hello,

i initially planned to apply after a two-year work stint but right now I'm thinking if I can apply for the 2007-2008 school year with only a year out of law school tucked under my belt. (I'm currently a judicial clerk in a foreign country)

Will it affect my chances to schools such as NYU, Columbia, Harvard, Berkeley, seeing that they usually get people who have had substantial work experience?

Thanks much.

I believe your academic credentials and study objectives are much more important that your work experience. Only exception would be those law schools (like Stanford) that state that they require substantial work experience.

Hi

I applied this fall even before I graduated. I just finished my first law degree some weeks ago. Will go to Harvard now. I believe that, as T. said, credentials and study goals are more important than work experience. But work experience plays a role. However, they usually don't - well, they souldn't... - expect people with a lot of work experience. You have one year and that is good. Don't waste your time trying to collect more assets to enrich your application. Go for it!

HI ppl!!!! I m from India ...my biggest query is that wht these top 15 law schools looking for.....i have good grades(68%)...hold good rank(top7) in mi class...but not much experience...though good curricular activities...like one moot n one law clerkship..etc.....i dont wana spend much on admission fees ..i wud like to apply to those univs whr i hav chances of admission..but how to knw thtt....plz helppppppppppppppp!!!!!

hey quirious lawyer and others,
I am from India too. Which college did you go to? I went to the Kerala Law academy and I have been workig in a law firm in Bangalore sine the time i graduated in 2005. I have begun my application process. How may colleges are you guys appying to? Are u focussing on UK or US? I am intersted more in UK. You dont have to pay the application fee to many of the colleges in US, if you can state the reason for not doing so.

Though working experience is one of many important factors in appling to a good lawschool, it is not a determinative factor. I can tell you that because I am studying in a Top 5 lawschool in the US without any experience.--> I mean no experience at all....!

So show your other abilities or profiles you have...do your best. Cheers!

I,also, with no experience, can study in one of ivy league lawschool.

It is possible to be admitted at a top Ivy school like Harvard, Yale or Penn with no working experience.

I believe the question concerned admission to an LL.M. program and not a J.D. program. As far as J.D. programs go, pretty much everyone who applies has very limited work experience. Therefore, there is not much weight placed on an applicant's work experience in J.D. admissions. However, that is not exactly true for LL.M. programs.

The top LL.M. programs (Yale, Harvard, Stanford, etc.) put a pretty considerable amount of weight on work experience. You don't have to have 10 years of practice under your belt, but you don't want to be fresh out of law school either. I will be applying to Yale's LL.M. next year, which means I will only have 1 year of work experience. This is not ideal.

However, the length of time spent in the "real world" is not as important as what you were doing during that time. A solid judicial clerkship is the perfect way to go. One year clerking for a federal judge will typically place you ahead of those with many more years of experience in firm practice.

Just remember, the big LL.M. schools are hard to get in even for those with the best credentials. So if you aren't accepted, don't give up. There is always next year. Good luck.

Interesting theory. But it is inconsistent with the facts. I got into Harvard with zero work experience - applied as an undergrad... work experience weights, of course, but it is not very important. There is no fixed menu. You must have a good bundle of assets to get into a top law school and that's it. The problem is that the younger you are the less are your chances of having outstanding credentials.

Hi Gar33,

Globally, I agree with you. I also remember an old post of yours because I was quite impressed saying pretty much that you had a little work experience like lecturing overseas and working for OECD and world bank or something. At 22, you can be proud of what you have already accomplished! :-)

My opinion is that this could perhaps not be considered as zero work experience, but, of course, to answer the question initially asked in this thread, it may not qualify as a work experience gained after completion a first law degree, as some LS (SLS, CLS) require it.

Congrats for your admission at HLS.

Regards,

-JC-

Ricey!

As you might recall, I applied to Harvard after graduation, though I did get several months' experience in the interim because of the differences in school calendars. There are a good number of people here fresh out of law school, and you have some European students age 20 to 22.

I do believe admissions would think clerking for a Supreme Court justice is sexxxxyyyyyyyy...

Ricey, btw, e-mail me and I'll help you with your application.

This is the question I have to deal with like you. I am in my last year at law school and want to apply before graduation for 2007 fall. I don't have any work experience but my resume is pretty good, full of with international study experiences. On the other hand, my GPA is very low : 2,8/4. Last thing, I have a really very good letter of recommendation written by a professor teaching at Harvard Law School and Boston University (she considers me as one of her top students). Do you think I have any chances to get acceptance from top law schools? Or am i killing my chances for the next year? Thank you very much!!

Hi guys i m in last year of my law school and what r the chances to be accepted at this stage i have good grades and academic record
Hfaiz

hi gar..m in the fianl yr f law..no work experience..would dt b a handicap?

also, i need some one to help me wd my personal statement....its an SOS...

also, i need some one to help me wd my personal statement....its an SOS...

I totally agree with you Sunaj.. It's more frustrating while you are expecting to see a reply for your question :)
I am still looking forward to hearing your replies.. thanks a lot!

Hi..I am sure that you can see that i have joined llm-guide on 19 october and the "post" was submitted on 21 october...thus I am sure it is understandable..NEWAYS,,i stand corrected..