Best_Law_Schools_3rd_Pgs.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/08 10:21 AM Page i The Best Law Schools’ Admissions Secrets The Essential Guide from Harvard’s Former Admissions Dean joyce putnam curll Best_Law_Schools_3rd_Pgs.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/08 10:21 AM Page ii © 2008 by Joyce Putnam Curll Cover and internal design © 2008 by Sourcebooks, Inc. Cover photo © Punchstock Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative informa- tion in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations Published by Sourcebooks, Inc. PO Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410 (630) 961-3900 Fax: (630) 961-2168 www.sourcebooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Curll, Joyce. The best law schools' admissions secrets : the essential guide from Harvard's former admissions dean / Joyce Curll. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-1981-8 Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Law schools--United States--Admission. 2. Law schools--United States. 3. Law schools--United States--Entrance examinations. 4. Student aid--United States. I. Title. KF285.C87 2008 340.071'173--dc22 2008015094 Printed and bound in the United States of America. VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Best_Law_Schools_3rd_Pgs.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/08 3:07 PM Page iii Contents Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii Chapter One: Is Law School for You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Chapter Two: When Should You Go to Law School? . . .27 Chapter Three: Preparing Your Case While You Are in College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Chapter Four: Preparing Your Case: The College Graduate with Experience . . . . . . . . . . .49 Chapter Five: The Law School Landscape . . . . . . . . . .59 Chapter Six: Ranking the Law Schools . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Chapter Seven: Deciding Where to Apply . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Chapter Eight: Behind the Scenes in the Admissions Office and the Admissions Committee . . . .97 Chapter Nine: The LSAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 Chapter Ten: GPA and Academic Record . . . . . . . . .135 Chapter Eleven: Letters of Recommendation . . . . . . . . .149 Chapter Twelve: Extracurricular and Community Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . .161 Chapter Thirteen: Work Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169 Chapter Fourteen: Personal Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175 Chapter Fifteen: Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187 Chapter Sixteen: Diversity and Affirmative Action . . . .195 Chapter Seventeen: After the Admissions Decision . . . . . . .201 Chapter Eighteen: The Financial Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . .215 Chapter Nineteen: Finding Your Match in the Legal Profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241 Best_Law_Schools_3rd_Pgs.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/08 3:07 PM Page iv Epilogue Some Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . .249 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253 Best_Law_Schools_3rd_Pgs.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/08 10:21 AM Page v To Dan. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have had a hand in helping me get this project completed. Ted Fiske was a wonderful mentor, reader, and critic who encouraged me and provided guidance from inception throughout the writing of this book. Howard Gardner, Howard Seidel, and Dean Whitla offered encouragement along with help and ideas to make this project one that provides broader guidance than would a “step-by-step how-to book.” Colleagues Ken Lafler, Anne Lukingbeal, and Dee Pifer provided helpful critiques and moral support, as did Sue Milmoe, an experienced professional editor and friend. Numerous faculty members at Harvard Law School, including admissions committee members, have taught me and challenged me to be at my best throughout my time there. Some have specifically supported my idea to write this book, including Bill Alford, Alan Dershowitz, Martha Minow, Peter Murray, and Larry Tribe, and given me confidence to move forward on this project. I also want to thank my agent, Wendy Strothman, who has provided guidance in my new role as author, and Peter Lynch, my editor at Sourcebooks, for his enthusiastic support for this project throughout. For the knowledge base from which I was able to write this book, I thank my colleagues from the Law School Admissions Best_Law_Schools_3rd_Pgs.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/08 10:21 AM Page vi vi THE BEST LAW SCHOOLS’ ADMISSIONS SECRETS Council, from the various prelaw advisor associations and from the admissions offices at Harvard and NYU who have served with me over the years in our joint enterprise of educating prospective applicants about the legal profession and encouraging them to enter it. I particularly want to thank Todd Morton, now Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Vanderbilt University Law School, who shared his knowledge and wisdom with me at both NYU and Harvard as did Nan McNamara who served with me at NYU and filled my position when I left for Harvard. Others who have been most influential in my education as an Badger, Faye Deal, Rick Geiger, Ken Kleinrock, Anne Lukingbeal, the late Jim Milligan, Jim Thomas, and Jean Webb. Most importantly, I thank my husband Dan, who provided moral support, encouragement, and sustenance, clearing the way for me to keep going. Best_Law_Schools_3rd_Pgs.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/08 10:21 AM Page vii INTRODUCTION HAVINGSPENTTHELASTeighteen years of a thirty-four-year career in law school admissions as Dean of Admissions at Harvard Law School (HLS), I have considered for admission more than 120,000 HLS applicants, of whom about 10,000 applicants attended and graduated from HLS. More than 30 percent of the living alumni of the JD program at HLS were admitted on my watch. Before coming to Harvard, during sixteen years at NYU Law School, I considered another 100,000 applicants, of whom 6,000 became NYU Law graduates. Throughout, I have had a wonderful window on society and particularly the world of current and recent college graduates, many of whom already had significant accomplishments under their belts and most of whom showed great promise for the future. And I have watched as those futures unfolded. Some students have flourished throughout law school and their careers. Some stumbled a bit before finding their feet; some enjoyed the law school experience, but not the practice; some hated law school, but loved the practice. I have observed the whole range of possibility with respect to the experience of legal education and the profession. Many roads lead to law school, some direct and others circuitous. I have seen everything from the precocious eighteen-year-old Best_Law_Schools_3rd_Pgs.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/08 10:21 AM Page viii viii THE BEST LAW SCHOOLS’ ADMISSIONS SECRETS college graduate and the twenty-two-year-old medical doctor who wanted to get a head start on the legal profession, to those who wanted to build on established, successful careers, like the fifty-something-year-old physician, the forty-something screenwriter who became president of the student body, and the forty-something engineer who became president of the Harvard Law Review. You may be one of the many undergraduates who, seeking a livelihood after graduation, have been exploring the professions and, not liking the sight of blood and not having a knack for organic chemistry, have decided that practicing law would be an appealing way to earn a living. Perhaps you are one of those who tried investment banking or consulting and decided that law will get you where you want to be in a more intellectually stimulating and fulfilling manner. You may have been engaged in work that you enjoy, but see the value of a legal education as a stepping-stone to a more responsible position in the field in which you have been working. If you are any of these, or are coming to a consideration of law as a career from another perspective, you are not alone in having some idea of what is involved, but still having questions about whether law school and the legal profession are right for you. You may be wondering how to proceed. You are in good company. Even the strongest, most savvy applicants experience some uncertainty and more than a little trepidation as they set out. I have had ample opportunity to hear from many for whom the admissions process and legal education worked out the best. Most have told me that they wish they had had more understanding as they set out to apply: beginning with decisions about what to study in college, how to prepare for taking the LSAT, how to decide when and where to apply, and finally, where to attend once admissions offers were tendered. Some of the more privileged applicants have access to experi- enced prelaw advisers and to friends who have navigated the Best_Law_Schools_3rd_Pgs.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/08 10:21 AM Page ix Introduction ix process successfully, and even these still have questions. For those without this guidance, the admissions process can be daunting. More than thirty years ago, I cofounded a group of admis- sions deans who designed a short panel discussion to impart our collective wisdom about the law school admissions process to prelaw students at our big feeder schools, and to gain insight into the applicant mind-set. Our panel discussion was designed to address misconceptions held by many potential applicants and missteps we collectively observed in the applications we considered. We addressed frequently asked questions in a coherent and organized way. I participated in this panel throughout my time at NYU and at Harvard. It worked wonderfully for applicants who attended, and our only frustra- tion was that it was not possible to share it more broadly. I have been inspired to write this book to share what I have learned from the students I have admitted, and some who were not admitted, about the anxieties and uncertainties they feel during the application process. Virtually all applicants, whether they have a knowledgeable prelaw adviser or not, feel some- what bewildered or overwhelmed at times as they decide whether to apply, how to get started, what to emphasize, whom to ask for a letter of recommendation, what to say in a personal statement, and how to handle each step of the process. This anxiety and uncertainty is even more pronounced among students of color, women, those from non-college family back- grounds, those from immigrant families, and those from other groups not traditionally represented in the profession. By making the admissions process more transparent, I hope not only to provide guidance and reassurance to all applicants as you embark on this journey, but also to help level the playing field for those from groups whose access to advice and prepa- ration for law school has been less than that of the average applicant. I hope to help all to get through the obstacle course, and many to the school of their dreams.