Is having legal experience vital to getting into a top 25 law school?

FloridaMan

I understand that having experience in the legal field would separate a person from other applicants and boost admission chances. However, if I did not have any legal experience yet had an above average GPA and LSAT score would I still have a good chance of admission? Basically, how necessary is working in or having an internship in law in applying to law school? I'm going into my senior year and I have a 4.0 GPA and am aiming to score in the 170s for my real test (I scored 164, 175 BR today on a practice test). This year I am also going to write an Honors Thesis for my major so I don't know if I will have the time to obtain a legal internship until the summer. I plan to apply in October of next year.

lexxx745

Aside from Yale and Stanford, it wont hurt you
It can HELP in, but not having legal experience will never knock you out of anywhere

FindingSage

For some people it might be a nice soft to add to your resume but without any doubt the most important parts of your application are LSAT, GPA and personal statement. If you don't have any background in law you can always use some or part of your personal statement to express why you are interested in law. There are many fellow applicants who will work as a intern for a law firm for a summer or something like that, but doing so doesn't really make you unique. Not having the legal experince really will make very little if any impact.

noonawoon

Definitely not necessary. In fact, from what I've heard, having more diverse/unique work experience (rather than the traditional paralegal job) can work in your favor.

Well there you go

@lexxx745 said:
Aside from Yale and Stanford, it wont hurt you
It can HELP in, but not having legal experience will never knock you out of anywhere

Possibly, a noob question, but why? Do Yale and Stanford not accept people with legal experience?

99thPercentileOrDieTryin

I got accepted at a top 20 with no legal experience so...I'm gonna go with "not so vital."
The key is a great LSAT and a solid overall application.