Helpfulness of demonstrated interest in PI? Forum

[whitespider]

Hey everyone!

Longtime lurker, first time poster.

I'm preparing to apply to a variety of law schools in the fall and I have a question. How helpful is a demonstrated interest in public service and public interest law, in regards to merit scholarship awards and negotiation?

The three Letters of Rec that I'm currently pursuing are...
(1) The local public defender that I've volunteered for and shadowed
(2) The director of a drug and alcohol detox center at which I worked
(3) The operator of a homeless shelter where I volunteer

I realize that LORs typically come from professors, but I'm years out of undergrad and my grad degree is in a vastly unrelated field.

I know LSAC GPA and LSAT are FAR more important factors, but is a public service focused personal statement plus public service LORs enough to make a difference in merit aid?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and apologies if I've posted this in the wrong forum.

[ikethegremlin]

Hey everyone!

Longtime lurker, first time poster.

I'm preparing to apply to a variety of law schools in the fall and I have a question. How helpful is a demonstrated interest in public service and public interest law, in regards to merit scholarship awards and negotiation?

The three Letters of Rec that I'm currently pursuing are...
(1) The local public defender that I've volunteered for and shadowed
(2) The director of a drug and alcohol detox center at which I worked
(3) The operator of a homeless shelter where I volunteer

I realize that LORs typically come from professors, but I'm years out of undergrad and my grad degree is in a vastly unrelated field.

I know LSAC GPA and LSAT are FAR more important factors, but is a public service focused personal statement plus public service LORs enough to make a difference in merit aid?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and apologies if I've posted this in the wrong forum.

They all sound great. I'm no expert, but as I understand it, schools put a huge premium on academic LORs and ones coming from other areas are just helpful bonuses. I think it doesn't matter that your grad degree is unrelated - if a school accepts, say, 3 LORs then 2 should probably academic, and then definitely add in the PD one because that's very relevant.

Just having (2) and (3) on your resume will make it clear enough where your interests lie, so make sure you get some academic ones!

[whitespider]

Oh, thats good to know! I hadn't been planning on using any academic LORs but it sounds like I might need to rethink that.

Does it matter that I'm 30ish and have been out of grad school for over 5 years also? It just feels kind of false having a professor write a Letter of Rec when I haven't spoken to him/her in over half a decade.

[Ti Malice]

I'm preparing to apply to a variety of law schools in the fall and I have a question. How helpful is a demonstrated interest in public service and public interest law, in regards to merit scholarship awards and negotiation?

It won't matter for anything related to admissions and scholarships except to whatever extent you can use your experience to craft a more compelling personal statement than you would be able to without it. Your background will at least help you seem more authentic and believable than the other 95% of applicants claiming to want to work in PI, which is good. (But be careful -- terribly boring, rote, unimaginative PI-related personal statements are quite common.) That said, most schools put little weight on the PS as a plus factor (a bad one can definitely hurt), with Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley being the biggest exceptions to that rule.

If your PI-related work experience is fairly substantial (i.e., more than volunteering, and preferably at least a couple of years' worth), your search for work as a PI lawyer -- assuming that's what you want -- is where it will have the strongest positive impact. On the other hand, if what you actually want to do once you're in law school is go for BigLaw, extensive PI-related work experience will be a net negative in the hiring process.

I hadn't been planning on using any academic LORs but it sounds like I might need to rethink that.

Does it matter that I'm 30ish and have been out of grad school for over 5 years also? It just feels kind of false having a professor write a Letter of Rec when I haven't spoken to him/her in over half a decade.

Definitely rethink it. To the extent schools care about LORs at all, they will want to hear from people who can credibly speak to your academic work and potential (professors). Submit your two strongest academic LORs and then pick one of the three you listed as an extra LOR if it genuinely and specifically illuminates some positive aspect of your character not evident in the rest of your application. If all three are just boring, generically positive LORs, then consider not submitting any of them.

Your age doesn't matter. Professors have to do this all the time; it's part of the job. However, it would be best if you could arrange an in-person meeting with each of your recommenders, assuming that you had an actual relationship with them in the past. If you live anywhere near them, stop by during their office hours, visit with them, update them on your life and plans, and ask if they would be willing to write you a strong LOR. It's less awkward than an email out of the blue, and they're more likely to follow through with your request in a timely manner if you've made face-to-face contact.