Our Spineless Message Board Compatriots 2006 July 23
Posted by stephaniesays in 0L, Advice, Rants.trackback
During the law school admissions process message boards serve a very important need. They allow us to connect with others for stress relief, reassurance, and even information. Those who post pull information and almost serve as law school advisors to those at large public schools with crappy career services (just call me bitter on this one). After spending ten months on a very large and popular one myself, I have come to a few conclusions that do not paint the message board masses as a particularly favorable breed. Here is a list of some of the questions that bother me the most (in no particular order):
1. Laptop bag or sleeve?
2. HELP! Where do I go? School X or Y?
3. Can I get into School X with GPA Y and LSAT Z?
4. What kind of laptop should I get?
5. Are you going to follow [Insert Author]’s advice for studying?
6. How should I take notes?
…And the list goes on and on and on. Ignore the fact that one should be able to decide what kind of laptop they want and how to carry it, and instead turn your attention to the other questions. First of all, after four years of undergrad and quite possibly a few more in grad school, one would think that a person knows how they like to take notes, not to mention how they study best. Just because some pompous author thinks five highlighters is the way to go does not mean that it is the best way. I know I’d go a bit nuts trying to juggle five different markers while attempting to absorb a case. I implore future law students to step back and ask whether or not they have a system that has worked for them and whether or not conforming to someone else’s idea of organization/note-taking is worth the trouble. I certainly do not believe that it is.
Even though people think that the message board masses are a part of admissions committees, asking whether or not their numbers will get them into a school is not exactly a big problem when compared to people who try to engage others in their personal decision making. In other words, WHY CAN’T THEY JUST ACT LIKE AN ADULT AND MAKE THE DAMN DECISION FOR THEMSELVES?! Agh. I am so utterly and completely baffled as to why someone would sit at their computer and ask people where the next few years of his/her life should be spent. No one can tell someone else where to go or whether or not he or she is making the best decision. It’s personal, dammit, so leave it that way!
I’ve simply never seen such a large group of adults act in such an immature and cowardly manner. Take control of your lives before you apply to law school. Please.
I’ll second this rant
Mmmm, I like highlighters. All those pretty colours!
I joined a message board only after I was admitted. I’ll admit, the message board was great for helping to purge my neuroses. However, yes, people (especially future lawyers) need to learn to think for themselves.
Many people think that the masses hold the golden key to their future. After all, why worry alone when you can worry with others and pretend that there is a clear solution at hand when really, there is none unless you create one yourself? Illusion of a knowledgeable authority is powerful, especially when you face an uncertain future.
Oh and if you’re neurotic. I find that a trait of many law school message board members.
I knew of the message board a full year before I applied, but I didn’t check it until my applications were in and I was waiting for results to come in. However, I was able to decide what school to go to on my own, picked out a laptop and case, and will probably be able to write notes without needing advice from people who haven’t even started law school.
Maybe the fact that so many posters are (supposedly) going to the top law schools makes people think that those people are qualified to give advice, but how do we know that all the “prestigious” posters aren’t people trolling with made-up identities? That said, just becaues a person is going to Harvard or Yale doesn’t mean he/she is qualified to give other people advice.
The problem is due in part, I think, to the type of people who are going to law school–many see it as merely an extension of undergrad, another way to postpone their entrance into mature adulthood. You can’t expect those kinds of people to take responsibility because it’s the very thing that they are trying to avoid by going to law school. Not to mention that those who have the time/inclination to post on message boards are going to rejoice in the neurotic hall of mirrors that they’ve entered–finally, here is a place you can talk endlessly about things your real life friends could care less about… to be honest, I was a pretty active member due to that reason: I didn’t want to bother those around me with my endless LSAT/PS/application worries… I did try to keep my wits about me and make my own major decisions though. And for those of you who know me (or know of me), I guess that’s obvious based on the school I chose to attend. Gold star fur me, yup yup.
It’s hard to follow your own mind if you don’t really know what it’s thinking… and before I get into the whole “self-actualization” mess, I’ll just say that I’m grateful there are those out there (like yourself, stephanie) that have the ability to rely on your own decisions… message boards (and blogs, too) maybe be helpful in giving you perspective, but the final moves should always be made by your own hand.
It hasn’t failed to amaze me yet how many people on these message boards beleive that because they have acquired a handful of statistics regarding a dozen or so schools, they beleive themselves to be experts concerning the entire legal community.
A recent debate on one of these message boards concerned a personal ranking of law schools, despite the fact that these schools have been accredited as acceptable legal institutions, and have also been given a meaningful rank by credible media and/or institutions. What do people like this one poster – who has yet to even apply to schools! – understand about legal preparation, and the career it prepares someone for, to even consider “ranking” it?
Similar situations with critiquing another’s choice for legal education come to mind. None of these message board members have progressed far enough in their legal career to provide a reasonable analysis to impact this HUGE decision. Sure, Harvard may be “one of the best” – but that doesn’t mean a school ranked as a “4th tier” by the USNWR is “worthless” and one should not attend at all costs.
Unless someone has been there and done that for the source of their advice, I’ll take it with a grain of salt. A few dozen grains at that.
I’m not so sure those questions reflect an inability to think for oneself so much as they reflect a lack of familiarity with the law school admissions game.
We were all there once. In a few months, they’ll be making new blogs and complaining about newbie posts too.
I disagree, Lily. The majority of these questions are coming at the end of the process. Likewise, computers and computer bags are removed from the game, and the decision to attend one school over another is the final decision of a process one should have learned by now. I can let the #s and studying questions go due to the naivete they express about something a person hasn’t gone through, but i simply cannot ignore the amount of people who want someone else to make their decision for them a la #2.
Perhaps it’s a bit of both — there are those out there who genuinely have no where else to turn. In my case, I don’t think I posted a blatant “X or Y” type question, but I did read a lot of those particular posts to get a feel for the admissions process since the lawyers I knew graduated eons ago and my advisor was non-existent. It was a quick and easy way to see the general merits of either school.
There are, though, some lazy people who truly do live their lives based on a poll of other’s opinions, whether they actually know those others or not. And I think that’s what is irritating to steph (and others). That’s just human nature, though, isn’t it? The “herd of sheep” (or, if you prefer “lemmings over a cliff”) similes exists for a reason, don’t they?
I think it’s important to remember two things. The first is that the end of one cycle is the beginning of another — especially if you took the June LSATs. The second is that the decision process is still alive for those just getting in off of waitlists.
As someone who has asked a question similar to #2 on a message board (although not in a matter nearly as melodramatic,) I feel like I should explain myself. I didn’t want anyone to make the decision for me, I simply wanted to get some other opinions. I wanted to make sure I was not missing something before I made my decision. That’s just my view on it.
On a sidenote, great blog everyone!
hey previous post should read, “manner nearly as melodramatic”
Thanks!,