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Hi all, long time lurker first time poster. I graduated 2 years ago and have since not found any substantial jobs, I also went through some personal troubles but that is nothing I am willing to write about in my law school applications. In my personal statement I talk about my interest in law/what it stems from and touch upon what l want to use the law to do- BUT- I haven't done diddly squat. Will this be really detrimental to my chances? Is there any kind of strategy I can employ in my personal statement (maybe really focusing on one experience in my life that made me want to get involved in the legal field)?

Your chances at a particular school are going to overwhelmingly be determined by your undergraduate GPA and LSAT score. A well-crafted PS should address why you want to go into the legal profession and why the school should admit you, but as long as it's at least cogent and readable, it's not going to cause you to wildly over- or under-perform your numbers.

As ScottRiqui said, law schools are mostly concerned with your numbers. If you have a good UG GPA and secure a good LSAT score, your two years of diddly squat wont keep you from T14. However, not doing anything for two years will raise some questions for adcoms. If your UG credentials are strong, law schools will wonder why you didn't do anything for those two years. I would use the personal statement and/or an addendum to highlight a plausible reason for this. While you may not want to talk about some of your personal troubles, it is useful to know that these can set you apart in an application if used correctly.

Good luck with the process.

What the above said. Also, I noticed you said you've been lurking a bit - are you sure it's not the crazy TLS standards that are making you feel like you've done nothing worthwhile? Unless you were in some kind of catatonic state, I find it hard to believe you did nothing! Surely you spent your time some ways that you enjoyed.

Don't go to law school. The kind of person who can't find a real job after undergrad, will also fail to find a job post law school. Save yourself the debt, my friend.

Desert Fox wrote:Don't go to law school. The kind of person who can't find a real job after undergrad, will also fail to find a job post law school. Save yourself the debt, my friend.

This is such BS. Maybe he majored in something completely non-marketable and has a respectable GPA. Coupled with a good LSAT score he/she would be fine.

That said, it doesn't sound like law was plan A for you. In this case, law school may not be a good idea.

Desert Fox wrote:Don't go to law school. The kind of person who can't find a real job after undergrad, will also fail to find a job post law school. Save yourself the debt, my friend.

Sigh. Bootstrap alert!

I strongly disagree with this sentiment. It is very difficult for many people with liberal arts degrees (PoliSci, Philosophy, English, Art History, etc.) to find "real" career-track positions right after college in this economy, especially if they went to an unprestigious UG with no on-campus recruiting and dismal career services. Not everyone has the luxury of doing unpaid internships during college (which is one of the most common ways to get a "real" job right out of college). Are you really going to claim that the vast majority of recent law grads who now have FTLT legal jobs all had "real" jobs after undergrad? Sure, substantive work experience helps you at OCI, but it's not a requirement.

Newb2law wrote:Hi all, long time lurker first time poster. I graduated 2 years ago and have since not found any substantial jobs, I also went through some personal troubles but that is nothing I am willing to write about in my law school applications. In my personal statement I talk about my interest in law/what it stems from and touch upon what l want to use the law to do- BUT- I haven't done diddly squat. Will this be really detrimental to my chances? Is there any kind of strategy I can employ in my personal statement (maybe really focusing on one experience in my life that made me want to get involved in the legal field)?

OP, are you at least employed in non-substantive jobs? One thing that may hurt you-though it'll primarily matter at the top, especially HYS-is if you write your PS about, say, your burning desire to do environmental law, but you have absolutely zero experience on your resume to back that up. It need not be paid experience, but if you're going to claim that you want to go to law school to work in a specific field, hopefully you at least have volunteer or other experience in that field to support your claimed interest.

Bootstrap my ass. Losers stay losers. Unless he goes HYS, he'll be joining the veil thread.

Desert Fox wrote:Bootstrap my ass. Losers stay losers. Unless he goes HYS, he'll be joining the veil thread.

Since when did not being able to get a job right after college become tantamount to being a loser?

IgosduIkana wrote:That said, it doesn't sound like law was plan A for you. In this case, law school may is not be a good idea.

FTFY

inlovewithpiper wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:Bootstrap my ass. Losers stay losers. Unless he goes HYS, he'll be joining the veil thread.

Since when did not being able to get a job right after college become tantamount to being a loser?

Since when is 2 years "right after" college.

Desert Fox wrote:

inlovewithpiper wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:Bootstrap my ass. Losers stay losers. Unless he goes HYS, he'll be joining the veil thread.

Since when did not being able to get a job right after college become tantamount to being a loser?

Since when is 2 years "right after" college.

Maybe the OP used the two years for volunteer work or world traveling or caring for an ailing family member--there could be any number of things the OP did in those two years that precluding him from getting a substantive job, but that would also not fall under the "loser" category. It's not fair to make that kind of judgement without knowing all the facts.

Yea he started a thread about it holding him back but didn't mention the huge mitigating factors. Sure lets just assume that.

Thank you everyone for your insight. I can understand how from the outside looking in it may seem pretty lame and loser-ish that I didn't get substantial experience in these 2 years. I actually had some unfortuante personal issues to deal with. I did have a job, but nothing too impressive. Just to pay the bills. I suppose I could apply this cycle and if it doesn't work out I could get a job in the field and try again next cycle. Hopefully it won't hurt to then have to re-apply and answer 'yes' to the "have you applied to X law school in the past". I imagine that can't be good though.

I think it would be helpful to have at least one year of full-time work experience at the time you enter law school. I don't know how two years of sparse employment followed by more school would look to future employers...

Desert Fox wrote:Yea he started a thread about it holding him back but didn't mention the huge mitigating factors. Sure lets just assume that.

Lol.

"Guys, I am concerned my lack of work experience may harm me, even though I was deworming orphans and beat cancer."
Fucking TLS.