Top 10 Law School Resume Fundamentals

A shoddy resume could cost prospective law students their acceptance. … Here are … 10 fundamental law school resume-writing tips …

https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/law-admissions-lowdown/articles/2018-02-05/top-10-law-school-resume-fundamentals

I don’t recall even submitting a resume. I defy anyone to produce data showing a resume matters.

D2 submitted a resume. I am not sure if it was mandatory. It is hard to determine if resume matters, but what’s in a resume (job experience, ECs) may matter. D2 had identical GPA & LSAT scores 2 years ago, and her result is much better 2 years later with a relevant job experience, stronger LORS and a better written personal statement.

I have been following other law school forums. It appears factors other than stats do matter. Law schools do not always admit applicants with highest stats. As a matter of fact, many high stats applicants were WL at schools like UMich, Penn, Cornell this past week.

A couple of those schools are well-known for yeild protection. And Cornell has a big reason for protecting, given its smaller size. Regardless, WL’ing high stat applicants is not the converse as accepting lower stat applicants with a 'better (however defined) resume.

Our S (now a 3L, was wait listed at some of those same schools three years ago. He made calls to the admissions offices and either arranged a phone interview with the Admissions Dean or arranged a personal interview. He was subsequently accepted at all four schools that had originally wait listed or deferred him (UVA, UMich, Penn and Duke).

Although law school applicants often submit resumes as part of their application packet, most law school deans live or die by US News rankings & US News focuses in large part on applicants’ LSAT scores & GPAs, not on their resumes.

Law school consultants cannot make money off of an applicant’s LSAT score & GPA, so they tend to stress essays & resumes.

P.S. #5 use “advocate” instead of “communicate” just seems wrong to me in the context of a pre-law school student sharing information about a client in a law firm setting. Anyone in this position “advocating” for a client should be fired, and, maybe face UPL discipline.

Part of the USN&WR rankings takes into account the percentage of graduates that have a job within a certain period of time (6 months? 9 months?) of graduation. So I can see that an applicant who has experiences that would help them get a job upon graduation would be a big plus in an admissions officer’s eyes.

A good resume that shows the skills an applicant has learned gives additional context to the school that might not otherwise be seen on the application. Re “uplifting”, I don’t like how the author presented this point because it seems like padding a resume, which is a big turn-off. I think the real point is that even low-level jobs with seemingly little value actually give an engaged worker skills. The receptionist? That’s the first point of contact for many customers and a receptionist is responsible for projecting an image of the company and handling sometimes irate people with decorum. The guy flipping burgers at McDonalds? He’s learning time management skills and coordinating with other members of a team.

@melvin123: Your post above is appropriately divided into two paragraphs. These paragraphs are not as closely related as I think that you intended them to be.

The first sentence of the first paragraph reflects the perceived quality of the law school & its students.

The second paragraph is part of a culling process that occurs within law firms recruiting at any particular law school. Otherwise, all students in the top 25%, for example, at Columbia Law School would be granted interviews at a particular law firm, but that does not happen in reality. Even some students in the top 5% may not be granted an interview while several much lower ranked law students may.

But, regardless of the resumes of Columbia Law School students, Columbia Law grads will enjoy outstanding placement rates at/by graduation & within 10 months after graduation due to the perceived superior product produced by CLS based on their selectivity which focuses on applicants LSAT scores & GPAs.

@publisher - I again (as in a prior thread), agree wholeheartedly. It’s the GPA/LSAT, stupid. I am not saying that soft admissions components, e.g., ECs, personal statements, and resumes, cannot have an impact, but it’s kind of like gaining admission to an exclusive club. They want to see your bona fides first just to get in the door.

I couldn’t agree more.