Writing Tip: See Feelings as Information

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

See feelings as information. If you can state or allude to how an experience made you feel, you will paint a dynamic picture for the admissions team. You can include "negative" emotions like fear but also positive ones like joy, camaraderie, and pride.

We don't believe in self-aggrandizing but don't self-deprecate either. We think the "pride"-vibe you're aiming for is best explained by organizational psychologist and author Adam Grant: "Downplaying your achievements is not the antidote to appearing arrogant. Humility is acknowledging your weaknesses, not denying your strengths. Generosity is elevating others, not diminishing yourself. Owning your success doesn't make you a narcissist—it makes you a role model.”

(Bonus!) Understand that you will rewrite most things. Embrace it. Know now that having to write several drafts is not a failure. It is a way to success.

Writing Tip: Don't Shy Away From Fear

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

Show fear when it's applicable. Similarly, the "show no fear" image people often want to flaunt in their applications doesn't seem authentic because it isn't. You have many terrific qualities; being 100% fearless isn't one of them. You've experienced fear, whether it was about not finishing your Honors thesis on time or confronting a colleague about a sexist comment. Good. Fear helps you assess a situation, prepare yourself to address it properly, and take (sometimes very cautious) action. Addressing a fear can be quite humbling—it's another way to show vulnerability in your application. And fear can be a pathway to courage.

Writing Tip: Show Self-Awareness

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

Show that you're self-aware. Many of our clients shy away from sharing examples of their weaknesses or times they've made mistakes in their Personal Statement. But replaying a fumble is an opportunity to then share actions you took to remedy a situation and lessons you learned. That said, not every issue you present must be one that you've fully resolved. For example, say you're great at presenting ideas on paper but you have a hard time speaking up in professional settings. Likely, one beautiful, clarifying moment didn't change that forever. That's something you work on over a long period. You may share an anecdote where you spoke well in front of an intimidating group and how you prepared to do it. Then say how you will continue improving your verbal communication skills and how you plan to exercise that muscle regularly in the future. That's a stronger, more realistic take than "I will never have this problem again!”

Writing Tip: Remember what Resonates

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

Remember what resonates most with reviewers: Passion. Depth of Impact. Potential. We probably don't need to explain passion to you. Depth of impact means expressing how much an experience and your actions during it changed things within you and/or outside of you. Potential is you exemplifying one or more qualities that medical, law, or business schools admire: Leadership, collaboration, critical thinking, etc. You know these from your brainstorm “buckets."

Writing Tip: Emphasize Past Experiences

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

Emphasize past experiences. Focus on what you've done more than on what you want to do. So many of our clients think their essays should exclusively be about their fantasy future. But this isn't a magic carpet ride. Your rug must be on the ground. What you have accomplished and learned is the only proof that you are committed to the study and practice of medicine, law, or business. (Take note of that phrase because you should be reinforcing this commitment throughout your application.) 

Your Chronotype: Your Performance

Our society puts a lot of emphasis on external knowledge-gathering. Obtaining degrees, certifications, and reading the latest developments in industry publications. We are taught to be conscious of ways that we can improve our knowledgebase and skillset. Yet, many of us are overlooking an opportunity to value-add by looking inward and positioning ourselves accordingly. 

“For decades, organizations have optimized for efficiency of systems,” said Michael Platt, Faculty Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative. “The next frontier is optimizing for the human brain. When we align work with how our brains actually function, adaptability becomes a structural advantage, not just a cultural aspiration.” 

One component of this alignment is chronotype. Research by the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative in collaboration with the Slalom HabLab has shown working in tandem with your chronotype positively impacts individual and team performance. Let’s dive in.

What is a chronotype?

You’re probably familiar with circadian rhythms, or the 24-hour cycle where the body catalyzes necessary functions, including wake and sleep times, hunger and digestion, energy use and rest. Your chronotype, then, as described by UCLA Health, is the “subjective way you experience your circadian rhythm” within the day. In other words, some people have a chronotype that syncs with the sun, whereas others may not. Pop culture references the idea with terms like “morning birds” and “night owls.” 

Your chronotype is predominantly genetic. Although it may shift some with age (see: your toddler self’s versus your teenage self’s wake-time preferences). While outside factors, such as light exposure and lifestyle choices can make mild impacts, it is preferable to notice and work with your natural tendency rather than fighting to overcome it.  

Mt. Sinai Health recognizes neuroscientist Dr. Michael Breus’ four chronotype categories:

1. Lions: (15 percent of people) These are the folks who tend to wake around 5 AM and retire around 9 or 10 PM. This group is most productive in the morning. 

2. Bears: (40 percent) Bears generally wake and sleep with the sun and are most productive between 11 AM and 6 PM.

3. Wolves: (30 percent) Up late howling at the moon, wolves typically wake around 9 AM and go to sleep around 12 or 1 AM. They are most productive at night. 

4. Dolphins: (15 percent) These light-sleepers often experience insomnia and/or sleep anxiety. Dolphins fight sleep and wake frequently throughout the night. They are most productive mid-morning, generally between 10 AM and 2 PM. 

Why does it matter?

It’s simple. “Timing is a hidden variable in performance,” executive director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative Elizabeth Johnson said. “We scrutinize talent, strategy, and technology, but rarely ask whether we’re engaging people at the moments their brains are best equipped to deliver.” 

But it’s also nuanced. Your energy ebbs and flows throughout the day, providing varying peak output times based on task type. Some cognitive functions do not vary based on chronotype, while others – research shows attention and alertness – are quite impacted by time of day. 

The Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and the Slalom HabLab explored chronotype and its impact on creative output. Participants completed both a chronotype assessment as well as an assigned creative task. The task was scored on four attributes: productivity, diversity of ideas, originality, and depth. Researchers then compared the average task scores for participants who completed the task during their peak time period based on the chronotype assessment and those who did not. The preliminary findings were clear: The group that completed the task according to chronotype, scored higher on average, across the four evaluation areas. Noteworthy differences emerged in the scores for originality and depth in particular.

“What this study shows is something neuroscience has long suggested: The brain is not uniformly optimized across the day,” said Michael Platt, Faculty Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative. “When leaders expect peak performance at all hours, they’re operating under a biological illusion. High-performing organizations recognize that timing is a cognitive variable. Aligning work with neural readiness isn’t a perk, it’s a performance strategy.” 

If I know I’m a night owl, is that enough?

Importantly, about 27 percent of participants in the Wharton study self-identified with a chronotype that did not match their assessment results. This suggests that on occasion, a disconnect exists between perception and reality. 

We recommend the Morning-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) for a scientifically-validated method to determine your chronotype. This assessment uses your reported behaviors to provide you with your placement on a continuum from “super lark” to “super owl.” In addition to your placement on the scale, this tool will provide suggested times when you may maximize your productivity for different tasks. 

Additionally, we encourage you to incorporate this finding into daily life. Here are three ways to make the most of your results, and increase your productivity at work:

1. Share your chronotype with teammates and let them know your preferences for allocating time. Additionally, ask those you work closely with how they work best. 

   If you’re a night owl and your co-worker a morning lark – kismet! You can pass work off between you efficiently. Two night owls? Again, kismet! You can work creatively together later in the afternoon, or you can meet for administrative discussions earlier in the day and block time for deep work during your productive late afternoon hours. 

2. To build on the last idea; when possible, block out your calendar based on your chronotype. Place tasks that are more creative, analytical, or administrative in nature where they might make the most sense for you in your day. The MEQ will provide key insights for understanding this timing.

3. Generally, attempt to adhere your schedule to your chronotype for both work and social activities. Determine when deep work makes sense, as well as exercise and social activities. For example, dolphins are generally suited to morning exercise to stave off grogginess, whereas bears may choose to work out in the morning or in the early evening to match their energy peaks. Finally, when looking to socialize, consider if a morning coffee or an evening happy hour would better suit your sleep needs than a late night. Prioritize sleep and wake times that will maximize your energy.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your Personal Statement (Part 5)

In this five-part blog series, we’ll highlight some of the most common mistakes we see applicants make as they approach the Personal Statement. Try your best to avoid them.

• Having too many readers: Having too many readers review your Personal Statement is a common mistake. If you're an Apply Point client, consider asking two people besides your two Apply Point advisors (who work as a team) to read your essays. If you're not working with a consultant, you could ask up to four people to read your work but make that the maximum just so you won't be overwhelmed by input.

This is certainly not us saying that you shouldn't have any readers at all. You want eyes or ears on this, especially if they're attached to someone you respect who knows you well. In fact, the top question you should ask them is: "Does this sound like me?" Friends, family members, or a mentor can confirm if your essay gets your personality and best qualities across. That said, send them the edited, polished draft rather than your raw first draft. This way their suggestions and questions won't psych you out because you already have a good idea of what you want to present in your statement.

One more note on having too many readers: Never post your essay in an online forum, such as Reddit. Sharing thoughts and advice on the overall application process online with other prospective students is great, but if you post your essay, you'll have too many strangers giving input and you’ll be vulnerable to plagiarizers. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your Personal Statement (Part 4)

In this five-part blog series, we’ll highlight some of the most common mistakes we see applicants make as they approach the Personal Statement. Try your best to avoid them.

• Using long quotes: A short conversation you had in an intense circumstance can be illustrative in a Personal Statement. It helps a reader picture the event. But making the point of your essay completely revolve around a long quote of someone else's thoughts about medicine, leadership, integrity, or whatever, makes it their essay, not yours. No literary celebrity, professor, professional you worked with, or dad is supposed to be the star of this show. 

• Dwelling on childhood stories: Saying you played lawyer / doctor / businessman as a kid should not feature prominently in your Personal Statement. In fact, we'd skip it: It's not a unique sentiment. Schools don't care how long you've dreamed of taking this step—they care if you have the potential and drive to make it happen.

This doesn't mean that a flashback scene is never relevant. If your mom had cancer when you were eight years old, you grew up fast, and you learned things about the healthcare system and doctor-patient interactions that influenced your professional goals. That is noteworthy. But you need this essay to focus on your recent impactful experiences. Ones that reinforced your interest in this career path and gave you the skills applicable to excelling in a program. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your Personal Statement (Part 3)

In this five-part blog series, we’ll highlight some of the most common mistakes we see applicants make as they approach the Personal Statement. Try your best to avoid them.

• Staying linear: You don’t need the essay to be linear. Imagine your intro paragraph as the opening sequence of a movie—the most thrilling ones start mid-scene. You want to see an action star in action, not waking up to a buzzing alarm clock. Don't save the excitement for many scenes later. Show yourself there, then explain how you got there. 

• Overusing passive voice: Keep most of your sentences active. Passive voice can minimize your contributions and slow down your essay's momentum. Active sentences move the statement forward. 

There is flexibility, of course. Some passive sentences aren't slow-going or unnatural. Take the passive "My research has been accepted for an oral presentation at the National Impressive Conference." vs. the active "The National Impressive Conference has accepted my research for an oral presentation." Honestly, both sentences are fine. Neither goes on too long nor is confusing. Both read as a natural way of speaking—the passive one might be a little more natural. 

There are also times when you'll use passive voice for effect, accuracy, clarity, or flow. Just be mindful of how often you're doing it. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your Personal Statement (Part 2)

In this five-part blog series, we’ll highlight some of the most common mistakes we see applicants make as they approach the Personal Statement. Try your best to avoid them.

• Being uptight: A personal essay is more like journalism than an academic paper. You're telling a story, and this one is about you. You want to sound intelligent and respectful but being a bit colloquial makes you appear confident and relaxed. As if to say, "This is who I am. This is who I plan to become." Boom.

Also, a profound statement is often a simple one. We've heard more than one app reader complain about needing to consult a dictionary because an applicant had been over-consulting a thesaurus. Another reason to write less formally: You're going to interview at these schools. (Hopefully!) If you don't speak at all how you write, they're going to be confused about who you really are. 

• Getting too poetic: Being a little poetic can show style, but if your point isn't clear, a beautiful turn of phrase is meaningless. One of our mottos is: "Clarity above all things." Leave no room for misinterpretation. The reader needs to see the story how you do. Crisp and untangled writing is also best given the character count limitation and how much you need to share. There is room for imagery but there isn't a lot of room for showiness. 

• Spouting off clichés: Nothing says, "I don't think outside of the box" quite like the phrase "I think outside of the box." We also read a lot of first drafts that include "puzzle pieces"—skip 'em, they're going to be in a thousand other essays. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your Personal Statement (Part 1)

Writing a Personal Statement is a massive undertaking. In a relatively short document, you’re trying to show the admissions committee who you are and what you value, while simultaneously building a case for why you will succeed in the program and, later, in your career. It’s a lot. But we can help. 

In this five-part blog series, we’ll highlight some of the most common mistakes we see applicants make as they approach the Personal Statement. Try your best to avoid them.

• Trying to include everything: You cannot fit every experience you've ever had into this essay—and hey, that's why you also submit a Resume or a Work and Activities section. Stick to one or two key experiences that prompted growth and reinforced your interest in the program. The Personal Statement is about showing depth. 

• Telling instead of showing: The admissions committee is looking for more than a list of your strengths and traits. Not only is that boring, it is unreliable. A good rule of writing is: “Show, don't tell." Listing off your qualities is meaningless if you're not backing them up with real-life examples. Instead of telling the reader, “I am a good leader because I am diligent and organized,” provide a leadership anecdote that will show you empowering your team. 

Similarly, don’t tell the school what you will do in the future without showing them why you are capable of achieving such things. We've said it before: Sharing goals works when what comes before it exemplifies your strengths and abilities. More than what you want to do, what you have done tells us who you are.

Law School Early Decision: The Pros and Cons

Considering an early decision law school application? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve summarized the pros and cons to applying early decision below:  

Pros

• Applying early decision will place you in a smaller “yield protection” applicant pool than applying regular decision. This can advantage you if you’re seeking to gain access to a “reach” school, as you have clearly demonstrated a commitment to the program and will definitely attend if admitted. Schools are always interested in protecting their yield. Do note that some schools grant automatic scholarships to all students admitted early decision, which increases the competitiveness of their early decision round (Northwestern and Berkley). 

• If you have a slightly lower than a school’s average GPA or LSAT score, applying early decision may help you to gain admittance to a school you may not have otherwise. 

• You will receive an expedited response—an accept, reject, or move to the regular decision pool. If you are moved into the regular decision pool, your preference for the program, shown through your initial early decision application, may benefit you as schools are looking for applicants who will accept their admission offers. 

Cons

• Early decision deadlines come… early. So you will need to finalize all of your application materials, which includes recommendations and test scores, earlier. For most early decision deadlines, you’ll need to complete the LSAT/GRE by October (confirm the deadlines on the school admissions page). 

• By committing to the law school, you are giving up your ability to negotiate for scholarships. In fact, we recommend that you do not apply early decision if financial assistance is an important factor for you. This is unless you are applying to one of the programs (Northwestern Pritzker or Berkeley) that award assistance to all early decision admittances, and you are comfortable with that financial award. 

• You may not be able to defer your matriculation to the school, if admitted via early decision. If the option to defer is important to you, confirm with the admissions office their policy on early decision deferrals prior to submitting your application. 

• You cannot change your mind. Your admissions decision is binding (you are contractually obligated to withdraw your other applications) and you must matriculate at the school if you receive an early decision acceptance…even if you find out that you’ve been accepted to a more appealing program. 

The bottom line is that applying early decision requires a great deal of commitment on your part. While it can bolster your chances for admission in some cases, you want to be 100 percent sure that you would attend a particular program regardless of financial aid. 

Law School Early Decision: What You Need to Know

Due to the rolling admissions at most law schools, prospective law students should submit their application materials as early as possible in the admissions cycle. But, if early is good, is early decision even better? Well… it’s complicated.

Submitting an early decision application is an appealing choice. Generally, the applicant pool is smaller. Classes are still open and waiting to be filled. Admissions officers provide expedited decisions, which can relieve a lot of stress. And, it provides the applicant a chance to demonstrate commitment and enthusiasm for the program, which can be highly beneficial. However, despite these positives, there are some complexities to consider. 

Early decision applications are (almost always) binding. If you are admitted to a law school early decision, you agree to withdraw all other applications and enroll. There is no leeway. It doesn’t matter if you were also accepted to the dream school that you thought you’d never get into or if your financing falls through and you find yourself in need of merit-based scholarship money. And, for the most part, if an applicant applies early-decision they forego the possibility of receiving any scholarships.  This is because they have already agreed to attend if admitted.  The school doesn’t have to woo them with money. 

Does it still sound like early decision may be right for you? Be sure to check out our tomorrow’s post , where we’ll summarize the pros and cons of submitting an early decision application.

FAQs on Letters of Recommendation for your Law School Application

Frequently Asked Questions

I’m not very close with any of my professors, but have a great relationship with the volunteer manager at the legal aid clinic. Can I use her as a reference?

Law schools specifically look for recommendation letters to provide insight into a candidate’s ability to thrive in a challenging academic environment. You will need to have at least one reference from an academic source. Even if you aren’t close, providing specific examples from class discussions and course work will allow the professor to speak directly to the quality of your work.

Check with the law school, but most will accept supplemental recommendations. So you can also request a recommendation letter from your volunteer manager.

I’ve been out of school and working for a while now. Can I have my current supervisor write one of my recommendation letters?

Yes, if you have been out of school and working for a few years, you may ask your supervisor to complete a letter of recommendation. But you still must ensure you have one academic reference.  

The law school requires two recommendations, but will accept up to four. Do I need to submit four?

You do not need to submit the maximum number. Carefully consider the perspective and anecdotes that each of your potential recommenders could share. Pare down the number if you feel any of your recommenders will provide overlapping views of your abilities. However, if you have four strong relationships and each recommender can provide a unique view of your skills and character, then feel free to submit them all.

What if my recommender asks me, the applicant, to write the letter?

If a potential recommender puts you in a tough spot and only agrees to submit a letter that you’ve written, it is best to move on. It is often obvious to schools when an applicant has crafted the copy because of similarities in voice to other application components.

How to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation for your Law School Application

Good news! No one who hates you will agree to write you a Letter of Recommendation. It's too annoying of a task to bother with if you don't have nice things to say about someone. Still, some letters can be lackluster, especially if they're rushed or overly general. 

The University of Chicago Law School admissions blog describes a “standout” recommendation letter as one that provides, “specific and substantive discussion of your abilities as a student.” They look for “a discussion of particular examples of your work, possibly a research project or substantial piece of writing” and/or “qualitative comparisons to your peers and illustrative anecdotes.” 

There are ways to make sure recommenders are talking you up effectively. Here’s how to make the ask. 

Individualize your approach. What do you know about your potential recommender? Are they someone who will want a face-to-face conversation about this? Or are they someone who will be open to an email with an updated CV attached?

Remind them of your accomplishments. You're not telling them what to write—and they may well choose to highlight some of your other victories or qualities—but offering them a refresher to reference will make your request less of a burden. Your professors know the drill of writing law school references, but they have a lot of students, so a reminder of what you've done is still appreciated. Ex. "It was a privilege to be in a graduate course as an undergraduate. Attending office hours deepened my understanding of the material and provided me insight into strengthening my arguments for the paper, on which I earned an A. I also found that working with a group on the research project honed my abilities in research and developed my collaboration and leadership skills."

While you will want at least two of your recommendations to be written by those who can speak to your academic performance, you may also include a letter from a supervisor at a job or legal clinic where you volunteered. In this request, you want to tell the manager what it meant to you to work there and how you thrived. Ex. "Your recommendation would mean so much to me because this job reinforced my interest in the study of law. Working to support pro-bono immigration cases gave me a better understanding of the day-to-day work of a lawyer as well as additional insight into the necessary research and client-interaction skills required." OR "Working as an analyst in this consulting firm gave me significant experience with project and time management, developed my written and oral communication abilities, and improved my analytical skills. Over time I have increased my responsibilities. This summer I took on the role of team lead and now run weekly client meetings and oversee the analytic strategy and initial creation of client deliverables. I have also made myself available to newer project staff for mentoring and support.” 

If you're asking for a recommendation from someone who has never written one, loop them in on the qualities law schools are looking for and how you've exemplified them. Ex. "The schools that I am applying to value critical thinking and problem solving abilities, writing skills, and intellectual curiosity. I believe that my final group project on the early work of Chaucer showed my abilities in those areas.”

Go beyond the ask. After someone agrees to be your recommender, you're going to send them a "game plan" that gets into the experiences you’ve had and your accomplishments in greater depth than you did in your initial request. It is helpful to give each one a short portfolio of information, which should include:

• School names and submission date(s)

• Method for recommendation submission (e.g., LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service)

• Background information (academic, professional) and your future career goals

• Illustrative anecdotes from your work with this recommender, with particular emphasis on the following topics: analytical/critical thinking, writing/presentation skills, leadership, teamwork, personal characteristics you want to highlight (e.g., determination, intellectual curiosity), and your ability to grow from feedback. For example, the student who highlighted the Chaucer project can remind their professor what aspects of the presentation they worked on and reiterate that they organized the group's study sessions. You might also attach a copy of the associated paper that you submitted with your contributions highlighted. You get the gist. 

Say thank you in a unique way. Once someone has agreed to write your recommendation, do something nice for them. Send a memorable note, maybe even a small gift (a box of their preferred tea or some candy is nice) or offer to take them to lunch. This is common courtesy, but it's also going to remind them to submit their letter on time.

Who to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation for your Law School Application

Recommendation letters are not going to make or break your candidacy for law school—ninety-nine percent of the time, applicant’s rec letters are filled with glowing reviews of their academic abilities and potential. But, if done right, a letter of recommendation can reinforce and expand upon key themes presented in other application components like your resume, personal statement, and essays.

Here are some actions to take to make sure this happens:

Consider Who Knows You Well

Most schools require two letters of recommendation and will accept up to three or four. At least two should come from academic sources (professor, teacher’s assistant, advisor) who can speak to your ability to thrive in a challenging academic environment. You may also submit letters of recommendation from nonacademic sources, for example a coach, professional manager, or volunteer coordinator. Of course, you will want to choose those you know will sing your praises, but also who can back up their claims (with specific examples) on your abilities in the areas of intellectual curiosity, problem solving, critical thinking, integrity, and perseverance. Don’t ask your family friend who is a Senator or Judge to submit a recommendation letter because you think his/her title will impress admissions committees. Save requests to contacts with significant influence at a specific school (say, they're donors or members of the board) for letters of support, which they can send separately from your application to the Dean of the law school. 

Take a Strategic Viewpoint

If your personal statement is anchored in a story that shows the reader your critical thinking and persuasion skills on a significant project, one of your recommenders could provide additional insight on this project in their letter. And remember, if one of your letters of recommendation further emphasizes your academic potential, the second should focus on other qualities, such as your ability to thrive in a collaborative environment. Furthermore, if you see gaps in your application, you may want to speak with one of your recommenders who could address them in his or her letter and share how you’ve grown from specific challenges. 

Your Law School Application Resume: Don’t Forget the Basics

Yesterday we posted about the importance of focusing on results in your resume. Here are a few more important elements to keep top of mind while you’re crafting your resume.

Don’t forget to…

Keep it relevant. Your resume should only include experiences from the start of college onward, and should showcase your abilities in critical thinking, problem solving, leadership, and/or teamwork.

Review the Guidance. Some law schools instruct you to “submit a resume,” while others such as Yale Law School, may also provide unique specifications for your “activities section” submission. Review the school’s admissions page to confirm any instructions including format and/or page limits. If the school does not provide formatting guidance, you should keep it simple. Opt for left-justified text in an easy-to-read font—we prefer Garamond—sized between 10 and 12. 

Use proper grammar. Even the best writers can get worked up about creating resume text. Don’t overthink it. Make use of active verbs to showcase your contributions. Use proper punctuation and the appropriate tense (present for current activities, past for past activities). And do not lean on corporate jargon, rather you will want to ensure that you explain what you did and your results in a way that a classmate would understand.

Your Law School Application Resume: Focus on the Results

In contrast to your personal statement, which should be a deep-dive into a few pivotal stories from your life, your resume should showcase the breadth of your experiences and accomplishments. But remember, it should not merely communicate what you did in each role and extracurricular endeavor; each entry should explore WHY what you did and accomplished was so significant to you and/or your team and/or the organization as a whole. What results did you achieve? What impact did you have? What did you learn?

Law school resumes should include the following components and be no longer than one page:

1. Education. List all the universities you attended (including study abroad experiences) and the degrees you obtained. Include a bulleted list in the Education section of internships and extracurricular involvements you participated in while in college. And be sure to note any scholarships, awards, or honors you received. If you published a thesis, you can include that here too.

2. Work Experience. If you’re applying to law school directly out of your undergraduate studies, you may not have a lot of work experience and this is to be expected. Your work experiences should include summer jobs, internships, fellowships, and/or TA positions that you held during college, as well as any post-graduate employment. Use results-oriented bullets to describe your responsibilities and outcomes, and highlight any progression in responsibility. Elaborate on the impact you’ve had and/or the lessons you’ve learned. Also note any awards and/or honors you received.

3. Additional Information. This section can include significant extracurricular and charitable involvements, languages you speak, as well as any noteworthy skills, certifications, and/or memberships.

Check back tomorrow for additional guidance on crafting your resume.

Critical Thinking in the Time of Gen AI

In need of a restaurant recommendation for a client dinner? Improved flow in a long email? Data consolidated into an easy-to-ingest format? 

For all of this and more, you might turn to AI. And, while Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini are always waiting to answer, their very existence also prompts questions. Existential ones, like “How is my industry changing? What will my job look like in the next year… five years… 10 years? What skills will continue to matter? Am I prepared for my career now, and the one I’ll have in the future?”

In an article for Forbes, journalist Samantha Walravens honed in on how AI is affecting the current education space and workplace. “Colleges are racing to integrate AI, but students are entering a workforce that is evolving even faster,” she wrote. “For today’s graduates, survival in the job market will depend less on technical credentials alone and more on pairing AI literacy with judgment, adaptability, and the human skills that machines—as of yet—cannot replicate.”  

Moreover, while it may seem counterintuitive, it is our own innate intelligence and curiosity that is most complementary to AI. Anthropic’s Fourth Economic Index Report, published in January, describes research that found that the correlation between the sophistication of a person’s prompt and that of Claude’s response was “nearly perfect” at 0.92. In other words, Claude’s response met the intellectual level of the operator. Cornelia C. Walther Ph.D., who described this finding in Psychology Today, wrote, “AI mirrors human abilities, literally. In this new era, the most valuable technological skills for hybrid citizens will remain knowledge, critical thinking, and a quirky mind.” 

Alas, the very existence of generative AI may be robbing us of such gifts. A recent MIT study showed that as we increase our use of AI, we are prone to cognitive offloading—or letting the AI do the thinking for us. This, in turn negatively impacts our critical thinking skills as we engage less deeply in the work and/or decision-making and trust the machine more. 

Michel Gerlich, Ph.D., Head of Center for Strategic Corporate Foresight and Sustainability and Head of Executive Education and Senior Faculty at Swiss Business School, also led a research study on AI and critical thinking and garnered similar findings. He wrote, “The study highlighted that users who trust AI tools are more likely to rely on them for decision-making, thus reducing their engagement in critical thinking processes. This trust, fostered by the perceived reliability and convenience of AI tools, promotes a cognitive dependence that diminishes the need for active cognitive effort.” 

So, what can we do to stop our own disengagement? First, Walther urges us to change our philosophical conception of AI. She wrote, “We must stop viewing AI as a ‘magic box’ and start viewing it as a cognitive exoskeleton. An exoskeleton only moves as well as the person inside it. If the person is stationary, the suit does nothing.” 

Tactically, Wanqing Zhang, Educational Developer and Learning Experience Designer, provides three steps for actively engaging your critical thinking skills while you use AI on her Think to Learn YouTube channel. 

Her guidelines for making the most of AI: 

• Define your context. Zhang suggests starting with an active process of defining your goals for each query or project. What are you really looking to do? How will AI assist you? What are your criteria for success? What are your constraints? What will happen if things go wrong?

• Confirm the sources. Do not trust the sources provided by AI. Confirm their veracity, by going to listed sources and reviewing them. Do they say what AI is saying they do? Are they reputable? 

• Consider what would change your mind. What information would make you reject the AI recommendation? When might you decide that the strategy isn’t working? What new information could come to light that would make you consider alternatives? Zhang uses the example of an AI-generated marketing strategy: If engagement dips by X percent, will that spur you to pivot? 

AI might be changing the world around us in so many ways. But some things don’t change, including the need to meet each decision with our full curiosity, engagement, critical thinking, and humanity. If we can do that, we can make the most of AI as a tool. 

What to Know if You’re a Pre-Law Student Considering Paralegal Work

Only about one-third of first-year law students in the U.S. went directly to law school from undergrad. At Yale, only about 15 percent of the law class of 2025 matriculated immediately after graduation. The majority of law applicants choose to take a gap year, or several, prior to applying. And, every year, we receive a lot of questions about the value of paralegal experience for applicants. Should you pursue it in your gap year? In a word: maybe. Let’s review the pros and cons to see if it might be the right fit for you. 

The Pros:

• If you are interested in a career at a law firm, work as a paralegal will provide an up-close view of your life as an associate. You will see what the hours, work, and intra-firm relationships will look like.

• You’ll build a personal network within the firm, which may benefit you as you go through the recruitment process.

• While your work as an early-career paralegal will be administrative in nature, you will develop skills that will benefit you in law school and beyond including legal research and writing.

• You’ll earn a reasonable salary, and some firms pay for paralegals to attend LSAT test preparation courses. You may even be able to continue working throughout law school if you attend a local university and have time. 

The Cons:

• As mentioned above, your early-career paralegal work will be more administrative than substantive in content.

• Paralegal experience is fairly common among law applicants, so you will want to find additional ways to stand out. Inquire about taking on a challenging long-term research project at your firm or a leadership role in a firm-wide charitable initiative.

• If you need to earn money to pay for law school, jobs in industries that you’re interested in (e.g. tech, finance) may provide meaningful and challenging experiences, while also  paying you a higher salary.