Rich kids take a gap year and then get to prestigious law schools? How?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assume there are hooks to get into law school...

There definitely are. Geographic diversity trumped higher stats in my kid’s recent experience. Law school is no longer “highest score wins.”

Highest score plus. Don't assume the ones who got in had lower scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assume there are hooks to get into law school...

There definitely are. Geographic diversity trumped higher stats in my kid’s recent experience. Law school is no longer “highest score wins.”

Highest score plus. Don't assume the ones who got in had lower scores.

Not making assumptions. The students shared their scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are ignorant. Most law schools (and also MBA programs) want the students to have had some sort of maturation process or paralegal-type jobs before entering into law school. why? because the students are expected to engage in debate in the classroom. A rube who just graduated from a slac and knows nothing about reality offers nothing in the Socratic method in a law school class. Even Harvard wants to see at least 80 percent of its students have had some time off to pursue additional degrees or work-related experience.

Aren’t law school app deadlines in October? So graduate with BA in May or June and apply to law schools in October. What “maturation” happened in those 5 or 6 months?

No. They have rolling admissions and don’t close until March. DS applied his senior year of college and had answers before finals. Had he waited until the next cycle, he would then be a full year older at the start of classes.

I don’t disagree with you though. If they have the stats and letters saying they’re mature and ready, it’s frustrating to be passed over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Handful of my daughters’ party girl wealthy friends are randomly at fairly prestigious law schools. They were seemingly idle for a year after college and now they’re at law schools including Duke, Georgetown, UVA, Michigan, NYU, and Penn. It doesn’t take an entire to just retake the LSAT, so I’m just guessing there’s more to it than just a new LSAT score.

OP, I think the question you need to ask yourself is this: would you have been admitted to a decent law school, even if you took a gap year??

If not, don't worry so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because college is a racket and everyone knows real world experience teaches you 100x more

It’s not about experience, it’s about maturity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assume there are hooks to get into law school...

Is being a rich pretty sorority girl a hook?

Yes, especially the rich full pay part.

Are you being serious? Top law schools have need aware financial aid and prefer full pay students? I thought everyone at elite law schools is taking out loans or has parents paying. Why would an elite law school value cash over a smart kid paying with loans?

Wait, is there that much scholarship money available - for law school?

NP. There is virtually no scholarship money available for law school. Most top schools like those the OP listed give out almost none, some people might get scholarships from third parties if they are focused on a specific area of law but it's incredibly rare. Lower ranked schools sometimes offer merit aid to get people who would otherwise get into top schools -- I've heard of people getting merit aid for places like Fordham that are not terrible schools but kind of on the bubble and can really benefit from the numbers boost if they can pick up some people who were admitted to places like Georgetown or Duke. But even that is not common and I think you need near perfect numbers for it.

So that's the whole point -- would would law schools care if an applicant were full pay or not? They are either paying out of pocket or taking out loans. Either way, the school is not ponying up money. It's not like undergrad where top schools will guarantee need-based aid, or a combo of merit and need-based aid, for all admitted students. In law school, it's loans and you figure it out yourself.

Almost everything in this post is incorrect.

While the top 3 law schools--Yale, Stanford, & Harvard--do not offer merit scholarships (just need based financial aid), the rest do offer merit scholarships. Columbia & Chicago offer merit aid typically to encourage one to forego Harvard. Merit scholarship money is not uncommon at the vast majority of top 14 law schools.

[Anonymous]

My good friend took a “gap year” before tier 1 law school. She was working in Beijing and learning Chinese. She’d already been admitted to law school and decided to defer a year.

Most people I know who went on to med or law school took at least a year off, usually to get relevant work experience or knock out some extra courses at a local community college to make themselves more competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are ignorant. Most law schools (and also MBA programs) want the students to have had some sort of maturation process or paralegal-type jobs before entering into law school. why? because the students are expected to engage in debate in the classroom. A rube who just graduated from a slac and knows nothing about reality offers nothing in the Socratic method in a law school class. Even Harvard wants to see at least 80 percent of its students have had some time off to pursue additional degrees or work-related experience.

Aren’t law school app deadlines in October? So graduate with BA in May or June and apply to law schools in October. What “maturation” happened in those 5 or 6 months?

No. They have rolling admissions and don’t close until March. DS applied his senior year of college and had answers before finals. Had he waited until the next cycle, he would then be a full year older at the start of classes.

I don’t disagree with you though. If they have the stats and letters saying they’re mature and ready, it’s frustrating to be passed over.

Top 10 law schools have rolling admissions?

[Anonymous]

Wealth and connections matter.

It was news a few years ago when a Trump cabinet member from Oklahoma got his bimbo sorority girl daughter into UVA Law after a stint as a WH intern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wealth and connections matter.

It was news a few years ago when a Trump cabinet member from Oklahoma got his bimbo sorority girl daughter into UVA Law after a stint as a WH intern.

You are gross. This young woman who went to law school isn't the stupid one here, it's you. Go away with your misogynistic language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealth and connections matter.

It was news a few years ago when a Trump cabinet member from Oklahoma got his bimbo sorority girl daughter into UVA Law after a stint as a WH intern.

You are gross. This young woman who went to law school isn't the stupid one here, it's you. Go away with your misogynistic language.

Scott Pruitt's Daughter Got Into An Elite Law School After Her Dad Pulled Some Strings
That's one way to get into a T14 law school.
https://abovethelaw.com/2018/06/scott-pruitts-daughter-got-into-an-elite-law-school-after-her-dad-pulled-some-strings/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are ignorant. Most law schools (and also MBA programs) want the students to have had some sort of maturation process or paralegal-type jobs before entering into law school. why? because the students are expected to engage in debate in the classroom. A rube who just graduated from a slac and knows nothing about reality offers nothing in the Socratic method in a law school class. Even Harvard wants to see at least 80 percent of its students have had some time off to pursue additional degrees or work-related experience.

Aren’t law school app deadlines in October? So graduate with BA in May or June and apply to law schools in October. What “maturation” happened in those 5 or 6 months?

No. They have rolling admissions and don’t close until March. DS applied his senior year of college and had answers before finals. Had he waited until the next cycle, he would then be a full year older at the start of classes.

I don’t disagree with you though. If they have the stats and letters saying they’re mature and ready, it’s frustrating to be passed over.

Top 10 law schools have rolling admissions?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wealth and connections matter.

It was news a few years ago when a Trump cabinet member from Oklahoma got his bimbo sorority girl daughter into UVA Law after a stint as a WH intern.

I don’t like the way you talk about her but yes, law schools are just as dumb about nepotism as undergrad programs. Especially when it comes to political connections.

[Anonymous]

UChicago gives a full ride plus $20,000 annual stipend to 10% of each incoming class.

This has been pretty transformative, as the bottom 10% of the class has been replaced by a top 10% that otherwise would probably have gone to Harvard or Columbia or NYU (most people still pick Yale over the paid law school education).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My good friend took a “gap year” before tier 1 law school. She was working in Beijing and learning Chinese. She’d already been admitted to law school and decided to defer a year.

Most people I know who went on to med or law school took at least a year off, usually to get relevant work experience or knock out some extra courses at a local community college to make themselves more competitive.

Same. I deferred to teach English in Japan and learn Japanese. It also gave me an opportunity to travel throughout Asia.