How To Tell Your Parents About Law School

By Kaitlin Hurtado on March 31, 2017

This article is brought to you by Kaplan, the leader in test prep for over 90 standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.

Law school is nowhere near an easy feat, and definitely will not be an easy journey if you choose to go down the path to law school without a proper support system to be behind you every step of the way. This support system grows as you get older and meet new people — friends, significant others — through new experiences; however, there are those that should be there for you every step of the way: your family, and most importantly, your parents.

Regardless of the type of support your parents may be willing to offer, such as financial support or emotional support, you should tell your parents about your next big step so that they can be there to support you as you actually take it.

Depending on where you are in your journey to law school, such as preparing to take the LSAT or already having your acceptance letter to law school, there are multiple ways to deliver the good news to your parents.

Image via pexels.com

Deliver the good news in the form of a “Thank you”

Your parents have most likely been there for you every step of the way, and why shouldn’t they be there for you as you take your next step to law school?

Because they most likely have been there to support you in your journey up until this point, you should thank them for all of their support, regardless of whether it consisted of financial help or emotional support. Treat them to a nice dinner at your family’s favorite restaurant or take your parents on the vacation that they had always talked about taking.

If your budget cannot necessarily afford a full course meal at a five-star steakhouse or a vacation abroad, there are plenty of ways to showcase your gratitude toward all of your parents’ support if you plan out your “Thank you” event with Do-It-Yourself methods in mind.

Instead of an expensive trip abroad for your parents, plan a staycation. A staycation is easier on your budget and more convenient as there are less things to plan out (travel costs, boarding, etc) and can entail several outings: a baseball game, a day trip to a local park/hiking trail, a trip to a nearby amusement park.

If going out to a sit-down restaurant is not what you had in mind, try cooking a meal for your parents at home, making the experience cheaper for your wallet and more personal for your parents and you. You can easily make your own full course meal, complete with appetizers and dessert.

At the end of whatever “Thank you” event you decide to do, be sure to actually vocalize your gratitude to your parents and tell them what prompted the event in the first place — your decision to go to law school!

Deliver the good news in the form of a prank, but do try to go more mild; they are your parents after all 

This step depends on where you are in your journey to law school. If you already have your acceptance and your actual acceptance letter in your possession, you can use the hard copy of your acceptance to tell your parents about you going to law school. Put the acceptance letter in another envelope to make it seem like just another piece of mail addressed for them and put it in their mailbox or mail pile. Stand by and await their reaction as they open the mail unknowingly, only to read the news of you going to law school via your acceptance letter.

If you are not one for simple, happy surprises and prefer more “real pranks,” make your parents temporarily believe that you are not going to law school, or failed to get accepted into law school. Follow the first idea by adding to their mail pile, but rather than inserting your acceptance letter into the pile, create a false rejection letter to add to the pile. Be on the ready to tell them that the letter is false, however, and be ready to tell them that you are in fact going to law school.

Deliver the good news in the form of  gifts, like your law school’s campus gear

If you have been to any college campus and visited their main campus store, you will have already seen the plethora of campus gear decorating the store’s shelves for currents students, prospective students, alumni, and of course, merchandise for the family members of students past, present, and future.

The merchandise marketed toward students’ parents usually are labeled with “mom” or “dad,” occasionally paired with the word “proud.” Buy a shirt that claims them as a proud parent of whatever law school you are planning on going to or got accepted into and watch as they realize that they are in fact going to be a proud parent of the chosen law school.

If you don’t want to buy a shirt or can’t find one, you can buy a coffee mug or personalize one of your own that says exactly what you want to say. Replace their favorite or daily coffee mug with your gift and wait for the same reaction the shirt would give.

Learn more about Kaplan’s test prep options and start building the confidence you need for Test Day.

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