Question regarding work experience as paralegal Forum

[hereyago]

Hi guys. Complete noob at law school admissions here.

I'm currently working as a corporate paralegal at one of the top law firms in the US. I was wondering if this would help me out a lot with getting in one of the T14s since my undergrad GPA is pretty low (gpa of 3.3 at top school i.e. harvard/yale/stanford. math major). I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but I do extremely well on standardized tests so I'm hoping to get a score around 177+.

Basically,
I did math undergrad at top 5 university. GPA of 3.3. Corporate paralegal work experience at top 5 law firm in the US. And let us suppose that I had an LSAT score of 177.


My Questions:
1) Will the work experience help me enough to somehow compensate for my low GPA? I know that GPA is like king in law school admissions and my GPA is extremely low for the T14s.
2) Do I need recommendation letters from profs or can I just get all my recs from people at work?
3) Do I even have a chance at getting into one of the T14s even if I were to get an LSAT score of 177+?
4) How many years of work experience is considered a good length? 2 years? 4 years? AKA how many years should I work before applying?


Thanks a lot for helping out a noob.

[splitmuch]

Hi guys. Complete noob at law school admissions here.

I'm currently working as a corporate paralegal at one of the top law firms in the US. I was wondering if this would help me out a lot with getting in one of the T14s since my undergrad GPA is pretty low (gpa of 3.3 at top school i.e. harvard/yale/stanford. math major). I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but I do extremely well on standardized tests so I'm hoping to get a score around 177+.

Basically,
I did math undergrad at top 5 university. GPA of 3.3. Corporate paralegal work experience at top 5 law firm in the US. And let us suppose that I had an LSAT score of 177.


My Questions:
1) Will the work experience help me enough to somehow compensate for my low GPA? I know that GPA is like king in law school admissions and my GPA is extremely low for the T14s.
2) Do I need recommendation letters from profs or can I just get all my recs from people at work?
3) Do I even have a chance at getting into one of the T14s even if I were to get an LSAT score of 177+?
4) How many years of work experience is considered a good length? 2 years? 4 years? AKA how many years should I work before applying?

Thanks a lot for helping out a noob.

2 years WE and a high LSAT will get you into NU pretty much regardless of GPA. You really don't need to work though IF you hit 177 plus. You will get into T14 schools with a 3.3 177.

[hereyago]

Hi guys. Complete noob at law school admissions here.

I'm currently working as a corporate paralegal at one of the top law firms in the US. I was wondering if this would help me out a lot with getting in one of the T14s since my undergrad GPA is pretty low (gpa of 3.3 at top school i.e. harvard/yale/stanford. math major). I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but I do extremely well on standardized tests so I'm hoping to get a score around 177+.

Basically,
I did math undergrad at top 5 university. GPA of 3.3. Corporate paralegal work experience at top 5 law firm in the US. And let us suppose that I had an LSAT score of 177.


My Questions:
1) Will the work experience help me enough to somehow compensate for my low GPA? I know that GPA is like king in law school admissions and my GPA is extremely low for the T14s.
2) Do I need recommendation letters from profs or can I just get all my recs from people at work?
3) Do I even have a chance at getting into one of the T14s even if I were to get an LSAT score of 177+?
4) How many years of work experience is considered a good length? 2 years? 4 years? AKA how many years should I work before applying?

Thanks a lot for helping out a noob.

2 years WE and a high LSAT will get you into NU pretty much regardless of GPA. You really don't need to work though IF you hit 177 plus. You will get into T14 schools with a 3.3 177.

Is this because NYU doesn't care much about the GPA and cares more about the LSAT score or what?

And does work experience matter that little?

And what should I do about my recs? I currently live/work near my undergrad school so I guess I can try to meet/talk to some profs there to get recs from them but idk really.

[lawyerwannabe]

NU =! NYU

The poster was talking about Northwestern.

[splitmuch]

Hi guys. Complete noob at law school admissions here.

I'm currently working as a corporate paralegal at one of the top law firms in the US. I was wondering if this would help me out a lot with getting in one of the T14s since my undergrad GPA is pretty low (gpa of 3.3 at top school i.e. harvard/yale/stanford. math major). I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but I do extremely well on standardized tests so I'm hoping to get a score around 177+.

Basically,
I did math undergrad at top 5 university. GPA of 3.3. Corporate paralegal work experience at top 5 law firm in the US. And let us suppose that I had an LSAT score of 177.


My Questions:
1) Will the work experience help me enough to somehow compensate for my low GPA? I know that GPA is like king in law school admissions and my GPA is extremely low for the T14s.
2) Do I need recommendation letters from profs or can I just get all my recs from people at work?
3) Do I even have a chance at getting into one of the T14s even if I were to get an LSAT score of 177+?
4) How many years of work experience is considered a good length? 2 years? 4 years? AKA how many years should I work before applying?

Thanks a lot for helping out a noob.

2 years WE and a high LSAT will get you into NU pretty much regardless of GPA. You really don't need to work though IF you hit 177 plus. You will get into T14 schools with a 3.3 177.

Is this because NYU doesn't care much about the GPA and cares more about the LSAT score or what?

And does work experience matter that little?

And what should I do about my recs? I currently live/work near my undergrad school so I guess I can try to meet/talk to some profs there to get recs from them but idk really.

NU, not NYU. NU just has a hard on for WE and LSAT, its their schtick.

I used 2 recs, one from the firm I paralegaled at and 1 from an organization I do alot of community service with. Probably hurt me but my grades sucked and I didn't get to know a single prof during UG so there was no one else. If you are near your undergrad I'd shoot an email to a prof that gave you a good grade in a small class (so they remember you).

[rinkrat19]

Hi guys. Complete noob at law school admissions here.

I'm currently working as a corporate paralegal at one of the top law firms in the US. I was wondering if this would help me out a lot with getting in one of the T14s since my undergrad GPA is pretty low (gpa of 3.3 at top school i.e. harvard/yale/stanford. math major). I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but I do extremely well on standardized tests so I'm hoping to get a score around 177+.

Basically,
I did math undergrad at top 5 university. GPA of 3.3. Corporate paralegal work experience at top 5 law firm in the US. And let us suppose that I had an LSAT score of 177.


My Questions:
1) Will the work experience help me enough to somehow compensate for my low GPA? I know that GPA is like king in law school admissions and my GPA is extremely low for the T14s.
2) Do I need recommendation letters from profs or can I just get all my recs from people at work?
3) Do I even have a chance at getting into one of the T14s even if I were to get an LSAT score of 177+?
4) How many years of work experience is considered a good length? 2 years? 4 years? AKA how many years should I work before applying?

Thanks a lot for helping out a noob.

2 years WE and a high LSAT will get you into NU pretty much regardless of GPA. You really don't need to work though IF you hit 177 plus. You will get into T14 schools with a 3.3 177.

Is this because NYU doesn't care much about the GPA and cares more about the LSAT score or what?

And does work experience matter that little?

And what should I do about my recs? I currently live/work near my undergrad school so I guess I can try to meet/talk to some profs there to get recs from them but idk really.

He said NU (Northwestern), not NYU. Northwestern almost requires at least a year of post-undergrad work experience, and will sometimes accept a slightly lower GPA if a person has sufficiently distanced themself from undergrad with good work experience and a good LSAT. (I know of a sub-3.0, 175+ who got into NU this year.)

Go to http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com and http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/ and use them to figure out which T14 schools would be likely to accept you with a 3.3/177.

But when you say you do "extremely well" on standardized testing, I hope you realize what you're saying...a 177 is the top 0.2% of all LSAT takers. Top 10%, which is still arguably doing "extremely well," is only a 164. Until you have a real score, that 177 is just hypothetical.

I used two professional LORs when I applied to NU, but I've been out of school for 8+ years and there's no way any of my professors would remember me. Most schools prefer academic LORs, especially if you graduated at all recently.

[hereyago]

Hi guys. Complete noob at law school admissions here.

I'm currently working as a corporate paralegal at one of the top law firms in the US. I was wondering if this would help me out a lot with getting in one of the T14s since my undergrad GPA is pretty low (gpa of 3.3 at top school i.e. harvard/yale/stanford. math major). I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but I do extremely well on standardized tests so I'm hoping to get a score around 177+.

Basically,
I did math undergrad at top 5 university. GPA of 3.3. Corporate paralegal work experience at top 5 law firm in the US. And let us suppose that I had an LSAT score of 177.


My Questions:
1) Will the work experience help me enough to somehow compensate for my low GPA? I know that GPA is like king in law school admissions and my GPA is extremely low for the T14s.
2) Do I need recommendation letters from profs or can I just get all my recs from people at work?
3) Do I even have a chance at getting into one of the T14s even if I were to get an LSAT score of 177+?
4) How many years of work experience is considered a good length? 2 years? 4 years? AKA how many years should I work before applying?

Thanks a lot for helping out a noob.

2 years WE and a high LSAT will get you into NU pretty much regardless of GPA. You really don't need to work though IF you hit 177 plus. You will get into T14 schools with a 3.3 177.

Is this because NYU doesn't care much about the GPA and cares more about the LSAT score or what?

And does work experience matter that little?

And what should I do about my recs? I currently live/work near my undergrad school so I guess I can try to meet/talk to some profs there to get recs from them but idk really.

NU, not NYU. NU just has a hard on for WE and LSAT, its their schtick.

I used 2 recs, one from the firm I paralegaled at and 1 from an organization I do alot of community service with. Probably hurt me but my grades sucked and I didn't get to know a single prof during UG so there was no one else. If you are near your undergrad I'd shoot an email to a prof that gave you a good grade in a small class (so they remember you).

Sorry about the NU/NYU thing. I'm a pretty big noob when it comes to law school stuff.

Thanks for the help though. I will prep for the LSAT and do some networking at my school to meet and get to know some profs.

Is it usually just 3 recs that are required or what?

[splitmuch]

Sorry about the NU/NYU thing. I'm a pretty big noob when it comes to law school stuff.

Thanks for the help though. I will prep for the LSAT and do some networking at my school to meet and get to know some profs.

Is it usually just 3 recs that are required or what?

Usually 2 required, alot preferred 3. I only used 2.

[hereyago]

Hi guys. Complete noob at law school admissions here.

I'm currently working as a corporate paralegal at one of the top law firms in the US. I was wondering if this would help me out a lot with getting in one of the T14s since my undergrad GPA is pretty low (gpa of 3.3 at top school i.e. harvard/yale/stanford. math major). I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but I do extremely well on standardized tests so I'm hoping to get a score around 177+.

Basically,
I did math undergrad at top 5 university. GPA of 3.3. Corporate paralegal work experience at top 5 law firm in the US. And let us suppose that I had an LSAT score of 177.


My Questions:
1) Will the work experience help me enough to somehow compensate for my low GPA? I know that GPA is like king in law school admissions and my GPA is extremely low for the T14s.
2) Do I need recommendation letters from profs or can I just get all my recs from people at work?
3) Do I even have a chance at getting into one of the T14s even if I were to get an LSAT score of 177+?
4) How many years of work experience is considered a good length? 2 years? 4 years? AKA how many years should I work before applying?

Thanks a lot for helping out a noob.

2 years WE and a high LSAT will get you into NU pretty much regardless of GPA. You really don't need to work though IF you hit 177 plus. You will get into T14 schools with a 3.3 177.

Is this because NYU doesn't care much about the GPA and cares more about the LSAT score or what?

And does work experience matter that little?

And what should I do about my recs? I currently live/work near my undergrad school so I guess I can try to meet/talk to some profs there to get recs from them but idk really.

He said NU (Northwestern), not NYU. Northwestern almost requires at least a year of post-undergrad work experience, and will sometimes accept a slightly lower GPA if a person has sufficiently distanced themself from undergrad with good work experience and a good LSAT. (I know of a sub-3.0, 175+ who got into NU this year.)

Go to http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com and http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/ and use them to figure out which T14 schools would be likely to accept you with a 3.3/177.

But when you say you do "extremely well" on standardized testing, I hope you realize what you're saying...a 177 is the top 0.2% of all LSAT takers. Top 10%, which is still arguably doing "extremely well," is only a 164. Until you have a real score, that 177 is just hypothetical.

I used two professional LORs when I applied to NU, but I've been out of school for 8+ years and there's no way any of my professors would remember me. Most schools prefer academic LORs, especially if you graduated at all recently.

Do recs matter a lot when the admissions guys are considering a candidate?

[hereyago]

Sorry about the NU/NYU thing. I'm a pretty big noob when it comes to law school stuff.

Thanks for the help though. I will prep for the LSAT and do some networking at my school to meet and get to know some profs.

Is it usually just 3 recs that are required or what?

Usually 2 required, alot preferred 3. I only used 2.

Do you think your work experience helped you getting into a school of your choice or do you think the school admissions committee didn't even bother to look at your experience?

[splitmuch]

Sorry about the NU/NYU thing. I'm a pretty big noob when it comes to law school stuff.

Thanks for the help though. I will prep for the LSAT and do some networking at my school to meet and get to know some profs.

Is it usually just 3 recs that are required or what?

Usually 2 required, alot preferred 3. I only used 2.

Do you think your work experience helped you getting into a school of your choice or do you think the school admissions committee didn't even bother to look at your experience?

Im going to NU...so ya

[rinkrat19]

He said NU (Northwestern), not NYU. Northwestern almost requires at least a year of post-undergrad work experience, and will sometimes accept a slightly lower GPA if a person has sufficiently distanced themself from undergrad with good work experience and a good LSAT. (I know of a sub-3.0, 175+ who got into NU this year.)

Go to http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com and http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/ and use them to figure out which T14 schools would be likely to accept you with a 3.3/177.

But when you say you do "extremely well" on standardized testing, I hope you realize what you're saying...a 177 is the top 0.2% of all LSAT takers. Top 10%, which is still arguably doing "extremely well," is only a 164. Until you have a real score, that 177 is just hypothetical.

I used two professional LORs when I applied to NU, but I've been out of school for 8+ years and there's no way any of my professors would remember me. Most schools prefer academic LORs, especially if you graduated at all recently.

Do recs matter a lot when the admissions guys are considering a candidate?

From what I've heard, bad recs can kill you, not having recs will kill you, and unless your rec is completely out-of-this-universe-over-the-moon stellar, it won't have a huge effect in the positive direction.

The fact that your work experience is in the legal field probably won't make a huge difference (although it might give you some nice topics for your essay) for law school apps, but it might help a little bit when looking for a legal job after graduation.

[hereyago]

Sorry about the NU/NYU thing. I'm a pretty big noob when it comes to law school stuff.

Thanks for the help though. I will prep for the LSAT and do some networking at my school to meet and get to know some profs.

Is it usually just 3 recs that are required or what?

Usually 2 required, alot preferred 3. I only used 2.

Do you think your work experience helped you getting into a school of your choice or do you think the school admissions committee didn't even bother to look at your experience?

Im going to NU...so ya

Thanks.

And grats.

[hereyago]

He said NU (Northwestern), not NYU. Northwestern almost requires at least a year of post-undergrad work experience, and will sometimes accept a slightly lower GPA if a person has sufficiently distanced themself from undergrad with good work experience and a good LSAT. (I know of a sub-3.0, 175+ who got into NU this year.)

Go to http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com and http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/ and use them to figure out which T14 schools would be likely to accept you with a 3.3/177.

But when you say you do "extremely well" on standardized testing, I hope you realize what you're saying...a 177 is the top 0.2% of all LSAT takers. Top 10%, which is still arguably doing "extremely well," is only a 164. Until you have a real score, that 177 is just hypothetical.

I used two professional LORs when I applied to NU, but I've been out of school for 8+ years and there's no way any of my professors would remember me. Most schools prefer academic LORs, especially if you graduated at all recently.

Do recs matter a lot when the admissions guys are considering a candidate?

From what I've heard, bad recs can kill you, not having recs will kill you, and unless your rec is completely out-of-this-universe-over-the-moon stellar, it won't have a huge effect in the positive direction.

The fact that your work experience is in the legal field probably won't make a huge difference (although it might give you some nice topics for your essay) for law school apps, but it might help a little bit when looking for a legal job after graduation.

man that is pretty shitty. i better just start prepping for the lsat then.

[splitmuch]

man that is pretty shitty. i better just start prepping for the lsat then.

Yep, will be the single most important part of your application, and at this point is the only thing you can really control.