Let's talk softs. Forum

[clay7676]

I am now, with a moderate level of confidence, able to maintain the grades I need, and as to my LSAT score, well...we'll see..BUT
I feel I am able to kind of 'squish' the importance of these down (of course they're already ingrained as important, but they're understood in my mind as to the how and what to do), I have found myself overly concerned with soft factors. I have tried to get involved in things that I enjoy and have committed a great deal of volunteer work, etc. Not really gonna divulge much as to what I'm doing, but I have a 'decent' amount of soft factors moving forward. I'm wondering, though, are T-7 schools looking for class presidents, school leaders, and just a general stellar profile of extracurricular, or does maintaining a couple relatively unimportant EC's suffice? Opinions? I try to jump at every volunteer, officer position, etc. ever offered to me by anyone, and I just need some advice cause I worry. Thanks!

[TheThriller]

I am now, with a moderate level of confidence, able to maintain the grades I need, and as to my LSAT score, well...we'll see..BUT
I feel I am able to kind of 'squish' the importance of these down (of course they're already ingrained as important, but they're understood in my mind as to the how and what to do), I have found myself overly concerned with soft factors. I have tried to get involved in things that I enjoy and have committed a great deal of volunteer work, etc. Not really gonna divulge much as to what I'm doing, but I have a 'decent' amount of soft factors moving forward. I'm wondering, though, are T-7 schools looking for class presidents, school leaders, and just a general stellar profile of extracurricular, or does maintaining a couple relatively unimportant EC's suffice? Opinions? I try to jump at every volunteer, officer position, etc. ever offered to me by anyone, and I just need some advice cause I worry. Thanks!

The softs you listed will not compensate for an LSAT or GPA that wouldn't have already gotten you into a T-7, or any school you're targeting for that matter.

[Void]

I am now, with a moderate level of confidence, able to maintain the grades I need, and as to my LSAT score, well...we'll see..BUT
I feel I am able to kind of 'squish' the importance of these down (of course they're already ingrained as important, but they're understood in my mind as to the how and what to do), I have found myself overly concerned with soft factors. I have tried to get involved in things that I enjoy and have committed a great deal of volunteer work, etc. Not really gonna divulge much as to what I'm doing, but I have a 'decent' amount of soft factors moving forward. I'm wondering, though, are T-7 schools looking for class presidents, school leaders, and just a general stellar profile of extracurricular, or does maintaining a couple relatively unimportant EC's suffice? Opinions? I try to jump at every volunteer, officer position, etc. ever offered to me by anyone, and I just need some advice cause I worry. Thanks!

Is there a question here?

Softs don't matter unless they are actually impressive. Simple resume booster stuff like clubs and whatnot is meaningless. You get good softs by actually doing things that substantially matter; not by trying to accumulate softs.

That said, even super softs are almost always not as important as GPA & LSAT.

[hephaestus]

I am now, with a moderate level of confidence, able to maintain the grades I need, and as to my LSAT score, well...we'll see..BUT
I feel I am able to kind of 'squish' the importance of these down (of course they're already ingrained as important, but they're understood in my mind as to the how and what to do), I have found myself overly concerned with soft factors. I have tried to get involved in things that I enjoy and have committed a great deal of volunteer work, etc. Not really gonna divulge much as to what I'm doing, but I have a 'decent' amount of soft factors moving forward. I'm wondering, though, are T-7 schools looking for class presidents, school leaders, and just a general stellar profile of extracurricular, or does maintaining a couple relatively unimportant EC's suffice? Opinions? I try to jump at every volunteer, officer position, etc. ever offered to me by anyone, and I just need some advice cause I worry. Thanks!

The softs you listed will not compensate for an LSAT or GPA that wouldn't have already gotten you into a T-7, or any school you're targeting for that matter.

This. Your softs are unspectacular. They won't hurt or help you.

[Ti Malice]

Your softs are average, which means they're perfectly fine for almost all schools. That's the same stuff that most T14 K-JDs have as their softs.

[rinkrat19]

What everyone else has said, with the added comment that having absolutely NO softs whatsoever might hurt you, because it makes you look weird. But as long as you have a few things to list, it doesn't matter what they are. (Unless you cure cancer/win Olympic gold/write a bestseller/etc.)

[BruinRegents]

What everyone else has said, with the added comment that having absolutely NO softs whatsoever might hurt you, because it makes you look weird. But as long as you have a few things to list, it doesn't matter what they are. (Unless you cure cancer/win Olympic gold/write a bestseller/etc.)

Or win a Purple Heart.

[TheSpanishMain]

You don't really "win" a Purple Heart

[clay7676]

Thanks so much guys, I'm actually glad to hear that.. My only concern of the responses is that in the way you're describing things, it wouldn't make much of a difference if someone worked on and off at a fast food restaurant compared to someone who tutors student athletes, is a big buddy mentor, involved in student government, president of an honors society, and chair of a volunteer committee, just for example. I find that hard to believe.

[rinkrat19]

Thanks so much guys, I'm actually glad to hear that.. My only concern of the responses is that in the way you're describing things, it wouldn't make much of a difference if someone worked on and off at a fast food restaurant compared to someone who tutors student athletes, is a big buddy mentor, involved in student government, president of an honors society, and chair of a volunteer committee, just for example. I find that hard to believe.

Law schools can't report that stuff to USNWR to improve their ranking calculation. If the fast food worker has a higher GPA and LSAT, he's going to kill the do-gooder in admissions. Insignificant activities like "involved in student government" is, at the VERY MOST, a tiebreaker between otherwise identical candidates. It ranks just slightly higher than "favorite color" for admissions purposes.

[052220151]

Thanks so much guys, I'm actually glad to hear that.. My only concern of the responses is that in the way you're describing things, it wouldn't make much of a difference if someone worked on and off at a fast food restaurant compared to someone who tutors student athletes, is a big buddy mentor, involved in student government, president of an honors society, and chair of a volunteer committee, just for example. I find that hard to believe.

If person two in your hypo had no WE, I would view person one as the superior applicant, all else being equal.

The reason softs are marginally considered is so that they can put bylines on their fact sheets. For example:

DD's School of Law Class of 2069 Entering Class Profile:

175 Median LSAT
3.69 Median GPA
69% Women
31% Bros
40% URMs

Fun Facts:

69% of the students speak a different language
85% have more than one year WE
10% served in the military
1 student won a Nobel prize
4 students cured feline aids
69 students won Purple Hearts
12 students are Olympic gold medalist synchronized swimmers

[esse est percipi]

I tend to believe that people applying to the very top law schools have a baseline level of competitive softs. Reach that baseline level, and law school admissions is a numbers game. Don't reach it, and you might get dinged even with fantastic numbers. I have no idea what that baseline is, so better safe than sorry if you're anything like me. Basically just look at what people at your school with equivalent GPA's are doing and replicate it. Or, you know, do what you're passionate about.

[nothingtosee]

Thanks so much guys, I'm actually glad to hear that.. My only concern of the responses is that in the way you're describing things, it wouldn't make much of a difference if someone worked on and off at a fast food restaurant compared to someone who tutors student athletes, is a big buddy mentor, involved in student government, president of an honors society, and chair of a volunteer committee, just for example. I find that hard to believe.

Sounds to me like person one is paying for their own education and person two's daddy paid that shit in cash. Not saying that's the case. But I don't think any of the things you listed are as impressive as a person who works all through college (cuz they have to, not cuz they want to) and pulls the same gpa.

[TheSpanishMain]

Thanks so much guys, I'm actually glad to hear that.. My only concern of the responses is that in the way you're describing things, it wouldn't make much of a difference if someone worked on and off at a fast food restaurant compared to someone who tutors student athletes, is a big buddy mentor, involved in student government, president of an honors society, and chair of a volunteer committee, just for example. I find that hard to believe.

Law schools can't report that stuff to USNWR to improve their ranking calculation. If the fast food worker has a higher GPA and LSAT, he's going to kill the do-gooder in admissions. Insignificant activities like "involved in student government" is, at the VERY MOST, a tiebreaker between otherwise identical candidates. It ranks just slightly higher than "favorite color" for admissions purposes.

Keep in mind, too, that the majority of applicants, at least at decent schools, probably have above average softs compared to the general population. If you have "average" softs like volunteer work on campus, leadership in a club, and speaking passable Spanish, they'll probably neither help nor hurt because they're pretty common among the applicant population. A complete absence of any kind of soft might hurt you, though.

[20141023]

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[Dr. Dre]

rinkrat: assistant director of admission at northwesTTTern law school (2018)

[rinkrat19]

rinkrat: assistant director of admission at northwesTTTern law school (2018)

Solid contribution to an ontopic.

[bp shinners]

I tend to believe that people applying to the very top law schools have a baseline level of competitive softs. Reach that baseline level, and law school admissions is a numbers game. Don't reach it, and you might get dinged even with fantastic numbers. I have no idea what that baseline is, so better safe than sorry if you're anything like me. Basically just look at what people at your school with equivalent GPA's are doing and replicate it. Or, you know, do what you're passionate about.

This is closer to the truth than "softs don't matter". Almost everyone applying has a similar resume, so they're generally a wash.

[MistakenGenius]

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