T14 Law School applicants

[Anonymous]

I think it can be vaguely helpful to have an internship at a company in a highly-regulated industry, as that company or it's peers could be a client someday.

No one expects you to actually use that relationship to get the company as a client, but an understanding of companies and an industry is generally considered to be helpful.

[Anonymous]

My former Biglaw law firm, like many others, hired recent college grads as paralegals. The overwhelming majority of them took the job thinking it would both help them decide whether to actually go to law school and that they could get a helpful recommendation from a partner and the work experience would help with admissions.

Only the first thing is true. Law schools base their admissions decisions almost exclusively on the GPA and LSAT and don’t care about any particular work experience or recommendations beyond college professors—and even there not much.

Holistic admissions is an undergraduate concept. Not a law school one.

[Anonymous]

Paid internship at national offices of labor union during the summer, archival research for a professor during academic year. 25-30 hour a week retail job during previous summers and academic year. Cleaned houses on weekends for spending money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DOJ internship two summers, volunteer community organization with leadership summers and semesters, with leadership; different community work summer, with impact; worked with local law enforcement during the semester--professor connection. LSAT above 170, Harvard law.

And apply from Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, or a Dakota.

Wrong. This isn’t college.

Wrong. Even law schools want geographic diversity.

[Anonymous]

Mostly numbers-based, though that is changing with LSAT score and GPA inflation, with many schools now reaching similar medians (albeit undoubtedly with some gaming).

Yale and Stanford are holistic. They still require the numbers, but their selectivity and small class sizes mean that mere numbers do not suffice.

But if the bar is the T14, any job should suffice, as long as the applicant was doing something. "Even" service jobs, or a job "just" to make money, should be at worst a neutral factor.

[Anonymous]

Don't focus on what you think law schools want. Focus on what the student wants to explore. I interned at a prosecutor's office the summer before my senior year NOT because I thought it would look good on law school apps, but because I wanted to see if I liked the practice of law. THAT should be the focus now .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My former Biglaw law firm, like many others, hired recent college grads as paralegals. The overwhelming majority of them took the job thinking it would both help them decide whether to actually go to law school and that they could get a helpful recommendation from a partner and the work experience would help with admissions.

Only the first thing is true. Law schools base their admissions decisions almost exclusively on the GPA and LSAT and don’t care about any particular work experience or recommendations beyond college professors—and even there not much.

Holistic admissions is an undergraduate concept. Not a law school one.

Speak for yourself. I'm quite confident that a very strong recommendation from one of the attorneys I worked for helped get me into a T14 law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My former Biglaw law firm, like many others, hired recent college grads as paralegals. The overwhelming majority of them took the job thinking it would both help them decide whether to actually go to law school and that they could get a helpful recommendation from a partner and the work experience would help with admissions.

Only the first thing is true. Law schools base their admissions decisions almost exclusively on the GPA and LSAT and don’t care about any particular work experience or recommendations beyond college professors—and even there not much.

Holistic admissions is an undergraduate concept. Not a law school one.

Speak for yourself. I'm quite confident that a very strong recommendation from one of the attorneys I worked for helped get me into a T14 law school.

Because you had a weak GPA, LSAT, or both? Otherwise I think you’re wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^also 3.93 from an ivy.

You’re annoying do you know that? You got into Harvard because of your undergrad school, your GPA and your LSAT. The rest of the bullshit makes no difference

Most people at Harvard Law school are annoying - signed a Harvard grad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My former Biglaw law firm, like many others, hired recent college grads as paralegals. The overwhelming majority of them took the job thinking it would both help them decide whether to actually go to law school and that they could get a helpful recommendation from a partner and the work experience would help with admissions.

Only the first thing is true. Law schools base their admissions decisions almost exclusively on the GPA and LSAT and don’t care about any particular work experience or recommendations beyond college professors—and even there not much.

Holistic admissions is an undergraduate concept. Not a law school one.

Speak for yourself. I'm quite confident that a very strong recommendation from one of the attorneys I worked for helped get me into a T14 law school.

Because you had a weak GPA, LSAT, or both? Otherwise I think you’re wrong.

I know I'm not wrong. But surely you know more than I do even though you have zero knowledge of the situation whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

OP - what you don't understand is that 80% of college grads take one or more years off after college before applying. It's more important during that time to do something the law school wants to see (other than an outstanding GPA and LSAT). Many do advanced degrees. Many work for a year or two for a year as paralegals or legal assistants in law firms. During that time, the student usually studies and takes the LSAT. https://testmaxprep.com/blog/lsat/gap-years-before-law-school#:~:text=You're%20certainly%20in%20good,of%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - what you don't understand is that 80% of college grads take one or more years off after college before applying. It's more important during that time to do something the law school wants to see (other than an outstanding GPA and LSAT). Many do advanced degrees. Many work for a year or two for a year as paralegals or legal assistants in law firms. During that time, the student usually studies and takes the LSAT. https://testmaxprep.com/blog/lsat/gap-years-before-law-school#:~:text=You're%20certainly%20in%20good,of%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.

That’s what my daughter has done. She spent her years after college pursuing her love of music performance while working interesting part time jobs to fund it all. She’s now working as a paralegal assistant while studying for the LSAT which she takes in November. She had a high GPA with a double major, has done a bunch of interesting things since college, and it seems like she is set to get a great score on her LSAT. I feel like she will do well with her applications.

[Anonymous]

I worked in a big law law library after freshman year (grunt work; reasonable pay). I did an internship program for a big city's government after sophomore year (interesting; somewhat selective). I worked for an ibank after junior year (awful; very selective, but diff than law school selectivity). Went to YLS. Not sure summer jobs mean much as long as you have them. Short of maybe working for a law school prof who could give you a real rec.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I studied abroad my junior year and travelled for 8 weeks in Africa for shits and giggles. I was admitted to three T14 schools. I honestly don't think an applicant's summer job is that important, although it's possible that things have changed since I went to law school. Nor, after nearly two decades of practice in big law and government, do I think that T14 is the golden ticket many believe it to be.

T14 may not be golden ticket but ending up in a law school ranked 120 may result in no job or very limited options. Some law firms in town here will not even consider some of the T14 schools. They might only look at top 5 or top 10. So it does matter where you go to school. Where you end up in law school matters more than undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I studied abroad my junior year and travelled for 8 weeks in Africa for shits and giggles. I was admitted to three T14 schools. I honestly don't think an applicant's summer job is that important, although it's possible that things have changed since I went to law school. Nor, after nearly two decades of practice in big law and government, do I think that T14 is the golden ticket many believe it to be.

T14 may not be golden ticket but ending up in a law school ranked 120 may result in no job or very limited options. Some law firms in town here will not even consider some of the T14 schools. They might only look at top 5 or top 10. So it does matter where you go to school. Where you end up in law school matters more than undergrad.

+1

The above is correct. The law school that one attends does have a significant impact on one's career options initially.