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169 LSAT, 3.96 GPA, next to no softs because of family obligations-will the fact that I'm coming strait from undergrad hurt my chances substantially at northwestern?

1 yes
2 you may be able to get into a better school though
3 wrong forum

Yes, your lack of work experience severely impacts your chance at acceptance at Northwestern.

You probably have a better chance at Chicago than Northwestern with those numbers + no work experience.

Moxie wrote:Yes, your lack of work experience severely impacts your chance at acceptance at Northwestern.

I disagree. I think that you will likely be admitted with a decent interview. However, as other posters have noted, I think that you are also likely to be admitted to Chicago and Michigan as well.

chadwick218 wrote:

Moxie wrote:Yes, your lack of work experience severely impacts your chance at acceptance at Northwestern.

I disagree. I think that you will likely be admitted with a decent interview. However, as other posters have noted, I think that you are also likely to be admitted to Chicago and Michigan as well.

As a follow-up, while recent classes have had very few K thru JD students, I think that it has a lot to do with applicants self-selecting out.

chadwick218 wrote:

Moxie wrote:Yes, your lack of work experience severely impacts your chance at acceptance at Northwestern.

I disagree. I think that you will likely be admitted with a decent interview. However, as other posters have noted, I think that you are also likely to be admitted to Chicago and Michigan as well.

I don't understand why you think that OPs lack of work experience will not impact his/her chances at acceptance. Only 2% of people who were accepted to Northwestern in the class of 2009 (3% in 2008) didn't have at least 1 year of work experience. Self selection may play a tiny part, but most of it is due to Northwestern's stated goal to eventually have all incoming students with work experience under their belts. The few people that are accepted without work experience have exceptionally high numbers (a higher LSAT than OPs) and/or have exceptional life experiences that show professionalism and maturity.

cinefile 17 wrote:I don't understand why you think that OPs lack of work experience will not impact his/her chances at acceptance. Only 2% of people who were accepted to Northwestern in the class of 2009 (3% in 2008) didn't have at least 1 year of work experience. Self selection may play a tiny part, but most of it is due to Northwestern's stated goal to eventually have all incoming students with work experience under their belts. The few people that are accepted without work experience have exceptionally high numbers (a higher LSAT than OPs) and/or have exceptional life experiences that show professionalism and maturity.

I think that those %'s refer to matriculation, not acceptance. Lack of work experience will certainly impact the OP's chances, although I question whether it will be as "severe" as one poster had commented.

When we're saying "work experience", does this necessarily mean work experience in the law field? Or is NW likely to accept applicants with work experience in another field as well?

aingraffia wrote:When we're saying "work experience", does this necessarily mean work experience in the law field? Or is NW likely to accept applicants with work experience in another field as well?

Pretty much no one has work experience in a law field (as lawyers anyway) before coming to law school. So no, you don't have to be a paralegal at Skadden.

motiontodismiss wrote:

aingraffia wrote:When we're saying "work experience", does this necessarily mean work experience in the law field? Or is NW likely to accept applicants with work experience in another field as well?

Pretty much no one has work experience in a law field (as lawyers anyway) before coming to law school. So no, you don't have to be a paralegal at Skadden.

Why would someone that has 'lawyer experience' apply to a law school?

Having experience within a law firm is certainly valuable - not necessarily for admissions, but for the simple fact that you have experienced what the legal services industry entails.

McNulty wrote:

motiontodismiss wrote:

aingraffia wrote:When we're saying "work experience", does this necessarily mean work experience in the law field? Or is NW likely to accept applicants with work experience in another field as well?

Pretty much no one has work experience in a law field (as lawyers anyway) before coming to law school. So no, you don't have to be a paralegal at Skadden.

Why would someone that has 'lawyer experience' apply to a law school?

Having experience within a law firm is certainly valuable - not necessarily for admissions, but for the simple fact that you have experienced what the legal services industry entails.

That's my point.

aingraffia wrote:When we're saying "work experience", does this necessarily mean work experience in the law field? Or is NW likely to accept applicants with work experience in another field as well?

So... in short, it (mostly) doesn't matter where you got the work experience (as long as it's not part-time work like working at Burger King or illegal like selling drugs). As far as I know Northwestern does not favor law-related WE to non-law-related WE.