Page 1 of 1

Increasing Your Chances

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:18 pm
by Jake_Coulter
Long story short, I'm an undergraduate at the University of Georgia trying to find an internship or volunteer program at a law firm. Did you (the current law students) have anything like this before you applied to law schools? If so, what did you do? If not, what did you do to increase your chances other than have a killer GPA and LSAT?

ALSO what are some other ways to increase my chances of getting in T-14 school other than GPA and LSAT?



Thanks!
-Jake

Re: Increasing Your Chances

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:27 pm
by rad lulz
It won't increase your chances in a measurable way.

Re: Increasing Your Chances

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:35 pm
by Jake_Coulter
rad lulz wrote:It won't increase your chances in a measurable way.

Well I havent really done anything else to improve my chances. All I have is a descent GPA and hopefully a good LSAT. Did you do anything else? Any clubs, groups, organizations..etc?

Re: Increasing Your Chances

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:51 pm
by francesfarmer
Jake_Coulter wrote:
rad lulz wrote:It won't increase your chances in a measurable way.

Well I havent really done anything else to improve my chances. All I have is a descent GPA and hopefully a good LSAT. Did you do anything else? Any clubs, groups, organizations..etc?
Clubs and stuff don't really matter. Work experience looks good, and also makes you seem like a more mature applicant. But it will never make up for what is lacking in your GPA and LSAT.

Edit: you could join the military. That would help you TONS.

Re: Increasing Your Chances

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:56 pm
by Jake_Coulter
francesfarmer wrote:
Jake_Coulter wrote:
rad lulz wrote:It won't increase your chances in a measurable way.

Well I havent really done anything else to improve my chances. All I have is a descent GPA and hopefully a good LSAT. Did you do anything else? Any clubs, groups, organizations..etc?
Clubs and stuff don't really matter. Work experience looks good, and also makes you seem like a more mature applicant. But it will never make up for what is lacking in your GPA and LSAT.

Edit: you could join the military. That would help you TONS.
When you mean work do you mean any job or do you mean at a law firm or law-related career (Ex court house)?

Re: Increasing Your Chances

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:18 pm
by francesfarmer
Any job.

Re: Increasing Your Chances

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:19 pm
by francesfarmer
working for a law firm or in the legal field in some other capacity is nice experience to have because it makes you more comfortable around lawyers (which is useful when interviewing with alumni) and also helps you decide if lawyering is something you would like to actually do. So in that sense, working for in the legal field is beneficial over other fields. But it doesn't really matter to admissions committees.

Re: Increasing Your Chances

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:23 pm
by Richie Tenenbaum
Softs generally have very little affect on the application process, unless you have amazing softs. You're better off concentrating on maximizing your LSAT score. That said, there are reasons to join clubs, intern at a law firm, etc. that don't depend on them helping your application package. Pursue stuff that interests you and do the internship if you think it would help you gain a perspective about the legal field. (I could see some law firm internships being helpful in gaining some perspective, but others might just be a waste of time.)