Does having no internship or WE look bad? Forum

[Kimchi_smile]

I've seriously had no internship or WE whatsoever, except a part-time job at school. I'm now a senior about to graduate. I'm really worried about my serious lack of any "real life" experience. I've spent all the summers on summer school...Am I doomed when it comes to application to law school? Should I try to get some internship or even formal WE before applying to law school? Should I apply for and accept any work or should I seek paralegal job at law firms? Please advise!

[dc1s]

I've seriously had no internship or WE whatsoever, except a part-time job at school. I'm now a senior about to graduate. I'm really worried about my serious lack of any "real life" experience. I've spent all the summers on summer school...Am I doomed when it comes to application to law school? Should I try to get some internship or even formal WE before applying to law school? Should I apply for and accept any work or should I seek paralegal job at law firms? Please advise!

Your GPA and LSAT score, by far, will determine where you go. If you are about to graduate, does that mean you already took your LSAT? If not, when do you plan to do this?

[DCDuck]

Not having work experience will likely not hurt your chances for law school admission (unless you're dead set on Northwestern). However, it may hurt your chances when finding a job. The people who have had the most success finding good summer work at my school had previous work experience. (based on my observations and generalizations). I think taking a year off to work has a lot of value, even outside of admissions and job hunting. There are lots of threads on here about the benefits of taking a couple of years off before attending law school.

[FiveSermon]

No unless NU.

[Kimchi_smile]

Not having work experience will likely not hurt your chances for law school admission (unless you're dead set on Northwestern). However, it may hurt your chances when finding a job. The people who have had the most success finding good summer work at my school had previous work experience. (based on my observations and generalizations). I think taking a year off to work has a lot of value, even outside of admissions and job hunting. There are lots of threads on here about the benefits of taking a couple of years off before attending law school.

Is it because they've had law-related job? I'm hoping to work for Big Law either corporate or M&A. I agree with the value outside of admissions and job hunting. I regret not spending my previous summers productively.

If I took 2 years to do a Master's abroad full-time while getting summer internships/jobs/volunteering with a foreign trade company or US/UK law firm branch office abroad, would this be a good idea? If applied successfully, I would have government scholarship so I don't need to be paid during the summer to support myself, as the scholarship covers a full period of 2 years. So I'm thinking about volunteering for any job whatsoever that would expose me to the business and legal world. It's free labor, they'd better accept me though I had 0 work exp!

About NU - I'm not really that fond of it. I'm thinking about Columbia, New York, and Cornell but I'm inclined most toward Columbia as it has a good corporate law program and lay prestige. Of course Harvard would be nice, but it's hard to say anyone would get into H with numbers alone...and I feel like even if I ever got into H, I wouldn't compete well with those super-smart people who probably did have tons of prestigious internships at banks or consulting firms whatsoever...

[bk1]

Only 2 schools are pushing to have a high amount of postgrad work experience, NU and H (the former far more than the latter).

Outside of those, it is going to be numbers based. You really seem to have an overinflated view of the people who get into T14's. Most of them are kids straight from undergrad who had GPAs and did well on the LSAT. Not many of them had super prestigious internships or did TFA or AmeriCorps or were Rhodes Scholars or whatever.

[DCDuck]

No, the work experience does not need to be legal. Holding down any kind of job demonstrates responsibility, that you understand the work world/schedule/organization, etc. Teaching, business, non-profit, political, military, PR, it all seemed to help.

[sarahh]

Is it because they've had law-related job? I'm hoping to work for Big Law either corporate or M&A. I agree with the value outside of admissions and job hunting. I regret not spending my previous summers productively.

If I took 2 years to do a Master's abroad full-time while getting summer internships/jobs/volunteering with a foreign trade company or US/UK law firm branch office abroad, would this be a good idea? If applied successfully, I would have government scholarship so I don't need to be paid during the summer to support myself, as the scholarship covers a full period of 2 years. So I'm thinking about volunteering for any job whatsoever that would expose me to the business and legal world. It's free labor, they'd better accept me though I had 0 work exp!

About NU - I'm not really that fond of it. I'm thinking about Columbia, New York, and Cornell but I'm inclined most toward Columbia as it has a good corporate law program and lay prestige. Of course Harvard would be nice, but it's hard to say anyone would get into H with numbers alone...and I feel like even if I ever got into H, I wouldn't compete well with those super-smart people who probably did have tons of prestigious internships at banks or consulting firms whatsoever...

Personally, I would not get a masters. That could hurt down the line when you are applying to law firms. They may think that you like being a career student. I would get a job. There are many people that go to law school straight from college - so that is something you can do. Still, I think it is beneficial to work for a few years because then you can figure out if you really want to go to law school and save some money.

[ladybug89]

I think at CCN your lack of experience won't matter, but it could be a problem at H and will DEFINITELY be a problem at S and Y. If you're shooting for those three, I'd say take some time off and get work experience. Doesn't have to be paid, doesn't have to be legal. But something.

[AreJay711]

You were going to work between graduation and enrolling in LS right? That should be fine then.

[Kimchi_smile]

As one of my back-up options, I applied to a Master's program taught entirely in Chinese. I'm not Chinese by the way. And I live in Virginia, so I'm thinking of having UVA as my safety school. But I don't really want to go to an in-state school anymore...I want to be in New York. Would such a Master's help at CCN? Would such a Master's hurt when I apply for Big Law jobs? Oh and I am planning to get as much internship with a law firm or trade company or whatever that would accept me as possible while I'm abroad. This wayI will get to learn business/work-place Chinese, too. I'm very interested in using foreign languages. Would all of these things balance my lack of internship or WE in the US?

And yes, if I don't do the Master's, I will probably work between graduation and enrolling in LS for 1 year or so.

I'm also first-generation college student and also prospective first-generation law school student. If WE doesn't matter at CCN, does diversity help? How should I strengthen my application non-numberwise?

[ladybug89]

Sorry, I shouldn't have said it "won't matter," I just meant that you have strong numbers as it is and it won't hurt you as much as it would at HYS. I don't think a master's would hurt you in BigLaw but some people on here think firms look at people with extra degrees as "career students" and look down on that. dunno if that's true. They also say a master's won't help you in admissions, which is probably true, but if you plan to be working while you get the master's, that whole experience would probably make up for your lack of WE otherwise. (not that's a guarantee of anything.) And it would be good PS fodder!

Finally, what do you mean by diversity? Are you URM, or do you mean in terms of your first-generation-college-student-ness?

[MrKappus]

OCI with absolutely no WE is going to be a real hoot. Have fun with that. You shouldn't get a job to get into law school. You should get job so that you're not a 22 year-old applying to firms that has to put college clubs and habitat for humanity on your resume.

[dpk711]

OP, having a low LSAT/GPA looks exponentially worse.

[Kimchi_smile]

Finally, what do you mean by diversity? Are you URM, or do you mean in terms of your first-generation-college-student-ness?

I'm neither black nor latino, so I don't think I qualify for URM. What I mean by diversity is the first generation college student thing. I think I'm motivated enough to write extra essays like diversity essay for Cornell and Why X essays and things like that. I'm wondering if this kind of diversity will increase my chances of admission? Or, excuse my bluntness, scholarship/funding?

[FiveSermon]

Finally, what do you mean by diversity? Are you URM, or do you mean in terms of your first-generation-college-student-ness?

I'm neither black nor latino, so I don't think I qualify for URM. What I mean by diversity is the first generation college student thing. I think I'm motivated enough to write extra essays like diversity essay for Cornell and Why X essays and things like that. I'm wondering if this kind of diversity will increase my chances of admission? Or, excuse my bluntness, scholarship/funding?

Nothing significant.

[CrimLaw300]

OCI with absolutely no WE is going to be a real hoot. Have fun with that. You shouldn't get a job to get into law school. You should get job so that you're not a 22 year-old applying to firms that has to put college clubs and habitat for humanity on your resume.

Are OCIs really significantly more difficult for those without prior fulltime WE?

[MrKappus]

OCI with absolutely no WE is going to be a real hoot. Have fun with that. You shouldn't get a job to get into law school. You should get job so that you're not a 22 year-old applying to firms that has to put college clubs and habitat for humanity on your resume.

Are OCIs really significantly more difficult for those without prior fulltime WE?

If you've never held down a full-time job of any kind, I'm just not sure what you'd talk about. They only want to hear so much about moot court tryouts or how you liked 1L/the town/professors/etc. I go to a T30 so it's probably better at top schools. I just know that during the blur that was OCI, all they wanted to hear about was my WE.

[antonin]

Though law schools might not care because they are so number based, I would recommend working for 1-2 years. I think college is the environment where the ego gets stroked, especially if high gpa, but work is the environment where you see how the world works. I imagine that a stroked ego would do worse than someone with WE in law school.