19-Year Old Classmate in My Section
Eight years ago when I was 18, I was a senior in high school. I had just applied to college, and I was still chasing my pipe dream of playing in the NBA, not to mention spending a lot of time chasing girls. But one year ago, the then 18 year old Kate McLaughlin had other things on her mind. Instead of chasing romance or a pipe dream, Kate was tutoring college kids at on test prep strategies Kaplan, acing the LSAT, and getting accepted to law school.
In her academic career, Kate skipped six grades, enrolled in community college at age 12, and graduated from UC San Diego at 17. She scored a 174 on the LSAT (~99th percentile), which is equivalent to about a 740 on the GMAT. Most people here spent 7 or 8 years doing other things before they could attain similar scores.
Kate is an unusual addition to Northwestern’s roster which usually touts older, more experienced students than most schools. I’m not sure what Northwestern’s agenda is here, perhaps they simply want to take a smart applicant who is a fit for the school (aside from age), perhaps they want the publicity of having Kate here, or perhaps something else, who really knows? But what I do know is that I spoke with Kate once briefly, and she seems REALLY smart. I wish her the best this year, and look forward to working with her in all of my classes.
Click here to see the original post on Kate by American Bar Association.
6 Comments to 19-Year Old Classmate in My Section
Hi All–A reader had trouble posting a comment to my blog, so I am posting it here on their behalf. Look below to find the reader's comment.
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"Clearly Kate is unusual. She's accomplished so much more than others at 19 and hopefully will have had enough experiences to be a valuable contributor to the classroom as well as an apt student. I think one of the great things about business school is that nearly all of the students have worked for at least 2 years. I think more law school students would be better served if they worked before going to law school. Some might realize law isn't for them. Others would have more interesting insight to contribute to classroom discussion." – Anonymous
Law School PodcasterSeptember 7, 2009
Clearly, she is very smart. But there are good reasons why we have separate grades instead of just throwing everyone into a one-room-schoolhouse, and these have nothing to do with ability. It is important to develop social skills among peers. It just seems unhealthy to be starting college at age 12, even if someone is a genius.
But of course, I wish her the best of luck. It looks like she brings a lot to the school.
JeremySeptember 7, 2009
@ Anonymous Reader–Thanks for your comment. I certainly agree with you about getting experience before business school. One of the advantages I think Northwestern Law offers over other law schools, is that they consistently have the oldest average age among all law schools. The vast majority of students enter the program with a couple years work experience, and everyone has to interview to be accepted. This is why I think the scenario with Kate is interesting.
JeremySeptember 7, 2009
@ Law School Podcaster–Yes, I agree with you on the rational for the separation of grades. In fact, I certainly believe that many of us here could have jumped a grade or two and have been able to succeed with the material. But for me, the social side of school was also important, and I'm happy with how my experience has turned out. Hopefully Kate will feel comfortable in and out of the classroom at Northwestern Law.
AnonymousSeptember 8, 2009
Please keep us readers posted as to how things turn out in terms of her contribution to the classroom.
JeremySeptember 8, 2009
@ Anonymous–Thanks so much for reading my post. I look forward to sharing good news later in the year.
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September 6, 2009