“Keep your GPA up, and raise your LSAT score.”
That’s the advice most people ‘in the know’ will give you when asked how to improve your chances at getting into the law school of your dreams. And, for the most part, it’s true.
While the Letters of Recommendation, Personal Statement, and Résumé are all important factors in the admissions decision, they really don’t come into play unless you have the GPA and LSAT score to be considered in the first place.
Some law schools take a more holistic approach and will look at your application even if you don’t hit their numbers; these schools are usually just putting off rejecting you for a little while. It’s not that they don’t care about your background. It’s just that there are very few things a college-age person can have done in their life to warrant reconsideration.
Last week, I wrote about the benefits of getting some work experience before law school. It’s one of the few ‘soft’ (i.e. non-number) factors that will substantially improve your shot at law school, and it’s becoming more important.
This week, I’m going to talk about a specific type of experience that has the largest impact on law school admissions committees: military service.
Outside of curing cancer or winning a Nobel prize (or winning the Nobel Prize for curing cancer), military service is probably the biggest boost to a law school application.
Why?
Three reasons.
First, law schools know that veterans have the discipline necessary for both legal studies and the long hours of work after graduation.
Second, they are the most employable law school grads. Employers love a military man/woman because they’re disciplined, follow orders well, and work unbelievably hard.
Third, they usually have kickass personal statements.
So should you sign up for the military if law school is in your future?
No.
Entering the Armed Services is a decision that should be made for one reason and one reason alone: You want to go into the Armed Services. If you go in with other motives, you won’t survive.
However, if you’re ending your time in service to our country, and you want to head to law school next, definitely highlight that in your application package. Write your law school Personal Statement about your service. Get a Letter from a commanding officer. Get in touch with the veteran’s group at your top choice law school (they can and will help you through the admissions process).
And, above all, thank you for your service.
**UPDATE**
To show our appreciation, for a limited time Blueprint is offering free personal statement evaluations to any member of the military. The offer will remain open for seven days, or until the first 10 servicemen or servicewomen redeem. If you’re interested and can provide a proper military ID, email me at matt.shinners@blueprintprep.com. I will examine the first 10 submissions and get back to the writers with my thoughts on each essay’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as provide detailed advice on how to improve it.
If you have any questions, ask in the comments section.
Loading ...
I am a current undergraduate student in the US and I’ll be serving in the South Korean military before applying to law schools in the US. Do you think that will help in the application process as well?
Yep! The boost you get from having a military background doesn’t have anything to do with patriotism. It has everything to do with the hard work, dedication, and focus it takes to serve. Whether that’s in the US Army or the South Korean military, the characteristics demonstrated are the same.
I am a 3 tour combat vet with 10 years of service and Im applying for law school. I have a 155 LSAT, a 3.77 UGPA, and I have good solid letters of recommendation. Right now Im finding it incredibly hard to include things other than just military experiences (because I’ve had many) into my personal statement. Any ideas?
First, thank you for your service. It’s very much appreciated.
Second, it’s hard to come up with other ideas since I only know your numbers and military background. If you have other ideas, feel free to send them in to our office with “Forward to Shinners” as the subject – I can take a look and let you know if I think they’ll be good topics.
Third, there’s no need to include more than one ‘experience’ in a personal statement – in fact, it’s preferable to focus on one area. If you start describing multiple stories, or developing more than one theme, your 2-page essay will become muddled. You won’t focus enough on any one story, and it won’t be an effective essay.
Fourth, outside of a higher GPA or LSAT score, military service is the strongest thing you can have in your application. There’s absolutely no reason that you can’t highlight that in your personal statement. In fact, the only time I recommend a PS about a topic other than your service is for those who have been dishonorably discharged. Other than that, it’s hard to beat a PS about your experience serving this country.
Hello. I am most likely receiving an Other Than Honorable discharge from the military. I have served for 5 years, but I tested positive for marijuana. I made a mistake and am now paying the consequences. I have a 176 LSAT score and a 3.2. Will my OTH discharge from the military hurt my chances of being admitted to a t14 law school or will it still benefit?
Hey Anthony,
First off, thank you for your service!
Second, congrats on that fantastic LSAT score. It will go a long way towards getting you into a great school.
To the matter at hand: Will the OTH discharge hurt? Short answer, yes it will. There’s no way around it – it’s a negative on your record.
Is it a killer? Nope. People get into law school every year with similar things on their records. You’re in a bit more of a bind because yours resulted in a disciplinary action at your work, but there are certainly ways to mitigate it enough to make it just a mild negative.
First thing you should do is voluntarily enter into some type of treatment program (even if it’s just something like AA). This will show schools that you’re taking responsibility for your actions and it will (hopefully) not happen again, especially in law school.
Second thing, write an addendum that explains the situation, fully and honestly, and then talks about what you’ve done since then to show contrition and take responsibility for it.
I’m sorry that this happened, and it will be a negative on your application. However, it doesn’t have to be something that will bar you from a top school as long as you can show the schools that you’ve moved past it and won’t have similar issues in the future.