While I do think the statistically based analysis offered by Demo doesn’t tell the whole story-I too think that major/school/other non-statistical factors play a role in admissions-he does supply numbers to support his thesis.
So how would his personal story make any difference? I know next to nothing about you or any of the other posters here, other than the oblique information occasionally provided. Some posters will say they went to a “top school” and worked at “big law”; without from where and when they graduated, it’s not much help, and what do they mean by “big law” or “corporate counsel” or “boutique law” if they never provide the names of the firms/corporations? Nobody here supplies much information, and even if they reveal they went to HLS, nobody ever says when the graduated, what their class rank was, or anything even vaguely specific-and it makes a difference, even at the top schools, when you graduated and what your class rank was. Nobody ever reveals where they practice in the US. Nobody reveals their actual salary. Very few reveal where they practice. For a while several posters kept suggesting that new graduates go to “legally underserved” areas. I never did agree with this advice, as it’s my opinion that any area that calls itself “legally underserved” is underserved because the area can’t support a lawyer-period. Am I right? My life experience tells me yes-but you may not agree. Your life experience may be totally different.
The reality is that we end up swapping anecdotes and opinions. For example, it’s routinely stated here that DA’s office will take undergraduates as interns. I’ve worked in a DA’s office-the only "intern’ we had who was an undergraduate was the DA’s nephew, and he worked as an administrative aide(delivering mail/answering phones, etc). That’s it; we never had any others, ever, as there were too many law students also willing to work for free to bring in any undergraduates. Because of this experience, I find it grating when I read that government law offices welcome undergraduate interns. But maybe there are DA’s offices who bring in undergraduates.
And maybe you too have worked in government for years and have knowledge of dozens of undergrads working as interns in your office. A geographic issue? Just different offices/DAs? In any case, what’s the difference-other than you and I having very different experiences in the same sort of legal work?
So I read the statistical information and always think of Mark Twain’s quote about statistics. That said, if the numbers support the argument, then I guess they are valid, statistically anyway.
So I’ll always believe that the top schools do look for students with amazing numbers and some interesting other stuff, too. Why else would they bother to post it on their websites? Again, it may just be that people with amazing numbers are all around amazing people.
But it’s an anonymous internet board; if Demo appears in ten minutes and let’s us know that he went to YLS and graduated first in his class, was a SCOTUS clerk and is now a partner at X, X, and X firm making seven figures, what difference would it make? The weight given to any of the arguments presented here is based on how well supported they are. And I’ll be the first to admit that my suggestions are based primarily on my life experience practicing law.