Admit One: Vault's MBA, Law School and College Blog

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Surge in Online Applications for Federal Clerkships

The Blog of the Legal Times reported on Friday that the number of applications for federal clerkships has increased 66 percent from last year. Using the online federal clerkship application, 10,722 recent law graduates and graduating 3Ls applied for an average of 38 clerkship positions each. That's 401,576 applications overall--a big jump from 241,529 applications last year, when 7,556 students averaged 31 job applications each.

In this economy, BigLaw and public sector jobs are hard to find for newly-minted JDs. Because of their relative stability, clerkships seem like a safe Plan B. As HLS clerkship advisor Kristen Solberg told Legal Times, "Clerkships have been relatively stable as an alternative and are attracting people who had not previously considered them." In fact, the clerkship application website registered a 42 percent increase in the number of individual applicants from last year.

Because of the rise in applications, competition will be steep for clerkships this year. Only 1,244 open clerkships were posted on the application website, so about 9,478 applicants will have to consider Plan C.

Government Internships Aren't Just for Aspiring Politicians

Ever wondered what it's really like to work for the government? Get a behind-the-scenes look at how decisions are made by interning for a national, state or local government office. And government interns aren't just for policy wonks and president wannabes. While positions in fields like advertising, marketing and publishing are hard to come by today, applicants who turn their attention to internships with government agencies may have an easier time finding openings. Unlike many industries that are struggling during the current economic times, the government is still looking for qualified candidates, and not just those who want to be the next great political figure.

Several government agencies and lobbying organizations across the country feature internship programs for students of all ages, including the Rhode Island State Government, Arms Control Association and the Connecticut Judicial Branch, just to name a few. Interns at these and other such organizations get the chance to attend Congressional hearings, work on political campaigns and even perform litigation. For any student interested in applying to law school, an internship in one of these prestigious offices is bound to get you noticed.

If law isn't your thing, positions are also available with parks departments, correctional facilities and international embassies. With responsibilities as varied as handling press relations, designing websites or analyzing budgets, there is bound to be a position that suits every student's interest. Plus, you don't have to be a political science major to score one of these top internships, nor must you plan to pursue a career in a government agency. Working in analytical chemistry for the FBI is great experience for a career in the sciences, drafting press releases for the French Embassy Press and Communication Office can be your entry into the PR industry and assisting economists at the Federal Reserve is a great launch pad for a career in finance.

But if you're considering an internship at a government agency or NGO, you'd better start applying soon. Government internship programs often have early deadlines, so start your search in the fall before the summer you plan to intern and be sure to get your application in on time. To help begin your search, below is a list of some top government internship programs whose deadlines are fast approaching.

Program:	Deadline:
Australian Embassy	December 10th
Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia	December 11th
United States Secret Service	December 15th
Federal Reserve Bank of New York	January 31st
The White House	February 7th

-Posted by Rebecca Zissou

While I Was Out...

A lot was written about the law school world when I was at home battling swine flu. Here's a quick round-up:

Above the Law posted a rundown of the University of California law school tuition hikes. UC Berkeley School of Law, UC Davis School of Law, UCLA School of Law and UCI Law instituted in-state tuition increases of 12 to 21.2 percent for the 2010-2011 school year, and they will continue to raise tuition by at least 5 percent through 2012-2013. Out-of-state tuition will increase more steadily over the next three years. The schools say they'll use the money for financial aid and faculty salaries.

The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog got a sneak peek at the Super Lawyers Top Law Schools ranking. The ranking is based on the number of super lawyers from each school--in other words, the number of "quality" lawyers produced. Not surprisingly, Harvard Law School came out on top. The Law Blog points out that because Super Lawyers' methodology is limited to counting the number of graduates, class size isn't taken into consideration, and smaller schools like Yale Law School or Stanford Law School may have been at a disadvantage.

On Tuesday, Super Lawyers released the full list. Check it out: Super Lawyers U.S. Law School Rankings.

The University of Massachusetts president announced that the university has approved the absorption of the Southern New England School of Law, which would create the first public law school in the Massachusetts. From MSN, the next step for the proposal is for it to be reviewed by the UMass Committee on Academic and Student Affairs, its Committee on Administration and Finance and, finally, by the UMass Board of Trustees in December. One step closer!

Finally, the University of Chicago Law School opened a time capsule from 1958. Enclosed were 13 letters from prominent scholars, U.S. Supreme Court justices and the then-publisher of The New York Times. The letters are on display at the law school. The law school is now working on a time capsule to be opened in 2059.

MBA Applicant Profile: The Planner

A few months ago, before the admissions season got into full swing, we posted the first in a series of MBA applicant profiles. Our hope is that by reading about what choices other applicants made and how they made them, you'll be better equipped to make your own business school decisions when the time comes. In these interviews, we ask prospective students at different places in the admissions process about their experiences. The first post of the series profiled J, an applicant working at a nonprofit who was gearing up to start his applications. Now that round one deadlines are behind us, it's time for our second installment.

S is a "traditional" MBA applicant from the finance industry. With more than five years of work experience and a CFA under his belt, he knows exactly why he's pursuing an MBA and how the degree fits into his career path. In this economy, many students are looking to graduate programs like business school as a safe harbor to wait out the storm. S isn't one of them: The recession didn't play into his decision one bit. S took his time on each part of the admissions process, from deciding to go to business school to writing his application essays. And to make sure he chose not just the perfect degree but also the perfect school, he visited every school he applied to. "Fit" isn't just a buzz word here!

Vault: What do you do?

S: Brokerage new product development.

Vault: How long have you been in the workforce?

S: Five and a half years.

Vault: Why did you decide to apply to business school? When did you decide it was the right plan?

S: As a CFA charter-holder, I have a strong quantitative background, but felt I would greatly benefit from the strategic decision making and management education at business school. I had been considering business school as long as two years ago but decided this summer to apply for fall 2010.

Vault: How has the economy affected your decision to apply to business school?

S: Not at all.

Vault: How do you plan to use the MBA in your future career?

S: I will have worked in the financial world for six years by the time I go back to school. While I have great experience within the industry, I wanted to broaden my knowledge base and be surrounded by people from all different backgrounds. My current plan is to work for a few years after graduation in management consulting.

Vault: You just finished applying to MBA programs. Which programs did you apply to?

S: HBS, MIT Sloan, Kellogg, Chicago Booth, Stanford GSB and Berkeley Haas.

Vault: Why did you choose those school?

S: I applied to schools in the top 10 that have strong general management programs and are located in major metropolitan areas outside N.Y.

Vault: What influenced your decision to apply in the first round?

S: I had made the decision to apply far enough in advance that there was no reason to delay. I also heard that it is advisable to do so if possible.

Vault: What was the hardest part of your applications?

S: The essays required me to deeply evaluate everything about myself--work experience, personal goals, future career plans--in order to properly convey it in my applications.

Each school’s essays are different enough that you need to completely re-write or re-work essays you may already have written for one school when applying to another.

Vault: How did you prepare for the GMAT?

S: I bought a book from Kaplan and self-studied for a few months. Although I found the material prepared me well for the GMAT, I found that the Kaplan sample exam scoring was inconsistent at best. As a result, it affected my confidence going into the exam.

Vault: With your applications behind you, do you have any advice to offer future applicants?

S: You hear a lot of talk about “fit,” and I didn’t appreciate how true it was until I had visited each school. I would strongly recommend that applicants visit each school (in session!) if at all possible. They all tend to look the same online, but each has its unique aspects and culture.

Top Law Schools for Super Lawyers 2009

Super Lawyers--a magazine that ranks the top U.S. lawyers (or "super lawyers") and covers different legal industry trends--recently released its lists of the 2009 top law schools for producing super lawyers. To make the lists, the magazine ranked the super lawyers by state and then used their alma maters to compile the top 10 law schools for each state.

Unfortunately, because Super Lawyers only ranks the schools by state (with the exception of the New York metro area), students don't get a sense of where the strongest alumni network for their school really is. If they were ranked by city, students could see where their school had the most successful lawyers. For students interested in NYC, I've included the top 10 law schools for producing super lawyers in the New York metro area below. Not surprisingly, NYU Law and Columbia produce the most NYC super lawyers. The only out-of-state law schools with a high number of super lawyer alumni in NYC are Harvard, Yale, Georgetown and Penn Law.

Top 10 Law Schools in New York Metro Super Lawyers 2009

Rank	Law School	Graduates	Percent of Total
1	New York University School of Law	561	14
2	Columbia Law School	491	12
3	Harvard Law School	425	11
4	Fordham University School of Law	292	7
5	Brooklyn Law School	237	6
6	Yale Law School	169	4
7	St. John's University School of Law	166	4
8	Georgetown University Law Center	129	3
9	University of Pennsylvania Law School	103	3
10	Hofstra University School of Law	95	2

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