“Prospective law school students coming straight from college should emphasize whatever experience they have, like internships.” …
99% of what law schools care about is some combination of GPA + LSAT and whether you’re an underrepresented minority
Agree with previous response. Nothing else matters.
At least for HLS, Dean Minow made it clear in her speeches to alumni that work experience was viewed as beneficial in applying. The percentage of HLS students who worked after college has grown significantly in recent years. Other law schools may differ.
^^work experience is “beneficial” for any professional school. That being said, at best its a minor plus factor at HLS, or a tie-breaker all other things being equal. But it in no way supersedes GPA or LSAT…
I don’t see it as either/or.
Sure, of course you need the grades and scores. But work teaches something that school can’t.
And my 87 year old mom had a great take on odd when a doctor told her something was 1 in a million:
“That’s great… unless you’re the one.”
The grades and scores will speak for themselves. I agree that the importance of work experience can’t be overstated.
USNews does not track such things in its ratings; thus, almost immaterial for any school not in New Haven or Palo Alto.
@FrankieSays… we’d need to look at admissions rates for otherwise equally-situated candidates to see if work experience matters. The percentage of HLS 1Ls with work experience has grown so significantly over the past few years that I’d venture to state that it matters quite a bit. As @bluebayou says, GPA + LSAT come first, though.
See below: the percentage of students without work experience has dropped by about 50% during the period in the chart:
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/4/9/hls-admissions-work-experience/
You don’t get work experience for school. You get it for employers. Law school is a means to an end, not the end itself.
Possible, but no. Grad Plus loans are available to anyone up to the Cost of Attendance.
But, what we don’t know is how many folks purposely take a gap* year to: 1) boost GPA with final grades; 2) retake the LSAT to increase chances at HLS and/or bigger tax-free merit money at the lower T14.
(Yeah, I know the article in the Crimson says its real work, but what does that mean, exactly? Working retail is ‘real work’ and I would argue much more beneficial for a law wannabe than a one-year internship at a Fortune 500. (Of course, as Demo points out, work experience can help with future employment and I’m sure Big Law would rather see the Fortunte 500 gig.)
@bluebayou you make good points as always. Nobody I know of in my class at HLS who had taken time off worked retail or a similar job between undergrad and law school. The job was always consulting or journalism or something.