BASIC SKILLS

In the article Advice-Question 1, the comments of 40 first-year students who responded to the following question are provided.

Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently to prepare for law school?

Overall, twelve out of the forty students, or thirty percent of the responding students, provided a comment that referred to having wished they had improved their basic reading and writing skills prior to attending law school. Additionally, it must be assumed, that at least for another four or five students, this issue was in the top two or three things they wished they had done prior to attending law school. This means that possibly fifty percent of the students questioned thought that improving their basic reading and writing skills was something so important that they wished they had done it before law school.

Remember the individuals we are talking about are not individuals that have never been to school. We are talking about highly educated individuals who have all finished college and in some cases have a master's degree.

The question you must ask yourself is why are so many highly educated, intelligent people raising the issue of wishing they had improved their basic skills prior to attending law school?

The first thought that comes to my mind is that possibly these people did not develop the right reading and writing skills necessary to excel in law school. Further proof of this thought comes from the professional world. Despite the fact that our society is twenty years into the computer age, with things changing rapidly every year, the number one skill that employers in all professions still seek in the employees they hire is the ability to communicate effectively, i.e., the ability to speak and write clearly, concisely, and precisely.

In Basic Skills-Why They Are Weak I explain why many college graduates do not possess the skills necessary to excel in law school and the professional world.

The following links are articles on pre-law preparation.

http://www.abanet.org/legaled/prelaw/prep.html
http://law.unl.edu/inside.asp?d=how-prepare

Good luck in law school!

Michael Santana

michael.santana@lawboost.com

If you have any questions or comments about this article, or want to write your own article about the pre-law or law school process, feel free to contact me.