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Employment Prospects Survey |
| Full-time law program |
1. Come in with impressive undergrad credentials (preferably an engineering
degree if you really want to ensure getting a job).
2. Think about working for a year or two before law school (some employers
really like this, and it also helps you have something to talk about in
interviews).
3. Find something - anything - to do after your 1L year.
4. GET THE BEST GRADES POSSIBLE!!!
5. Try to score an award in Legal Writing.
6. Get on a journal, preferable Law Review.
If you follow these steps, especially getting great 1L grades and getting on Law
Review, you can expect to be interviewing on-campus with many of the very best
firms in the country. Be a personable interviewer with confidence and lots of
good questions, and you'll get an amazing job anywhere you want.
But...
Lose out on some of those steps, and you may start to struggle. Really, grades
and Law Review are the most important. Make sure you get in the Top 25% after
year 1. Most firms doing On-Campus make that their cut-off for interviews. The
school is really more prestigious with employers than you might think, and there
are some firms out there with great Minnesota grads carrying the flag, but don't
expect a free ride into a high-paying job. This isn't Harvard, Yale, or Stanford.
The Minneapolis legal market is a good one, but it is second-tier nationally. It
isn't a market like Chicago, and the school has a lot of work to do in attracting
Chicago firms on-campus (this is probably the career program's weakest point).
Many of the best Minneapolis firms also expect to (and do) get the best students
from here. Don't expect to slack off and just "settle" for a job with Dorsey or
Faegre (the top two MN firms). They will laugh in your face. You slack off and
you'll be mourning your career prospects.
Now, all of that said, relax a little. This is a well-respected school, and you
will get a job. But don't expect the Career Services Office ("CSO") to get one
for you. They are woefully understaffed, with really just two people serving some
800 students. In all honesty, they are going to have a grade cut-off too. They
are going to be better able to help people with good grades. If you have bad
grades, a lot is going to depend on your connections, hustle, and outside work.
If you are in the third quartile, what is the CSO going to do for you? They can't
call a top firm and tell them to hire you. In other words, the more work you do
in getting good grades and on law Review, the less you will have to di in trying
to hustle a job.
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University of Minnesota Law School Admission & Application Surveys
