The Frugal Law Student » Pre Law School

Applying To Law School? 7 Ways To Save Money

Brett McKay — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:27:30 +0000

This is a guest post from Ann K. Levine. Ann is a law school admission consultant and proprietor of www.LawSchoolExpert.net and http://lawschoolexpert@blogspot.com. Since starting LawSchoolExpert in 2004, Ms. Levine has helped more than 500 applicants gain acceptance to law school. Ms. Levine works one-on-one with law school applicants nationwide, calling upon her expertise as the former director of admission for two ABA law schools. She reviewed thousands of applications each year and was primarily responsible for making all admission decisions at Loyola Law School and California Western School of Law. She now uses this expertise to the benefit of applicants, helping them create applications that maximize their chances for admission.

1. Ask each law school on your list for a fee waiver. (But be wary of law schools that voluntarily offer you an application fee waiver)

2. Don’t buy the worst law school admission book I’ve ever read.

3. Don’t take the LSAT without preparing adequately for it, otherwise you’ll waste the cost of taking the exam, the opportunity cost of having missed out on the benefit of rolling admissions, and the potentially increased cost of having to sign up late in the game for LSAT prep courses. While some people are good standardized test takers and/or skilled at self-study, I’ve found that most law school applicants benefit from an LSAT prep course. Sometimes you have to spend money to save money.

4. Choose your schools wisely. Don’t waste application fees on schools that aren’t right for your qualifications and/or goals. Analyze location , apply to the appropriate number of schools, and choose some schools where your LSAT and GPA are at or above the 75th percentile for that school so you can (hopefully) receive some great scholarships and save some major money down the line.

5. Put 100% effort into the quality of your applications. Avoid having to re-apply to law school. Every year, I work with people who tried to apply the previous year and were disappointed with the results. Don’t let this happen to you – apply wisely so you don’t have to spend money to re-apply the following year, and you don’t want to delay the year of post-law-school income either.

6. Participate in one of my Free 1-hour Webinars. The next one, entitled “I’ve taken the LSAT; Now What?”, will be offered twice in October – October 1st at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST and October 6th at Noon EST/9 a.m. PST. Each webinar is limited to the first 15 registrants to assure that everyone has a chance to ask questions. To sign up, e-mail me at alevine@lawschoolexpert.net

7.Hire a Law School Admission Consultant. Seriously. Good advice is worth a lot. And that advice could save you from wasting money applying to the wrong schools, buying the wrong law school admission related books, taking the wrong prep course, using a letter of rec that kills you, submitting an inappropriate resume, and writing a trite or cliched personal statement. Hiring a law school admission consultant means doing it right the first time and saving money by increasing your chances for admission at more of the schools on your list, and increasing your chances for scholarships at more of the schools that admit you. Here are some tips for choosing a law school admission counselor.

Thanks, for that great post! If you’re interested in guest posting on The Frugal Law Student, please feel free to contact me.

Prelaw Handbook

Mrs. FLS — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 14:33:00 +0000

Prelaw Handbook is an extensive resource for Pre-law students. It has everything you would want to know and more about applying and preparing for law school. They have some great advice on the LSAT as well as advice on choosing the school right for you. There’s so much information on this site that one could spend hours looking through it. Check it out today.

Listen to Life of Law Student for Free Class Lectures

Mrs. FLS — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:11:00 +0000

Life of a Law Student is a site the produces law school lecture podcasts. It’s student run, but I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the productions. The students take their notes from class and do a lecture for podcast listeners. I’ve stated to listen to their podcasts after class as a part of my review routine.

I’ve posted on finding free sources for law mp3s. Life of a Law Student is one more great addition to that list.

Listen to Grammar Girl to Improve Your Writing

Mrs. FLS — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 20:39:00 +0000

Law students and lawyers write. A lot. Thanks to the media’s portrayals of attorneys, many mistakenly believe that the practice of law mainly consists of orally arguing a case before a judge or jury. While trial confrontations makes great television, it isn’t what lawyers spend the majority of their time on. Rather, they spend it on writing.

I’m very self conscious about my writing. I don’t think I’m that great at it. I’ve had to work hard to get where I am, but I know I have plenty of room for improvement. One of the reasons I blog is to help with my writing.

Part of my “improve my writing” regimen includes listening to daily podcasts by Grammar Girl. Everyday, Grammar Girl provides “quick and dirty tips for better writing.” So far her podcasts have helped me immensely. Each podcasts runs about four minutes. Best of all, they’re free!

Start improving those legal memos by incorporating Grammar Girl in your writing regimen today.

Do you believe in money(or law school) magic?

Brett McKay — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 03:41:00 +0000

The New York Times has an article about studies showing how our brains are wired for magical thinking. Even highly skeptical people cling to private rituals that they think somehow will help determine the outcome of an event in their life. Even when one knows that it’s not rational to believe that wearing a certain shirt or carrying a certain penny will change the outcome of our life, we still do it because it brings a bit of confidence.

So, do you believe in money magic? Some people do, like Steven Palvina. Here’s a page with spells to attract money. Prosperity gospel leaders like Joel Olsten teach their followers that if they pray for wealth, God will bless them with it. Has money magic brought you prosperity?

I don’t really have any money magic rituals that I do. However, I am pretty superstitious when it comes to law school. I have a set routine that I do everyday. If I break it, I feel like I’m going to jinx myself.