The Value of WE from the Federal Reserve Forum

[arroz]

I am a rising senior that is double majoring in math and economics with a 3.93 gpa. This summer, I am interning at a Fed branch as a research assistant and will likely get a return offer for a 2-year research assistant-ship. These RA positions are traditionally used to make prospective economics PhD applicants more competitive for admissions and I would primarily be assisting economists in academic research. As such, the starting salary is lower than private-sector economic consulting roles I am qualified for.

I have seen that the general consensus is that work experience itself is more emphasized in law school admissions than the specific job, but my current goal is to work for the government in antitrust or labor (DOJ/FTC/NLRB Honors). Would working as Fed RA provide any benefits during my career or should I save more money for law school at a higher-paying job? The position is prestigious for econ PhD applications but I do not know if it would translate in the legal world.

[nealric]

In terms of admissions chances, it's mostly a numbers game. Work experience really only matters on the margin. They almost certainly won't parse the difference between a federal research assistant and a private sector econ job.

Where it might be relevant is your future career path. Are you 100% set on law school, or are you open to getting an econ phd? There is probably some slight benefit to having worked for the federal government for future federal employment (especially same agency), but it's hard to bet on a specific fed agency being in hiring mode when you graduate.

[arroz]

In terms of admissions chances, it's mostly a numbers game. Work experience really only matters on the margin. They almost certainly won't parse the difference between a federal research assistant and a private sector econ job.

Where it might be relevant is your future career path. Are you 100% set on law school, or are you open to getting an econ phd? There is probably some slight benefit to having worked for the federal government for future federal employment (especially same agency), but it's hard to bet on a specific fed agency being in hiring mode when you graduate.

Thanks for the response.

In the early stages of my undergrad, I wanted to get an econ PhD. I have since changed my mind because even at a T20 school, I would spend six years suffering to get the degree which would land me a TT job (if I'm very lucky) where there would be six more years of stress and uncertainty to the lead up of my tenure review. Ultimately, there is too much riskiness to justify the opportunity cost.

I guess I have to evaluate the how much the difference in salary would cost to work at the Fed vs the potential benefit in future federal employment. From what I've seen, programs like DoJ SLIP and the federal Honors programs are extremely competitive, so even a minor boost from previous working at the Fed would be significant. The problem is that I can't guarantee I'll be a strong applicant in the first place since I haven't even taken the LSAT and don't know if I'll be in a T14 program.

I am currently leaning towards working as a Fed RA since the work-life balance is good an will give me lot of time to adequately prepare for the LSAT. If I score well on the LSAT and get into a good law school, then I'll be one big step closer towards achieving my goal. If I end up not being able to score over 160, I will apply for jobs in data science or econ consulting that will value my Fed experience.

[nealric]

I did DOJ SLIP back in the day. It was a great experience (and I already had a Biglaw offer in my back pocket), but it was unfortunately not the greatest conduit to federal employment. Granted, I did it during a big wave of federal austerity in the wake of the great recession, but they institutionally decided to make zero funnel offers my year. I'm honestly not sure how competitive it really was. The credentials of people in the program were probably slightly below that of your average Biglaw entrant when viewed from Biglaw criteria (i.e. mostly school and grades), but they had different things they were looking for (for example, veteran preference was big). I went to a lower T14 school with good but not spectacular grades. No particular hook other than focusing on the practice area I was applying for in law school.

Personally, I wouldn't pay too much attention to the salary of a job you only plan to take for a year or two. The money may seem like a big difference now, but it's a drop over the course of a long career. At this stage, the biggest thing will be how it could be useful for a longer term career. At the same time, my job in between college and law school was nothing special and didn't boost my career in any way. It didn't matter at all because legal employers really only cared about where I went to law school and what I did in law school.

You are correct that the LSAT is by far the most important thing. Even a couple points can make a night and day difference for admissions (and scholarships). Personally, I'd pull the plug on law school with an LSAT below a 165 (some would argue 170).

[CanadianWolf]

I am a rising senior that is double majoring in math and economics with a 3.93 gpa. This summer, I am interning at a Fed branch as a research assistant and will likely get a return offer for a 2-year research assistant-ship. These RA positions are traditionally used to make prospective economics PhD applicants more competitive for admissions and I would primarily be assisting economists in academic research. As such, the starting salary is lower than private-sector economic consulting roles I am qualified for.

I have seen that the general consensus is that work experience itself is more emphasized in law school admissions than the specific job, but my current goal is to work for the government in antitrust or labor (DOJ/FTC/NLRB Honors). Would working as Fed RA provide any benefits during my career or should I save more money for law school at a higher-paying job? The position is prestigious for econ PhD applications but I do not know if it would translate in the legal world.

Working at the Federal Reserve for 2 or more years should help with both law school applications as well as applications to MBA programs or to joint JD/MBA degree programs. If you attend a top law school and/or a top MBA program, you should be a strong candidate for lucrative positions in biglaw--especially in the antitrust practice area--for IB (investment banking) as well as for MC (management consulting).

In order to benefit from Federal Reserve work experience, tie in your work experience to your career goal in the application essays for either or both law schools and MBA programs.

In addition to sitting for the LSAT, consider taking the GRE or the GMAT as well. Many law schools accept both the GRE & the LSAT.

Consider applying to the University of Chicago School of Law. Your background employment will be attractive to the law school professors.