Stanford Law - Work Experience Valued? Forum

[BlaqBella]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if Stanford Law values work experience or views it as a great soft? It has been my dream school and I wanted to know if my work experience can help my relatively low GPA (3.4). As for additional stats, I am an AA female with about 4 years work experience in NYC BIGLAW (corporate para) and depending on when I apply, will have additional work experience at a Fortune 500 financial institution, also within a legal capacity.

All gurus and experts are welcomed to reply!

[TrialLawyer16]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if Stanford Law values work experience or views it as a great soft? It has been my dream school and I wanted to know if my work experience can help my relatively low GPA (3.4). As for additional stats, I am an AA female with about 4 years work experience in NYC BIGLAW (corporate para) and depending on when I apply, will have additional work experience at a Fortune 500 financial institution, also within a legal capacity.

All gurus and experts are welcomed to reply!

Rachel Zane?

[BlaqBella]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if Stanford Law values work experience or views it as a great soft? It has been my dream school and I wanted to know if my work experience can help my relatively low GPA (3.4). As for additional stats, I am an AA female with about 4 years work experience in NYC BIGLAW (corporate para) and depending on when I apply, will have additional work experience at a Fortune 500 financial institution, also within a legal capacity.

All gurus and experts are welcomed to reply!

Rachel Zane?

No.

Any advice you care to share?

[RSterling]

Your experience should help a bit in admissions, but it probably won't work any miracles. However, I think your experience will have a lot of pull once OCI rolls around. (Disclaimer: 0L, but I also have work experience and have asked around about the same question).

[BlaqBella]

Your experience should help a bit in admissions, but it probably won't work any miracles. However, I think your experience will have a lot of pull once OCI rolls around. (Disclaimer: 0L, but I also have work experience and have asked around about the same question).

Thanks. SLS Class of 2013 raw data stats indicate the following range:

•GPA range: 3.20-4.23
•LSAT range: 160-180

Of course I will attempt to shoot for the highest score possible, but any range as to what I should aim for at minimum to get a decent shot of admittance to SLS?

[TrialLawyer16]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if Stanford Law values work experience or views it as a great soft? It has been my dream school and I wanted to know if my work experience can help my relatively low GPA (3.4). As for additional stats, I am an AA female with about 4 years work experience in NYC BIGLAW (corporate para) and depending on when I apply, will have additional work experience at a Fortune 500 financial institution, also within a legal capacity.

All gurus and experts are welcomed to reply!

Rachel Zane?

No.

Any advice you care to share?

That was a joke about the show Suits lol

I'm no Stanford guru/expert, but since you asked I'd imagine they treat it like most other law schools do, save Northwestern. It's good because it shows you're probably more mature, have a higher likelihood of doing well in law school (which is important since your UGPA is low for Stanford), and you're probably more certain that you actually want to be there. If anything, the thing that would help overcome your 3.4GPA for Stanford the most would be that you're an AA female.

[BlaqBella]

Hi All,

Can anyone tell me if Stanford Law values work experience or views it as a great soft? It has been my dream school and I wanted to know if my work experience can help my relatively low GPA (3.4). As for additional stats, I am an AA female with about 4 years work experience in NYC BIGLAW (corporate para) and depending on when I apply, will have additional work experience at a Fortune 500 financial institution, also within a legal capacity.

All gurus and experts are welcomed to reply!

Rachel Zane?

No.

Any advice you care to share?

That was a joke about the show Suits lol

I'm not a Stanford guru/expert. But since you asked I'd imagine they treat it like most other law schools do, though, save Northwestern. It's good because it shows you're probably more mature, have a higher likelihood of doing well in law school, and you're probably more certain that you actually want to be there. If anything, the thing that would help overcome your 3.4GPA at Stanford would be that you're an AA female.

Yes, I watch and love the show.

Thanks for your response. Still, I will be competing amongst other AA male and females with higher stats and if SLS is as GPA stingy as other TLSers seem to suggest, I really have a very low chance of admittance, even with my WE and even with a decent LSAT score (165+). I was hoping they would be one of the few that love work experience (not comparable to NW, but close enough, was my hope).

Thanks again.

[PMan99]

Yes, I watch and love the show.

Thanks for your response. Still, I will be competing amongst other AA male and females with higher stats and if SLS is as GPA stingy as other TLSers seem to suggest, I really have a very low chance of admittance, even with my WE and even with a decent LSAT score (165+). I was hoping they would be one of the few that love work experience (not comparable to NW, but close enough, was my hope).

Thanks again.

A 165 will, in all likelihood, not get you even on the WL with a 3.4, even for a URM. I suppose it might have a nonzero chance, but if you want something realistic you'll need a 170+ (or maybe even 173-175+).

It isn't unheard of for URMs to get into HS with 3.4's (Y is out) but you need a stronger LSAT than 165. If you get far enough into the 170s, H actually becomes a pretty likely admit. S will always be harder to predict but WE+URM combined with a mid-170s LSAT and otherwise strong application (apply early, good recs, etc.) should give you a good chance.

[BlaqBella]

Yes, I watch and love the show.

Thanks for your response. Still, I will be competing amongst other AA male and females with higher stats and if SLS is as GPA stingy as other TLSers seem to suggest, I really have a very low chance of admittance, even with my WE and even with a decent LSAT score (165+). I was hoping they would be one of the few that love work experience (not comparable to NW, but close enough, was my hope).

Thanks again.

A 165 will, in all likelihood, not get you even on the WL with a 3.4, even for a URM. I suppose it might have a nonzero chance, but if you want something realistic you'll need a 170+ (or maybe even 173-175+).

It isn't unheard of for URMs to get into HS with 3.4's (Y is out) but you need a stronger LSAT than 165. If you get far enough into the 170s, H actually becomes a pretty likely admit. S will always be harder to predict but WE+URM combined with a mid-170s LSAT and otherwise strong application (apply early, good recs, etc.) should give you a good chance.

Thanks!! Still have some work to put in for the mid-170s range, but time is on my side.

[Now]

SLS really cares about the whole package. If you communicate your passion for the school and your commitment to ___ type of career, I think you have a solid shot even with a sub 170 LSAT score. More important than work experience is showing that you are a leader and putting together a fabulous application package. Once you show SLS that you can do the work, Stanford is far more interested in how you will contribute to the community. Good luck!