Top Law Schools

How much more difficult is it to go T-14 (or T-30 for that matter) straight out of undergrad, as opposed to 1-2 years or more WE out of undergrad?

For example, would you need to be in the respective school's 75th percentile on both GPA and LSAT to gain admittance right out of your UG?

WE means zip at 99.9% of schools in 99.9% of cases. You'd be surprised how many students with 0 WE get into T30 and T14.

kdw94780 wrote:[strike]WE means zip at 99.9% of schools in 99.9% of cases.[/strike] You'd be surprised how many students with 0 WE get into T30 and T14.

ftfy

Except for Northwestern, most schools don't require work experience. However, it can be helpful to have a few years of work experience to separate you from a subpar GPA.

Moxie wrote:Except for Northwestern, most schools don't require work experience. However, it can be helpful to have a few years of work experience to separate you from a subpar GPA.

Credited. NU is the only school where you really need to have work experience. It can definitely help you otherwise though. If you are a traditional splitter, solid WE can really be a big difference maker.

It's definitely possible to get into a T-14 straight out of UG (as evidenced by many individuals on this board). However, for applicants applying to the top schools, having work experience/a grad degree/something after undergrad will certainly help. I heard this straight from admissions deans of top schools (there was a forum that was held at my undergrad), and the average age of incoming law students at top schools (usually between 24 and 25) seems to corroborate this notion (although, there are other reasons that the incoming age of students is this high).

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Even Northwestern doesn't actually require WE, it's just looked on favorably. I applied straight out of UG and got in, as did my roommate as well as a guy in my fraternity.

While WE may look good and help a borderline candidate get in, I really don't think it matters much unless you've done something really exceptional (started a company, teach for america, green peace, published a work, etc.).

Hope this makes sense.

JWicker10 wrote:Even Northwestern doesn't actually require WE, it's just looked on favorably. I applied straight out of UG and got in, as did my roommate as well as a guy in my fraternity.

Then why did NU enroll only 5-6 students with no WE in their most recent class of 272? The CW is that applicants with no WE need almost CCN numbers to get into NU, and even then they often require you to defer a year.

im_blue wrote:

JWicker10 wrote:Even Northwestern doesn't actually require WE, it's just looked on favorably. I applied straight out of UG and got in, as did my roommate as well as a guy in my fraternity.

Then why did NU enroll only 5-6 students with no WE in their most recent class of 272? The CW is that applicants with no WE need almost CCN numbers to get into NU, and even then they often require you to defer a year.

Let me help you with this:

required: 0 students with no WE
favorable: 5-6 students with no WE

I don't know what to tell you, I got in with no WE and no interview. As did my roommate and a friend. My roommate and I both did have CCN numbers, considering we are both going to a school in that bracket. My friend chose Penn.

My roommate and friend were both also offered substantial scholarships if they were willing to defer a year and work. Thus, my opinion that WE is looked on favorably but not required--at least from my experience with the school this past cycle.