Categories: Advice, Career, Law Careers
Tags: finding a job after law school, finding an attorney position, lawyer job market
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Those of you starting law school (whether this year or next) need to think about how you will position yourself for gainful employment upon graduation. This WSJ article, “Graduating with a Major in Go-Getting”, has advice for how college students can make themselves more marketable; I think it applies to law students as well. The keys are to work your connections and gain experience.
I always tell my law school admission consulting clients that no one will hand them a job upon law school graduation- no matter where they attend. You’re going to have to work everything you’ve got. Even good grades and law review and moot court aren’t going to help unless you market yourself. Be proactive; I’ve seen too many law students become bitter about how the career placement offices at their schools “only” serve the top 10% of the class. Be your own career adviser – be in charge of your own life and you will find opportunities.
I think this is a pretty universal philosophy. So, if you’re used to other people figuring things out for you, you’re going to have a tough time in law school and in the job market. I’m happy to entertain questions and comments on this.
Coming up later this week – a thorough review of getting an MBA versus a JD, and the benefits of a JD/MBA Joint Degree (featuring interviews with the Dean of a School of Business and with an MBA and with an MBA/JD).
Categories: Advice, Deferral, Financing a Legal Education, Law School Admission Trends, Re-Applying to Law School, Reapplying to Law School
Tags: interest on student loans, number of February LSAT takers, sallie mae
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There is so much going on in the world of law school applicants right now that I feel compelled to address some of the recent trends. Think of this as a “Super Blog-Post” because it’s going to be long and involved and a little all over the place. I hope it’s also the most worthwhile law school admission related reading you’ve done in a while, and certainly it’s time better spent than reading all the gloating posts on discussion forums from people deciding between Harvard and Stanford.
Topic #1: April Angst
What I like to call “April Angst” is the patent unfairness of having deposit deadlines approaching and still not hearing anything back from many of the schools you applied to. This sucks. It totally sucks. You held up your end of the bargain and applied to law school in a timely fashion and the law schools are not responding accordingly. Be bitter. Be upset. Just don’t do anything rash. This is just par for the course. It happens every year and it happens to everyone. Put in a seat deposit somewhere while keeping an open mind about where you might attend. Don’t sign any leases yet. As schools get deposits back from already-admitted applicants, they will slowly open up spots. Hang in there.
Topic #2. Student Loans.
Please, please, please do your research about the availability of funding options before commiting yourself to an expensive private school in an expensive city. Sallie Mae announced this week that it will be requiring students to pay monthly interest on their loans while in school. This could amount to $500/month, which ain’t peanuts on a student budget when you’re prohibited from working more than 5 hours a week as a full time law student. If this isn’t changing how you choose a law school, then you are probably the person who won’t need any loans in the first place and will simply be writing a check for everything from the get-go. This is a big deal. Don’t underestimate its importance.
Topic #3.Don’t panic.
Right now, many applicants have not heard back from any schools – especially February LSAT takers. Please don’t panic and start thinking about developing a worst case scenario plan. Reapplying for Fall 2010 and/or deferring admission to the one school you’ve heard back from is not necessarily going to be a wise plan this year. Be prepared. Fall 2010 admission is going to be even more competitive than Fall 2009 has been. February LSAT takers were up by 11% and law schools are bracing for a huge influx of applications. Applications will be up overall, applications to top law schools will be WAY up because those schools offer (generally) greater job prospects, and more people will be fighting for scholarships to schools at all levels – thereby increasing the popularity of lower ranked schools. If you get into a decent law school this year and it’s one you can afford, it might be wise to go ahead and start rather than waiting to reapply or defer for Fall 2010 admission.
I will happily address your questions, comments and concerns about this. And, to make sure you don’t miss further updates please subscribe to the blog. Thanks so much!
Categories: Advice, Law Careers
Tags: social networking for lawyers and law students
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Here’s a great piece on how social networking can benefit you as an attorney, therefore justifying all the time you spend on these sites in college and law school. Thanks to Amanda Ellis for pointing it out to me today in her Facebook status!
Categories: Career, Law Careers
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I just found a great blog by an attorney. Among some funny articles, I found a post about how the employment trend is impacting the desireability of legal internships with nonprofit organizations. Here’s how one non profit is reacting: See Litination.
Categories: Career, Law Careers, Law School Rankings
Tags: law faculty
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See Brian Leiter’s Blog for a list of law schools that produce the most graduates who go into academia.
Categories: Advice, Career, Law Careers, Law School Admission Trends, Law School Location; Law School Rankings, Reasons for Going to Law School, Salary Trends
Tags: law school and the economy
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Two stories of note today for law school applicants/hopefuls in the WSJ:
New loan from Sallie Mae.
Best Defense? Seeking a Haven in Law School
Applications are up as people hide out from the economy in law school. The best schools are becoming even more competitive and this article offers some tips for making yourself more competitive as a law school graduate.
Categories: Advice, Application Timeline, Scholarships, Seat Deposits
Tags: deciding between law schools, law school scholarship, law school seat deposit, multiple seat deposit, scholarship, visiting a law school
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Many law school applicants are currently in a position where they’ve heard from some, but not all, of the law schools they’ve applied to and are wondering what to do as seat deposits loom.
If you have not already done so, visit any law school you’re seriously considering. If you aren’t willing to invest in traveling there and checking it out then you probably shouldn’t be considering forking over six figures for the privilege of studying there. Do your homework.
I’ve often found that when my clients visit the schools, a decision makes itself based on how they felt about the campus, the students they spoke with, and the campus environment.
Other things you might be thinking about include scholarships and seat deposits (and multiple seat deposits). Here are some things to consider when deciding whether to accept a scholarship to law school.
Categories: Humor
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Here’s something NOT to do during a campus visit to a law school. (One of my former clients, now a 1L, sent this to me and I think it’s pretty hilarious.):
Lesson from Law School: if you’re going to fall asleep in class, it’s probably not a good idea to come to class in the first place.
There was a prospective student visiting our Civil Procedure class on Thursday, shadowing a friend of his from undergrad. He fell asleep during the middle of the class, with his head down flat on the desk. Once our professor noticed that he had fallen asleep, she walked up to him, hit the desk and shouted “helloooooooooo?!” And then, of course, she asked his name, asked what other law schools he was looking at. “I know that federal common law is boring, but wherever you go, you’re going to have to deal with it.” And then she proceeded to make fun of him for the rest of the class.
Guys, please don’t fall asleep in class when you’re visiting. The whole point is to make a good impression!
Categories: Law School Admission Trends
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According to this post about the 11.5% increase in February LSAT takers, it looks like Fall 2010 might be a very competitive application year.
Categories: Law School Rankings, Part Time Programs
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AbovetheLaw reported today that the U.S. News Law School Rankings will be issued late this year, and part of the reason is the additional evaluation of part time programs.
Categories: LRAP Programs, Public Interest/Pro Bono
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Equal Justice Works just posted a good article on student loan forgiveness for thos working in the public interest after law school.
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Ann K. Levine, Esq., former director of law school admissions for two ABA law schools, is a law school admission consultant and owner of Law School Expert,
