Academic Honors and Awards? Forum

[secadc11]

In filling out a law school application (via LSAC) what types of honors/recognitions are they looking for when they state something along the lines of "List the academic honors and awards, or other recognitions you have received" and have a limited amount of space in which to write anything?

Are we talking only high status stuff like a Fulbright or could I put something like "Elected Student Senator by my peers" etc?

[hillz]

Nope, definitely not just Fulbright-type stuff. Put any honor societies that you were in, deans lists, scholarships you received for academic work, etc. And I think I would probably put senator under your activities, along with your duties and hours spent per week.

[PowerHungry]

I'm sure this has been asked 1000x.

But

If you've been out of school a while (5+ years), should you be listing all of your former college activities even though that was a while ago and you have much more employment information to enter instead? Like, I worked for the college newspaper, but that was almost a decade ago.

[secadc11]

^^ I second this. I haven't been out quite as long (4 years) but am wondering about the relevancy.

And thanks to hillz for the first reply.

[appind]

Does the full tuition waiver and research assistantship for a professor during graduate school count as academic honor? Thanks

[hillz]

I'm sure this has been asked 1000x.

But

If you've been out of school a while (5+ years), should you be listing all of your former college activities even though that was a while ago and you have much more employment information to enter instead? Like, I worked for the college newspaper, but that was almost a decade ago.

Depends on the school. Most of the apps that I've looked at so far have specifically asked for college activities to be listed because they want to see what kind of student you are and if you actively participated in the campus community. You should definitely list your more recent employment info. You may have to cut out some info if the school requires your resume to be one page, but otherwise, I'd list whatever you think is important, even if it spills over onto a second page. There's some disagreement among TLSers about whether resumes should be one page or two, but I think what most law schools are asking for is more akin to a CV than the normally succinct resume.

[appind]

I'm sure this has been asked 1000x.

But

If you've been out of school a while (5+ years), should you be listing all of your former college activities even though that was a while ago and you have much more employment information to enter instead? Like, I worked for the college newspaper, but that was almost a decade ago.

You should not cut down on important activities even if they're from a while ago. College newspaper is worth listing.

You may also have more leeway in the length. Your resume can be 2 pages if you need space to cover information.

[el madrileno]

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