- Forum

[Cavalier]

...

[taxguy]

I was the raid leader/de facto guild leader of a fairly successful guild (e.g., M'uru pre-patch, for fellow WoW geeks) a few years back. Having gained some distance from and perspective on it, I would absolutely not use it to market myself.

Yes, I learned a few things about leadership. Doing research, devising and executing strategies, giving orders, hiring and firing, and dealing with clashes between some fairly dysfunctional personalities--many of these experiences will probably serve me at least a little in the long run.

But looking back, I think my time as a raid leader demonstrates my seriously misplaced priorities more than my leadership abilities. There are so many better ways I could have spent my time and energy than helping a bunch of anonymous weirdos in their quest for prestige amongst a larger group of anonymous weirdos. There are so many more valuable, "real," experiences I could have had instead.

I think an adcomm familiar only with stereotypes will think that an applicant touting WoW experience is probably a socially inept basement dweller with an addictive personality who never took the time to have "real" experiences about which to write. I think an adcomm who knows the game well might think the same thing. You're probably not all of those things--don't leave them thinking you are.

I completely agree. Whatever you do: Don't tell anyone at admission or recruiters at law firms about your WOW experience. Don't ever bring it up! In fact, if you are serious, which I hope you are not, your judgment is impaired for even considering this.

[Deuce]

lol

[d34d9823]

I completely agree. Whatever you do: Don't tell anyone at admission or recruiters at law firms about your WOW experience. Don't ever bring it up!

taxguy, does your son play WoW? I hear it builds critical thinking skills.

[auntjulia]

Wow, I wrote a long post and my browser refreshed and deleted it. Long story short, I say go with this PS topic. Sure there will be some ADCOMMS negatively biased against gamers and games but I think your PS will stand out, and it could change the readers idea about online communities. Even your first post was enlightening to me, as a non-gamer. If you write this as you ought to, it will be fascinating and educational for the reader. That is far more than can be said for the majority of PS law schools receive.
And if you want a OL to look it over, I'd be happy to review a draft, OP. Good luck.

[Deuce]

I think your PS will stand out

Without a doubt

[buckilaw]

generally I would say not to use your wow experience as a personal statement topic, though there are two exceptions I can think of that may make it a viable option.

1. Feel free to use it for a school that is notoriously unpredictable, like Boalt, I think done right this could be a refreshing change of pace from hearing about why someone wants to practice international law, that their trip to Europe changed their life, that they want ot save the world etc. Though it's a risky move so you are better off doing it only where your chances of admission are low/unpredictable anyway. In fact I'd only really try this for Boalt.

2. If you can somehow tie in your online experience with a real world activity it would become more viable. For instance, say your experience managing dysfunctional nerds helped you to work better as a camp counselor or something along those lines. Of course you should only do this if you can point to a real experience, you don't want to fabricate a personal statement.

Best of luck, unless you played as a warlock.

[lsatcrazy]

This thread is great...bringing back old Naxx farming memories from high school six years ago...Running a guild is rough, but I unless you get an adcomm who plays they won't get it. At most I would put it on the bottom of a resume.

For the horde!

[Flips88]

How every AdComm will imagine you:

[Stonewall]

Maybe if you were a level 15 prestige in black ops it would be doable

[shoeshine]

ITT: Most of TLS is outed as WOW nerds.

I am disappointed that everyone here has not jumped all over the op! We make fun of everyone who reveals even the slightest insecurity or oddity on this site and WOW guild leader gets a luke warm response?

OP: I am going to tell you the truth. Mentioning WOW or the fact that you had a leadership position in an online RPG will probably severely hurt your application. The truth is that online RPG games have a huge stigma attached to them. People who do not play them do not understand their appeal and see them as a massive waste of time. You think you are developing leadership skills(and you probably were) but what you learn in an RPG can not be easily translated into real life situations. You could be an awesome guild leader but terrible at leading a team in real life. Unfortunately, learning leadership in RPGs ignores the biggest part of human communication, non-verbals. Go take any communications class (and some business classes) and you will understand why online interaction is not the same as in-person business interaction. In fact, the general belief is that people who involve themselves in these online RPGs for extended periods of time (i.e. guild leaders) actually diminish their interpersonal skills because they become accustomed to only interacting with people through their game.

TL,DR: Adcomms will think you have no social skills if you mention online gaming.

[wolfpack37]

generally I would say not to use your wow experience as a personal statement topic, though there are two exceptions I can think of that may make it a viable option.

1. Feel free to use it for a school that is notoriously unpredictable, like Boalt, I think done right this could be a refreshing change of pace from hearing about why someone wants to practice international law, that their trip to Europe changed their life, that they want ot save the world etc. Though it's a risky move so you are better off doing it only where your chances of admission are low/unpredictable anyway. In fact I'd only really try this for Boalt.

2. If you can somehow tie in your online experience with a real world activity it would become more viable. For instance, say your experience managing dysfunctional nerds helped you to work better as a camp counselor or something along those lines. Of course you should only do this if you can point to a real experience, you don't want to fabricate a personal statement.

Best of luck, unless you played as a warlock.

Ya, the idea was for reaches, I'd rather pump out a safe PS for targets/safeties. Boalt, Columbia, and HYS should I decide to apply would probably be the only schools that received this PS. Priest.

How every AdComm will imagine you:

I thought you posted my senior pic for a sec, it looked so similar!

Unfortunately, learning leadership in RPGs ignores the biggest part of human communication, non-verbals. Go take any communications class (and some business classes) and you will understand why online interaction is not the same as in-person business interaction. In fact, the general belief is that people who involve themselves in these online RPGs for extended periods of time (i.e. guild leaders) actually diminish their interpersonal skills because they become accustomed to only interacting with people through their game.

Ya, I'm actually a business major (admittedly finance) with a minor in psychology, so I know (or at least should know) the importance of non-verbal communication. There seems to be a general consensus that this would be a bad idea for a PS, so odds are it won't come to fruition. I still have a few other ideas for my reach PS that I can have slammed by the TLS community.

[rich_4]

I once heard that you have a much better chance of writing yourself out of law school than you have writing yourself in. Just something to think about.

[bjsesq]

<3 this thread. Were you on a PvP server? Added points for keeping shit under control if you were.

[3|ink]

Don't write about this. Auto-Deny.

[BackToTheOldHouse]

ITT: Most of TLS is outed as WOW nerds.

I am disappointed that everyone here has not jumped all over the op! We make fun of everyone who reveals even the slightest insecurity or oddity on this site and WOW guild leader gets a luke warm response?

OP: I am going to tell you the truth. Mentioning WOW or the fact that you had a leadership position in an online RPG will probably severely hurt your application. The truth is that online RPG games have a huge stigma attached to them. People who do not play them do not understand their appeal and see them as a massive waste of time. You think you are developing leadership skills(and you probably were) but what you learn in an RPG can not be easily translated into real life situations. You could be an awesome guild leader but terrible at leading a team in real life. Unfortunately, learning leadership in RPGs ignores the biggest part of human communication, non-verbals. Go take any communications class (and some business classes) and you will understand why online interaction is not the same as in-person business interaction. In fact, the general belief is that people who involve themselves in these online RPGs for extended periods of time (i.e. guild leaders) actually diminish their interpersonal skills because they become accustomed to only interacting with people through their game.

TL,DR: Adcomms Everyone will think you have no social skills if you mention online gaming.

This.

I was pretty good at Dungeons and Dragons back in the '80s when I was in elementary school. I had a bunch of those pewter figurines. This shows leadership and dedication, right?

[sunynp]

Do not use this as the subject for a PS or mention it at all. Nothing positive will come of mentioning using WoW or any other game and relating it to real (as opposed to online) life. If you were applying to be a game tester or designer or something along those lines, then gaming experience is relevant. It is not relevant to law school admission. You will seem like a kid who wasted a lot of time goofing around, and possibly one with some kind of obsessive gaming addiction.

You must have other things in your life to write about that will not ostracize you.

Quite possibly people on the AdComm have personal experience with the frustration of parents whose kids spend way too much time online. This will not help you.

[Kabuo]

Outing myself as well. OP, like someone else in this thread said, while I was still involved in WoW, I would have told you that the experience proved a lot of good about your leadership potential. Now that I've been out for awhile, I think it shows more of the addictive personality and poor priorities (I don't think the addictive personality will be so bad if we can turn it into LS grades). I'd maybe think differently if you had a 4.0, but the 3.5 reminds me of my own worse 3.2, which was pretty directly attributable to WoW. If it did teach you real leadership skills, just use them in the real world. You'll know where they came from, but adcoms will not understand.

[paratactical]

I was pretty good at Dungeons and Dragons back in the '80s when I was in elementary school. I had a bunch of those pewter figurines. This shows leadership and dedication, right?

If you had real leadership and dedication, you would still be playing. I mean, those beholders aren't gonna off themselves.

[3|ink]

It is also presumptuous to assume that WoW is just as difficult as a typical real-world ordeal. I'm sure that an AdComm would think that a game desgined for a general audience is not particularly challenging.

[bjsesq]

It is also presumptuous to assume that WoW is just as difficult as a typical real-world ordeal. I'm sure that an AdComm would think that a game desgined for a general audience is not particularly challenging.

Then those assholes need to participate in a 25 man heroic at Zul Gurub.

[3|ink]

It is also presumptuous to assume that WoW is just as difficult as a typical real-world ordeal. I'm sure that an AdComm would think that a game desgined for a general audience is not particularly challenging.

Then those assholes need to participate in a 25 man heroic at Zul Gurub.

Whether they're right or wrong, you have to anticipate their biases.

[bjsesq]

It is also presumptuous to assume that WoW is just as difficult as a typical real-world ordeal. I'm sure that an AdComm would think that a game desgined for a general audience is not particularly challenging.

Then those assholes need to participate in a 25 man heroic at Zul Gurub.

Whether they're right or wrong, you have to anticipate their biases.

How you respond seriously to that post is baffling.

[3|ink]

It is also presumptuous to assume that WoW is just as difficult as a typical real-world ordeal. I'm sure that an AdComm would think that a game desgined for a general audience is not particularly challenging.

Then those assholes need to participate in a 25 man heroic at Zul Gurub.

Whether they're right or wrong, you have to anticipate their biases.

How you respond seriously to that post is baffling.

I'm actually relieved to hear you were joking. I thought you were serious because I have no idea what Zul Gurub is.

[bjsesq]

I'm actually relieved to hear you were joking. I thought you were serious because I have no idea what Zul Gurub is.

No, I'm serious about the dungeon. I'm not serious about how adcomms need to accept it. Zulgurub is a bitch of a dungeon that came out in cata, btw.