Great of you Paul. considering your achievements, any good school should be proud of admitting you.

you have all the requisities for admission to a good school. you will need write one or two good essays, draft your statement of purpose carefully and secure letters of reference from your faculty. good luck to you my friend; and congratulations on your admirable achievements.

Paul, no offence, but have you ever done anything in your life without having regard to your CV?

Hi Paul,

I think what TiGGer is trying to say is that, regardless of your goals, there comes a point (and it's different for everyone) at which the marginal benefits of 'resume building' are outweighed by the marginal costs in terms of your health and happiness.

The legal world is in many respects a wasteland of bright, ambitious minds who nevertheless fail to find happiness or contentment or make a difference in the world around them. Part of the reason for this is that people dedicate their lives to making other people happy (and make no mistake, resume building falls into this category of behavior) without asking what would make them happy. I am surrounded by some of the world's brightest legal minds (current LLM, future Oxford DPhil) and I am constantly amazed how much time many of my colleagues spend obsessing over what other people think. Viewed in this light, TiGGer's comments I think represent a word of caution and advice: don't live your life within the four corners of your resume.

You are clearly bright and ambitious. Ultimately, you may find that these attributes take you a long way toward achieving your goals, regardless of the content of your CV. In the interim, go enjoy life for everything it has to offer.

Best of luck,

Paddy

A reflection on the same topic from a recent grad of #1 ranked Princeton College, now in her first year at #1 ranked Yale Law:

Best and Brightest, but Not the Nicest
By Amelia Rawls
Thursday, May 1, 2008; A19
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/30/AR2008043003263_pf.html

Today is the deadline for high school students around the country to formally notify their colleges of choice that they will be matriculating in the fall. For my family, the application process this year was a happy one -- my younger sister was accepted at an Ivy League school. I was thrilled for her and excited to answer questions about my own university experience. But when she asked me what students at the "top" colleges were like, I realized I was disturbed by my answer.

During four years at Princeton University and nearly a year at Yale Law School, I have been surrounded by students who dazzle. These are the students for whom application processes were made. They include published novelists, acclaimed musicians and Olympic medalists. They include entrepreneurs, founders of human rights groups and political activists. If they have hobbies such as stamp collecting and belly dancing, by golly, they are the best stamp collectors and belly dancers in America! These youths live a life of superlatives, a life in which being No. 1 is not just an aspiration but the status quo. They can be inspirational, and I am lucky to be able to learn from them. But they are not always nice people.. . .

"...I don't come from nowhere."

Here's a hot tip - don't say that in your personal statement.

Dear Paul

There's nothing wrong with wanting to perfect your CV/background. Afterall, it's sad bu true: "It's not what you can do, but what others think you can do." At least for the earlier parts of our careers. Your aspiration is admirable.

BUT: you sound like an elitist tosser. Suffice to say, all candidates for IVYs are elitists, but you must hide it as much as possible. Do you see Presidential candidates trying to be elitist? NO! They are elitists who pretend to be the common man.

Your profile sounds very promising and focused. With one major flaw: you look like your doing things for the sake of advancement, not because it's your passion or interests. Admission officers discount your "achievements" if it seems like your doing it for the wrong reasons. Admission officers also hate elitist snobs. IVYs want overachievers who are nice people, humble and passionate about life, not elitist snobs who will likely burn out at some point. The whole: "I didn't come from nowhere" is a pretty dumb thing to say.

BTW What are you studying? Which University? What is your "goal" that you think is hard?

Perhaps you haven't considered this, but I think it's worth throwing out there that you might want to get a law degree.

You can write all the poetry you like about waltzing with boy scouts, but I don't think you're going to have a lot of luck getting into a graduate program with a high school diploma.

I totally agree to Mr Easter. You can (and should) be ambitious, but it is never good to show off with your achievements.

Paul

You weren't merely trying to provide background to your case. You were telling readers how good you are and that you have pedigree--- hense "showing off".

Everyone who read this blog (the lawyers) can see that you are dying for people to affirm your social status/alpha position. Myself and probably most other bloggers grew up surrounded by elitsist snobs who think they're gods gift to humanity--- so I/we can spot them easily. And suffice to say, you are a steriotypical semi previledged kid who is pushed to overachieve, has a semi god complex mixed with inferiority complex that compells you to compete at every thing in life. The sad thing is, your not alone, nor are you special.

Most admitted IVYs (your future competition) will have a pedigree background and be overschievers. So your "achievements" so far are not really impressive. It shows a cold and uninteresting outlook in life. Admission officers go through 100 applicants just like you everyday---- so you have a lot of work ahead of you sunshine!

You're in 1st year uni--- a bit too early to plan for LLM. Try doing a LLB/JD first and get some legal experience to justify why you need a LLM.

BTW don't sound patronising to people who have significant seniority to you. You're not a lawyer, nor have a legal education, nor have graduated form uni yet. So what do you know about how lawyers should behave/analyse. You are not one of our peers (at least not yet anyway), so it's pretty arrogant/ignorant to act like one of us and assume knowledge you don't have. Your comment: "You are lawyers" is nearly as dumb as "i didn't come from nowhere". You need to take yourself down a few pegs and stop acting like such an imbecile. That's the best thing you can do to reach your so called tough goals in life.

Don't listen to them, Peter! It sounds to me that you have the credentials to apply to top LLM programs already.

If you haven't done so, I would advise seeking at least one personal reference from your boy scout leader or waltzing coach to include in your application. Admissions Committees generally look favourably upon dancing and scouting as early indicators of the type of "fancy footwork" or "firewood gathering" skills necessary to be a modern political leader.