<p>Hi all,
People say GPA+LSAT score are the only things that matter in law school admissions. If this is true, why do people join pre-law societies, pre-law frats, try to get prestigious law firm internships during the summer, study abroad, etc? </p>
<p>There will be hundreds of thousands of people who have the same GPA/LSAT score, but the t-14 schools obviously have to pick and choose between those of the academic cream of the crop SOMEHOW. Isn't this where the ECs come into play?</p>
<p>I guess I want to believe that ECs are somewhat important and worth something in the law school admission process, and if so, then would a pre-law fraternity be a good idea? I can't see any downside to this except that it might take up a lot of one's time. Wouldn't the connections you build from such a frat help in getting interviews for some prestigious internships/clerkships/etc? If you don't join one, then how does one go about obtaining internships/networking/etc?</p>
<p>Lastly, if anyone would like to comment some of their own ECs from college, that would be awesome.
Thanks!</p>
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<p>Because they are naive and insecure. Those two are utterly worthless.</p>
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<p>Internships are good for any future career.</p>
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<p>uhh, bcos they are fun? Besides that, think about it: study abroad is so common now, it cannot help you stand out.</p>
<p>But the real reason that only two numbers matter (GPA+LSAT) is that those are the only two numbers used in USNews’ rankings. Not internships, not study abroad and certainly not pre-law societies.</p>
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<p>Absolutely incorrect. Applications are down nearly 40% in the last few years. </p>
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<p>No and no. There are not enough high test scores for the T14 to hold their current medians. </p>
<p>From my own experience and review of admissions data, I have to say that test scores and grades are not the only things that law schools consider, even if they constitute most of the admissions criteria. </p>
<p>First, when I was in law school, some people let others know what their grades and test scores were. I went to HLS and was right at the HLS median grade/test score levels (as per US News at the time). I knew some people who had LSAT scores significantly below mine who got in. </p>
<p>Second, if you look at charts of admissions/rejections to law schools, it is not the case that people above certain test score/grade thresholds always get in, and people below always are rejected. There are some people below the thresholds who get in, and some above who don’t. ECs and other non-test score/non-grade factors must play a role.</p>
<p>For ECs, though, pre-law frats/clubs are absolutely worthless. To me they indicate “gunner” and “tool”. (I am not a member of the American Bar Association or the like, as a lawyer; what’s the point?) I’d think that law firm internships would help show interest in the law and help in interviews, but my co-workers and other alumni disagree. </p>
<p>You can take a look [url=<a href=“Recently Updated J.D. Profiles | Law School Numbers”>http://lawschoolnumbers.com/]here[/url</a>] at applicant graphs for the various schools. You’ll notice pretty clear bands lining up with GPA and LSAT. There are outliers (notice the bands get messier in later years with the decrease in available LSAT scores), but they mostly tend to be URMs. Every so often there’s an outlier that’s not well explained, so maybe they had something going for them, but it’s so rare it should be ignored for admissions purposes.</p>