The 14 Point "Law School Quotient" Quiz

    At this time you should complete the Law School Quotient Quiz located at Appendix B. When you’ve completed the exam, return to this point and continue. 
    While deciding on a career is a far more ominous undertaking than can be discerned in 14 points, the following will help enlighten you to some of the more important factors about law school and being a lawyer.  If you've never given any real thought to what career path you might be best suited for, I recommend speaking with a career counselor and/or spending some time in the library with books such as What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles.  Also, take the Meyers-Briggs test.  The Meyers-Briggs is an excellent test designed to assess your personal characteristics and direct you towards a career based on those factors.  Your university career counselor will have information on the test or you can go to www.myersbriggs.org.
    The thinking process behind this quiz is provided below.  We will go through each of the 14 points in detail, but suffice it to say, if your "true" answers totaled 0-2, my unscientific view is that you have the character and disposition necessary to make it through law school without any egregious misgivings regarding the curriculum or the legal profession.  If you answered "true" to 3-4 of the statements, you are in the potential danger zone, and 5+ "true" answers sets off alarms.
    Anyone considering law school should pursue career counseling, read career books and take the Myers-Briggs.  Those of you who came up with three or more "true" answers are especially advised to do so.
   
Let's go over the specifics of the points:
       
    1)    I consider myself a "feelings" oriented person.
    Law school is not for the faint of heart, nor is the practice of law.  As a lawyer, your opponent will vigorously attack just about every position you take on a legal matter.  In law school, positions you advance in class that are on point will be attacked by the professor acting as devil’s advocate during the Socratic Method Process (see p. 42 for an explanation of the Socratic Method.).  If your theory is off-point, you will likely be admonished.  Legal theories you posit on law school mock pleadings will be equally scrutinized.
    The bottom line is that while the practice of law needs more people who are "feelings" oriented, the training process for lawyers, and the practice itself does not lend itself well to those who think with their hearts rather than their heads.
    When I think of "feelings" oriented professions, I think of clinical Psychology or perhaps elementary school teachers, but I don't think of lawyers.

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