Categories: Advice
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Here’s an article by a CUNY John Jay Criminal Justice professor with some worthwhile information about how law schools view undergraduate GPAs from various schools and between various majors. It’s called “Advice for Getting into Law School.“
My alma mater, the University of Miami School of Law, has a great document called “Law School:29 Critical Questions to Ask Today.” It’s definitely a recruiting piece for UM law, but a good place to start thinking about what you should be asking as you begin the daunting process of applying to law school.
Lastly, because it’s late and I’ve been up watching the Olympics, here’s a link to a bunch of articles offering advice to the Fall 2009 Entering Law School Class (written in 2006, but still….).
Categories: Humor
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I happened across this today, and although it was written in 2002 (when many entering 1Ls were still in high school!), it rings true today. The only part I really disagree with is about not looking at your grades because they don’t matter, but on the whole the other points will help you put the coming semester (and 1L year) in perspective and I hope my clients and readers who are starting the adventure of law school enjoy this. It’s called Letter to Young Lawyer.
Categories: Law School Personal Statement, Personal Statement Tips
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One of my law school admission consulting clients sent me an email this morning with 6 key questions about law school personal statements. The questions were so good (and so common) that I wanted to share my responses with all of my pre-law readers.
1. What does a personal statement do/ what does it add to the application/ what is its function?
If someone with your numbers has a possibility of being admitted to a particular school, but not everyone with your numbers is admitted to that school, then the major deciding factor is the personal statement. It’s your chance to become more than a list of your accomplishments, more than your transcripts, more than your LSAT score. This is your chance to be personable, likable, impressive (without being arrogant) and to generally give the impression that you’d be a great asset to their school and alumni base.
2. What to you makes a statement stand out? What are the components of a great personal statement?
There are certain things a law school wants to be assured of – maturity despite youth, commitment to the study of law despite lacking a specific career aspiration, ability to succeed in a rigorous environment, independent thinking skills, feeling a duty greater than simple self-interest. A good personal statement uses none of these phrases, but tells a story that convinces the reader to come to the conclusion(s) on his/her own.
A good personal statement is interesting to read, without needing to rely on shock value. It has a conversational rather than academic tone. It’s not there to show how many big words you know. Lawyers need to write like real people – clear sentences. Start now.
4. What made you groan when working in admissions? What were common mistakes people made?
I would groan, roll my eyes, and write sarcastic comments on personal statements hinting of the following:
Arrogance/Elitism. A purported drive to serve others and to heal the world and be a public interest lawyer when there’s little community service in the person’s background to back it up. Repeating a resume. Listing every internship and position ever held. Providing lots of conclusions with few facts to back them up. (For example, “My strong work ethic……” and then not really showing anything remarkable about your work ethic). Not being specific enough – talking around issues (“I had a rough time but overcame obstacles” without giving details about the obstacles so that the reader can evaluate for him/herself whether the feat was impressive).
For common mistakes made by law school applicants in their personal statements, see this post I wrote about 6 Mistakes People Make in Law School Personal Statements.
5. What, if any, subjects or themes should be avoided, either because they are cliche/common/inappropriate?
Some topics that have become trite and overused include the injured athlete story, the study abroad story, and a personal statement based on a current historical event. See this post about Current Events as Law School Personal Statement Topic.
I think there is a misconception that personal statements must be about overcoming paralysis or poverty. You don’t have to apologize for having a privileged life – just show what does make you remarkable. I also think a lot of people remember their clever undergraduate essay about contemplating the lumps of peanut butter as they spread across the bread and think they should repeat that (please don’t – remember, we’re going for maturity here).
Generally, I urge people to stay away from high school unless there’s a really good reason to talk about it. (Again, maturity). I also urge people to stay away from anything that will make them appear to be high maintenance or complainers in general. Law school faculty and staff won’t want to touch you with a ten foot pole.
6. Is it better to think of the personal statement as telling a short story that has broader implications/ says things about me as a person, or should I think of it as a theme through which I can incorporate many components/stories etc.
Tell the right story for you and the theme will be apparent. You’re marketing yourself, not a theme.
For another great resource about law school personal statement tips, see Law School Personal Statement Tips.
[By the way, I'd like to note that the client who sent me this e-mail does not have to worry about any of these common mistakes and is not in danger of annoying any law school admission committee member. It just goes to show that the wrong people are always asking these questions, and the people who should be worried about making these grave errors usually fail to recognize these traits in themselves.]
Categories: Law School Resume Tips, Letters of Rec
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During my first phone consultation with prospective law school admission consulting clients, often a parent or applicant will tell me they’ve had “great internships.” These invariably include things like UC-DC programs, interning with a Member of Congress (which really just means answering calls and giving tours of the Capitol building, right?), or perhaps something in the business world like being a marketing and promotions intern for a sports company (which is really just throwing t-shirts into a crowd).
So, where do internships come into play when building the strengths of a law school application?
1. Internships are better than working at the GAP. Unless, of course, you had to work at the GAP to pay your rent and tuition. Then, working at the GAP – if explained the right way in your application – shows a lot more about you than an internship would.
2. On the other hand, an internship in a law-related field shows you are not just applying to law school to avoid looking for a job.
3. It’s even better, however, to have had 2 or 3 internships in quasi-related fields. If you’ve had 2-3 internships in totally (seemingly) unrelated fields (public relations and finance, for example) then it can look like you lack direction and haven’t found your stride yet.
The same goes for job history – if you’ve been out of college for 2-3 years and have held 2-3 jobs that weren’t promotions within the same company or industry, then applying to law school can appear insincere – it can look like you’re floundering.
How do you counteract some of these assumptions?
First, don’t assume your experiences are more amazing than anyone else’s. Choose to emphasize your internship in a personal statement only if you learned something specific in a unique situation or were able to contribute meaningfully, or – in the alternative – if you learned something significant from having a negative experience at an internship. Think about what makes the experience interesting because simply having the internship on your resume probably isn’t impressive enough to a law school admission officer or law faculty member.
Second, stay away from LORs based on internships unless you did take the lead on a project or acted in some way above and beyond the standard intern. The letter should be written by the person who most closely supervised your work and can add the most substantive detail to the letter, and not necessarily the most famous person in the office.
Categories: Picking a Major, Pre-law
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How do law school admission committees evaluate people with different undergraduate majors? Are there good majors and bad majors for law school applications? I wouldn’t quite say there are bad majors – I think there are good things about most areas of study, and if you have good grades then you’re absolutely set.
Law schools do not want to fill their classes with political science majors. Where is the diversity in that? Law schools want people from different backgrounds, and from different schools for that matter. Here is a rundown of the major groupings and how law schools are apt to evaluate you based on your undergraduate major area of study:
1. Majors with scientific fields: You often risk having a lower GPA, but it can be excused because of the difficult curriculum and lab hours. Of course, it also helps to make the case that you want to be a patent/IP lawyer if your have a science/math background. However, it can also risk looking like you really would have preferred to go to med school but you just didn’t have the GPA. If you did well in a science major, you will find that law schools like that and it will help you in the admissions process generally.
2. Pre-Law Majors: Law and Society, Pre-Law, Political Science, and Criminal Justice studies show you have a sincere interest in the subject matter. It’s especially helpful if you do a thesis and/or significant academic or internship work to supplement the curriculum. However, lackluster grades in these subjects will not impress an admission office. A 3.3 GPA in poli sci is not the same as a 3.3 in biomedical engineering or physics.
3. Art/Music Majors: A BFA makes things tricky, but if you do well academically and do a thesis or have something to show for yourself other than being an unemployed actor, then this absolutely works. Actually, I think Art History is one of the best majors for preparing you for law school because it teaches you to look at something you’ve never seen before and apply the facts you’ve learned to determine what you’re looking at. That’s pretty much a law school exam in a nutshell. Anything that shows you’ve done some serious writing will help. Music composition shows you’re a thinking person.
4. Business Majors: Marketing, not so impressive but if you have strong grades and showed a sincere interest in serious things then it’s fine. Economics is better – shows more analysis and academic inclination.
5. Philosophy: Again, writing and analysis. Great stuff.
The question is this – knowing how law schools view your major, what can you do to make up for that weakness? If you haven’t had much writing in your curriculum, how about writing for your school paper or trying to get research published? This is just one example of a way you can use your weaknesses to build your law school applications.
Recap:
1. Pick a major that sincerely interests you.
2. Get the best possible grades in that major.
Law schools want to see people who are serious about their goals, but not singularly minded. Have a hobby too, and if that hobby demonstrates your thinking skills, cultural interests, passions – all the better. Do well at the things you do.
(For those of you worried that your physics degree will be competing against people who studied history, I would say that if your grades are solid and you have strong academic letters and perhaps someone who can attest to your writing ability, then you’ll be absolutely fine.)
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Ann K. Levine, Esq., former director of law school admissions for two ABA approved law schools, is a law school admission consultant and owner of Law School Expert,
