-Have conversations with as many people as you can who are going through, or have gone through law school.  Ask lots of questions…what do you find most difficult?  what do you love about it?  what do you wish you knew going in that you didn’t?  what is housing like?  is there a cooperative or competitive environment at the school?  etc. etc. etc.  Don’t be afraid to contact faculty.  Look them up and if they teach/write about/work on issues that are important to you, contact them.  I found that pretty much everyone I reached out to was helpful and friendly.

-Taking an LSAT prep course works, if you can spare the time and money.  Maybe you are more disciplined than I, and can set aside a couple of hours a day to study on your own, but I needed the structure.  Also, the instructors have tips and ways of thinking about the test that help.  Some courses are better than others.  If you are in So Cal, Princeton Review is a good one.

If you are worried about funding law school and overwhelmingly burdensome debt afterwards, know that some schools have loan repayment assistance programs for people who pursue a public interest career after graduating.  The amount of assistance varies from school to school.  Also, the federal government just commenced a Public Service Loan Forgiveness program under the College Cost Reduction and Access Grant of 2008.  Under this program, all loans are forgiven after 10 years of qualifying public service employment.  Of course, you do have to make loan payments during those 10 years…but it’s a start.

I recently made my decision where to attend and will be starting school this Fall.  Weighing the many variables that go into the decision-making process can be extremely daunting, and I would be happy to help…questions about personal statements, the application process, why law school or whatever else.

my email is johns167@chapman.edu.

Finally, here are a couple of resources that helped to inform my contemplations and eventual decisions about law school:

This is a website that has an unbelievable amount of information for those thinking about becoming a progressively minded lawyer.  It helped me A LOT:  http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/

The November 2008 issue of a magazine called The National Jurist ranked the top 60 public interest law programs based on student involvement, curriculum and finances.  The results are pretty interesting.  Here’s a link to the issue: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cypress/nationaljurist1108/

structural problems John McKnight 1996, The Careless Society: Community and its Counterfeits

giving up: Jeff Schmidt 2001, Disciplined Minds: A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-Battering System That Shapes Their Lives

how to do it right: Paul Farmer 2005, Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond The Non-Profit Industrial Complex

This is an online program.

ALSO there are many more fabulously interdisciplinary courses than in the US. Here are two fabulous examples:

Carl vos Osssietzky Universität Oldenburg (Germany) has a http://www.coast.uni-oldenburg.de with degrees in Landscape Ecology, Sustainability Economics, and Water/Coastal Management… (!) Tuition is €750/semester, which is less than $1000.

The Christian-Albrechts Univrsität zu Kiel (Germany) has a program in human development and landscapes. Check it out.

Environmental Semester

Mexico Solidarity Network

http://www.idealist.org/

Just Means

Opportunity Knocks

Commongood Careers

i don’t know anything about this organization. if you check into them, please comment: the Be Bold project of the Echoing Green Social Fund. they also have some kind of fellowship.

Young Non-Profit Professional Network’s  listserv: www.ynpn.org

in the Bay Area, i would also recommend going to the Women’s Bldg in San Francisco and signing up for their e-mail list.  – sottolin

highlander center .

center for third world organizing .

mexico solidarity network study abroad .

strategy center national school for strategic organizing .

aflcio organizing institute

catalyst project

the farm school

center for agroecology