r/prelaw

I graduated 10 years ago from a T20 school as a math major with a 3.3 gpa (yes math was hard but I also fucked around.)

I’ve worked in corporate the last decade and hate not impactful or client facing work.

I realized about 5 years ago my dream job is a psychologist (and fits very well with my personality) but the income for therapists is insanely low (I’m first gen want to take care of my family husband not rich). I keep reading about family lawyers having to act as therapists and I feel like I would really enjoy the critical thinking aspect.

1. Would I have any chance at a decent NYC law school (Fordham/ cordozo) if I applied in a few years with a killer LSAT?
2. Would quitting my job as a PM to work as a paralegal for a year be helpful (relevancy + rec)?
3. Would getting an MSW (CUNY so it would be inexpensive but lost wages) first to boost my gpa get some relevant research experience and recs be helpful?

TYSMIA!

i just graduated with a degree in psychology and have been in the process of looking at what it will take to eventually go to law school. my original plan long before graduating was to get my paralegal certification, work at a firm for some time to gain some experience and better understanding in this field (seeing as i have little to no experience now), and once I feel ready, apply for law school. that way i will have already fostered connections in law and may even secure a job before i get my JD.

my parents have been telling me to just go straight to law school though i don't feel that i have the CV or experience needed to actually get in anywhere right now. does anyone have any advice? is my plan sound or should i go back to the drawing board?

This is coming from someone who has no lawyers in the family and, honestly, no one in my personal life to ask these questions! I feel like most of what I hear about law school and legal careers falls into two categories: BigLaw or public defenders/public interest. I’d love to hear from people who have experience in other areas of law.

I’m a 2026 undergraduate graduate applying to law school this cycle, and while I know that many people don’t decide what type of law they want to practice until they’re actually in law school, I want to be thoughtful about choosing a program that will set me up for the kind of career I’m looking for.

I’m particularly interested in politics and policy, although I’m honestly not even sure what types of legal careers fall under that umbrella. I’m also someone who really values enjoying my job. I’m prepared to work hard, I’m currently studying for the LSAT while working full-time, but I don’t want a career where working 60+ hour weeks is the norm and I’m essentially living for my two weeks of PTO.

I have no interest in BigLaw, but I also want to make sure I’m getting a reasonable return on my investment in law school, given how expensive and intensive it is. While I’m passionate about social issues, I don’t think I could personally justify taking on a $200k+ degree to make $60k a year.

Ideally, I envision a career where I can interact with clients, work alongside coworkers I genuinely like, collaborate toward team-oriented goals, and have some opportunity to litigate in a courtroom. I’ve also always been interested in policy and would love to find a way to incorporate that interest into my career.

TDLR: So, for those of you practicing law outside of the traditional BigLaw/public-interest paths:

- What type of law do you practice?

- What does your day-to-day work actually look like?

- What is the culture/work-life balance like?

- What does compensation look like as you progress?

- For those who are in law school or have graduated, how did you identify programs that would be a good fit for your goals?

As the title states my gpa is pretty high. I’m currently sitting at a 4.16. Am a rising junior and was always vaguely interested in law school. I think I would get into a good school and would be good at the work but I am still on the fence for personal reasons. I guess my question is:

Would it be kind of a waste to have that high of a gpa and not apply? (because maybe I get a decent chunk of money and causally have a JD if nothing else)

Thanks in advance

hey guys! i am currently dual-enrolled at a California community college. i am considering taking the HiSET, completing my community-college transfer requirements, transferring to a competitive university such as UCLA or USC, and eventually attending law school to become a corporate attorney.
i would really like to hear from someone who completed all or part of this route. i especially have questions about leaving high school early, applying as a transfer student, choosing community-college courses, honors programs, transferring to a competitive university, and whether this path affected law-school admission.
if you followed a similar path and would be comfortable answering a few questions, please comment. thx!!

Ill be starting my 2nd year of **Law LLB** at **University of Westminster** this sept with hopes to do a masters in Law at a better Uni such as **KCL** after graduation in 2028.

However, through clearing i have received an offer from **University of Leicester** to study **Business and Law BA**
starting this September at Leicester with graduation in 2029.

Westminster is **82/113** for University Law rankings UK.
Leicester is **29/113** for Law on the rankings.

My goal is to become a commercial lawyer and hopefully secure a training contract for a Silver Circle/Magic Circle firm.

Which option should i go with?
LAW LLB AT UOW + MASTERS AT GOOD UNI
or BUSINESS AND LAW BA at Uni of Leicester?

So like the title said I'm not sure where I want to be a lawyer in. I'm a senior in highschool and I know I want to do criminal law and, hopefully im the future, become an international human rights lawyer. I know jobs for the latter are very scarce but I've heard working in the Netherlands give you more opportunities for it. I've also heard the Netherlands has better work life balance. Of course, being a Netherlands lawyer pays way less then the US but I'm not too hung up on that as long as I make a good salary. I don't mind learning Dutch but I just don't know which country is the better place to be a lawyer. I'd appreciate any advice you have thanks!

I am an 18 year old and got in to an document writers office and my work include reading things out loud and so on and drafting some simple contracts and that's it. But when ever some execpetional things come I always mess up and my employer asked me to learn drafting skills asap what do you think I shall do where shall I learn. Like what I am looking in to us a website or other archive with a number of legal documents that I can look as an reference or anything similar I need to learn this skill to keep my job. Till I am going to learn law after few months. Please suggestions

I’m currently entering my second year of undergrad studying international studies with a concentration in international development and a minor in pre law (say that 5 times fast💔). My plan for a while has been to go to law school and hopefully become a lawyer in something like immigration, however after doing some more research in to the average salary of an immigration lawyer I’m not sure it’s something I’d be happy with, although I’m passionate about immigration law, I’m more passionate about international policy, diplomacy, things of that nature. Does anyone have any career suggestions about if law school would even be worth it for me if I want to delve in to the more political side of things? I’m not opposed to becoming a lawyer, but salary is something that’s very important to me and I don’t want to be stuck in such a time consuming career just for a corporate lawyer to absolutely salary mog me😭

Hi! I’m a high school senior now, and I don’t know what I need to do to get accepted into a law school in the UK.
I’m planning to take the SAT and IELTS. I have a reference letter from an internship I completed at a law firm. I also have 30 hours of volunteer work with a written recommendation letter. In addition, I earned a law certificate from a university, and I completed English III with a final grade of 91.77. Are these enough, or am I missing something important? How am I supposed to apply? I really need help.

I'm an incoming college freshman at a T5, and while running my mom through my first semester's course load full of humanities classes, she started freaking out about whether or not I'm going to be able to get a job after graduation. Now, I've always been interested in going to law school because I feel like I'd genuinely enjoy the ways it'd challenge me, and I know that you can study whatever you want as an undergraduate and get into law school, but it doesn't seem like lawyers who do the work I'd genuinely be interested in (public interest) make much money at all. I don't need to be rich, but I definitely want to make enough so I don't have to worry about money and so I can be generous with my loved ones. I'm someone who would be interested in litigation anyways, but everyone keeps telling me that AI is going to render me jobless. My mom wants me to be a doctor, and while I believe that I can find fulfillment in the day-to-day lifestyle of working in medicine (I love working with people and psychology), I feel like I'm going to HATE the path it takes to get there (not bad at science, but I suck at math and find chemistry, orgo, and physics SO BORING). Course registration ends really soon, and I know that being pre-med would require me to enroll in certain science classes ASAP. I'd really appreciate some career guidance on if I should just bite the bullet and pursue a career in medicine, or if I should just take the interesting and niche humanities classes that interest me and eventually apply to law school (and hope I land a T14), or if I should entertain some combination of both.

job market is so cooked, schools are oversaturated BECAUSE job market is getting so cooked

I'm pre-law (maybe?) but had the opportunity to work on the Hill this year and I feel like I like that better. I'm a little torn on whether I should ditch law school for the foreseeable future or plan to work for a couple years and definitively go to law school.

I just need to plan when I'm going to take the LSAT and scope out my letters of rec in all honesty but I'm just questioning whether I should even do that at this point.

anyone got any advice? potentially the peeps in law school currently and what your trajectory was might be helpful to know

hello, im a senior right now taking political science and im thinking to enroll sa law school. however, wala akong alam how it works and paano malalaman if when ang application for schools like ust, sbu, ateneo, san sebastian, pup law, wvsu, or any other law schools.

help this girly out

\- when do applications usually open? i'm aiming for ateneo, beda law, or wsvu? (prio)

\- is it really normal na pwede na mag apply sa law school even tho hindi ka pa totally graduate sa 4 year course? like grad-waiting nalang ba

\- do all schools have interviews after the exams? and are the entrance exams normally online or f2f? how hard yung exam and what are the typical questions?

\- what do u need to study/prepare beforehand for the entrance exams? are there any good reviewers/review centers, or would it be better to self-study nalang?

any recommendations vv much appreciated, thank u!

hi all! im a Pell Grant student working two jobs + volunteering, with a lower GPA than others at George Washington University applying to law school. i haven’t joined any pre law orgs on campus, but cold scored a 150 on my first LSAT practice exam.

I’m heavily considering joining Teach for America after graduating in the spring, gaining paralegal certification in DC and studying during my two year term of service while networking and building a more law-leaning resume.

With my financial and familial responsibilities, plus finishing my undergraduate degree, it’s not feasible to achieve a high score while managing my current goal of graduating.

Does anyone have any tips, advice or input?

Thank you everyone.

Hi all,

I am currently in a dilemma regarding whether I should switch my major or not. I’ll be starting my BSc in Psychology this September at York University. I chose this because I thought I’d go into medicine or dentistry but have come to the realization that it’s not what I want to do. I’ve never been good at science or math but have always been good in English and social sciences, hence why I want to go to law school. I’m debating whether I should switch into a BA Psych or get a BComm degree. I want to pursue education after undergrad as well but just in case I don’t which degree will benefit me the most? And if I do end up wanting to go to law school I would want to attend UoFT. What should I do?