If a school asks how it can help you achieve your 5-year post-grad plan, how specific should you get? Do you need to list specific firms that you'd like to work for, and bring up placement stats that the school has for that firm? Do law schools even want you to act as if you know what you're going to do that far in the future?
I'm using this essay as a "Why X" essay, but I'm trying to strike a balance between being too specific and being too general, and looking too short-term and too long-term.
Thanks!
Five-year plan essay Forum
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nygrl
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:43 pm
Re: Five-year plan essay
I struggled with a similar issue when writing my "Why X" essay.
I asked a pre-law advisor about this and he basically told me that the best schools know they're the best and that it's not necessary to tell them this. They know they recruit from the top firms and have strong placement statistics, so you can mention that as general a reason for why you want to go there, but listing out specific firms and employment statistics wouldn't add much value.
In my "Why X" essays I'm starting with a general overview of what area of the law I want to practice and why. This is how I'm getting across to schools that I have chosen the law as a profession after careful research and have specific career objectives in mind. I'm then discussing programs and aspects specific to that school that will allow me to achieve these goals. That is where I am showing these schools that I have done reserach on their institutions.
I'm applying for schools this cycle so I can't say for sure that this advice will work but it seems to make sense. If anyone who has been through the process can comment that would be fantastic - if I didn't receive sound advice on this I'd like to fix it prior to sending my apps out.
I asked a pre-law advisor about this and he basically told me that the best schools know they're the best and that it's not necessary to tell them this. They know they recruit from the top firms and have strong placement statistics, so you can mention that as general a reason for why you want to go there, but listing out specific firms and employment statistics wouldn't add much value.
In my "Why X" essays I'm starting with a general overview of what area of the law I want to practice and why. This is how I'm getting across to schools that I have chosen the law as a profession after careful research and have specific career objectives in mind. I'm then discussing programs and aspects specific to that school that will allow me to achieve these goals. That is where I am showing these schools that I have done reserach on their institutions.
I'm applying for schools this cycle so I can't say for sure that this advice will work but it seems to make sense. If anyone who has been through the process can comment that would be fantastic - if I didn't receive sound advice on this I'd like to fix it prior to sending my apps out.
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luxxe
- Posts: 830
- Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:12 am
Re: Five-year plan essay
I am also applying this year, but mentioning specific firms seems really useless to me. Without law school grades, you have no idea what firms you are going to be able to work in and schools know that. They know their employment statistics. What they don't know is why their law school is the best fit for you - which, as was said earlier, is demonstrated by classes/clinics/etc that are relevant to the area you want to ultimately practice in, not that law school x placed 15 people into firm y and you want to work in firm y.
