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My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:33 pm
by msg0122
Forum,
I am currently a senior economics student at a top 20 US college with a 3.78 GPA. Recently, I was accepted to medical school after being pre-med my first three years. I am unsure if this is something that would be a good thing to mention to law schools or not when I apply? On the one hand, it shows a different background, but on the other, they may question how committed I could be to law. I do not plan to apply for another year or two. My options now are to work in finance in NYC or to get a masters and work for the Big 4. Thoughts?
Ryan
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:34 pm
by dr123
um why would they care if you got accepted to med school?
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:35 pm
by msg0122
dr123 wrote:um why would they care if you got accepted to med school?
Would my pre-med/acceptance background help me in any way for top law schools?
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:36 pm
by dr123
msg0122 wrote:dr123 wrote:um why would they care if you got accepted to med school?
Would my pre-med/acceptance background help me in any way for top law schools?
no
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:36 pm
by 062914123
.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:40 pm
by msg0122
But it would not hurt met?
I am trying to think of a way I could spin my story for it to help me in some way.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:42 pm
by howlery
msg0122 wrote:But it would not hurt met?
I am trying to think of a way I could spin my story for it to help me in some way.
If you have to think of a way to "spin" your story, it probably isn't worth spinning. There are people with legitimately interesting stories/experiences you'll be competing with.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:47 pm
by 062914123
.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:50 pm
by A. Nony Mouse
It won't help or hurt you. You could maybe spin it into some kind of interest in health law - you thought you wanted to work in medicine as a doctor, but for [whatever reason] realized you'd be able to best pursue that interest through law school. However, if you're going to work in finance/work for the Big 4 I don't think this would be very convincing. But it really doesn't matter. Lots of people change their minds about what they want to do and have all sorts of things in their backgrounds. Law schools generally don't care about anything besides numbers, and when you do come to apply to law school, you can figure out then what would be the best story to tell about yourself in your PS/resume.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:55 pm
by Balthy
howlery wrote:msg0122 wrote:But it would not hurt met?
I am trying to think of a way I could spin my story for it to help me in some way.
If you have to think of a way to "spin" your story, it probably isn't worth spinning. There are people with legitimately interesting stories/experiences you'll be competing with.
More the reason to spin a story.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 12:20 am
by chillipepper
Maybe consider a joint JD/MD program? Healthcare (executives) is where the money is at!
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 6:07 am
by sinfiery
superdingle2000 wrote:
More the reason to spin a story.
lol exactly
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 6:22 am
by jvincent11
Just brainstorming here...
You wanted to be an MD because you wanted to do something that involved helping people, but you realized early in your senior year that, while you thought the study of (whatever your major was) was interesting and thought you could use a medical degree to help and heal people, you realized what you really want to do is prevent disease, suffering, exploitation from happening in the first place. Then start talking about some legal/political issues in modern medicine or healthcare (I'm sure there are a million) that you believe as a lawyer you can help improve. Maybe you want to make expensive medication more fairly priced so low-income families can afford it.
Anyway, there are so many positive stories you can create that relate to your medicine background. Good luck!
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 7:26 am
by ManOfTheMinute
jvincent11 wrote:Just brainstorming here...
You wanted to be an MD because you wanted to do something that involved helping people, but you realized early in your senior year that, while you thought the study of (whatever your major was) was interesting and thought you could use a medical degree to help and heal people, you realized what you really want to do is prevent disease, suffering, exploitation from happening in the first place. Then start talking about some legal/political issues in modern medicine or healthcare (I'm sure there are a million) that you believe as a lawyer you can help improve. Maybe you want to make expensive medication more fairly priced so low-income families can afford it.
Anyway, there are so many positive stories you can create that relate to your medicine background. Good luck!
All of which will be as incredibly original as this one
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 7:39 am
by BlueDiamond
when will people finally realize that their "story" doesn't matter in law school admissions?
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 7:53 am
by StarJammer
BlueDiamond wrote:when will people finally realize that their "story" doesn't matter in law school admissions?
Be that as it may, one still has to try to make it look like effort was put into writing the personal statement.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 10:43 am
by mephistopheles
just do med school, bro.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 10:46 am
by Danteshek
mephistopheles wrote:just do med school, bro.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 10:46 am
by TheThriller
Danteshek wrote:mephistopheles wrote:just do med school, bro.
mephistopheles wrote:just do med school, bro.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 11:57 am
by TheBiggerMediocre
If you got accepted to med school go to med school, actually if possible do this. Defer med school 1 year and work at the big 4, then go to med school 8 years then work one year as a doctor then go to law school, then work 1 year as a lawyer then decide what you want to do with your life.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 12:00 pm
by fruitoftheloom
TheBiggerMediocre wrote:If you got accepted to med school go to med school, actually if possible do this. Defer med school 1 year and work at the big 4, then go to med school 8 years then work one year as a doctor then go to law school, then work 1 year as a lawyer then decide what you want to do with your life.
Brilliant!! Hope you enjoy life as an indentured servant.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 12:19 pm
by Elston Gunn
msg0122
masg0122@top-law-schools.com
EDUCATION
TOP 20 US COLLEGE
Award and Achievements
--Accepted to numerous other prestigious institutions, includingTop 10 U.S. Research University and Top 40 U.S. College, but chose not to attend.
--3.78 GPA
--Selected for admission to Pre-Law society, but chose not to participate
--Scored 173 on a practice LSAT
MEDICAL SCHOOL
--Accepted to Medical School, but chose not to attend.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 12:59 pm
by mephistopheles
solid post.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 1:16 pm
by WahooLaw24
Elston Gunn wrote:msg0122
masg0122@top-law-schools.com
EDUCATION
TOP 20 US COLLEGE
Award and Achievements
--Accepted to numerous other prestigious institutions, includingTop 10 U.S. Research University and Top 40 U.S. College, but chose not to attend.
--3.78 GPA
--Selected for admission to Pre-Law society, but chose not to participate
--Scored 173 on a practice LSAT
MEDICAL SCHOOL
--Accepted to Medical School, but chose not to attend.
Lol pretty much this. OP, I would not spend time on my resume talking about things I'm choosing not to do with my life.
I do, however, think it could make for an interesting personal statement topic, depending on your goals. Demonstrating that you've been successful in another area, have thought through your (good) options, and have for (reasons) decided that law is best for you would be a fine PS.
Re: My Profile a good or bad thing for law school admissions?
Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 11:11 am
by PRgradBYU
bee wrote:msg0122 wrote:But it would not hurt met?
I am trying to think of a way I could spin my story for it to help me in some way.
It would only hurt you if it contributed to you not getting a 4.0 or 3.9. TBH, there really isn't much of a story to spin. It's not uncommon at all.
What's your LSAT?