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I have a "messy" resume.

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:06 am
by roranoa
Any advice would be great.

Re: I have a shady resume. How screwed am I?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:08 am
by guano
That's not shady

Re: I have a shady resume. How screwed am I?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:15 am
by roranoa
guano wrote:That's not shady
Won't it seem like I don't have a sense of direction with my life?

Re: I have a shady resume. How screwed am I?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:16 am
by zozin
roranoa wrote:
guano wrote:That's not shady
Won't it seem like I don't have a sense of direction with my life?
Isn't that assumed by just applying to law school?

Re: I have a shady resume. How screwed am I?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:21 am
by UMich11
roranoa wrote:
guano wrote:That's not shady
Won't it seem like I don't have a sense of direction with my life?

welcome to life.

Re: I have a shady resume. How screwed am I?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:22 am
by cinephile
zozin wrote:
roranoa wrote:
guano wrote:That's not shady
Won't it seem like I don't have a sense of direction with my life?
Isn't that assumed by just applying to law school?
:lol:


Also, seriously OP. I thought you were a drug dealer or a prostitute or something with the way you were talking about your shady resume. And then I thought, why would you put sex work on your resume? Law schools don't care so long as you weren't doing anything illegal during that time that'll keep you from passing the bar.

Re: I have a shady resume. How screwed am I?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:26 am
by rinkrat19
"shady" is working in "collections" for a waste management company in New Jersey, not being a bit immature and unfocused. Your resume isn't going to help you the way that a decade-long professional career with published works will (and even that only helps so much), but it's not going to kill you, especially at places where your numbers are competitive.

Re: I have a shady resume. How screwed am I?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:30 am
by hephaestus
cinephile wrote: Also, seriously OP. I thought you were a drug dealer or a prostitute or something with the way you were talking about your shady resume. And then I thought, why would you put sex work on your resume? Law schools don't care so long as you weren't doing anything illegal during that time that'll keep you from passing the bar.
Yeah I was expecting OP to say he has a lot of "sales" experience but its in drug dealing or something. This is not shady.

Re: I have a shady resume. How screwed am I?

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:45 am
by roranoa
ImNoScar wrote:
cinephile wrote: Also, seriously OP. I thought you were a drug dealer or a prostitute or something with the way you were talking about your shady resume. And then I thought, why would you put sex work on your resume? Law schools don't care so long as you weren't doing anything illegal during that time that'll keep you from passing the bar.
Yeah I was expecting OP to say he has a lot of "sales" experience but its in drug dealing or something. This is not shady.
I guess I miss used the word.

Sorry.

But still, what do you guys think about my situation?

Should I write an addendum about it or something?

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:47 am
by guano
No one cares

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:52 pm
by North
guano wrote:No one cares
This.

Make sure you go to LS on a full ride somewhere, though. Doesn't seem like your jobs/pursuits have long shelf lives. You don't want to go $250k in debt only to find out you like being a lawyer less than you did working retail.

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:32 pm
by NYC2012
.

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:43 pm
by roranoa
guano wrote:No one cares

I really appreciate the input but is there a basis for this?

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:48 pm
by guano
roranoa wrote:
guano wrote:No one cares

I really appreciate the input but is there a basis for this?
90% your application is LSAT, GPA, URM
The remaining 10% is army, or other spectacular extra.

If you're a borderline candidate, it'll make a difference, but, you can make sure you're not a borderline candidate by retaking your LSAT

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:04 pm
by roranoa
North wrote:
guano wrote:No one cares
This.

Make sure you go to LS on a full ride somewhere, though. Doesn't seem like your jobs/pursuits have long shelf lives. You don't want to go $250k in debt only to find out you like being a lawyer less than you did working retail.
This is exactly what I'm afraid the admission committee might think. (Which would hurt my chances severely) How do you think I should address this?

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:18 pm
by guano
roranoa wrote:
North wrote:
guano wrote:No one cares
This.

Make sure you go to LS on a full ride somewhere, though. Doesn't seem like your jobs/pursuits have long shelf lives. You don't want to go $250k in debt only to find out you like being a lawyer less than you did working retail.
This is exactly what I'm afraid the admission committee might think. (Which would hurt my chances severely) How do you think I should address this?
The adcomms won't care.
It'll matter more come OCI, but that's a different story

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:27 pm
by North
roranoa wrote:This is exactly what I'm afraid the admission committee might think. (Which would hurt my chances severely) How do you think I should address this?
That's just it, though. It won't hurt your chances severely. Retake the LSAT until you have a 170+, that's pretty much all that matters. See Guano.

Scooped.

ETA: lol, always shitty to out

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:29 pm
by jbagelboy
Having gaps in your resume is a minor negative soft. It wont damage you if your LSAT is where it needs to be. Explain what you were doing during that period artfully in your PS.. Dont just let it sit there, but dont worry too much.

Resume gaps might hurt more at OCI; someone can speak to that

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:03 pm
by roranoa
North wrote:
roranoa wrote:This is exactly what I'm afraid the admission committee might think. (Which would hurt my chances severely) How do you think I should address this?
That's just it, though. It won't hurt your chances severely. Retake the LSAT until you have a 170+, that's pretty much all that matters. See Dingbat.

Scooped.
What do you mean see dingbat? Search dingbat?

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:05 pm
by roranoa
jbagelboy wrote:Having gaps in your resume is a minor negative soft. It wont damage you if your LSAT is where it needs to be. Explain what you were doing during that period artfully in your PS.. Dont just let it sit there, but dont worry too much.

Resume gaps might hurt more at OCI; someone can speak to that
That's just great.

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:11 pm
by North
roranoa wrote:
North wrote:
roranoa wrote:This is exactly what I'm afraid the admission committee might think. (Which would hurt my chances severely) How do you think I should address this?
That's just it, though. It won't hurt your chances severely. Retake the LSAT until you have a 170+, that's pretty much all that matters. See Dingbat.

Scooped.
What do you mean see dingbat? Search dingbat?
:lol: :lol: :lol:

I meant guano. My bad.

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:16 pm
by cinephile
Trust me, they will not care a single bit. They just want to enroll you. As long as you have the numbers that will help them maintain or improve their rank, schools will accept you.

Whomever mentioned that this might be a problem at OCI may have a point. But on the other hand, there are plenty of well-off students who've taken a gap year to travel and they had zero problems with employers. Just put something on your resume for that time period saying something like gap year - hiked my way through Appalachia while exploring my ancestry and connecting with local communities etc. Or whatever you did besides grad school. The grad program you dropped out of should definitely stay off the OCI resume. The sales job sounds just fine and in this economy, it's not that weird to have only stayed 6 months.

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:33 pm
by roranoa
North wrote:
roranoa wrote:
North wrote:
roranoa wrote:This is exactly what I'm afraid the admission committee might think. (Which would hurt my chances severely) How do you think I should address this?
That's just it, though. It won't hurt your chances severely. Retake the LSAT until you have a 170+, that's pretty much all that matters. See Dingbat.

Scooped.
What do you mean see dingbat? Search dingbat?
:lol: :lol: :lol:

I meant guano. My bad.
Right. Got it.

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:50 pm
by roranoa
cinephile wrote:Trust me, they will not care a single bit. They just want to enroll you. As long as you have the numbers that will help them maintain or improve their rank, schools will accept you.
This is very encouraging and I wish this were true but then why do you think some schools reject applicants with the right numbers.(I'm speaking only of the T14 in this context)

Re: I have a "messy" resume. How screwed am I? (edited title)

Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:51 pm
by banjo
I think "messy" resumes underperform a little, and dropping out of graduate school will hurt at the topmost schools.