Theater Question Forum

[Questioner.Now]

Dear all,

I'm new to this forum, and new to the law school process.

I am interested in applying to law school so that I can work in IP and theatrical property law. I went to HYPS for undergrad, took some time off, and am now back finishing with a 3.75 GPA.

I've worked for the past few years as a off-broadway and broadway theater producer. Is this something that law schools might find attractive? I don't have any Tony awards or anything like that, but I'm worried that because I did not do the debate/finance/public speaking route, and that because my grades are low that I do not have a shot. I'd really like to go to SLS for film or CLS for theatrical management. Do I have a shot? Is there something else I can be doing?

[BlendedUnicorn]

Dear all,

I'm new to this forum, and new to the law school process.

I am interested in applying to law school so that I can work in IP and theatrical property law. I went to HYPS for undergrad, took some time off, and am now back finishing with a 3.75 GPA.

I've worked for the past few years as a off-broadway and broadway theater producer. Is this something that law schools might find attractive? I don't have any Tony awards or anything like that, but I'm worried that because I did not do the debate/finance/public speaking route, and that because my grades are low that I do not have a shot. I'd really like to go to SLS for film or CLS for theatrical management. Do I have a shot? Is there something else I can be doing?

If you have a 3.75 you can get in basically anywhere with a high enough LSAT, but I don't think law school is what you're looking for based on the bolded.

Your experience might be useful at the margins but ultimately it's a numbers game.

[Questioner.Now]

Thank You.

I'm specifically interested in doing a MFA in Creative Producing and a JD. I've been in contract negotiations for about a year, and my knowledge is certainly coming to an end. A lot of producers are lawyers, and I think it could help me as I continue to work in theater.

Are "softs" i.e. being a producer enough to help with admissions?

[Mikey]

Thank You.

I'm specifically interested in doing a MFA in Creative Producing and a JD. I've been in contract negotiations for about a year, and my knowledge is certainly coming to an end. A lot of producers are lawyers, and I think it could help me as I continue to work in theater.

Are "softs" i.e. being a producer enough to help with admissions?

The main determinants of you getting into most law schools will be your LSAT/GPA. Softs like that won't increase your chances by a large amount if that's what you're asking. To my knowledge though, northwestern and I think Yale really love people with work experience. But like I said, your numbers will get you in somewhere for the most part

And just like unicorn said, with a high enough LSAT score, yes, you'll have a shot at those schools with that GPA. But take the LSAT first and then see if you are in those schools' range

[Legallylawyer2020]

Thank You.

I'm specifically interested in doing a MFA in Creative Producing and a JD. I've been in contract negotiations for about a year, and my knowledge is certainly coming to an end. A lot of producers are lawyers, and I think it could help me as I continue to work in theater.

Are "softs" i.e. being a producer enough to help with admissions?

The main determinants of you getting into most law schools will be your LSAT/GPA. Softs like that won't increase your chances by a large amount if that's what you're asking. To my knowledge though, northwestern and I think Yale really love people with work experience. But like I said, your numbers will get you in somewhere for the most part

And just like unicorn said, with a high enough LSAT score, yes, you'll have a shot at those schools with that GPA. But take the LSAT first and then see if you are in those schools' range

There are actually a few of us on this forum that have theater backgrounds and I can think of at least one other person that outperformed his numbers bc of his theater background. Both of our interviews focused a lot on theatre and our experiences with it. I'm not saying you can get into HYS with a 150 or even 160 LSAT because of it, but it definitely seems to be a soft that does help.

In general, you'll find that people on this forum downplay the importance of softs. While lsat and gpa are the primary factors a
That adcomms are evaluating, if it was all numbers or even 90% numbers, then everyone with a 173 and 3.9 GPA would be in at Harvard, and we know that people with the right stats are waitlisted or even rejected from T13 schools every year at least in part because they don't have a good enough PS, LORs or their softs are lacking/boring.

The TLDR is that based on anecdotal evidence, theater backgrounds can be helpful and I overperformed my numbers, and based on admissions interviews, they asked a lot about my MA theatre degree and my work experience (a lot of which has a theater focus). Softs in general are probably more of a factor than people admit on this site (they can help overpeform numbers if you're near the right range for the school but they won't make miracles happen). You'll probably get into some amazing schools with the right (165+) lsat score (and you'll probably get money).

[BlendedUnicorn]

Thank You.

I'm specifically interested in doing a MFA in Creative Producing and a JD. I've been in contract negotiations for about a year, and my knowledge is certainly coming to an end. A lot of producers are lawyers, and I think it could help me as I continue to work in theater.

Are "softs" i.e. being a producer enough to help with admissions?

The main determinants of you getting into most law schools will be your LSAT/GPA. Softs like that won't increase your chances by a large amount if that's what you're asking. To my knowledge though, northwestern and I think Yale really love people with work experience. But like I said, your numbers will get you in somewhere for the most part

And just like unicorn said, with a high enough LSAT score, yes, you'll have a shot at those schools with that GPA. But take the LSAT first and then see if you are in those schools' range

There are actually a few of us on this forum that have theater backgrounds and I can think of at least one other person that outperformed his numbers bc of his theater background. Both of our interviews focused a lot on theatre and our experiences with it. I'm not saying you can get into HYS with a 150 or even 160 LSAT because of it, but it definitely seems to be a soft that does help.

In general, you'll find that people on this forum downplay the importance of softs. While lsat and gpa are the primary factors a
That adcomms are evaluating, if it was all numbers or even 90% numbers, then everyone with a 173 and 3.9 GPA would be in at Harvard, and we know that people with the right stats are waitlisted or even rejected from T13 schools every year at least in part because they don't have a good enough PS, LORs or their softs are lacking/boring.

The TLDR is that based on anecdotal evidence, theater backgrounds can be helpful and I overperformed my numbers, and based on admissions interviews, they asked a lot about my MA theatre degree and my work experience (a lot of which has a theater focus). Softs in general are probably more of a factor than people admit on this site (they can help overpeform numbers if you're near the right range for the school but they won't make miracles happen). You'll probably get into some amazing schools with the right (165+) lsat score (and you'll probably get money).

Thing is you never know what's going to happen with softs. Sometimes a school will have room in a class and sometimes they won't- they have some degree of flexibility to operate below their 25ths so of course anything can happen but a lot of that space is earmarked for splitters and/or URMs. With a below median GPA for Columbia (and presumably also Stanford) OP's going to need to come awfully close to median (172) on the LSAT to not be in the miracle category.

I'm sure every year big schools take a handful of people who are interesting with below median GPA/LSAT combos. And I'm sure people with interesting enough theater backgrounds fall into that group. But they're probably also competing with military people, people with relevant business or government experience, people with advanced degrees, authors, etc... So it's possible that OP will get lucky, but if law school is the goal (and in particular Stanford and Columbia are the targets) the only reasonable advice is to kill the LSAT.

This is basically stock advice for the veteran's thread. It's possible that someone outperforms their numbers and it happens now and then but it's far more usual for people to either perform at their numbers or for it to work as a small boost (maybe a splitter with a GPA slightly below a school's floor will get accepted).

e. also not to play down your accomplishments but I took a quick look at your post history and issue-spotted another reason you may have outperformed your numbers.

[Legallylawyer2020]

Thank You.

I'm specifically interested in doing a MFA in Creative Producing and a JD. I've been in contract negotiations for about a year, and my knowledge is certainly coming to an end. A lot of producers are lawyers, and I think it could help me as I continue to work in theater.

Are "softs" i.e. being a producer enough to help with admissions?

The main determinants of you getting into most law schools will be your LSAT/GPA. Softs like that won't increase your chances by a large amount if that's what you're asking. To my knowledge though, northwestern and I think Yale really love people with work experience. But like I said, your numbers will get you in somewhere for the most part

And just like unicorn said, with a high enough LSAT score, yes, you'll have a shot at those schools with that GPA. But take the LSAT first and then see if you are in those schools' range

There are actually a few of us on this forum that have theater backgrounds and I can think of at least one other person that outperformed his numbers bc of his theater background. Both of our interviews focused a lot on theatre and our experiences with it. I'm not saying you can get into HYS with a 150 or even 160 LSAT because of it, but it definitely seems to be a soft that does help.

In general, you'll find that people on this forum downplay the importance of softs. While lsat and gpa are the primary factors a
That adcomms are evaluating, if it was all numbers or even 90% numbers, then everyone with a 173 and 3.9 GPA would be in at Harvard, and we know that people with the right stats are waitlisted or even rejected from T13 schools every year at least in part because they don't have a good enough PS, LORs or their softs are lacking/boring.

The TLDR is that based on anecdotal evidence, theater backgrounds can be helpful and I overperformed my numbers, and based on admissions interviews, they asked a lot about my MA theatre degree and my work experience (a lot of which has a theater focus). Softs in general are probably more of a factor than people admit on this site (they can help overpeform numbers if you're near the right range for the school but they won't make miracles happen). You'll probably get into some amazing schools with the right (165+) lsat score (and you'll probably get money).

Thing is you never know what's going to happen with softs. Sometimes a school will have room in a class and sometimes they won't- they have some degree of flexibility to operate below their 25ths so of course anything can happen but a lot of that space is earmarked for splitters and/or URMs. With a below median GPA for Columbia (and presumably also Stanford) OP's going to need to come awfully close to median (172) on the LSAT to not be in the miracle category.

I'm sure every year big schools take a handful of people who are interesting with below median GPA/LSAT combos. And I'm sure people with interesting enough theater backgrounds fall into that group. But they're probably also competing with military people, people with relevant business or government experience, people with advanced degrees, authors, etc... So it's possible that OP will get lucky, but if law school is the goal (and in particular Stanford and Columbia are the targets) the only reasonable advice is to kill the LSAT.

This is basically stock advice for the veteran's thread. It's possible that someone outperforms their numbers and it happens now and then but it's far more usual for people to either perform at their numbers or for it to work as a small boost (maybe a splitter with a GPA slightly below a school's floor will get accepted).

Yes, I agree. Doing as well as possible on the lsat is priority number one.

[baseballfan660]

Thank You.

I'm specifically interested in doing a MFA in Creative Producing and a JD. I've been in contract negotiations for about a year, and my knowledge is certainly coming to an end. A lot of producers are lawyers, and I think it could help me as I continue to work in theater.

Are "softs" i.e. being a producer enough to help with admissions?

The main determinants of you getting into most law schools will be your LSAT/GPA. Softs like that won't increase your chances by a large amount if that's what you're asking. To my knowledge though, northwestern and I think Yale really love people with work experience. But like I said, your numbers will get you in somewhere for the most part

And just like unicorn said, with a high enough LSAT score, yes, you'll have a shot at those schools with that GPA. But take the LSAT first and then see if you are in those schools' range

There are actually a few of us on this forum that have theater backgrounds and I can think of at least one other person that outperformed his numbers bc of his theater background. Both of our interviews focused a lot on theatre and our experiences with it. I'm not saying you can get into HYS with a 150 or even 160 LSAT because of it, but it definitely seems to be a soft that does help.

In general, you'll find that people on this forum downplay the importance of softs. While lsat and gpa are the primary factors a
That adcomms are evaluating, if it was all numbers or even 90% numbers, then everyone with a 173 and 3.9 GPA would be in at Harvard, and we know that people with the right stats are waitlisted or even rejected from T13 schools every year at least in part because they don't have a good enough PS, LORs or their softs are lacking/boring.

The TLDR is that based on anecdotal evidence, theater backgrounds can be helpful and I overperformed my numbers, and based on admissions interviews, they asked a lot about my MA theatre degree and my work experience (a lot of which has a theater focus). Softs in general are probably more of a factor than people admit on this site (they can help overpeform numbers if you're near the right range for the school but they won't make miracles happen). You'll probably get into some amazing schools with the right (165+) lsat score (and you'll probably get money).

Thing is you never know what's going to happen with softs. Sometimes a school will have room in a class and sometimes they won't- they have some degree of flexibility to operate below their 25ths so of course anything can happen but a lot of that space is earmarked for splitters and/or URMs. With a below median GPA for Columbia (and presumably also Stanford) OP's going to need to come awfully close to median (172) on the LSAT to not be in the miracle category.

I'm sure every year big schools take a handful of people who are interesting with below median GPA/LSAT combos. And I'm sure people with interesting enough theater backgrounds fall into that group. But they're probably also competing with military people, people with relevant business or government experience, people with advanced degrees, authors, etc... So it's possible that OP will get lucky, but if law school is the goal (and in particular Stanford and Columbia are the targets) the only reasonable advice is to kill the LSAT.

This is basically stock advice for the veteran's thread. It's possible that someone outperforms their numbers and it happens now and then but it's far more usual for people to either perform at their numbers or for it to work as a small boost (maybe a splitter with a GPA slightly below a school's floor will get accepted).

e. also not to play down your accomplishments but I took a quick look at your post history and issue-spotted another reason you may have outperformed your numbers.

Coulmbia's average gpa is 3.7, he/ she is above the median on that.

[Questioner.Now]

Thank you!

[Dr_OIT]

It's true that work experience does make a difference. I think everyone's story is so idiosyncratic, so I don't want to make too many blanket statements, but I think the... relatively unorthodox(?) work background for LS applicants that I had must have helped. I'm headed to CLS in the fall.

Since you mention Columbia, I'm sure you've heard about Columbia's JD/MFA dual degree program. The MFA is in Theatre Management & Producing. It seems right up your alley, and Columbia is the only top university in the country that has such a JD/MFA program.

I agree that the LSAT will be your biggest priority right now. But you absolutely have a shot. Don't be concerned that your background might put you out of the running. Schools like Columbia/NYU will especially find that appealing, I'd wager.

Feel free to PM me to bounce ideas back and forth. Would love to chat more, since it looks like we have tons in common.