A bad marketplace

I read Josh Akman’s “Surviving the LSATs” with great fondness for when I took the LSAT nearly four years ago. It’s certainly a complicated, painstaking process, applying to law school and all. I’d warn Josh, and every other GW senior looking to go to law school to seriously reconsider. If you think taking the LSAT was hard, you’re not going to like what you find in law school. And if you find law school difficult, you’re really not going to like looking for a job. Unfortunately folks, the legal market is probably the worst it’s been in decades, and not all of us are going to Harvard or Yale (not that it matters anymore because even those folks are having a difficult time).

Before trying to delay the inevitable “real world,” seriously consider the consequences of an additional $100,000 in student debt and the possibility of no job as a result.
Shamik Trivedi is a School of Business ’04 alumnus.

A risky retake

While Josh Akman’s recent LSAT column was insightful, it was a bit misleading as he failed to fully address the issue of taking the exam multiple times.

It’s true that taking it in December of your senior year puts you at a disadvantage, but taking it once or twice junior year and senior year, as he suggests, is the worst thing you could possibly do.

While some schools average your scores, they all see ALL of your scores – they know how many times you’ve taken it. Anyone familiar with the law school admissions process knows that if you want to get into a “good” school, top tier for example, you really only have one shot. Herein lies the true issue prospective law students struggle with: take it once and live with those results or risk being judged for a second stab at a few extra points?

As a junior having taken the LSAT last weekend as well (and only intending to taking it the one time) I feel the best advice is to take a class that runs up until just a few weeks before the exam and if you feel really uncomfortable with your performance, cancel your score.
Angelica Sabintsev is a junior majoring in psychology.

Pick up your trash

It is ironic that students who camped overnight to get tickets to the Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates events left pizza boxes, coffee cups, energy drink bottles and cans all over the place, as if the trash would disintegrate into thin air. Multiple trash cans were literally steps away. How can GW students – who I would guess are “into” stopping global warming, spreading social justice and standing with Hillary on anti-pollution – be so disrespectful to the environment, fellow classmates and GW janitors? Maybe it’s because what they’re really into is celebrity and themselves.

As an elite school, GW should do better to weed these juveniles out during the admissions process. Parents should do a better job of teaching their misfits some manners and respect. Finally, students should help hold their peers accountable. Pick it up next time!
Tyler Peterson is a first-year graduate student international affairs.