<p>I'm a little curious as to why nobody ever seems to bring up college extracurricular activities too much when talking about admissions to law schools. Coming out of the college admissions scene (and currently in my second year of college), where applications were not only supplemented, but practically defined, by the high school extracurricular activities they reported, it just seems strange to me that college extracurricular activities don't receive much attention when people are talking about how to get into a good law school.</p>
<p>Is this because the weight of law school applications truly does lie almost entirely in GPA and LSAT, and extracurriculars aren't all that important after all? Or am I just looking in the wrong places?</p>
<p>Undergraduate admissions committees are trying to find people who will staff the school paper, play in the school band and orchestra, and play on school teams.</p>
<p>Law schools are looking for people who will study law, and pass the bar some day.</p>
<p>for experience's sake, which extracurricular activities would you recommend or have heard about that were good for personal and/or professional development? of course, the best extracurricular activities are the ones that you enjoy the most, but are there some activities that we should give a try? your answers do not have to necessarily be geared towards law school...</p>
<p>I'd advocate community service. It can be done in many different ways.You can work in a soup kitchen, tutor in an elementary or high school, work with youth sports programs, volunteer at a Boys & Girls Club or similar organization, be a "Best Buddy" to a mentally disabled adult, coach immigrants for US citizenship exams, build houses for Habitat for Humanity, volunteer in a senior citizens center,answer phones at a crisis center, work in an animal shelter, etc. There's usually some sort of campus clearing house which will tell you what your options are.</p>
<p>It should obviously be something you love - but, in my experience, many successful people were involved in sports. Probably because they have a drive to win.</p>
<p>In re OP: Unless you've had really interesting work experience or done something truly amazing, most law schools don't care about your extracurriculars at all. Schools really try to get their rankings up, or keep them in the same spot and numbers are a big part of that.</p>
<p>i was told by several students who just finished prepping for their LSAT that their LSAT prep places all told them that Model United Nations happens to be the #1 most represented club among students accepted to law schools. what do you guys think of this?</p>
<p>Even if it is true, the point of many people is that law schools rarely care. Sure, the things you do for clubs can help on the personal and performance level, but on the admissions level, the law schools don't care (say many here).</p>
<p>I heard that the thing about mock trial that schools dislike is that it tends to be too scripted. I had also heard that Model UN is the most popular EC, and law schools really like it when they see it on, because it involves more substantial research, deliberation, debate in a real-world environment.</p>
<p>perhaps MUN and law school admissions is correlated but MUN is not necessarily a causation to law school admissions.</p>
<p>but i do agree that mock trial is too scripted. MUN is all impromptu speaking and more. (not that public speaking is absolutely necessary for law school admissions)</p>
<p>I have to disagree about mock trial. Granted, I'm only in high school mock trial at the moment, so here goes the thought train of a naive high school senior. Mock trial at my school can get pretty intense; our team goes to state regularly and I found that it can get very impromptu. It can definitely be scripted though; I've seen some teams never deviate away from their planned questions. However, especially on cross, it's much better to adlib it with only an outline in mind, adding in anything notable that may have come up on direct. Also, there is a pretrial motion where the argument is usually scripted but the judges can drill the attorney with questions (I've seen questioning last 45 mins to an hour). This is sort of a moot point for many lawyers anyway, since most don't usually do much courtroom litigation (or so I've heard).</p>
<p>I am not a student interested in law school for myself, but I am an adult interested in education. My long term observation is that grades are most important, evidence of being able to accumulate information, to organize it and to explain it verbally and in written form is also important. Good recommendations Community service would be next. Playing lawyer is probably only good as a tie breaker, and would not compensate for inadequacies in the first two items.</p>