Pavelboca

Thanks a lot everybody. Location is important for personal reasons. My significant other of four years attends Penn Law as of this year. Assuming all works out between us she is willing to search for jobs where I will be getting a degree. But it is a major part of my life. I understand that the selection process is different. 10 admittances is pretty crazy though. That was one of my reasons for doing Law. If I get a good LSAT score, numbers land me in a good program somewhere. I know it will be a lot of work. Am I one hundred percent certain of my passion for English? Yes. Am I one hundred percent certain of my passion for teaching? This is the question that really worries me- public speaking makes me a bit nervous, although I'm certainly not incapable. It's just something I need to improve on. Espresso: glad to hear it is a different skill set. Is it learnable? Like, are there vocab words I can memorize that will almost for sure show up, or is there just an infinite database of vocab? I assume its the latter. Some of the words I saw on the practice test I looked at appeared to be pretty difficult and somewhat obscure. Edit: also would like to say this forum blows me away. Particularly after spending months on toplawschools. That place is actually the worst.

Hey all, I posted on the forum a few months ago that I was stuck making a decision between Law and a future in the humanities. A disappointing (read: very disappointing) September LSAT score made me really question my motives for going to Law School. It felt like, in retrospect, the path of least resistance given my relatively high GPA. Anyway, I'm now back where I started- but this time I really do feel like Grad School would be an excellent option for me. I plan on taking a year and applying next Fall- maybe landing a job along the way and deciding from there. Regardless, i've already spoken to my professors and I want to spend this semester and next (I graduate in the Spring) building both a writing sample and personal statement that reflect my ability. That being said, I've perused the forums a bit and I have some questions / concerns that I'm hoping some of you could answer. Regarding the GRE. It is something I'm concerned about given my poor performance on the LSAT relative to my practice test scores. I'm assuming anxiety is a huge factor for me. I also tried some practice Verbal problems and found it difficult. How many times can you take this test to try and improve your score? What are the best books (or study resources) available? This goes for the subject test as well. I am planning on applying on primarily schools in PA and NY. Might also look at schools in MD and FL. With a strong writing sample and personal statement, but somewhat weak test scores, is it even worth it to apply to Ivy League type schools? Or would an acceptance anywhere be a good thing? I'm looking primarily at Funded PHD programs. My expected area is Cultural Studies with an emphasis on Film Studies. Should I also be looking at MA programs?

I've been under the impression that getting a Masters somewhat affects your acceptance chances of getting accepted into a funded phd program somewhere else. Is that inaccurate?

This is interesting. Literally the total opposite of Law School admissions where all that matters is rank and tuition. I'll have to do some more research- I met with my academic advisor yesterday and she was literally clueless in giving me any helpful information about grad school. I've already heard more here in a few posts than I have before. As I mentioned in the intro post- I am interested in pursuing some sort of field dealing with Cultural Studies- something closely aligned to film studies or popular culture.

Thanks so much for the response. It was not harsh at all, I agree with everything you laid out. There is certainly a lot for me to figure out on an internal level. I don't think I would go to Grad school because I could necessarily envision myself there- it just seems more aligned with what I would like to do as a career. I enjoy reading, writing, and film more than anything. I'm leaning towards Law School because of my skill set and the fields job security (assuming I'm at a T-14 with minimal debt). Regardless of what happens I'm taking the LSAT in September and gauging how that turns out. Maybe the best option is to get my scores, graduate, and get a job until next cycle- and then decide if Law School or Grad school seems like a viable option. Maybe something will click for me. Thank you for the mostly reassuring words. I am indeed an English major- my English Major GPA is a 4.0 currently, so I'm okay in that department! I have relevant papers for the field I wish to pursue- but I definitely need to fine tune them if they are to accurately reflect my writing ability. In terms of personal "fit," as I mentioned in response to Surefire- I feel more comfortable with English and Academia then law. It seems like less of a transition which is why I am considering it. And I certainly think I would enjoy working within the field. If I was to go to grad school- I can't imagine treating it any differently than I currently am Law Admissions. I will only go somewhere where the risk-cost factor isn't too high. I would hope most for somewhere I could receive funding or a scholarship of some sort.

Hey all, I'm about to start my Senior year this fall Semester at the university of central florida. I will be graduating in spring. I've been decided on Law School for a couple months, and have been studying for the LSAT for the last two. But I've recently been getting cold feet. The main reason I've considered attending law school is a combination of an understanding that the application process is quite generous for high GPA students, as well as the fact that I could see myself being successful within the field. But I've always had somewhat of a talent with writing, particularly academic papers. I could see myself really enjoying getting my phd and being a professor or whatnot. So basically, a few questions: 1) what do grad school admissions base their decisions on? I have a high GPA (3.97) but am not from a prestigious college. I also don't have any published papers- just a few articles in my student run newspaper. I do have high quality writing samples, and I would like to get a paper published this semester. 2) my girlfriend goes to UPenn for law, and a Pennsylvania or New York university is preferable for me. Is it realistic to gun for schools like Nyu, Penn, and Columbia? My area of interest is cultural studies.