I’m shooting for Top 7 and will be applying for class '19. But my concern is that I have relatively low GPA (3.67). I graduated in 3 years from a top private school in Midwest: my 3rd year is immaculate, but 1st and 2nd are in the low-mid 3s.
LSAT: I’m planning to take this summer. Hopefully 170+.
I have work experiences in a developing country and would like to pursue International Law (I’m trilingual). I’m okay with paperwork-heavy and detail-oriented nature of International Law in practice, but in the most ideal, academic situation I’d love to study International Law related to labor and migration (I’m passionate about labor rights and human trafficking in developing countries). I’m also interested in IP law and licensing, as I have worked in design/factory outsourcing.
Given this, would pursuing M.A. help my admissions chance? Would it complement my low UG GPA? I’d go for Social Sciences or International Studies M.A. and focus on migration and labor in Asia. (The grades would not come out by the time of my application for class '19. So it would affect class '20 admissions.)
Or would NGO internship / paralegal experiences in relevant fields be more beneficial?
So the UG GPA is the sole factor into GPA? May I ask how reliable this information is? In that case, the only way to affect application chances must be to score LSAT as high as possible.
I see international law in two ways: private and public; and practice and theory.
2A. Joining a law firm would be an option where I can make the bottom line, and the job I suspect would mostly entail legally assisting business transactions of multinational or inter-corporate businesses. Licensing is another sector I’m interested in, which is likely to have international dimensions. Another possibility would be immigration practices, but I’d prefer to stay on the business side if I’m going for private sectors. I would not mind joining this part, if necessary, before pursuing more academic, theory-oriented pathways.
2B. More academically (through public sectors, university, and research institutions), I’d like to navigate possibilities to research in legal studies, possibly combined with Sociology. Comparative Law in East Asia; international initiatives (rather than “law”) regarding anti-trafficking, labor rights, and refuge issues. With my regional focus/experiences in China, I’d like to research north korean refugees being trafficked and exploited through routes in China.
I can also go into Sociology/Anthropology PhD to do research, but I don’t want to limit my career options solely into research and academia, especially when the prospect of academic job is not so rosy. Legal dimensions would highly complement my interests and likely open up further positions in public sectors / international NGOs (as well as private sectors as mentioned above), although efficacy of the law in these matters is still questionable. But because of these limitations in “international law” on the matters of labor, migration (trafficking) and refuge, academic research and international NGO initiatives can contribute to ameliorating the severity of the issues. (I don’t have any expertise to make definitive statements, so these are rather my observations.) But that’s exactly why I want to study the issues through an advanced degree. Joint degree (MA-JD; LLM-JD) could be an option as well.
Given this, I want to spend the time efficiently: from this summer until Fall 2016. So I’m wondering if I should start MA already this fall in the meantime. Or NGO works may be an option, but big international organizations require an advanced standing.
Above is an example of my inquisitive interests. JD can be a gateway into legal research; academia; public sector; international NGOs; or any combination of the mentioned.
My UG major was IR with focus on East Asia, and my language proficiency in both Mandarin and Korean is near native.
jujoules, please refer to other posts (particularly by Spayurpets) that question Demosthenes’ position about LSAT/GPA requirements.
I wouldn’t see a need to get an MA if you have a 3.67 GPA and a strong LSAT score. You should be able to get into a few of the top 10 schools.
Your analysis of private international law is accurate. I don’t know much about public international law, other than that positions in it are few and far between and don’t pay particularly well.
What do you think I should do further to buttress my application? NGO works or M.A.? I have some time until September when the application opens. Or rather realistically, would you recommend me to stay in the job market to prepare financially?
I would stay in the job market, and get the best job you can get that is consistent with the type of law that you want to do post-law school: presumably with an NGO or in IP.
I would also study like crazy for the LSAT and would take a test prep class from Kaplan or another provider.
I would not do a job as a paralegal or in a law firm. Oddly enough, those don’t help law school admissions or law firm hiring much, if at all.
I’d really like some aid/scholarship just like anyone else out there, that’s why I’m very concerned about strengthening my application in every aspect (especially because of my interests in non-private sectors.) What are the odds/determining factors? Is better qualification (-> better deals) worthy of waiting another year and hence the opportunity cost of delaying lawyering by one year?
Unfortunately I don’t know what triggers scholarship grants. I assume grades and test scores, although “soft” factors could also trigger them. I got a merit scholarship from Duke when I was in the law school application process, but I don’t know what the criteria were. That was 20 years ago, though.
I would think that delaying for another year might not be a bad idea just because the market for lawyers is so saturated right now; it’s better now than a year or two ago, and hopefully another year will mean more improvement in the job market. However, to partially offset that, law school applications have also dropped. I’d see if there is information about how law school applications are trending this year; if they are increasing, then there will be more competition in a year, which isn’t good, and I’d weigh the competition in law school admissions against the state of the job market.
That’s amazing. Any clue which of your credentials that may have influenced more, may I ask? What subfield of law are you practicing? What influenced your decisions to practice that?
And yes, I hear the same bad prospect in the job market for lawyering… was it much different when you entered? but it seems like the same goes everywhere but the tech industry. I assume it would depend much on strategic focus on a specific subfield of law (or networking?) Because I’m not so sure about what “international law” I’d like to pursue in private sectors, and if I’m to focus on international business transactions, what possible fields can I explore besides my vague interests in licensing/IP and other public interests? Do you recommend any books / resources? I come from a social science background, so I’m worried I may have very naive, unsubstantiated ideas about justice and other grand concepts. Hopefully I will gain more realistic, in-depth views at law school.
First, check out JD Application Process | The Law School Admission Council</a>
for the process/procedure of applying, specifically for GPA matters.
Second, based on a cursory review of the websites of the top schools, it appears that “soft” factors play a role in admissions. That said, the LSAT is a gigantic portion of your application, and will be determinative regarding not just admissions, but also scholarships/aid, etc.
Third, while it’s always good to plan, you’ve got a big variable(LSAT) hanging out there, so it’s a bit premature to focus on any specific area of law. Based on my experience, only the top students at the top schools are fortunate enough to select what type of law they will practice; most of the rest will need to entertain whatever offers they get.
Fourth, what is your financial situation? Law school is extremely expensive. At best it’s ambiguous as to whether a Master’s will help in admissions-but the first question to ask is if you can afford it. It’s worth calculating the projected cost of law school with and w/o a Master’s.
@jujules, I do corporate work. I do it mostly because I didn’t like other things that I tried: litigation (I didn’t like research) and finance (crazy hours, mind-numbingly boring work and crazier people).
When I was in law school, the job market was fine, although it was a few years post-recession so it wasn’t as good as it was probably a few years after I graduated.
You have a good grasp on what private international law is. The only “international” thing about private international law is that there can be a client or other participant in a transaction who is based overseas; the work (negotiating and drafting documents, being on conference calls, etc.) is otherwise the same as domestic transactions.
I can’t think of any books or resources, but I would just figure out what you are truly passionate about and what your limits are (for me, I hate late nights and I hate meetings) and find an area of law that will fit within those parameters.
@jujules, I suggest you mine through the information available on lawschoolnumbers.com. Though the data is self-reported, the site allows you to search for law school admission results by GPA and LSAT. Many user profiles include information on scholarship offers, majors, work experience, ECs, etc. Here’s the profile of an applicant from last year’s cycle with your approximate stats: http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Elaine%20Benes This shows she had good scholarship offers at several schools out of the T14, and $25K/year at 2 T14 schools, including Georgetown, where she enrolled. If you register, you can post questions or PM for information to specific users.
Self-reported data is easily exaggerated, but over time you can develop a sense of what kind of applicants wind up with what kind of scholarship offers.You can also see that increasing your LSAT score by just a point or two may make a significant difference in the aid you receive. Posters seem to share information freely about scholarships and scholarship negotiation (which is certainly a thing) on toplawschools, as well.
This information is very reliable (URM also counts but you didn’t mention being one). You should spend some time looking at [admissions data](http://lawschoolnumbers.com/). You’ll see the trend lines fairly easily. You can also look around [url=http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/index.php]here[/url] for more reports (this board has a proliferation of people who went to school 20 years ago who, for some reason, think nothing has changed). An easy way to figure out what schools care about is who they give money to. Money goes to people with good scores and nowhere else.
This is actually a surprisingly realistic view of cross-border transactions. You should note that as an American you will handle only the American side of things. They will have lawyers from those other countries handling things in those countries. @HappyAlumnus does corporate work, so he may have some insight into the process.
The academic market is small and shrinking, especially in law. It is dominated by the very top students from the very top schools who got the very top appellate clerkships and who publish like mad. While I wouldn’t necessarily dissuade someone from chasing academia, you should be aware that jobs are extremely unlikely and you should only go forward with a solid backup plan.
JDs are extremely expensive. Unless you are independently wealthy, chasing one for the slight shot that someone will pay for you to do the research you want is almost certainly not worth it. Ultimately you will need to pay back the loans you took out to get the degrees, and the future you want is simply too uncertain to be a good bet.
The languages are solid and will help you with employment. However, not having a science undergrad effectively forecloses IP work as you will not be eligible for the patent bar.