Seeing as I am less than a year away from applying to law school, I've gotten quite a few questions from students who are curious to learn more about my law school preparation process. More specifically, students are eager to learn more about what I've done throughout the past 3 and a half years in order to make myself a competitive applicant for law school. This Odyssey article discusses the answers to 6 of those frequently asked questions. Some ones that I have already been asked, while others are ones that I thought I should answer for the sake of clarity. My hope is that you will use the answers I provide to increase your chances of being accepted to your dream law school(s) in the future:

1. "What did you choose to major in as an undergraduate and why?"

In my sophomore year of college, I found out that I could major in absolutely anything and still apply to law school. However, it is known that law schools actually prefer to admit students who have a strong writing ability, so it might be best to major in something that involves an extensive amount of writing.

I chose Writing and Rhetoric with a minor in Pre-Law in the Humanities. My major required me to minor in something, and I thought Pre-Law would be the best option.

Why? Well, because majoring in Writing and Rhetoric would not only allow me to take courses that I truly enjoyed and could do well in, but most of those courses would also require me to do extensive amounts of reading and writing. By minoring in Pre-Law, I would be taking courses that would give me a better sense of what work in the legal field is actually like.

So, I'd be getting the best of both worlds while also demonstrating to admissions officers that I would be more than capable of achieving success in law school.

2. "Do you need extracurricular activities to impress law school admissions officers? Which ones did you do as an undergraduate and why?"

Many students think that a high GPA and LSAT score is all they'll need to impress law school admissions officers. Unfortunately, while both of those factors will definitely make you a competitive applicant, any extracurricular activities you do will show admissions officers just how well-rounded you truly are. Not only that, but you'll also impress them with the fact that you were able to obtain a high GPA and LSAT score in addition to keeping up with some extracurricular activities.

I did several as an undergraduate, including but not limited to:

-Writing for Odyssey at UCF.

-Joining the UCF Speech Team.

And

-Obtaining a job as a sales associate for Godiva Chocolatier.

Notice how each one of these activities involves utilizing skills that any attorney will need to be successful in his/her career (e.g. writing, public speaking, communicating with others). Make sure to keep this in mind as you pursue extracurricular activities of your own.

3. "How did you obtain internships as an undergraduate? Which ones were they?"

During my internship search, finding opportunities to work for law firms proved to be a very difficult task (especially since I didn't have any real experience with the legal field).

So, I took the initiative to find internship opportunities in relation to my major by doing the following:

1) Visiting UCF's "B.A. Student Guide and Resource Site"

And

2) Clicking on the tab entitled "Internship Site List."

It was there that I came across the following link to several different internship opportunities which were related to my major:

https://ucfwritingandrhetoricba.wordpress.com/inte...

After reading through the list a few times and determining which internships I was most passionate about, I followed through with the requirements necessary to inquire about each one.

After a few weeks, I heard back and eventually accepted offers from two organizations: a volunteer position for a new company called Page 15, and a Research and Content Editor position for a new UCF publication known as Convergence/Rhetoric.

Fortunately, both of those internships have allowed me to gain more experience with writing and communicating with others (which will, of course, prove to be very valuable to me as an attorney).

4. "How do you balance work, school, and all of the extracurricular activities you've committed to?"

Up until recently, I used to just try to incorporate every new opportunity that I could into my schedule without recording the details. And the truth is, I wasn't happy with the results. I quickly became very unmotivated and was truly unsatisfied with the majority of my efforts. Eventually, I started using a planner and noticed several positive differences in my mood and satisfaction with life. That, to me, was one of the best decisions I could have ever made for myself.

I have also recently learned to assess each potential new commitment for the purpose of determining:

1. Whether or not I can actually handle it with everything else I'm doing.

2. The benefits it will give me in relation to my success with law school.

3. Whether the benefits of taking it on outweigh the limitations of not taking it on.

5. "Is the LSAT as intimidating as people make it out to be?"

No, it most certainly isn't. However, people are right when they say that you need to do as many practice problems as possible in order to effectively prepare for it. This is because the questions you encounter on the LSAT will require you to think in ways that you might not necessarily be accustomed to.

For more information on how to effectively study for the LSAT, check out one of my former Odyssey articles which can be found at https://www.theodysseyonline.com/lsat-surprise.

6. "How do you manage to stay motivated with your desire to attend law school?"

You should have seen me a few weeks ago. I was a total mess. I knew I wanted to be an attorney, but there were also a few times when I would question myself. I'll admit, sometimes I don't feel like doing my homework or whatever else needs to get done for me to graduate and apply to law school. I then take the time to figure out why I'm feeling the way I do and make the necessary adjustments to feel otherwise.

I think about the kind of life I want for myself, my future spouse, and our children. I think about how doing exactly what I need to do now will bring me even closer to living that life, in which I will feel truly satisfied with who I am and what I do on a daily basis. I think about the fact that one day, sooner than I know, I'll have my dream career. I just need to stay motivated.