How to get into Yale, Harvard, and Stanford Law Schools

<p>Hey everybody, how are you? Thanks for taking the time to read this and I would appreciate all postive feedback. :)</p>

<p>Right now I'm a bit curious as to how people get into Yale, Harvard, and Stanford Law. Please give good advice as to how people accomplish this and not some bogus answer like, "Donate 5 million dollars" or "Win a Nobel Prize while in high school." (although that could be some major hook!). What are "hooks" for law school admission? I heard Harvard cares more about actual scores (LSAT and GPA) whereas Yale and Stanford value work experience. </p>

<p>What is meant by 'work experience.' Does that mean that it has to be in the field of law? What if an engineer wants to go to law school? Would this look like somebody is flaking?</p>

<p>I'm looking at intellectual property law for the future, and if anybody knows of schools with strong respected programs for intellectual propety law please let me know! </p>

<p>Thank you for reading this and I know that I asked many, many questions but I would appreciate some help! :)</p>

<p>First, high GPA (3.8+) and LSATs (174+) are very nearly a prerequisite. These are astronomical scores. Harvard, as a much larger school, will take most people above this threshold. Stanford and Yale are smaller and will look for other things. Work experience is one possibility, and any work experience is fine, provided the student can write intelligently on the subject.</p>

<p>IP is one of the few fields of law where the caliber of your law school is less important.</p>

<p>Anybody else have another opion about getting into these schools? Anybody with personal knowledge/experience or knows some more about work experience? Thank you in advance! :)</p>

<p>Getting a high caliber scholarship (Fulbright, Marshal, etc) will help.</p>

<p>Not that my one case is enough to draw generalizations, but I believe that what’s been posted above is generally true, and it was in my case. Harvard focuses on numbers more than Stanford or Yale. My profile had extremely strong numbers, decent soft factors. Nothing terribly impressive in terms of activities or work experience, but enough to show that I was active and had a few interests. I was admitted to both HLS and SLS within about a month of applying.</p>

<p>Wow, that’s very impressive crnchycereal! Congratulations and thanks for the inside scoop! ;)</p>

<p>By interests, how did you show an intense liking for them? I mean, did you work for a few years in a particular field to get work experience? Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>It’s not as though I went out of my way to prove that I had “intense” interests. Far from it. I simply went through college working hard and participating in activities that I enjoyed-- mostly music-related. I never held any impressive offices or positions; a regular old member of my groups was all I could lay claim to. As for work experience, even calling it that might be an exaggeration. I held a few summer jobs and internships, but I applied during my senior year of college, so I didn’t have any actual professional experience.</p>

<p>Looking back, my acceptance at Harvard was unsurprising given my numbers. This isn’t a boast, but merely an observation. HLS is the most number-oriented, and my LSAT/GPA were at or above the 75th percentile. As for Stanford, I suppose that may have been more of a crap shoot for me. As my soft factors were not terribly impressive, I can only assume that my acceptance was due to some combination of both my strong numbers and my recommendations/personal statement.</p>

<p>Wow, that’s still very impressive! It sounds to me that you are greatly gifted and you enjoyed your college experience instead of “molding yourself” into a perfect law school candidate. BTW, what school did you go to undergrad? Did you choose HLS or SLS? Thanks for your help!</p>

<p>Stanford is numbers heavy too, except they yield protect certain applicants. Yale and Michigan are the only two truly holistic schools.</p>

<p>Oh, I read incorrectly that Stanford wasn’t all numbers oriented (more Yale-ish than Harvard). Thanks for the clarification, AmbulanceChaser! :)</p>

<p>I graduated from Williams College in June of 2008. In the end, I decided to choose Harvard, but I took a year off to study Chinese in Taiwan. I’m back in the States now, scratching out some money as an LSAT tutor/instructor until I start my 1L year in August.</p>

<p>That is quite an impressive academic career that you have put together, crnchycereal. Hope that you enjoyed Taiwan and best wishes at Harvard in August! :)</p>

<p>Any more advice, fellow CCers? Any positive thoughts would be welcomed!</p>

<p>I found this when searching online and I think it may answer some of your questions>> j.mp/97Q2c6</p>

<p>Since no one has brought this up, I will:</p>

<p>Northwestern is the only top law school that cares about work experience–as in, expects it from candidates, and rewards substantial and positive experience with admission.</p>

<p>Honestly, the only thing they care about is your lsat/gpa. Of course, schools like Yale and Stanford are going to carefully read your app, but at the end of the day it will be your lsat, gpa, and possibly URM status that decides whether you get in.</p>

<p>sorry for intruding in your thread, big dreamer. </p>

<p>kenson, what do you mean by URM? </p>

<p>and, as the OP was referring to ip law after obtaining an engineering degree, would lsat be more weighted in the decision-making for admittance than gpa? or is that only a myth?</p>

<p>An underrepresented minority is an African American, Native American, Mexican American, or Puerto Rican.</p>

<p>Law school admissions standards aren’t very much altered for engineering candidates or those with interests in IP. Most schools already place very high emphasis on the LSAT anyway, so in some ways it’s fairly moot.</p>

<p>awww no asian-american?? that’s messed up.</p>

<p>No, i believe asian-americans are ORM</p>