Advice regarding setting up for PI. Forum

[acr440]

Hello All

I am a recent graduate who has been a paralegal at a lit boutique for 2 months now. I would like to go to law school for public interest law, and I have been reading past posts on the best way to do this. According to what I have read on TLS the ideal position to be in for PI would be a scholarship at NYU or Columbia. However, there are some past posts that stress the importance of working in PI prior to law school in order to be competitive for PI scholarships. Since where I work now is corporate law should I leave to work for a non-profit or ACLU as a paralegal or administrative assistant?

As a side note, I wouldn't be applying until 2017 or 2018. I plan to work for a year then leave for a grad program in UK, and then either work a bit more or apply right away.

Any general advice as how to be a PI competitive applicant would be helpful.

[Mack.Hambleton]

Why are you doing an expensive masters or whatever in the UK

[cheesy143]

Do you have any internships with nonprofits or volunteer experiences from college or anything?

[acr440]

Why are you doing an expensive masters or whatever in the UK

It's not that expensive--much less of an expense than obtaining a masters in the US--but I am in the process of applying for scholarships and saving up to avoid debt. If anything its a self-indulgence. I wouldn't worry about this.

[acr440]

Do you have any internships with nonprofits or volunteer experiences from college or anything?

Only a summer internship at local public defender. Other positions were research assistant positions.

[swampman]

People I know who have gotten PI-specific scholarships have long, dedicated and impressive histories of public service. I would be surprised if a couple years as a paralegal for a non-profit would make you competitive. Studying hard for the LSAT and saving money from your corporate gig (for law school, rather than for a masters degree) sounds like the smartest course of action.

[acr440]

People I know who have gotten PI-specific scholarships have long, dedicated and impressive histories of public service. I would be surprised if a couple years as a paralegal for a non-profit would make you competitive. Studying hard for the LSAT and saving money from your corporate gig (for law school, rather than for a masters degree) sounds like the smartest course of action.

This is helpful thanks. After reviewing the RTK scholars page it does not appear unusual for some to have been out of undergrad for only 2-4 years doing incredible public interest work. Here is a link:http://www.law.nyu.edu/publicinterestla ... p/scholars

Although I enjoy the people I work with, I am not too interested in corporate law. I took the job because I needed the money since I was let go from an on-campus job earlier than I thought.

[swampman]

People I know who have gotten PI-specific scholarships have long, dedicated and impressive histories of public service. I would be surprised if a couple years as a paralegal for a non-profit would make you competitive. Studying hard for the LSAT and saving money from your corporate gig (for law school, rather than for a masters degree) sounds like the smartest course of action.

This is helpful thanks. After reviewing the RTK scholars page it does not appear unusual for some to have been out of undergrad for only 2-4 years doing incredible public interest work. Here is a link:http://www.law.nyu.edu/publicinterestla ... p/scholars

Although I enjoy the people I work with, I am not too interested in corporate law. I took the job because I needed the money since I was let go from an on-campus job earlier than I thought.

I just skimmed a few of those, but definitely looks like they all did exceptional public interest work. What you can't see from that is all the activities they did while in college to set them up for those impressive positions, and to create a strong narrative for their application. What you also can't see on there is all the people with outstanding experience who were rejected from these scholarships — I could name 30+ people at my school with equally impressive (or nearly so) pre-law school work.

If you want to do PI work now, good for you and great for the people you're helping. But if you're doing it to snag a PI scholarship, you should be ready for the fact that the odds will be against you.

[acr440]

I just skimmed a few of those, but definitely looks like they all did exceptional public interest work. What you can't see from that is all the activities they did while in college to set them up for those impressive positions, and to create a strong narrative for their application. What you also can't see on there is all the people with outstanding experience who were rejected from these scholarships — I could name 30+ people at my school with equally impressive (or nearly so) pre-law school work.

If you want to do PI work now, good for you and great for the people you're helping. But if you're doing it to snag a PI scholarship, you should be ready for the fact that the odds will be against you.

For many of them they state the work they did during college, if any. I'm not doing it just "to snag a PI scholarship," often times they are accompanied with great programs that help you obtain great PI work and guidance throughout law school. I agree that I also "cant see all the people with outstanding experience who were rejected," therefore, I think the odds are against anyone who applies--not just me in particular.

If your advice is to give up because odds are against you then I would not consider that good advice.

[swampman]

For many of them they state the work they did during college, if any. I'm not doing it just "to snag a PI scholarship," often times they are accompanied with great programs that help you obtain great PI work and guidance throughout law school. I agree that I also "cant see all the people with outstanding experience who were rejected," therefore, I think the odds are against anyone who applies--not just me in particular.

If your advice is to give up because odds are against you then I would not consider that good advice.

Fair enough, hope it works out for you.