Lawyers...first semester exam tips?

[Abagadro]

Interesting.  At mine As were really, really rare when I was in school. Nowhere near 10%, more like 2%, and Cs were very likely if you slacked off. Could be because of the larger class size (I think Harvard is like 6xs that of where I went) so they need greater distribution. I do know it wasn't that regimented.  Class rank is all that matters anyways. Keep up the good work.

[Strazos]

While I have the attention of the law people....

Generally, what does it take to get into a good law school, if I had a MA in History, and possibly a JD?

I'm still in undergrad, but Law school is something I am considering for the somewhat-distant future.

[CmdrSlack]

If you already have a JD, then you'd be going for an LL.M. or JSD.

But basically, destroy the LSAT, have good undergrad grades, and some solid references, and you should be fine for getting into a good school.

Also realize that the U.S. News rankings aren't the final arbiter of "good" and a lower tier school could teach you just as much if not more than a higher tier school.  Case in point are the people I have worked with who went to theory-intensive schools.  Lots of these kids came to me to ask how to do basic attorney tasks, largely because nobody ever told them how to do 'em.

At the same time, if you want to hear someone describe the origins of "free speech" jurisprudence in excruciating detail, for an entire semester, then the heavy theory schools are for you.

[Abagadro]

I agree with everything CmdrSlack said.

The law school admissions program is almost entirely numbers dependent based upon GPA and LSAT.   If you are really considering it, go talk to some lawyers in the geographical area you think you will practice in to get a sense of a) whether it is a good idea and b) where to go.

[Nazrat]

Almost every law school will deny it but the ones in Texas all use some varient of 10 X GPA plus LSAT score to come up with a scale for admitting someone.  As most GPA's are pretty well set by the time you consider applying, the only dramatic change that is availalbe is in maximizing the LSAT score.  

Make sure you read 1L by Scott Turow before applying to law school.  Too many people get to the first week of class and then quit because they like the idea of being a lawyer but not the process of becoming one.

[Margalis]

Higher institutions always grade higher.

The harder a school is to get into, the easier it is to *stay* in and avoid low grades. At  a place like Harvard, only 2% or so of undergrads have to drop out,  and the average GPA is something absurd like A-.

If you go to a mid to low tier school, you often find failure rates in the 20s-30s.