What grades do you need to become a lawyer?

Answer 1

It depends on which law schools you are looking at. The Top 14 law schools require competitive GPAs as well as LSAT scores. Many applicants with a high GPA but a low LSAT score (lower than 160) will get rejected by the Top 14, but many applicants with an average GPA (~3.5) and a high LSAT score (170+) will be accepted. Extracurricular, volunteer, and work experiences are also factored in to admissions decisions. But if you are looking at second, third, or fourth tier law schools, then the standards are not as high but competitive nonetheless. If you are mainly focusing on GPAs, you may want to refer to lawschoolnumbers.com, which contains numerical data from real law school applicants.

Answer 2

It depends where you are, what age you are and what kind of lawyer you want to be. For example, if you want to be a notary public, you need to study at least one foreign language (preferably two or three). There are three main ways of becoming a lawyer:

1. Study for a law degree or acceptable alternative (in some universities the name of the course is jurisprudence) then sit the Common Professional Exam. From then on you sign indenture papers called Articles and work as a trainee lawyer to become a solicitor or a barrister/advocate

2. Register with one of the societies of notaries and train on the job (for this you do not need a degree to start but you do need languages

3. Train as a legal secretary then take a job with a firm of lawyers, a law centre or the legal department of a local authority and register to train as a Legal Executive. The training is part-time, usually at night school or with day-release. Once you are fully qualified as a legal executive, you are also exempt from sitting the Common Professional Exam and your qualifications count as a law degree. You can then serve Articles to train as a solicitor or barrister. This is the easiest way to train because the costs are low and you only have to sit exams connected with the work that you do, so you get a law degree without getting into debt and you can earn your own fees as soon as you are partly qualified as a legal executive. There are similar advantages to training as a notary.

Answer 3

It depends what law school you want to go to. To get into Harvard or Yale, you need a 3.75 or better with very good LSATs, although GPAs as low as 3.4 are sometimes good enough for the top 5 schools if your LSATs are very high (175+) or you are an outstanding individual in other ways. If you're a well known journalist or entrepreneur, lower grades and scores won't rule you out as a candidate.

To get into a first tier school, you will probably need a 3.0 or better without needing such high LSATs. A 160 and 3.2 could get you into a decent school if you are otherwise an impressive candidate.

You can get into fourth tier schools with very low grades and LSATs. (say, 150 and 2.0) However, graduates of these schools often have a very hard time finding work, even in a good economy. Keep in mind that most schools use an index where the LSAT is weighted more heavily than grades are, so even those who didn't do well in college have a chance to partly redeem themselves.

Answer 4

You need a Juris Doctorate to practice law in most states. Your undergraduate degree can be in anything you choose. Once you have completed your undergraduate degree you need to take the LSAT to get into Law School. Upon completion of Law School you are awarded a Juris Doctorate and will be allowed to take the Bar Exam to practice law.

Answer 5

you need at least a B or better :)

Answer 6

You must obtain a Bachelor's Degree and the a Juris Doctor (J.D.). Then you must pass the bar exam of the state in which you intend to practice.

Answer 7

Your high school grades have little effect on admission to law school. They will be looking at your college grades. That and your LSAT score will determine your acceptance.

Answer 8

High school grades are generally not considered in the law school admissions process. Excellent undergraduate grades are required, along with a high LSAT score.

Answer 9

3.7