The LSAT scores are out and I'm happy to report mine went up by three points, to 160. This puts me in the 82 percentile--not high enough to be firmly in the pool for most of the top ten schools, but high enough to be at or almost at the next tenth to fifteenth. Berkeley starts at 161, Duke at 162, Minnesota and Illinois at 160, Michigan at 164, UCLA 163. It's hard to say whether one can overcome the score and argue one's way in past the rigid barriers that maintain the school's ranking; many people just get in to the best school they can, try for stellar grades, and transfer a year later. So we'll see. Still, cause for minor celebration! The kicker is that neither failure nor success is assured; instead, there is ample room for hope and disappointment.
But the Job Market prepares you for that, doesn't it? It's time to anxiously leaf through possible writing samples, tailor that letter to each different job description, and make wild claims about your next project. In this season, hope flickers like the candle in a jack o' lantern, its warm light shining even inside life's more menacing forms.
5 comments:
Excellent news, S! It's all about maximizing your options, isn't it?
I'm so impressed that you're taking this leap. I think about law school every now and then, and have for the past dozen years or so. When my friends get end-of-year bonuses larger than my yearly "visiting instructor" salary I usually wonder about my career choice.
I'm just so forgetful that the academy is not far removed from its original role as repository for the quirky offspring of wealthy families. We've known all along that it isn't something we go into "for the money," but we do expect (I think) to be able to get our debts under control. The original model didn't have debt in the equation, and that really is the big difference.
Nice score, by the way! Once we're older than 22, we're lucky to be able to score the minimum on standardized tests. For example, I retook the GRE when applying to PhD programs and my analytic score dropped from 700 to 600. But this was after getting an MA in philosophy and teaching logic at community college for several years.
Thanks for the support you guys. Dr. M, I am convinced that working as an academic actually destroys brain cells. I think a CAT scan would show holes in my brain like swiss cheese right now.
Congrats! I hope you get into a kickass school and find your place within law. Tho', I think it is a huge loss for the world of english/writing/literature that you are going this route.
No question about it: working as an academic does destroy brain cells.
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