Harvard Law School

HappyAlumnus
Sat, 24 Sep 2016 10:09:24 +0000

A poster named Demosthenes will say that grades and LSAT scores alone matter. Demosthenes’ view is based on Internet “scattergrams” showing admissions rates for candidates with various GPAs and LSAT scores. Demosthenes’ view is incorrect.

I graduated from HLS. It’s been nearly 20 years, but I still very involved with the school, including with recent alumni and current students on campus. To get in, you need:

Required: Strong grades and LSAT scores, ideally at or above the HLS medians. (Mine were at the HLS medians and I got in, but plenty of people with a GPA and LSAT score at the HLS median do not, indicating that other factors are considered.)

Required (unless you have a perfect or near-perfect GPA and LSAT score): A passion in life that you have lived out and will tie with your J.D. degree. For example, if you love animal rights, you should be able to show that you’ve lived out that passion and will use your J.D. degree to promote animal rights.

Optional but strongly desired: Post-college work experience, ideally not in a law firm. (Dean Minow makes it clear that the school wants students with work experience, and admitted students statistics bear this out.)

Helpful: A degree from Harvard College or another highly-ranked school. (You’ll get a slight GPA boost that way.)

DO NOT focus on HLS. Just do your best, apply to law schools and see where you get in. You may well end up going to Yale, but if you focus on a particular school, there’s a chance that you’ll eventually discover that a different one is better for you, and turning down your long-time “dream” school will be painful, so don’t pick a “dream” law school.