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I am out of undergrad - graduated June, 09. I have till October to develop/acquire better "softs." If you could add more experience/activities (volunter, work, etc.) to strengthen your application, what would you do? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you.

legal internships, volunteer work (preferrably targeted at the law specialization you see yourself going for in the future).

Something that in some way fits with what you've done in the past or what you wan to do in the future. Randomly spending a year working in an animal shelter is pretty meaningless. If you have long had a demonstrated commitment to animals and want to go into animal rights law, then founding a club at your school to do puppy breeding for seeing-eye dogs could be very interesting.

Save someone's life
Overcome cancer
Invent something useful
Start a non-profit
Become a Rhodes Scholar

hth

kittenmittons wrote:Save someone's life
Overcome cancer
Invent something useful
Start a non-profit
Become a Rhodes Scholar

hth

How much do you think founding a non-profit really matters?

nM

Become a circus clowns. People fear angering the clowns. Autoadmit!

Buy a library at whichever law school you want to go to.

.

In terms of both admissions, and then getting a job for your 1L summer, one of the best things you can do is try to intern/work at a law firm. A lot of people do it, so it is not an extraordinary soft. However, in your personal statement, you can say, "I have worked at a law firm, and having seen the work that goes on there, I know for certain that I want to pursue a law degree." Then you can go into a brief discussion of the things that stood out to you, things you liked, things you didn't like, and what you hope to get out of being an attorney. Being able to go in this direction stands opposite to people who have not done this, or who effectively say things like, "One of my parents is an attorney, so I want to be one."

When it comes to getting a job 1L summer, having had some work experience at a firm shows prospective employers that you have worked in a similar atmosphere before, and that you have an idea of what goes on there; you are not a total n00b. Even better, if you do well, your former boss may be willing to be a reference for you. I would imagine that getting a reference from a practicing attorney is the best kind. This is because an attorney who has seen you on the job is going to know what attorneys are looking for, and can speak to those things directly from experience with you. This is in opposition to having a law professor (who is an attorney) extrapolating your classroom performance onto their recollection of what attorneys are looking for.

Oh, and if you can get a paying position, you can save some scrilla.

Hope this helps and/or is food for thought.

Become as fluent in a foreign language as you possibly can, specifically Spanish.

Honestly, there's not many softs that are going to help much, but foreign languages actual have practical value.

Go work for an urban debate league somewhere.

+1 for the advice of get cancer and then beat it

awesomepossum wrote:Become a circus clowns. People fear angering the clowns. Autoadmit!

+1

Consider tattooing on make-up to ensure the fear factor

the best http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16QSYESBuRU&NR=1

drew wrote:the best http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16QSYESBuRU&NR=1

wouldn't that be a "hard" factor?





wamp wamp waaaaaaaaaaamp

kittenmittons wrote:Save someone's life
Overcome cancer
Invent something useful
Start a non-profit
Become a Rhodes Scholar

hth

You forgot about founding a city.

Mr. Pablo wrote:

kittenmittons wrote:Save someone's life
Overcome cancer
Invent something useful
Start a non-profit
Become a Rhodes Scholar

hth

You forgot about founding a city.

God damn you for beating me to that.
You could also become a Marshall Scholar. Beyond that, become a URM, or enlist in the military, get through training, go to war, and sustain some sort of wound that will allow you a medical discharge. That might do it for some T2s.

TipTravHoot wrote:

Mr. Pablo wrote:

kittenmittons wrote:Save someone's life
Overcome cancer
Invent something useful
Start a non-profit
Become a Rhodes Scholar

hth

You forgot about founding a city.

God damn you for beating me to that.
You could also become a Marshall Scholar. Beyond that, become a URM, or enlist in the military, get through training, go to war, and sustain some sort of wound that will allow you a medical discharge. That might do it for some T2s.

How would you go about "becoming" a URM?? would it be possible to do in 9 months??

I also nominate achieving an Olympic gold medal.. I think any sport would be okay.

Don't worry about your resume. What everyone else has been saying is likely correct, they aren't going to sway the admissions committee that much. So instead do things that you wanted to in college or won't be able to in law school. You could teach abroad, do Americorps/SCA... or just get a job at Starbucks (or whatever) save up a little cash and have a good time. You could volunteer on the side if you wanted to give your resume a boost. If you can find a job ITE that you enjoy, all the better.

Example: I graduated in May and worked with natural resource management for the National Park Service. I don't want to be a park ranger, ever. But I really like being outside, to an extent enjoy the work, and know that I will not be able to be as active once I am a student again.

Enjoy yourself. You likely won't have a time in your life like this again until you retire!

jelizabeth88 wrote:Don't worry about your resume. What everyone else has been saying is likely correct, they aren't going to sway the admissions committee that much. So instead do things that you wanted to in college or won't be able to in law school. You could teach abroad, do Americorps/SCA... or just get a job at Starbucks (or whatever) save up a little cash and have a good time. You could volunteer on the side if you wanted to give your resume a boost. If you can find a job ITE that you enjoy, all the better.

Example: I graduated in May and worked with natural resource management for the National Park Service. I don't want to be a park ranger, ever. But I really like being outside, to an extent enjoy the work, and know that I will not be able to be as active once I am a student again.

Enjoy yourself. You likely won't have a time in your life like this again until you retire!

Bad advice. I know at least one 0L who is orchestrating a coup in a small Eastern-European country. That is your competition.