Preparation
All the following will be of benefit to yourself, your application to law school and often to others as well.
To gain and develop self-directed learning skills.
Apply for campus research bursary, grant, scholarship and/or approach a professor directly. If all else fails, volunteer!
Keep up-to-date with world news in general and law/politics developments in particular.
Local
Newspapers, usatoday.com, or consider good in depth news programs like The Lehrer Report on PBS. About.com
offers free daily email newsletters that keep you up-to-date with the top
stories in world.
To remain active in sports, hobbies, or clubs which serves as an outlet and develops skills in leadership, creativity, etc.
Make the time! Your extra-curriculum is important but it should never be allowed to affect your grades.
To get advice from counselors on your own campus or more rarely from the school that you really want to attend.
Seek the information on campus.
Stay up-to-date about deadlines, GPAs and LSAT scores, prerequisites, etc., for all law schools which interest you.
Write or e-mail all law schools which interest you. Review their information online and have them send you pamphlets ASAP!
For more info on law schools:
American Law Schools Canadian Law Schools International Law Schools
Review application materials ASAP so you know in advance what they want from you.
The ideal way to get an adequate amount of information about law schools and their admission policies is to call or write the individual law schools to which you would like to apply. Subsequently, they may send you letters responding to your questions, pamphlets or other documents which will enlighten your knowledge of each specific school.
If it is important to you how a law school rates worldwide, you can consult the Gourman Report which is available at most large university or college libraries. Special editions of the U.S. News and World Report also rate university programs.
It is important to contact specific law schools to be informed about their programs, policies, tuition, admission requirements, application procedures, etc. For any law school that may interest you, as early as possible you should write and clarify, among other issues, their application procedures.
To have a plan on how to finance your law school education.
Speak to your prelaw advisor, the financial aid officer at your university/college, financial aid sites on the net, financial aid at Peterson's. Do not be intimidated by the debt you will incur in law school - lawyers incomes are sufficient in various positions.
Adapted with permission from The Gold Standard website, www.futuredoctor.net. Copyright 2000. All rights reserved.
