Early 30s and applying - how much does work matter? Forum

[Kangaroo]

Let's say I have mid-range GPA and I manage to get decent LSAT scores. (I honestly don't know what my GPA was in school. It's been too long. But, I went to a top 25 school--at least it was when I was there.) Will work history be a significant factor for me? I worked for two United States senators over the course of the last eight years. Both of them will write recommendation letters for me too. I keep reading that law schools don't care about your work history but so much of that advice is geared to undergrads and they naturally wouldn't care much about that work history. For someone like me, however, I'm ten years out of school and my work experience is directly applicable to law school. Anyone have any idea how, generally speaking, admissions views either legal/government work and/or just ten years of work experience in general?

Thanks in advance.

[Hopefully2012]

Depends on your GPA/LSAT

Mid 3.Xs & ~170, your work experience will likely bump you into Northwestern.

High 3.Xs & High 170s, your work experience will give you a shot at Stanford/Yale when other people without WE will be looking at Harvard only.

For other schools/stats, it matters very little.

[Emma.]

I think you may get a slight advantage over other people with the same GPA, but nothing huge. Law school is very numbers driven. Figure out your stats and check out http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com. I'd expect with awesome recommendations and hopefully a good story to tell you'll be able to put together really strong applications, but ultimately don't expect to vastly outperform your numbers.

[ahduth]

Not much. LSAT and GPA. Welcome to law school.

[Kangaroo]

Thanks, guys. That's basically what I was hoping: that it would count for something at least.

One more question, I just looked up my undergrad school and it's top 5 public, top 30 overall. My friend who went to a top 20 law school swears that the very fact I graduated from this school will give me a bonus, but everything I read suggests that it's much more important to get good numbers. Anyone know whether just the name on your Bachelor's means anything (assuming you didn't graduate with something under a 3)? Does it possibly give you a slight boost like WE? I guess it's possible for any of these things to give you slight boosts, but I'm just trying to get your opinion since you guys are way more knowledgeable about this process than I am. I'm very new to this process and have basically only focused on studying for the LSAT.

Thanks.

[sparty99]

Your undergrad will mean little. If you performed well at a school that is known to be tough, it will help, but the focus should be GPA and LSAT. The LSAT is the biggest factor. Additionally, your work history will provide a bump depending on how well you make that component stand out in your application. I know from experience.

[Yeshia90]

Thanks, guys. That's basically what I was hoping: that it would count for something at least.

One more question, I just looked up my undergrad school and it's top 5 public, top 30 overall. My friend who went to a top 20 law school swears that the very fact I graduated from this school will give me a bonus, but everything I read suggests that it's much more important to get good numbers. Anyone know whether just the name on your Bachelor's means anything (assuming you didn't graduate with something under a 3)? Does it possibly give you a slight boost like WE? I guess it's possible for any of these things to give you slight boosts, but I'm just trying to get your opinion since you guys are way more knowledgeable about this process than I am. I'm very new to this process and have basically only focused on studying for the LSAT.

Thanks.

How did you like UNC?