law students

[kddani]

For anyone who's in law school.....

what's the best thing you've gotten from Lexis or Westlaw????

I'm just super happy b/c i won a $25 gift certificate today from Westlaw. I'd been bitching that i never win anything from them

Plus, i've won 1,000 Lexis points 4 different times.... i'm saving them up (currently have about 6,500- and i'm only a first year!).

Hehe, so i'm doing the happy dance. Think i'm going to go head to a training session to get 500 more lexis points!

[DeltaSig]

Thinking of going to law school in about a year and a half. My question would be, Does your LSAt score have a profound effect on admission? Or would GPA be a more determining factor. I want to go into corporate law. Somewhere along the lines of mergers and acquisitions. Worried about the LSAT, averaging 149 on practice.

[kddani]

If you're getting a 149 on practices, i STRONGLY urge you to take a prep class or really really really hit the books. I don't often advocate a prep class, but in your case I think it would really help. It's great that you've already taken a pratice test. You have plenty of time to prep to get your score up- it's not that hard to do! Learning the tricks and how to think things through (like the logic games) can dramatically increase your score.

Unless you have a 4.0 GPA and a list of great experiences and other stuff like that, you really need to get that up.

Most schools have a formula that weights the two into one score (each school has their own formula). This will determine who automatically gets in, who's a maybe, and who's a probably-not-unless- there's-something-else-really-fantastic-about-them. So the LSAT really is a large factor.

Also, with the economy as sh!tty as it is, there's a lot more people who want to go to law school, thus increasing the competition. You want to make yourself into the best "package" possible.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me!

[dzandiloo]

I never win anything from Westlaw or Lexis, and I've been using both for almost 3 years!!! I've started thinking it's rigged b/c when you look at the Lexis list of winners from your school--the same people win everything. Oh well. I'll have enough points here shortly to get something good.

As for the LSAT question. All I can say is Kaplan saved me...if it hadn't been for them, I don't think I would have gotten into law school--much less gotten a full scholarship! I had a great undergrad GPA, a career resume filled with experience, but if I had applied based on that, I don't think I'd be where I am now. I was not disciplined enough to study for the test on my own...I was sucking it up, studying by myself & getting crappy scores every single time. I took the Kaplan class and my score jumped over 15 points....knowing the tricks of the test is invaluable. It was the best $1 grand I ever spent.

Ditto on what KDDani said--law schools are going to be inundated with applications for the foreseeable future b/c of the economy. If you are serious about it, you can't afford to try to skate by on the other factors...they will be looking for the whole package. (even though I don't believe the LSAT is a good measure of your ability to do well in law school...but that's another thread topic for another day...).

Good luck to you.

[juniorgrrl]

I never ever win anything from them! Of course, I never really use them much, so I'm sure it correlates.

But i feel my life is a lot less complicated and stress-free with Shepards being on lexis and not having to deal with bug squashing( or should i say quashing) size law books...... the person who created Lexis deserves a prize!

Laura