Does my work experience help my admissions prospects? Forum

[waid180]

Hello,

I work at a nationally renowned BigLaw firm. I am wondering how much - if at all - I can expect this to help my law school applications?

[haus]

From reading this forum over the years, it seems that the general consensus is that employment may provide a very small bump for admissions, but not enough to get excited about.

On the bright side, it might turn out to be more useful on the back end, helping you standout when it comes time to find employment.

[waid180]

From reading this forum over the years, it seems that the general consensus is that employment may provide a very small bump for admissions, but not enough to get excited about.

On the bright side, it might turn out to be more useful on the back end, helping you standout when it comes time to find employment.

Yeah that's for sure. The firm will absolutely be more inclined to hire me as an associate once I have my JD. A few partners have specifically told me this. They might even pay my tuition.

But at the same time, I don't necessarily know that I want to be locked into one firm, and was kind of hoping this might give me an appreciable boost in the admissions/scholarship department.

[haus]

The problem seems to be mostly motivational.

Schools have a little interest in having a story body that is diverse (race, gender, cultural, social-economical, experience, etc...) but for the most part this is really window dressing. The real motivation comes from maintaining high LSATs and GPAs so that they can look good on a silly ranking from a former magazine.

The rankings do not put any weight on work experience so there is a limit on how much most schools are willing to value it.

[waid180]

The problem seems to be mostly motivational.

Schools have a little interest in having a story body that is diverse (race, gender, cultural, social-economical, experience, etc...) but for the most part this is really window dressing. The real motivation comes from maintaining high LSATs and GPAs so that they can look good on a silly ranking from a former magazine.

The rankings do not put any weight on work experience so there is a limit on how much most schools are willing to value it.

you make a great point. and to that point, my (probably flawed) thinking was this:

like lsat & gpa medians, the job placement/salaries of their graduates ALSO impact the school's rankings/reputation. an individual coming from a BigLaw firm is *probably* more likely to work in BigLaw as an associate upon graduation; and this, in turn, might be able to satisfy the motivation that you speak of. idk, maybe not, haha...

[haus]

My scenario is somewhat different.

I am an old non-trad student, with a grad degree, I have a military background, and many years of experience in InfoSec. I work in a gov position that has a salary approaching that of starting big law (by the time that I graduate from my part-time program, I should likely exceed that threshold). So for the purposes of employment stats at graduation, I will be a nice addition to most schools data set. Yet, my cycle went as expected for GPA/LSAT.

[87mm]

I like to say it does help, but it depends on the employment. In your case it probably does. If your numbers dont boost their rankings, your previous employment would make you much more employable so you would potentially help their employment statistics.

I think schools want a bit of diversity so they can have their alumni spread throughout different groups in politics/business/tech/etc... The work experience IMO is mainly helpful because you help their employment and it is less boring to see an applicant who isnt just a K-JD poli sci major whos study abroad in London changed their life.

Edit: But I mainly say that because I am not K-JD and I was told by most admissions deans that my personal statement was super interesting (work related).

[A. Nony Mouse]

I'm not sure you can assume that a school will think that because you work at a biglaw firm now, though, you will necessarily get hired by one after you graduate. I think the prior experience can help you perform well in interviews, but generally, school and grades are the most important criteria for getting biglaw.

[ND2018]

Hello,

I work at a nationally renowned BigLaw firm. I am wondering how much - if at all - I can expect this to help my law school applications?

In certain cases and in the minds of certain Adcomms it definitely will provide a bump. However, in your case I think its a wash. At least in my experience, the majority of people I meet who didn't go straight through spent time working in a Big Firm. Some might disagree but I your experience is par for the course as far as WE goes.

[hopingtogo2016]

I don't want to be a downer but I know a number of lawyers in biglaw who are less interested in hiring somebody who worked at a law firm pre law school than somebody who did anything else (besides KJD). I'm happy to explain their reasoning if you'd like but I also don't want it to seem like it's a critique of your choices. Just sharing the information. As for admissions, they have lots of applicants who spent time at a law firm after college and then applied to law school so it doesn't make you unique. That being said, it's certainly a major upgrade over being KJD.