The Vale of Tears (3L Job Hunting) (No advice for 0/1/2Ls) Forum

[Pleasye]

If my law school's graduation program listed honors using "honors," "high honors, and "highest honors," is that what I should use on my resume and applications? Or is it permissible to interchange them with the correlating "cum laude," "magna cum laude," or "suma cum laude"? While both clearly convey the same message, the latter feels more formal and prestigious for a resume.

They also technically don't correlate - different schools have different GPA ranges for each so its borderline dishonest to list something different than what your school gave you.

[shredderrrrrr]

If my law school's graduation program listed honors using "honors," "high honors, and "highest honors," is that what I should use on my resume and applications? Or is it permissible to interchange them with the correlating "cum laude," "magna cum laude," or "suma cum laude"? While both clearly convey the same message, the latter feels more formal and prestigious for a resume.

They also technically don't correlate - different schools have different GPA ranges for each so its borderline dishonest to list something different than what your school gave you.

Good to know! I thought they were synonymous. I'll certainly be leaving it as is then.

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

What kind of follow-up do you guys usually do for an application? For example, if a position has a specific closing date when the organization will stop accepting applications, is there an amount of time you wait after that to inquire about whether you're still being considered? Do you never follow-up unless you've had an interview?

My thought is that it's always positive to show interest as long as you aren't harassing people every day. Is that true, or is it frowned upon to try to contact them after applying?

[Anonymous User]

When in the summer should I ask my internship supervisor about fellowship sponsorships?

[BVest]

"With Honors" looks just as good as "Cum Laude." Stick with what school says.

I'm not sure there's an issue with lack of correlation. Sure they don't line up exactly from school to school, but that occurs whether or not the school uses latin. Everybody knows that some schools are more giving with their honors than others.

(For example some schools use hard GPA cutoffs while others use percentages. One school I saw that used hard GPA cutoffs ended up with exactly one person getting order of the coif (10%) who did not also get Magna (which cut off at 3.6); at other schools, though, Magna (or High Honors) cuts off at 5%, regardless of GPA).

[Anonymous User]

Will a low law school GPA (3.006) hold me back from MSW programs? I have a strong undergraduate record.

[El Pollito]

Will a low law school GPA (3.006) hold me back from MSW programs? I have a strong undergraduate record.

idk why you bother posting anon

[Anonymous User]

Because I revealed my GPA. I'm not abusing anon when I am posting sensitive information.

[El Pollito]

the point is that your posts are easily recognizable

[Anonymous User]

How feasible is it to start out as an immigration solo practitioner straight out of law school?

I have mediocre grades (barely above a 3) but I have gotten A's immigration-related coursework. I am fluent in Hindi and Spanish and have plenty of hands-on immigration experience and connections with immigrant communities. I have interned for three different immigration non-profits while in law school and have done DACA, U visas, VAWA self-petitions, asylum, removal defense, SIJS, citizenship, etc.

I am a student member of AILA and plan on investing in a copy of Kurzban's as well.

[bjohnsobf]

How much money do you have? What kind of connections do you have?

The focus of your justification seems to be ... I have the knowledge and experience to do this. When in reality, IMO, it should be heres how I'm going to get clients.

[Anonymous User]

In terms of monetary factors, I have family support and savings. I have connections to the immigrant communities because of my language fluencies and because I am a member of one of those communities.

I have definitely come across individuals on Linkedin (recent grads) who have opened up their own practices fresh out of law school.

[worldtraveler]

In terms of monetary factors, I have family support and savings. I have connections to the immigrant communities because of my language fluencies and because I am a member of one of those communities.

I have definitely come across individuals on Linkedin (recent grads) who have opened up their own practices fresh out of law school.

So send a message to one of them and ask for some of their wisdom. I'm not sure what the point is of continuously asking the same questions over and over on TLS.

[Anonymous User]

When in the summer should I approach my internship supervisor about postgraduate public interest fellowships? Should I submit a new cover letter, resume, writing sample, etc. or should I communicate less formally?

[Anonymous User]

Interviewed with a firm about 3 weeks ago (I was told it was the first day of interviews and I'd heard back about a second round in a few weeks). It went really well. I emailed a follow up 2 days ago and but haven't heard back.

I guess no go?

[kapital98]

When in the summer should I approach my internship supervisor about postgraduate public interest fellowships? Should I submit a new cover letter, resume, writing sample, etc. or should I communicate less formally?

What year are you? During 3L I applied for my school's fellowship and asked my 1L summer PD's office to host it. I talked directly to the PD and he was happy for me to come in and have us create a fellowship (it was open ended on my school's side). I think I gave him my updated resume but I'm not sure if he ever looked at it. We just created the proposal together (roughly a 20 page document) and he signed all the necessary paperwork.

For me it was really informal. I'm not sure about others though.

[Anonymous User]

I am going into my 3rd year. I really want my summer 2015 employer to be my fellowship sponsor, and I have a couple of good project ideas.

at 20 page proposal! I was envisioning having to write something that was 1-2 pages.

[NorCalLaw]

Interviewed with a firm about 3 weeks ago (I was told it was the first day of interviews and I'd heard back about a second round in a few weeks). It went really well. I emailed a follow up 2 days ago and but haven't heard back.

I guess no go?

It's impossible to know, as the people making the decisions tend to be really busy with things they consider to be more important. You could well remain in the running.

That said, there's no reason to stop applying, so keep at it. Good luck!

[dresden doll]

When in the summer should I approach my internship supervisor about postgraduate public interest fellowships? Should I submit a new cover letter, resume, writing sample, etc. or should I communicate less formally?

You should be at least halfway through your internship. That said, you should do it no later than the end of July. When we sponsor people for EJW at my org, we want minimally 6 weeks to get everything in order.

And, btw, your proposal should definitely not go beyond two pages. In fact, one page is plenty for most people.

[Anonymous User]

Should I tell my fellowship sponsor that I don't expect to get barred immediately after graduation due to C&F delays (disciplined for bipolar disorder) Is it dishonest if I don't disclose?

Thanks, I just freaked out a little bit when one poster mentioned writing a 20 page proposal!

[dresden doll]

Should I tell my fellowship sponsor that I don't expect to get barred immediately after graduation due to C&F delays (disciplined for bipolar disorder) Is it dishonest if I don't disclose?

Thanks, I just freaked out a little bit when one poster mentioned writing a 20 page proposal!

I would definitely mention your anticipated admission timeline. Also bear in mind that you must do so if the project contemplates direct representation (which is almost always the case, even at places like ACLU).

The person who mentioned the 20 page proposal created it together with their boss and submitted to the school. If I received a 20 pager from a student hoping to be sponsored by us, I would be quite surprised (and not in a good way).

The fact of the matter is that most students don't know enough to formulate a coherent and concrete proposal. It's the org's job to help you get to that point, bearing in mind their mission, their strategic plans and their anticipated needs.When I look at proposals, my only expectation is to gauge what area of our work that person is interested in. A single page is more than enough to get that information across.

[Anonymous User]

Should I already have a proposal by the time I approach my supervisor about fellowships? Or does the supervisor help develop the proposal with you?

[dresden doll]

Should I already have a proposal by the time I approach my supervisor about fellowships? Or does the supervisor help develop the proposal with you?

You should have a kernel of a proposal, summarized in one page (or even just a couple of paragraphs). Again, it's the org's job to help you develop it. If it's a good org, it's going to want the proposal to be tailored to fill a specific need they have and they're going to want to play a significant part to make sure that that's the case.

EJW used to award orgs directly for the proposals they submitted; the orgs would subsequently choose candidates to take on those projects. Personally, I think it should have stayed that way, given how infrequently students know (or really have reason to know) how to develop a coherent, on-point proposal that tackles a relevant issue in a way that's consistent with the given org's mission and history.

[Anonymous User]

If I am already working with the org I want to be my fellowship sponsor, do I need to submit another cover letter, resume, and writing sample? (I already submitted these materials when I applied for the internship)

Sorry, I am such a rookie at this.

[kapital98]

@Anon: Sorry for the confusion. Dresden Doll is on point. I think I wrote a one page proposal. However, my employer wrote up the specific proposal (it was immigration related) and then had me change specific portions of the proposal before submitting it to the committee.

Keep listening to Dresden Doll.