Law School Application - Volunteering

katherine.middleton20

I'm in the process of applying for law schools and where it says to list extracurricular & community activities I've listed the ones I participated in in undergrad. My question is - should I include volunteering from high school? I volunteered at the VA hospital & Boys & Girls Club neither of which are super applicable, but I was also a member of Peer Court, a nonprofit organization that helps provide restorative justice to troubled youth. I feel like the fact that I was a member of Peer Court might strengthen my application because it was kind of like court but with high school students. Will it be frowned upon if I include something from high school?

Thanks

studyingandrestudying

Most often, they want to just see stuff from after high school. Exceptions would be things like a juvenile court issue, in which case that would be a C+F explanation. That said, you could mention some of these high school extracurriculars, provided they had an impact that would benefit a future law student, in your essays, but don't make them focal points, because it's things like experiences in a job, big life-changing experiences, and college or graduate courses that tend to be hoped for in essays.

Selene Steelman

Admissions directors and deans have indicated that generally they do not want to see anything about high school in a law school application resume. However, if this sort of volunteer work is very important to you, you could list it under a section at the very end called INTERESTS, along with talents, hobbies, and non-academic or professional fun facts about yourself.