The Value of Internships in Applying to Law School

During my first phone consultation with prospective law school admission consulting clients, often a parent or applicant will tell me they've had "great internships." These invariably include things like UC-DC programs, interning with a Member of Congress (which really just means answering calls and giving tours of the Capitol building, right?), or perhaps something in the business world like being a marketing and promotions intern for a sports company (which is really just throwing t-shirts into a crowd).

So, where do internships come into play when building the strengths of a law school application?

1. Internships are better than working at the GAP. Unless, of course, you had to work at the GAP to pay your rent and tuition. Then, working at the GAP - if explained the right way in your application - shows a lot more about you than an internship would.

2. On the other hand, an internship in a law-related field shows you are not just applying to law school to avoid looking for a job.

3. It's even better, however, to have had 2 or 3 internships in quasi-related fields. If you've had 2-3 internships in totally (seemingly) unrelated fields (public relations and finance, for example) then it can look like you lack direction and haven't found your stride yet.

The same goes for job history - if you've been out of college for 2-3 years and have held 2-3 jobs that weren't promotions within the same company or industry, then applying to law school can appear insincere - it can look like you're floundering.

How do you counteract some of these assumptions?

First, don't assume your experiences are more amazing than anyone else's. Choose to emphasize your internship in a personal statement only if you learned something specific in a unique situation or were able to contribute meaningfully, or - in the alternative - if you learned something significant from having a negative experience at an internship. Think about what makes the experience interesting because simply having the internship on your resume probably isn't impressive enough to a law school admission officer or law faculty member.

Second, stay away from LORs based on internships unless you did take the lead on a project or acted in some way above and beyond the standard intern. The letter should be written by the person who most closely supervised your work and can add the most substantive detail to the letter, and not necessarily the most famous person in the office.

Law School Letters of Recommendation

I tell my clients that the first thing they should be thinking about right now is letters of recommendation. It takes time to consider the right person, ask them, supply them with the appropriate information and materials, and then you have to wait until that (very busy) person gets around to writing your law school LOR, and then you have to wait even longer for LSDAS to process it.

So, in the spirit of helping with this process, here are 3 of my previous posts that will help you through choosing someone to write your letter of recommendation:
1. A common problem for non-traditional law school applicants is finding the right person to write a letter of rec when you've been out of school for more than a few years and you also don't want your current boss to know you're thinking about leaving for law school. Here's a post with LOR tips for non-traditional law school applicants.
2. A lot of undergrads (especially those at large public universities) really don't have close relationships with their professors. Here's some advice about what to do when you get a lukewarm reception from a professor whom you've asked to write you an LOR.
3. This week alone I've had 3 clients tell me they were considering asking family friends to write LORs. I don't care if the person is your dad's best friend and the mayor, or if the person was a dean at a nearby college, the answer remains the same. It's just not what law schools are looking for in evaluating your potential as a law student and a lawyer. Here is a post about the Family Friend Letter of Rec.

I hope this is helpful. Have a fantastic weekend!

LOR Tips for Non-Traditional Applicants

Pete left me this comment and I wanted to answer his question so more people could benefit from the response:

"Do you have any tips for older folks (30+) who are still working their way through their undergrad degrees on applying to law school? As an evening student with a full-time job, I don't have the same opportunity to build relationships through "face time" with my professors that more "traditional" students have. (Usually everyone's ready to go when class ends at 10PM, the professor included!) I'm sure all hope is not lost, but what alternatives are there?"

First of all, understand that your efforts to get your degree are well appreciated by law schools. They understand that it takes self-financing and additional motivation and hard work to complete a degree while working full time.

Also, a lot of traditional college students suffer from the same lack of "face time" with faculty. It's not just you. You need to think about what else you bring to the table - is there someone from work? A supervisor, a client, a vendor who can speak to your accomplishments and abilities? A community service organization that you've served? Also, remember it's not too late to get to know a professor. If you did well in a class, call up that professor and see if he/she can meet you for coffee and get to know you and whether he/she would be willing to write a letter on your behalf based on your classroom performance.

Your situation is not unique, and law schools are prepared for it. It should help to know that Letters of Rec are the least important area of your application (unless they are terrible, then you are in trouble)....

P.S. The comment below is from a former client, currently attending U. of Florida School of Law. I solicited his input because it sounds like he and Pete are/were in similar circumstances.

LORs Part 2: The Lukewarm Professor

You ask a professor for a Letter of Rec ("LOR"). She hems and haws and sort of turns the responsibility back to you. "You'll need to give me your resume, final draft of your personal statement, and I'm going to Timbuktu tomorrow so it'll be about 6 weeks before I can get to it." she says.



Your response should be as follows:

1. "Thank you so much for making the time to do this for me when you have so much going on. Unfortunately, I really was hoping to have my applications complete in the next four weeks. Perhaps if I'm waitlisted somewhere I could ask you again in the Spring?"

A lukewarm letter "Iz No Gud" as they said in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." I'd rather see you with 2 great letters (and only 2 letters) than 2 great ones and one that says "Jessica was prompt and attended class regularly and her handwriting was legible on all of her exams."

And now that I've posted 2 days in a row on "who should NOT write your LOR", I promise to post a list soon of people who should write your LOR. Check back often and feel free to ask questions on this blog. I'm happy to answer them for the benefit of all readers.

LORs Part 1 - Absolutely No Family Friends

This is a gnarly - but essential - topic. So I'll cover it in several parts.

First, tell all those well-meaning, successful friends of your parents "thanks, but no thanks." Why can't that nice judge who has played golf with your dad for 25 years write a letter? Think about what he might say (because trust me, I've read it) -

As a friend of Joey's father for the past 22 years, I have heard stories of Joey's progress during our weekly golf outings. I have seen Joey grow from a young boy to a college student who is bright and inquisitive. He is unfailingly polite and his parents are very proud of his accomplishments at fill-in-the-blank college. It is my understanding he did very well on his LSATs and that he has been active in community service and in his church. I am confident he will make an outstanding law student.

BLECH. I promise, even if you've been out of school for 10 years and don't want your boss to know you're applying to law school, we can find someone better to write a letter of recommendation for you. Scared of burning a bridge when someone already offered to write a letter? Tell him (if you're applying to the law school he attended) it would be so nice if he might make a phone call on your behalf after your application is complete at the school.

Think about why a letter of recommendation is important: The writer is the only person who gets to talk in your application other than YOU. He/She can say things you can't say about yourself (you'd sound arrogant). Your letter writer must say things about you that he/she knows from personal experience. And the things he/she says must be relevant to your law school application.

I promise to write a lot about this topic this week. It's too much to cover in one post, but I had to start somewhere.