The "D" Word

Debt. A nebulous, but sobering reality that has been consuming my thoughts lately. Plus, the recent stats about law school don't help.

"The average law school indebtedness of 2012 law school graduates with debt was $108,293 [each]," according to a US News and World Report article. 

But I'll easily make it all back right? Well, actually the average starting salary for about half of new lawyers is between 45,000 to 65,000, but loan payments usually range from the $500-$1000 which hurts the take-home salary quite a bit. Throw in the fact that roughly only half of law school graduates from any given school (unless it's Harvard or Yale) graduate and get a job that requires a law degree anyway. 

The numbers are depressing. Most blogs you read on the internet are fairly negative about law school and about the job prospects for lawyers. 

So I have to ask myself, is going to law school worth it?  


I can't really know until afterward. It is a risk, but one I'm willing to take in order to achieve what I want to do. Law school isn't a "I have no idea what I want to do with my life, so i'll just go to law school" option for me. Law IS what I want to do. So, I'm just going to work hard and use every opportunity available in order to not be another sad statistic. 

But if you're unsure about whether you want to go to law school, all the experts say, "Don't!" It's a big decision and comes with financial risk. 

Visiting is Vital

One thing the experts emphasize is visiting the school before you make a final decision. I couldn't agree more. A school could look really nice on paper, but it's the intangibles that can really make or break a decision.

Tips for Visiting:

• Call ahead and set-up an official time
• Leave early 
• Dress professionally
• Come with questions
• Talk to the students
• Take time to explore the surrounding area if possible
• Write thank you notes after the visit 

My Visiting Experience:

I went on one law school visit and was considering it as a viable option. But from the very beginning the tour was unorganized and the building looked like a prison (not somewhere I want to spend 3 years of my life in!). The library was small and did not have much study space available, and the overall impression did not make me want to add it to the top of my pro/con list. But if I hadn't gone and visited I would not have been able to see all those factors because they weren't available online.

Likewise, I've had great experiences as well. One in particular I thoroughly enjoyed because not only was the visit day organized superbly, I ended up making a friend. I happened to be getting there last minute (because surprise, I got lost) and sat towards the back next to this girl. We got to talking during a break, and ended up having a lot in common! If I decide to go to that law school, I could even have her as a potential roommate now. I was also able to talk with students that day and get their impressions of the school, things they liked and internships they had as well as getting to talk with some of the faculty.

One thing I've realized throughout this is that I'm not alone. Friends and family are eager to help me with the process. For example, I had one friend mention she had a friend who went to a law school I was considering. She talked with him, and I was able to meet up with him when I visited the school and get a good feel for the school from a student's perspective (who was not a paid tour guide). Use those connections whenever possible because they can offer valuable insight! Likewise, I hope to be able to return the kindness everyone has shown me someday to prospective law students.

8 Tips for an Outstanding Application

Most law schools don't offer interviews. So it's important to make sure that your application is outstanding, since they can't meet the lovely you in person. 

Here's my Top 8 List for Outstanding Applications, compiled from all my research.

1. Start Early. This process can take awhile, and you don't want to rush and risk the chance of messing up. Remember the personal statement saga? DON'T be that person. Also the earlier you finish the earlier you could hear back. Many schools do rolling admissions, so you could potentially be in the first batch of applicants and hear back sooner.
2. LOR Do's and Don'ts. Letters of Recommendation, ask early for them. They are busy people, make sure you give them plenty of time to write the essays. Pick people who actually know you. Every book and admissions counselor I talked to said they would prefer to have have 1) Professors because they would know best whether you could handle the academic rigors of law school and 2) Bosses who know your character and work ethic. They said skip the lawyer friends of Daddy who don't really know you that well.  
3. Take the LSAT in JUNE. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. June is the best time to take the LSAT. And it's not just me, the experts think so too.
4. NO spelling and grammar errors. You want to convey the idea that you are a professional. Spelling and grammar errors show that you aren't ready for a professional career because you can't even take the time to adequately proof your application. My advice? Work on it. Leave it alone for a day, and then come back. Particularly aspects like your resume and personal statement, I would have those proofed by professors, editing savvy friends and Career Services.
5. Closing Personalized Paragraph. At the end of my personal statement for each school, I would include a school-specific paragraph. It may sound like more work, but from the admissions counselors I've talked to, it makes you stand out. So research each school, find a program or qualities it emphasizes and write about it. And this is the part where you convince them that by having you there, you would benefit from it, but you would also be able to contribute towards the school. 
6. Law Specific Resume. One of the ways I tried to have my resume stand out was by making a law-specific category. Why? Well it shows that 1) Law school isn't a last resort, or whim, that it's something I've pursued and thought out. 2) It helps them see that I have had internships and shadowing, so I know a little bit about the legal profession 3) It helps them as admissions boards, when reading through countless resumes, read it a little easier because they don't have to try and pick out the law-specific parts on their own.
7. Attend a Law School Forum. I attended one in Chicago (a little late, because I got hopelessly lost for an hour). It's a great experience! I got to talk to every admissions counselor from the schools I wanted to go to. I was able to ask them specific questions, and get their contact information. Later I sent follow-up emails thanking them for their time. 
8. Highlight leadership and education in Resume. Avoid ANYTHING from high school though. Use active verbs to show how you excelled in various areas. Highlight any academic honors. 

Too Personal

It's August. I'm about to head back to school and all my lofty goals of getting everything done for applications are thwarted. Why? Well, because most applications were not even open until mid-September and . . . the personal statement.

It sounds innocuous, right? Just write an essay explaining to a school why it should accept you. WRONG! At least for me, this was the most stressful, pain-staking part. At one point, in a half-crazed, half-desperate mood, I almost signed up for a professional service that evaluated personal statements and cost almost my entire summer's income. The only thing that prevented me was that I had exactly one fragment: "I am a qualified candidate for law school because . . ." so I had nothing to even be evaluated yet. (Don't worry, I changed my riveting opening sentence later)

I didn't know how to proceed. The unknown of where to begin paralyzed me, eating up my precious summer free time I had previously set aside to work on the daunting essay about myself.

The issue was I had to convince the admissions board that I was a highly qualified candidate, stood out from the rest without being weird or obnoxious, informed them about my skills and abilities without sounding like an arrogant jerk and keeping in mind that this is the only "interview" that I will have with the school.

So I did what anyone would do in my situation, I avoided it. I immersed myself in the new school year. Soon, it was mid-September. The applications opened, and I began to eagerly fill out the applications online, skipping right over the Personal Statement Addendum.

Finally, my avoiding caught up to me. I had decided to visit one of my top schools, and they suggested I complete my application before I came. "No problem," I said. Inwardly, kicking myself for not getting my personal statement done before then. But, it motivated me. I scheduled an appointment with my school's Career Services to review my essay, then pulled a very late night in order to at least get a rough draft out.

And it was rough. But at least I finally had something down. Meeting with Career Services helped me too, and I highly recommend having them help you not only with resumes, but with any sort of written application essays. They helped me organize my thoughts, figure out what to focus on, and how to say it without coming across like Jared Franklin from TNT's "Franklin and Bash."

Long, whiny story short, I got it done. I had a completed essay, with every comma in place. And then I read the fine print. 500 words only. While most schools gave a 1-2 page limit, this school said 500 words. So I had to, as British author Arthur Quiller-Couch so poignantly wrote, "murder my darlings." (Murdering darlings means to edit your writing, even if you love what you wrote, in order to shorten/tighten it.)*

In my last desperate attempt at this dreaded thing called a personal statement, I murdered over 300 darlings in a merciless bout of editing. And with that, my personal statement saga was finally over. I survived and became a better writer for it. But heed my warning, DO NOT put it off. Leave plenty of time for revisions so you can honestly answer a school with "No problem," and not loose a wink of sleep over it.

*Excerpt From: Roy Peter Clark. “Writing Tools.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/5wttv.l

Next Post: Specific tips on standing out, personalizing your application and resume organization

You Have to Start Somewhere

So I plan on going to law school, but how do I get there?

Well first, as any good journalism student, I interviewed people. I talked to friends of friends who were in law school. I talked to professors at school in the History and Government program, I talked to other students wanting to be lawyers, and I talked to actual lawyers. This whole interviewing process was very helpful. I was able to make some great contacts and get a variety of helpful advice and opinions.

Second, I job shadowed. Before I made this kind of huge career commitment, I wanted to make sure I would like it. I shadowed a variety of lawyers in different areas of law. My favorite though was when I shadowed a judge (who was a woman btw). I looked forward to getting up early (which if you know me is unusual) every week to go and observe, learn and help out. It solidified my decision to pursue law school, particularly in criminal law.

Third, I took the LSAT in June before my senior year. SO glad I did that. I started preparing in late January of that year, but was able to still have an entire month to devote solely to studying once I was done. I took it again in October and regretted doing that 1) because I had mono and 2) because it was more out of pride than out of necessity since my first score was good.

Finally, I sought the wisdom of the written word. I went to our school’s library and checked out all the books remotely related to law school (and one about the first women lawyers for inspiration). It was an obscene amount, requiring an extra bag just to carry them all. But they helped. Now, don’t go thinking I’m some super star. I didn't actually read them all, just specific chapters. I also looked at blogs and official websites like LSAC as well as websites of schools I wanted to apply to.

The end result? Well . . . come back soon to find out!




Next Week: Join me as I go more in-depth into the steps of the application process.

Just Like Elle Woods...

Sophomore year of college I decided for sure that I wanted to go to law school. People's reactions were usually supportive, followed by,

"Oh you're just like Elle Woods!"

Yes, thank you. That is why I made the difficult decision to go to law school - to be like Elle Woods. 

But after hearing that sentiment over and over and over. . . I've grown to embrace it. So maybe Legally Blonde is a slightly ridiculous movie about a "dumb blonde" who goes to Harvard Law school. But you know what? She made it. And she succeeded against all odds, so why shouldn't I want to follow that example of hard work and dedication? 

Like Elle, I’m going to embrace who I am. I'm someone who has a passion to pursue a career in law in order to help people someday. Someone who can be serious and enjoys a good debate. But I'm also someone who has blonde hair and likes bedazzled and colorful things.

All sides are fully me, and I’m not going to try and separate who I am in order to try and fit some preconceived “lawyer mold” that I think is necessary for success. And while I won't ever carry around a little dog in my purse, I may on occasion wear pink. 

And I need to look on the bright side; there are worse things to be compared to than Reese Witherspoon.