Non-trad J.D. quick question

[baboor]

Hi,

Quick question. Long story short, I am finishing up 3rd year of law school at very respected school. Unlike most of my classmates, I actually enjoyed the experience and have done really well, so far in top 4%. I also already took California bar and passed. While I did well in law school, unfortunately I spent a good number of my undergrad years in undergrad partying. My grades fluctuated from straight As to bunch of Cs, depending on the semester --which led to overall gpa hovering around 3.0. While I am enjoying law school, I have decided to pursue MD (after taking entering a post-bach program to take my prereq and tackling the MCAT). However, I am very nervous because of my undergrad grades. Will my high LSAT score (I did really well on the LSAT, which is why I got accepted to my law school and generally do well on standardized tests) and performing well in law school compensate for that (even if I do well on the MCAT)? are the top ranked schools pretty much out of the question for me?

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[TheWeeIceMan]

Hi,

Quick question. Long story short, I am finishing up 3rd year of law school at very respected school. Unlike most of my classmates, I actually enjoyed the experience and have done really well, so far in top 4%. I also already took California bar and passed. While I did well in law school, unfortunately I spent a good number of my undergrad years in undergrad partying. My grades fluctuated from straight As to bunch of Cs, depending on the semester --which led to overall gpa hovering around 3.0. While I am enjoying law school, I have decided to pursue MD (after taking entering a post-bach program to take my prereq and tackling the MCAT). However, I am very nervous because of my undergrad grades. Will my high LSAT score (I did really well on the LSAT, which is why I got accepted to my law school and generally do well on standardized tests) and performing well in law school compensate for that (even if I do well on the MCAT)? are the top ranked schools pretty much out of the question for me?

Your LSAT and law school performace will very likely have no appreciable effect on your chances at med school. At this point, if you decide to pursue medicine, you need to worry about getting into any school, not just top ranked schools (which are pretty much out of the question). You will need to start reparing that gpa with a post-bac and building up ECs, which may take a few years. Your best bet is going to be taking advantage of grade replacement and concentrating on DO schools.

 

[Inygma]

Agreed with the above.

We have the opposite problems. I left law school to pursue medicine, but my GPA is competitive. My issue will be explaining to Adcomm why I won't quit med school, etc. IF you make it to interviews you can spin the JD in a good way, I can use my JD in ways to make me a better physician blah blah.

Unfortunately, LSAT/performance will have little effect. Possibly they will see you did well under a rigorous graduate program, but MDs love the UG GPA.

Best of luck though!, CHeck out DO, as that is a viable option with grade replacement.

 

[smpbound]

Hi,

Quick question. Long story short, I am finishing up 3rd year of law school at very respected school. Unlike most of my classmates, I actually enjoyed the experience and have done really well, so far in top 4%. I also already took California bar and passed. While I did well in law school, unfortunately I spent a good number of my undergrad years in undergrad partying. My grades fluctuated from straight As to bunch of Cs, depending on the semester --which led to overall gpa hovering around 3.0. While I am enjoying law school, I have decided to pursue MD (after taking entering a post-bach program to take my prereq and tackling the MCAT). However, I am very nervous because of my undergrad grades. Will my high LSAT score (I did really well on the LSAT, which is why I got accepted to my law school and generally do well on standardized tests) and performing well in law school compensate for that (even if I do well on the MCAT)? are the top ranked schools pretty much out of the question for me?

Congrats on passing the bar, but why? No one will care if you decide to go pre-med.

 

[baboor]

Thank you. I am not sure what you meant but why?

For the rest, would the fact i only took two science classes in undegrad help? If I do post-bac and best case scenario i get str8 As, my science gpa will go to 3.6. Does that make change your answer? also I have been studying for the MCAt for few months rigorously too see if I have the aptitude for science and see where I am before I spend $$ on post-bac program and I have been averaging around 33-34 on the Mcat (after the bar this wasnt nearly as crazy as I thought it would be). I have not taken it yet because I have not taken pre-reqs and I am hoping I will get few more additional points once i do.

 

[Indianarn]

Hi,

Quick question. Long story short, I am finishing up 3rd year of law school at very respected school. Unlike most of my classmates, I actually enjoyed the experience and have done really well, so far in top 4%. I also already took California bar and passed. While I did well in law school, unfortunately I spent a good number of my undergrad years in undergrad partying. My grades fluctuated from straight As to bunch of Cs, depending on the semester --which led to overall gpa hovering around 3.0. While I am enjoying law school, I have decided to pursue MD (after taking entering a post-bach program to take my prereq and tackling the MCAT). However, I am very nervous because of my undergrad grades. Will my high LSAT score (I did really well on the LSAT, which is why I got accepted to my law school and generally do well on standardized tests) and performing well in law school compensate for that (even if I do well on the MCAT)? are the top ranked schools pretty much out of the question for me?

I agree with most of the posters here. While you are smart, but your past mistakes will make hard for you to get into MD school. However, that doesn't mean all is lost. I would, as the others have said, finish law school and start working on your pre-reqs. While you complete those, working as an attorney for a little bit will benefit you when applying to an Osteopathic Medical School. They tend to like people that are unique and mature with different back grounds. I don't know how old you are, but I was 41 when I applied and will be starting this year when I will be 42. So really concentrate on finishing Law School, work on pre-reqs (that may help to boost your undergrad GPA), work hard on MCAT and knock it off with a great score, get some EC work including medical related field such as hospitals nursing homes, shadow some docs and shadowing a DO is a must for you and get them lined up of LOR. Get professors lined up for LOR including 2 science and on non-science professors. Good luck, I know you are smart to be able to plan it and make it in.

 

[smpbound]

Thank you. I am not sure what you meant but why?

For the rest, would the fact i only took two science classes in undegrad help? If I do post-bac and best case scenario i get str8 As, my science gpa will go to 3.6. Does that make change your answer? also I have been studying for the MCAt for few months rigorously too see if I have the aptitude for science and see where I am before I spend $$ on post-bac program and I have been averaging around 33-34 on the Mcat (after the bar this wasnt nearly as crazy as I thought it would be). I have not taken it yet because I have not taken pre-reqs and I am hoping I will get few more additional points once i do.

What I mean is that passing the bar doesn't mean anything unless you get your license. All this takes time and money. If you're going pre-med, you will have no need for a law license. And no one will be impressed in med school if you passed the bar and have your law license.

Or, you can get your license. Get a job. Make some money. Get some experience. And then go premed.

 

[crazy87]

.

 

[Law2Doc]

I've never heard of anyone taking the bar before completing law school -- typically you do the bar review courses over the summer following graduation and take it late summer...

At any rate your law school grades and LSAT won't be meaningful to med schools. Advanced degrees are typically looked at as nice ECs. Your undergrad GPa and postbac (no h) grades will loom large. Not having taken most of the sciences is probably a good thing.

Since you have said you enjoy law school, as I've said on here many many times, if you actually work as a lawyer before making the jump your odds are much better. Med schools don't want people who jump from degree to degree. And they like transferable skills from prior careers. If you said you hated law I could see making an immediate jump but that's not the story here. So my advice is get some career experience, pay down your loans and then make the jump. Your landing will be much softer. Having been a successful practicing lawyer has made my journey much much easier in innumerable ways, with admission being a big one. Having been a professional was my "hook", the schooling wasn't.

Also you need a compelling story of why you are switching from law to medicine. It will have to be even more compelling given the fact that you apparently didn't even give law a try. Adcoms don't like people running from bad career options, don't like other fields castoffs, and they don't like nontrads who are flighty and seem like they flit from school after school, never really landing. You need to explain how you are more compelling than these types. So your story is everything here.

 

[baboor]

Thank you for all the advice.

The bar situation, you are right, the bar is typically taken after grad summer (infact, only few people took it prior like me at my school); but I had my reasons to take it early (by the way 3rd year of law school is a total waste of time and money). Loans wise, I only had loans first year (full scholly after that) and stayed with relatives during that year so not too much loans to pay off. But I do plan on working for a two years to get practical experience before making the switch. By the way, I do have many "soft" factors (URM, lived through an actual civil war, came to the u.s. as a kid war refugee, grew up in a christian group home (sort of like an orphanage, etc) --while I dont mind sharing that on my app, I also do not want to rely on that to get where I am going. And my desire to switch to MD fits into that (few non law related things happened while I was in lawschool that led to me to reflect and decide to go that route) so I think I will be fine on the compelling story as to why I am switching.

Again, thank you all for the advice. I wanted to gauge where I fit in, and all your posts have provided me with a better insight).

 

[Esquire]

.

 

[Inygma]

For reference, 48% of blacks with a GPA of 3.00-3.19 and an MCAT of 24-26 were accepted to MD schools according to AAMC. Throw in orphanage and civil war along with URM and you're pretty much guaranteed an MD spot. I'd imagine if you broke 30 on the MCAT, most top med schools will fight over you.

Ya this changes the game drastically. With straight-A post-bacc and a decent MCAT score (what you are getting right now is more than enough) you have a great shot at an MD acceptance. Unless you want the best of the best schools, I don't even think you'd need to practice law or even finish for that matter. Obviously doing both of those will make things tremendously easier though.

 

[Goro]

Nope, Med schools do not care about any other exam except the MCAT.


Will my high LSAT score (I did really well on the LSAT, which is why I got accepted to my law school and generally do well on standardized tests) and performing well in law school compensate for that (even if I do well on the MCAT)?

Yes. But do well in your post-bac and ace the MCAT, and there are med schools that believe in redemption.




are the top ranked schools pretty much out of the question for me?[/QUOTE]

 

[Law2Doc]

Still not buying the whole "already passed the California bar exam" after the second year of law school, getting mid 30s on practice MCATs having only taken two science classes, and not yet even started postbac, etc. Plus hes "finishing up third year" but posts on the date of most Cali law schools' graduations. And using phraseology like "str8". Too many things not adding up here. I'm calling shenanigans...

 

[baboor]

@Law2Doc I am not going to engage in a back and forth to validate myself to you. The only reason I am even acknowledging this because (1) for all the people who gave me advice (including yourself), I do not want you to think it was in vain -- I did post with sincerity and you all did provide me with valuable insights, and (2) I find it very troubling that you find that using phraseology like "str8" is somehow an indication of lack of intellectual aptitude, sincerity, or whatever shortcomings you would like to attach to it to allow you to conclude this is "shenanigans". People come from all sort of backgrounds, use different language, and have different upbringings. If you want to dispute what I said with your reasons (which you did), you are definitely entitled to that; however, that "str8" comment really rubbed me the wrong way. Anyways, like I said I am not going to engage in a back and forth with you so this is my last comment on this. Again, thank you all for the input including @Law2Doc. "PEACE"

 

[Inygma]

Still not buying the whole "already passed the California bar exam" after the second year of law school, getting mid 30s on practice MCATs having only taken two science classes, and not yet even started postbac, etc. Plus hes "finishing up third year" but posts on the date of most Cali law schools' graduations. And using phraseology like "str8". Too many things not adding up here. I'm calling shenanigans...

Was thinking the same thing, especially with all the URM stuff thrown in, but gave the benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, he did know that 3rd year (and for that matter, most of the second year) is a waste of money/time haha.

 

[Law2Doc]

@Law2Doc I am not going to engage in a back and forth to validate myself to you. The only reason I am even acknowledging this because (1) for all the people who gave me advice (including yourself), I do not want you to think it was in vain -- I did post with sincerity and you all did provide me with valuable insights, and (2) I find it very troubling that you find that using phraseology like "str8" is somehow an indication of lack of intellectual aptitude, sincerity, or whatever shortcomings you would like to attach to it to allow you to conclude this is "shenanigans". People come from all sort of backgrounds, use different language, and have different upbringings. If you want to dispute what I said with your reasons (which you did), you are definitely entitled to that; however, that "str8" comment really rubbed me the wrong way. Anyways, like I said I am not going to engage in a back and forth with you so this is my last comment on this. Again, thank you all for the input including @Law2Doc. "PEACE"

Whatever. A lot of things really don't mesh in your story. And the fact the you don't want to dispute any of the salient parts of my comment and focused in exclusively on the silliness "str8" is pretty telling. That fine.

Anyhow, although its the least relevent faux pas you made, when a new poster starts using iM abbreviation like str8 it really makes him sound like a young teen, and frankly on a preprofessional board screams troll. (Sorry but you didn't come from a background or upbringing where this was the way people actually write or speak -- please...) Doesn't matter, I was calling shenanigans on your initial post without it.

Peace to you as well.