When I do career advising, I usually tell students that if they are president of the Jeffrey Dahmer Fan Club, they might want to leave that off their resume.  Although I generally agree with Ken, the same thing probably applies in law school applications.  Generally, I think that anything that students feel comfortable talking about--that they are passionate about--should probably be included.  For one thing, if it is something that they are passionate about, it is a part of who they are.  Conversely, I advise students not to engage in "resume padding."  I have been in lots of interviews where I asked about some activity or leadership role and had the response:  "What?" or "All that we did was..." or "All that I did was..." or "That was really not that important..."  There is no graceful or acceptable way to finish any of those sentences.  A few things that they are passionate about is much better than lots of things that they were not heavily involved with.  A classic example:  I was doing some consulting work for a law school a few years ago and the firm was considering hiring a lateral.  Since the lawyer was a former Butler student, the firm asked me if I knew him and could comment on him.  The firm was particularly impressed with his college and law school activities, and most impressed that he put on his resume that he was the only student picked to serve as a student representative on a Dean's search committee at Butler--which was true enough.  Unluckily for him, I was on the same Dean's search committee.  Of the five or six months of at least weekly meetings (including 12 on campus interviews), he attended a grand total of one meeting.  He will probably never know why he never got that job.

Your friend,
Bob


________________________________
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kenneth Schneyer [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 12:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: query to those who do prelaw advising

My impression is that law school admissions officers look for as diverse a mix of people as they can, because variations of experience, background and views are essential in classroom discussion about legal issues.  This, at any rate, is what I was told by people in my own law school.

In admissions in general, standing out in any way is a good thing.

That the officer would find the student’s views objectionable, and would reject him on those grounds, seems far-fetched.  My law school class included both representatives of the extreme end of the Christian Right and members of the Communist Workers Party.   Their dialogues were fascinating.

Ken


-----Original Message-----
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lucas, Laurie
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:29 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: query to those who do prelaw advising


A student recently asked me to review a personal statement for a law school application.  A great deal of the student’s story included a statement of a strong and sincere belief in the values of an organization that some might perceive as being outside the dominant culture in America.  I wonder how a law school admissions officer might view such a statement and whether to discuss it with the student (a strong applicant—high grades, 90th percentile LSAT)—is this within our role as advisers?  What would you do if you were advising a student who professed strong beliefs and values in a personal statement for law school—whether those beliefs and values were religious, philosophical or ideological—which were outside the norm in American society?  Any thoughts would be appreciated. Laurie Lucas