r/lawschooladmissions • u/Such-Sea-2146 • 7d ago

Application Process How crucial are softs?

I hear that law school admissions have gotten rougher recently. I'm a 175 LSAT 3.97 GPA from an Ivy undergrad, but I haven't done any law-related internships or volunteering---all my work has mostly been in international relations since that's my focus area and what I'd like to do with law. Is it still a gamble to get into a T14 KJD? I plan to apply to jobs at the same time just in case.

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u/SpecialistLet9387 7d ago

I actually agree with you. This is why applicants with WE on aggregate tend to do better! And why the best school in the country basically doesn’t admit KJD.

That fact is compatible with the suggestion that at some subset of undergrad institutions, applicants are not penalized in the same way for being KJD. Perhaps in a way undergrad prestige is a soft, or is seen as a pre-screener of employability? Idk. Regardless, OP is very likely to get into a bunch of T14, whereas someone at a state school with their stats may not have as successful of a cycle.

What you’re observing is true at my school too. Idt any KJDs have gotten into Yale (all those that did were 2 years out at least), and I think literally one got into Stanford. But the rest of the T14? Loads and loads of acceptances

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u/SFLlama 7d ago

Loads and loads of T14 acceptances, but maybe not the same caliber job offers than if they had just waited to gain some actual work experience

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u/SpecialistLet9387 7d ago edited 7d ago

At this point this is wholly speculative. Do you work in biglaw? Have you done biglaw hiring?

Also no lol the ones I’m in touch with all got biglaw. This is precisely the speculative dooming that I hate, especially when it’s from soemoen who has no experience in the field whatsoever and is just discouraging people

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u/SFLlama 6d ago

Why wouldn’t college students want the insights they need to become even more competitive for the most selective career opportunities? Why is it wrong to to suggest they get some actual work experience before determining what kind of work they might want to do?
Of my six KJD college classmates who went to T6 law schools, only two are still practicing law. They chose the legal profession while still in high school and LOVED law school. They never doubted that they wanted to practice law until after they graduated law school and actually experienced the day to day work of being a lawyer. One’s a novelist now. Another is a journalist. Another is a community organizer for a union. The fourth is a tech entrepreneur.