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X-Last-Updated: 1996/06/22
From: Internet Esquire <netesq@dcn.davis.ca.us>
Organization: Internet Esquire(SM)
Newsgroups: ucd.king-hall,news.answers
Subject: King Hall Law School USENET FAQ Part 2 of 9
Followup-To: poster
Summary: This article is Part Two of a Multipart compilation of information
on subjects of interest to the readers of the ucd.king-hall USENET
newsgroup and other members and would-be members of the King Hall
Law School community.
Date: 24 Apr 2003 15:39:58 GMT
X-Trace: 1051198798 senator-bedfellow.mit.edu 3934 18.181.0.29
Archive-name: ucdavis/king-hall-faq/part2
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: Jun. 22, 1996
Version: 21Jun96 [ASCII/Multipart]
URL: <http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/ucdavis/king-hall-faq/part2/faq.html >
Ebb: <http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~netesq/USENET-FAQs/king-hall/part1.html >
The King Hall Law School USENET FAQ Part 2 of 9
Frequently Asked Questions at and about King Hall
(c) Copyright 1995 & 1996
by
David F. Prenatt, Jr.
King Hall, 1995 Alumnus
U.C. Davis School of Law
University of California
Davis, CA 95616-5210
<mailto:NetEsq@dcn.davis.ca.us >
The King Hall Law School USENET FAQ (King Hall USENET FAQ) may be comprised
of more than one part. If it is, please see the TABLE OF CONTENTS in Part
One for a complete list of the questions that I have attempted to answer
and for other important legal information. Caveat emptor: I assume no
obligation to anyone through the publication of the King Hall USENET FAQ.
Furthermore, all versions of the King Hall USENET FAQ are my personal
property and are protected by applicable copyright laws. All rights are
reserved except as follows: I hereby give my permission to anyone who has
access to this version of the King Hall USENET FAQ to reproduce the
information contained herein for non-profit purposes, provided that proper
credit is given to me as the author of this FAQ and that I am promptly
notified of any use other than personal use. I may revoke permission to
reproduce any version of this FAQ at any time.
- - - - -
The King Hall Law School USENET FAQ Part 2 of 9
Frequently Asked Questions at and about King Hall
(c) Copyright 1995 & 1996 by David F. Prenatt, Jr.
1) ABOUT THIS FAQ.
1.1) Who wrote this FAQ and how can I reach him?[Rev]
This FAQ was written by me, David F. Prenatt, Jr., 1995 alumnus of the
University of California, Davis School of Law (King Hall). Until
further notice, you can reach me by my e-mail through the Davis
Community Network:
NetEsq@dcn.davis.ca.us (<mailto:NetEsq@dcn.davis.ca.us >)
or by snail-mail (i.e., U.S. Mail) through my Davis P.O. Box:
David F. Prenatt, Jr.
Internet Esquire(sm)
P.O. Box 74632
Davis, CA 95617-5632
or on the World Wide Web:
<http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~netesq/ >
1.2) What information is contained in this FAQ?
Anything that I, as the author of this FAQ, decided would be of
interest to members or would-be members of the King Hall community.
See PREFATORY QUESTIONS (Section 0) for more information.
1.3) How is this FAQ organized?
This version of this FAQ may be arbitrarily divided into unequal parts
where I felt it was convenient to do so. I did this for two reasons.
First, some readers of this FAQ may have specific questions and may
not want to read the entire FAQ. If this version of this FAQ is
comprised of more than one part, the first part will contain the
complete TABLE OF CONTENTS. Thus, readers of this FAQ may refer to
the TABLE OF CONTENTS to find out where to look for the specific
questions that they want answered. Second, some computer services are
unable to handle extremely large computer files. Thus, if this
version of this FAQ is comprised of more than one part, no one part
will exceed 32k. See the TABLE OF CONTENTS in this FAQ more detailed
information about how the contents of this version of this FAQ are
organized.
This FAQ uses standard Uniform Resource Locator (URL) references
to accomodate readers with a web browser:
<ftp://[ftp_site]/[directory]/[archive] >
(file transfer protocol)
<gopher://[gopher_address] >
(gopher protocol)
<http://[World_Wide_Web_address] >
(hypertext transfer protocol)
<mailto:[e-mail_account]@[domain] >
(SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
<news:[newsgroup_or_article-number@newserver] >
(NNTP: Network News Tranfer Protocol)
<telnet:[telnet_site] >
(IP: Internet protocol)
These URL references will act as hyptertext links for those using
Netscape to read this FAQ on the USENET.
1.4) How can I obtain this FAQ?
This FAQ is archived at rtfm.mit.edu in the pub/usenet/news.answers
directory under the archive name ucdavis/king-hall-faq/part* (where *
= 1 through 9), where it is available by anonymous ftp and e-mail
request. See Section 11.3.3.1 for more information about ftp and e-
mail request. This FAQ is updated once a month and posted to the
USENET newsgroups ucd.king-hall (<news:ucd.king-hall >) and
news.answers (<news:news.answers >). Snail-mail requests to me for
the King Hall USENET FAQ [Offline] (Version 21Jun96) will be honored
within the United States (U.S.), if those requests are accompanied by
$5.00 U.S. currency in the form of a check or money order for each
copy ordered to cover the cost of printing, shipping, and handling;
volume discounts and licensing agreements are available. At my
discretion, I may ship a more recent version of this FAQ unless you
specify otherwise. A hypertext version of this FAQ is currently
available from the USENET FAQ Project:
<http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/ucdavis/king-hall-faq/top.html >
1.5) Are there any other FAQs available by the author of this FAQ? [Rev
7:01am Wednesday January 3, 1996]
Yes. I have published five other FAQS:
The U.C. Davis USENET FAQ, appearing on ucd.general <news:ucd.general
>, and available by anonymous ftp and e-mail request at the
rtmf.mit.edu ftp server:
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/ucdavis/faq/part1 >
. . . [through]. . .
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/ucdavis/faq/part6 >
(see part 1 for a complete list of the TABLE OF CONTENTS)
with a hypertext version available at the USENET FAQ Project:
<http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/ucdavis/faq/top.html >
The Davis, California USENET FAQ (Davis USENET FAQ), appearing on
davis.general (<news:davis.general >), and available by anonymous ftp
an e-mail request at the rtfm.mit.edu ftp server:
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/davis/faq/part1 >
. . . [through] . . .
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/davis/faq/part6 >
(see part 1 for a complete list of the TABLE OF CONTENTS)
with a hypertext version available at the USENET FAQ Project:
<http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/davis/faq/top.html >
The Yolo County, California USENET FAQ (Yolo County USENET FAQ),
appearing on yolo.general (<news:yolo.general >) and available by
anonymous ftp an e-mail request at the rtfm.mit.edu server:
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/yolo/faq/part1 >
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/yolo/faq/part2 >
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/yolo/faq/part3 >
(see part 1 for a complete list of the TABLE OF CONTENTS)
with a hypertext version available at the USENET FAQ Project:
<http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/yolo/faq/top.html >
The Sacramento, California USENET FAQ (Sacramento USENET FAQ),
appearing on sac.general (<news:sac.general >)and available by
anonymous ftp and e-mail request at the rtfm.mit.edu server:
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/sac/faq/part1 >
. . . [through] . . .
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/sac/faq/part6 >
(see part 1 for a complete list of the TABLE OF CONTENTS)
with a hypertext version available at the USENET FAQ Project:
<http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/sac/faq/top.html >
The San Francisco Bay Area USENET FAQ (Bay Area USENET FAQ),
appearing on ba.general (<news:ba.general >)and available by anonymous
ftp and e-mail request at the rtfm.mit.edu server:
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/sf-ba/faq/part1 >
. . . [through] . . .
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/sf-ba/faq/part9 >
(see part 1 for a complete list of the TABLE OF CONTENTS)
with a hypertext version available at the USENET FAQ Project:
<http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/sf-ba/faq/top.html >
These FAQs are updated once a month and the most current versions are
posted on news.answers (<news:news.answers >) and the appropriate
designated USENET newsgroup. Offline versions of the 21Jun96
releases of these FAQs are available within the U.S. by snail-mail
request, if your request is accompanied by $5.00 U.S. currency in the
form of a check or money order for each copy of each FAQ that you
order, to cover the cost of printing, shipping, and handling; volume
discounts and licensing agreements are available. Including the FAQs
that are listed here, I have about a dozen FAQS currently under
construction and/or pending approval of the *.answers team.
2) PREPARING FOR LAW SCHOOL.
2.1) What should I do to prepare for law school?
There is no right way to prepare for law school, academically or
otherwise. However, there are ways to maximize your chances of
getting admitted to the law school of your choice. In most instances,
what prepares you for law school is just living.
2.1.1) What sort of academic preparation is required for law school?
An undergraduate degree from a prestigious university is by far the
best way to maximize your appeal as a law school candidate. However,
many law schools do not even require that you have a four year degree.
In any event, other than the undergraduate education that most law
schools require, no scholastic preparation is necessary for success
once you are in law school.
While no scholastic preparation is necessary for law school, many
law students have advanced degrees in various disciplines. In fact,
many of them have already achieved remarkable success in careers other
than the law. In other words, people who are among the best and
brightest apply to law school. As such, most law schools can pick and
choose from whomever they want to have as incoming students.
Rather than simply pick the elite of the best and brightest,
however, law schools try to find people with unique and interesting
backgrounds to achieve diversity in the law school student body.
Thus, no student is guaranteed admission to any law school, regardless
of his or her credentials. This comes as quite a shock to many
applicants with impeccable credentials who are rejected by the law
school of their choice.
2.1.1.1) What undergraduate program should someone pursue if he or she
plans to go to law school?
An unusual undergraduate major typically maximizes your chances of
admission to law school. However, your class ranking as an
undergraduate is also very important because many other applicants
will probably have a scholastic background that is similar to yours,
so study something that you will enjoy and at which you will do well.
2.1.1.2) Aren't political science majors better prepared for law school
than other college graduates?
As a rule, no. Political science is a distinct and different
discipline than the law. Even so, many people who go to law school
have studied political science as an undergraduate. Other things
being equal, they are no better qualified to study the law than anyone
else is. They are also at a distinct disadvantage in the law school
application process, which favors diversity. The number of political
science majors who apply to law school and get accepted by the law
school of their choice is proportionately small when compared to other
undergraduate majors.
2.1.1.3) Wouldn't someone who studied a challenging undergraduate major be
better qualified to study the law than someone who studied
underwater basket weaving?
Not necessarily. No matter how challenging an undergraduate major is,
it does not qualify you to study law. It merely demonstrates your
ability in that undergraduate major and/or your commitment to that
major. Someone who excels at underwater basket weaving may be just as
qualified to study the law as someone who excels at the most
challenging undergraduate major. More important is the fact that
someone who has studied underwater basket weaving is more likely to
get admitted to the law school of his or her choice based on
diversity.
2.1.2) What else should I do to prepare for law school?
Whatever appeals to you. Some sort of work experience is usually your
best option.
2.1.2.1) What type of work experience best prepares someone for law
school?
With the possible exception of legal work experience, no particular
type of work experience prepares you for law school better than any
other. On the other hand, there is no work experience that does not
prepare you for law school. The law affects every aspect of modern
living, including virtually every type of job, so every type of work
experience prepares you for law school.
2.1.2.2) What other kinds of experience prepare someone for law school?
The best kind of experience to prepare someone for law school is
overcoming some sort of personal hardship. Law school can be a
humbling experience, even for the best and brightest. In my humble
opinion, those who get the most out of the law school experience are
those who know how to cope with both success and failure.
2.2) How do I know if I'm ready for law school?
Objectively speaking, no one is ever ready for law school. No one
leaves law school as the same person that he or she was when he or she
entered. Subjectively speaking, you are ready for law school whenever
you make the decision to apply.
2.2.1) What if I don't know why I want to go to law school?
Join the club. It is a rare individual who knows why he or she wants
to go to law school. Those who think that they know why they want to
go to law school typically discover opportunities in law school that
they had never considered before. Some people stick with their
original goals, but the odds are stacked against it.
2.2.2) What if I am too old to go to law school?
Nonsense. If you are young enough to think about going to law school,
then you are young enough to go. There is no such thing as a good
excuse for choosing not to do something that you want to do, and there
is no time like the present to start making up for lost time.
3) APPLYING TO LAW SCHOOL.
In the United States and elsewhere, the law school application process
feeds a cottage industry that is more or less controlled and directed
by the benevolent leadership of Law Services. For more information on
the ins-and-outs of applying to law school, contact Law Services at:
Law Services
Box 2000
661 Penn St
Newtown, PA 18940-0998
or visit the Law School Admissions Council Online Home Page on the
World Wide Web (<http://www.lsas.org/ >).