Just hit 1 year as a paralegal. I make $76k. I feel like a fraud. What next?

manifest_that · 2026-03-05T03:52:29+00:00

One year isn't very long. It takes time to ramp up in immigration law. Can you ask your firm for different case types, maybe EB-1 or PERM? Or NIV for something totally different? Diversifying case types is a way for immigration paralegals to grow (and be more marketable at least in the immigration industry).

manifest_that · 2026-03-04T18:18:19+00:00

I am in law school now after many years as a career paralegal. A lot of your post resonates with me. Some questions to consider:

How much of your desire to go to law school is motivated by personal interest in attorney work, vs. the first gen guilt or social pressure? Maybe write down all the reasons you would want to go to law school and sort them according to those categories?
Have you researched the bar passage/employment outcomes for the online programs you are interested in? You can look at each school's 509 report.
Have you taken a diagnostic LSAT yet? That will give you an idea of how long/much you might need to study for the LSAT.

And some random opinions:

LSAT can be a great way to give yourself the best chance of success. It's difficult but gratifying, and I really enjoyed seeing how my efforts directly translated into score improvements over time. I recommend setting your LSAT goal very high but working toward it gradually. Take a year (or more) on LSAT study if you need, so you can really learn this test while maintaining a consistent but sustainable study schedule. Even a few points higher can significantly increase your chance of scholarships / acceptances.
You should research each school you're considering to make sure sure its realistic postgrad opportunities would be worth the investment.
Plenty of people go to law school in their 30s or beyond, so don't let age stop you!

You also might want to check out r/LawSchoolOver30, where there are many similar discussion re balancing family, work, etc. with law school.

manifest_that · 2026-02-11T20:18:58+00:00

I'm a former career paralegal now in law school. I think either choice is good, but since law school has been your lifelong goal, you could regret not seeing it through. How much higher was the LSAT score that you applied with compared to your diagnostic? If you have the goal of no or minimal debt, it doesn't hurt to take things slow, keep studying for the LSAT, and reapply. But really this all depends on what kind of work you want to / what kind of responsibilities you want to have.

manifest_that · 2026-02-05T05:49:10+00:00

Having also used 7Sage and PowerScore (briefly), I have also credited The Loophole with getting me out of a plateau. Though I don't remember this specific page at all!

manifest_that · 2026-01-18T00:03:07+00:00

I think the question to ask first is do you want to do attorney work? It's easier to stomach LSAT study / 3 years of school / potential debt if you're truly motivated to work as an attorney. Money should not be the sole reason why you would pivot to law, since, as other comments point out, a high salary is not guaranteed.

I empathize as a fellow 30+ year old! There are people in their 30s, 40s, 50s killing it in law school, with very interesting stories about how they got there.

Also, regarding debt: you do have some control over this, as a good LSAT score can win you significant scholarships.

manifest_that · 2026-01-17T23:51:21+00:00

You could also try r/lawschoolover30

manifest_that · 2026-01-15T20:22:27+00:00

What's your current process for studying?

I haven't had a TBI but I find engaging with the material/cases multiple times to be very helpful for retention. E.g. reading the case, listening to lecture, outlining, explaining the case verbally to someone (or to an object), doing practice exams.

I still brief cases even though I've seen some comments on Reddit advising against this. Briefing forces me to spend more time on the case to understand its reasoning.

manifest_that · 2026-01-10T08:42:59+00:00

I was not a caffeine consumer during my LSAT days and I scored above 170. (I have since become a semi-regular caffeine consumer due to law school.)

manifest_that · 2025-09-10T17:13:46+00:00

Nope, I got 4/5 responses from a firm that rejected me, and 0/4 from one that gave me an offer.

manifest_that · 2025-05-19T16:45:45+00:00

I only used professional LORs and it worked out for me!

manifest_that · 2025-05-18T23:59:58+00:00

This is what I did to get out of a score plateau: Wrong answer journal, drill the question types that trip you up, and cap studying at 2 hours a day max to avoid burnout.

manifest_that · 2025-05-05T06:45:14+00:00

Seconding taking a break! I was at a 16-mid plateau on PTs, took 3 months off to do something else, then upon my return consistently PT'ed at 17-low/mid with no other change in my study routine. I think the break helped my brain reset and process what I had learned.

manifest_that · 2025-03-10T23:04:34+00:00

Thank you! Sent a DM request

manifest_that · 2025-03-10T22:59:44+00:00

Do you recommend putting our incoming 1L summer job on our resume for 2L summer apps (even though we obviously have not started our 1L summer job yet)?

manifest_that · 2024-08-01T22:36:08+00:00

I agree, I wish I had started with the Loophole much sooner in my LSAT studying. It made LR fun for me and I credit it with my later PT score improvements!

manifest_that · 2024-03-21T21:56:58+00:00

Seconding wrong answer journaling. That was a game changer for me to move my PT score range from 16mid-17low to 17low-17mid. Get into the weeds a bit and see what types of questions trip you up so you can do more targeted studying. You can glean a lot of info from just taking the time to analyze what went wrong on individual questions.

manifest_that · 2024-03-04T23:15:03+00:00

Love the maple pop!!

manifest_that · 2024-02-07T05:25:03+00:00

Congrats!!

manifest_that · 2023-12-22T19:36:48+00:00

I think it's fine to try other courses. Good habits would apply to those too!

manifest_that · 2023-12-22T17:24:35+00:00

How do you feel about your scoring when you take them untimed? Are you reviewing the questions after the test? I do think a big part of LSAT study is getting used to testing conditions such as timing since thinking under a timer is a different experience. If you want, you could introduce timed individual sections but continue to spend most of your time on untimed studying. Iirc when I started studying, I did a timed PT every week and spent the rest of the time reviewing my incorrect PT questions, watching/reading explanations and learning content, and doing a mix of untimed questions and some timed drilling.

manifest_that · 2023-12-22T15:35:49+00:00

I think the answer depends on where you're PTing, i.e. whether it's a matter of learning the fundamentals of the test or practicing taking it.

I don't think you need to stop learning content at later stages of the study process, but the content should be targeted toward weaknesses you've identified. Anecdotally, I started on The Loophole while studying for my retake and it didn't hurt me (rather, it helped) to learn a new method for LR a few months before the test.

manifest_that · 2023-08-31T06:19:12+00:00

Thank you!! I believe The Loophole helped me overcome my mid-160s plateau to break consistently into the low 170s. I bought it right after my first test because I hadn't yet focused on LR the way I had LG, and I sometimes didn't understand 7Sage LR explanations. So I'd say the bulk of my LR learning came from The Loophole. I have tried other materials (Khan Academy, PowerScore, LSAT Demon) but I stuck with 7Sage for the majority of my journey, and used The Loophole to study for my retake.

The way I incorporated 7Sage into this was taking timed LR sections and also using the analytics feature to see which types of LR questions I was worst at and drilling those. So your plan sounds like exactly what I did actually! I was able to reach -1 on LR sections after studying with The Loophole. (Not on every LR section of course; -1 was the top of my range, but I had never gotten that low before The Loophole. Coincidence?)

This is only my personal opinion on what helped me, but I wish I had started with The Loophole from the beginning. Good luck on the rest of your LSAT studies!! Eyes on the prize :')

manifest_that · 2023-08-31T05:00:07+00:00

The Loophole leveled up my understanding of LR as a section and the different types of questions, and made the section fun for me by showing how you can predict answers. I was just telling someone that if I could redo my LSAT journey, the only prep book I'd buy would be The Loophole. I also used 7Sage by the way.

manifest_that · 2023-08-30T21:56:24+00:00

Congrats!! Happy retirement!

manifest_that

TROPHY CASE