Splitter- softs for last year of college Forum
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Splitter- softs for last year of college
For a splitter applying to T14, with numbers JUST along the border of acceptance, what are some good softs that can give a better chance?
Lots of LSN applicants just state "good softs" so I have no idea what that means...
I have one year of college left and I want to make the most of it.
I was thinking about joining some clubs but they would be mediocre softs at best.
Would volunteering throughout the year be a pretty good soft?
I need some ideas. Thanks.
Lots of LSN applicants just state "good softs" so I have no idea what that means...
I have one year of college left and I want to make the most of it.
I was thinking about joining some clubs but they would be mediocre softs at best.
Would volunteering throughout the year be a pretty good soft?
I need some ideas. Thanks.
- Tiago Splitter
- Posts: 17148
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2011 1:20 am
Re: Splitter- softs for last year of college
As a bit of a splitter myself if I could go back to my senior year of college I'd focus on one thing: straight A+'s. You still have time to not be a splitter, or at least be less of one.
- descartesb4thehorse
- Posts: 1141
- Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:03 am
Re: Splitter- softs for last year of college
Haha TS
Basically good softs are not really acquirable your final year of college, or in an undergrad institution at all. Some people may disagree with me and say being a president of an organization is a good soft, I think it's meh. Unless you're doing something really impressive w/r/t research or changing an institution, it's not a very good soft. And that's something that you'd probably be passionate about/doing regardless of law school.
Good softs are debated endlessly, but IMO mean good work experience (working at a corporate level/in finance, or something like the Peace Corps, maybe Teach for America), military service, being a Rhodes scholar, maybe a relevant PhD if you wanted to go an academic route, etc. Having some idea of what you want to do with a law degree and then having the relevant experience to back it up (corporate work for biglaw, PI work for PI law, military service for JAG, or a PhD to pursue academia) is really what a good soft means, to me at least.
So TL;DR version: do what TS says. Just focus on getting an A (or A+ if your institution offers it) and cut out most extracurriculars (except for drinking obvs).

Basically good softs are not really acquirable your final year of college, or in an undergrad institution at all. Some people may disagree with me and say being a president of an organization is a good soft, I think it's meh. Unless you're doing something really impressive w/r/t research or changing an institution, it's not a very good soft. And that's something that you'd probably be passionate about/doing regardless of law school.
Good softs are debated endlessly, but IMO mean good work experience (working at a corporate level/in finance, or something like the Peace Corps, maybe Teach for America), military service, being a Rhodes scholar, maybe a relevant PhD if you wanted to go an academic route, etc. Having some idea of what you want to do with a law degree and then having the relevant experience to back it up (corporate work for biglaw, PI work for PI law, military service for JAG, or a PhD to pursue academia) is really what a good soft means, to me at least.
So TL;DR version: do what TS says. Just focus on getting an A (or A+ if your institution offers it) and cut out most extracurriculars (except for drinking obvs).
- Kabuo
- Posts: 1114
- Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:53 am
Re: Splitter- softs for last year of college
Do you already have an LSAT score? Like TS says, if I could re-do my last year, I would focus on nothing but grades. In fact, if I could re-do my last year, I'd change majors and make the last year take 2 years. I'd even pay full price for it.senorhosh wrote:For a splitter applying to T14, with numbers JUST along the border of acceptance, what are some good softs that can give a better chance?
Lots of LSN applicants just state "good softs" so I have no idea what that means...
I have one year of college left and I want to make the most of it.
I was thinking about joining some clubs but they would be mediocre softs at best.
Would volunteering throughout the year be a pretty good soft?
I need some ideas. Thanks.
- North
- Posts: 4230
- Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2011 7:09 pm
Re: Splitter- softs for last year of college
I'm doing this right now. Added another Bachelor's degree. Totally worth it: more time to study for the LSAT, +0.25 GPA, and another year of what everybody considers the best years of their lives. Winning, I think.Kabuo wrote:I'd change majors and make the last year take 2 years. I'd even pay full price for it.
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Re: Splitter- softs for last year of college
i think the best you can do is raise your gpa
- lzyovrachievr
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- Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2009 10:24 am
Re: Splitter- softs for last year of college
I agree that the best thing is to raise your GPA.
However, if you're looking for a PS subject or want to make yourself slightly more interesting for the extremely small percentage of cases in which that matters, volunteering outside of school would be my suggestion. Shows that you're connected to the world outside and that you've taken the initiative to try to affect something besides yourself. I did a few months of helping women to get temporary restraining orders against their abusers, which not only made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile and helped them, but I would think that for someone who didn't have other softs it could show a small degree of depth.
Is it enough to get you in anywhere? No. Could it make you mildly more interesting and grounded? Perhaps.
However, if you're looking for a PS subject or want to make yourself slightly more interesting for the extremely small percentage of cases in which that matters, volunteering outside of school would be my suggestion. Shows that you're connected to the world outside and that you've taken the initiative to try to affect something besides yourself. I did a few months of helping women to get temporary restraining orders against their abusers, which not only made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile and helped them, but I would think that for someone who didn't have other softs it could show a small degree of depth.
Is it enough to get you in anywhere? No. Could it make you mildly more interesting and grounded? Perhaps.