Law school resume..

<p>I know that when you send in your applications to schools, you should send a current resume. But I read somewhere, I don't remember where, that the resume you send shouldn't be your JOB resume that you give to employers. This seems ridiculous to me. Why does it matter? The whole point of a resume is to show work experience and education. What must be so different about the resume you send to schools? I think the site where I read this was unreliable.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.lsac.org/LSAC.asp?url=lsac/demos.htm#LSDAS%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.lsac.org/LSAC.asp?url=lsac/demos.htm#LSDAS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I don't think I have a clear understanding of your question. I know nothing of a resume.....period. Firstly you don't actually send your applications to a school but rather to a service, a clearing center. Have you read up on the process of applying to law school?</p>

<p>Hazmat -- Yes, presumably the OP will send materials through LSAC/LSDAS (although some schools do allow you to apply directly), but resume isn't like transcript or general LOR's where they get sent to LSAC and then forwarded along as part of every application. The resume will be uploaded to each application and the applicant can tweak it for each school if so desired (for example, I had one school that wanted a very specific format and some weird info included in the resume, so I had a separate one for that application).</p>

<p>OP -- I don't know exactly, but I think that "remember you're not applying for a job" is good advice. Sure, your resume might stay the same, but that's probably not true for everyone. Probably just depends on what you've done with it. For example, I was applying for random summer jobs and I took sports accomplishments off of my resume as a space-saver...they really weren't relevant. But I was advised to put them back for law school apps (time management, dedication, well-roundedness, diversity...something of that nature). Not a big deal...just a tweak. I don't imagine that what you read was encouraging you to leave your education or work experience OFF the resume, but perhaps just to emphasize different aspects of it or to consider its relevance to law school rather than employment. If you still have access to a university career planning office or pre-law advisor, you might want to ask this question there.</p>

<p>So I guess it wouldn't make sense to leave my skills in different computer programs and software on the resume?</p>

<p>From what I've picked up from resources such as the Ivey guide, it's best to leave that stuff in. There are websites for law school applicants such as yourself; Law School Discussion is one that I can think of off the top of my head. (Google it.)</p>

<p>Again, probably depends. If you have crazy programming experience, then that seems like it'd be great to list. But "Proficient in MS Word, MS Excel Versions X/Y/Z, etc." can be safely deleted. Just a judgment call. </p>

<p>Example: I generally have my typing speed on my resume (again, college level summer jobs :p). When the advisor who was helping me out with some resume (I don't think it was law school, but maybe an internship or something) saw it there, she said that she'd normally cross such info right off as irrelevant, but given that mine is a pretty crazy number, she actually suggested that I leave it (not because anyone would actually care, but because it added some bizarre personalization and light-heartedness without being cumbersome).</p>

<p>Think of it this way:</p>

<p>For any info beyond the basic stuff, ask yourself if it's something that law schools might care about. If the answer is yes, then leave it. If the answer is no, then ask yourself if it's something that might help set you apart from other applicants (in a positive way). If the answer is yes, then consider leaving it (where the final decision will probably be based on stuff like how much space you have left to play with). But if the answer is no, it seems pretty superfluous--neither relevant nor helpful--and safe to cut out.</p>

<p>Given that educational information is all included within the LSAC application itself, I'm assuming that that should all be left off? Schools, degrees, GPA, etc?</p>

<p>Bump ?</p>

<p>I personally kept it on. Seems nice to have the info all in one place, and it's just normal to have in a resume. Never crossed my mind to leave it off.</p>

<p>But like I said, that's just what I did. No "should" or "shouldn't" about it...can't help ya there. Ask your pre-law advisor or a grad/career counselor at your school (forgive me if I'm misremembering and you're no longer in school).</p>

<p>Thanks much. =) Two apps down, four to go.</p>

<p>(I've been in touch with the advisor at the school-I-graduated-from and the advisor from the school-I'm-at-now. Double the fun.)</p>