What can you do with a law degree besides becoming a lawyer?

Explain a step by step process to becoming a lawyer?

• What are the steps to becoming a lawyer. Assume I already have a degree in something (but not directly related to law). Do I go to prelaw school? Do I take the LSAT first then ...show more

• Answer:

  What the first guy said, except a couple things to add: - Don't waste your money on an LSAT course unless you really need it. Of course, you won't know whether you need it until you practice on your own for a while, so go pick up an LSAT prep book and do some practicing BEFORE taking a sample test - then take a stab at a timed test and score yourself. (It's very important that you heed the time limits, because that's what makes the test difficult.) I never took a course, I just used the cheapest book they had at Barnes & Noble (published by Nova) and I scored a 172. That's in the 99th percentile. I believe a class would mostly be helpful only if you're concerned that you won't be disciplined enough to really prepare otherwise. If you find as the October LSAT is approaching that you're not as prepared as you'd like to be, put it off until December - or give it a try, but cancel your score immediately afterwards if you don't think you did well. What I'm getting at is this: if you bomb the test, and then take it a second time, the vast majority of schools will not look at just your top score (like colleges do for the SAT) - instead, they average the two scores together. You can cancel your score if you know you didn't do well, but there's a time frame (I'm not sure what it is), and once you've gotten your score, it's already too late. One more thing to keep in mind: law school is very expensive, but most offer scholarships to students with LSAT scores and GPAs that are above the schools' averages. So while applying to reach schools is pretty standard, think about what you want to do. I knew that what I wanted to do wouldn't pay much, so I applied only to six "safety" schools. I knew I'd get into all of them, and that I'd probably get offered scholarships to them as well, which is helpful if you don't want to be paying off student loans for the rest of your life. On the other hand, if you're aiming for one of those top-firm jobs, then borrow whatever you need to for a reach school, because the school's rep will help you get that kind of job - and you'll be able to pay off the loans. Once you're in law school (if we haven't sent you running away terrified by now), take advantage of all opportunities to learn and to network. If you know where you want to work as an attorney, get an internship there while you're in school - or at least in the same field. You might get a job offer even before your third year begins. Law school is generally three years. (Evening programs are four.) After that, you've got to take and pass the bar exam, which is a whole other sort of hell. But don't worry about that yet.