not only for the legal experience and resume building aspects, but also because it's a decent paying gig for a year or so. If you're looking for something a bit more adventurous, maybe consider working for a legal temp. agency and taking as many different short-term assignments as you can. You may find an area of the law you extremely like (or dislike).
Also, if you know where you would like to eventually land and work as an attorney, join the local bar association as a volunteer/intern. BAs are always looking for a free set of extra hands, you'll make a ton of good contacts for the future and most will give you deep discounts when you eventually join as a full member.
Right now I'm just researching the requirements for a paralegal for different areas (good call on that), but looks like I won't get to talk to my boss about it until next week. It'll be a pain to find an apartment around here at that point but if they want to keep me around it will probably be worth it to stay.
Also, I to mention that I have a minor in biology. I just had to do some research on suboxone (used to treat opiate addiction) for a case and I was the only one in the office who could really explain the difference between that and methadone. So I guess that's another little thing that might help.
Do they still score the LSAT out of 180? Because that kind of number could get you a decent scholarship to a decent law school (or a great scholarship to a rotten law school, if that's your choice).