| Topic Name: |
beating a dead horse GPA/LSAT |
| Message Name: |
:) |
| Date Posted: |
11/04/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
It's true, being a paralegal will shrink your law school grants. Being a paralegal will, however, give you some perspective on things, and let you relax a bit before 1L. Never hurts.
Now, as for whether being a paralegal helps your application, you need to look at it in the context of two applicants being compared. Two applicants who are equal in terms of academics (gpa/lsat, because we all know that's the only thing that gets you in the door). After your scores get you in the door, the rest of your application (resume, community activities, etc) can make the difference. So, if your point was that being a paralegal will not make up for poor or moderate LSAT scores, you're absolutely right. But having that experience can be attractive when you are neck and neck with someone who has a 3.7 and 172, and a similar academic background.
With respect to your third point concerning being a paralegal, you are absolutely correct. You may as well forget about ever working when applying to BIGLAW firms, because all they care about is how well you took your exams during 1L.
as for your postscript, you're funny; I laughed out loud when I read that. I wasn't laughing with you, though ;) |
| Message: |
I too laughed at the postscript, as a lowly second tier-er with a nice biglaw job lined up. I know that my school values work experience, they make a big deal out of highlighting how many of us had careers before law schools. But by career, they usually mean at least 3 years of post-college experience,not a year of figuring out what to do.
Also, the hiring partner at my firm told me that he likes when applicants have job experience before law school, because when they hire summer associates who have never really worked, they tend to make a lot of the kinds of mistakes people make when they have never been in a professional environment, and students who are older tend to be more serious and less arrogant.
And I did work during my 1L year, out of pure economic necessity. I had no life, but I still did very well.
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