How important are internships?

slxyzvvv-1

Hey guys, I am a junior trying to apply for law schools in 2022. I don't know what should I do for this summer. On the one hand, I feel like I can really improve my LSAT score if I study full time over the summer; on the other hand, I would have no summer internship this year then (but I already had several internships in previous years). I don't know which one is more important, a better LSAT score or a summer internship. I'd like to hear some advice!

sarahblair

Hi! I would definitely devote your time to studying, especially if you have had previous internships. A school isn't going to let you in because you had an internship, they'll let you in because of your great LSAT score. I also don't think that internships carry a lot of weight in the application process in general. Besides your personal statement that may benefit from you having direct experience, you aren't required to have internships. Hope this helps! Good luck

noonawoon

I really think do both if you can. Full time studying is most likely to lead to burnout, I don't really think someone can productively study for 40 hours per week. Internship and work experience is definitely valuable for many reasons: trying to figure out what you are interested in (both work field and what kind of tasks you like to do), saving up money (if paid), having things to talk about in future law school/law job interviews, being more competitive in your law application, etc. It's true that internships aren't required, but if you're applying to enter law school directly after undergrad with no time off for work experience, internships will help demonstrate that you have experience outside of the classroom.

thinklikealawyer

Hi there! I currently work at a law firm part-time and study part-time and this has been a wonderful schedule for me. I agree with earlier comments, you will likely get burnt out if you really try to devote 40 hours a week to studying. My current schedule looks like this: M-F: wake up 7 AM, study 8 AM-12, break/lunch 12-12:45, work 1-5, workout 5:30-6:30, dinner and relax for the rest of the evening. I aim to give myself one full day off from studying (either Saturday or Sunday) and do extra stuff on the other day (drilling, full timed tests, etc). Comes out to about 25 hours a week. This has been such a blessing in my journey, I have made a 12 point improvement on my score over the course of 2 months. Everyone is different, just find how many hours you can realistically study a day without wanting to die (lol).. best of luck!!!

slxyzvvv-1

Thanks guys for your thoughts! I think working part-time might be a good choice but I might need to talk to my employer to see if that's possible. Wish y'all best of luck, too!

123anami

I would like to pitch a different alternative - study for the summer, and snatch an internship during the school year (or two!). You get the best of both worlds.

Jeff----

Hi there, look, you are graduating from undergrad, and one thing that LS’s are all keen about is what experience/ses you come into class with. And, they also want you to have some real-world working experience to show them. Law Schools are looking for this, they really want to see professional experience.

My suggestion is definitely to get an internship; hopefully, something you are very interested in and passionate about, accommodate your studying to your internship, even if this is tough to do and if it is challenging to keep up then it will be practice of time management, hard work, accountability, etc before LS. Go for it, and I wish you the best.