I completed two years of college work during high school and am thinking about going to law school. If I graduate in two years and apply as a 20 year old, would that hurt my chances of admission? Some people are telling me to double major and relax for four years, and that they frown on younger students. Is this true, or is age irrelevant to both admissions and success in law school?
Age is not the problem. I applied to law schools when I was a twenty-year-old college senior after having graduated a year early from high school. I was admitted to several law schools, including one in the top ten, from which I graduated in due course.
A problem may be that two years of work actually taken in college may not give you enough of an advantage in scoring highly on the LSAT in comparison to students who have been full time students on a college campus for four years.
I’d like to think that it wouldn’t matter, but honestly, the admissions committee might be a tad judgmental and think you could be lacking in immaturity as compared to other applicants. Or maybe not even that, but rather that you don’t have enough experience. You can prove them wrong, though. Have an impressive list of extracurriculars that demonstrate your interest in law, good recommendation letters, and obviously high grades. Do very well on the LSAT, and ace your interview.
However, why rush things? (unless it’s a $$ issue).
Double majoring could be great; you could explore a variety of interests. also, law school is a big commitment; you don’t want to rush into it if you’re unsure if you want to be there in the first place. Plus, college is supposedly the "best 4 years of your life–" it could be nice to have all 4 of those years lol.
Well good luck with whatever path you choose!
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Yep
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Age is not the problem. I applied to law schools when I was a twenty-year-old college senior after having graduated a year early from high school. I was admitted to several law schools, including one in the top ten, from which I graduated in due course.
A problem may be that two years of work actually taken in college may not give you enough of an advantage in scoring highly on the LSAT in comparison to students who have been full time students on a college campus for four years.
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You can be successful at any age, as long as you’re smart and willing to put in the work. Obviously, there are many mature and intelligent 20-year-olds out there. That being said, if an applicant with great numbers gets wait-listed or rejected at a target school, the likely cause is either a criminal background or inexperience/youth/boring resume. As long as you put together a polished application with solid stats and show somehow that you’re accomplished and mature, I don’t anticipate your having too much difficulty. You need to demonstrate to the admissions committee that you’re ready to commit to an intense three-year professional degree, that’s all.
Age can be a problem when you haven’t done anything outside school or you have a low GPA that you need to distance yourself from with work experience, but these obstacles can easily be avoided or overcome.
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