What does a law school application Resume contain?

fishtwentyfive

What the hell do I put aside from, "Dishwasher -- McDonald's 2008-2014" ?

jk, but really?

nicole.hopkins

Literally every single thing you have done since Freshman year of college. Every job, every time you volunteered, every club. Start with that and then edit selectively to build momentum in your narrative.

StopLawying

Is the résumé allowed to be more than one page?

Accounts Playable

@StopLawying

There are conflicting viewpoints on this. I have talked to a few admissions advisers, and they seem to think it is generally OK going to a second page if it is worth it. In other words, if you are grasping at straws to go onto a second page, then don't do it; never go to a third page though. From what I have read, you don't want to mention stuff from high school unless there is something very unique (on my resume, I still put that I was valedictorian in my "Interests/Hobbies/Other stuff" category (that section has a more professional sounding title than that, but I can't remember what it is); that's the only thing from high school that I left on.

The point of your resume is to flesh out who you are/help create reasons to like you as a candidate. As a rule of thumb, if there is something valuable that you think the admissions people need to know that is not captured by GPA/LSAT (so, pretty much everything lol), then put it on the resume. Again, that additional information should add value, so be strategic about what you put on/leave off of the resume.

Accounts Playable

However, when you are applying for a job, one page max. Always, no exceptions. I know plenty of HR people that simply throw away resumes because they are over one page. Law school applications are different because you are not applying for a job.

nicole.hopkins

@StopLawying said:
Is the résumé allowed to be more than one page?

Mine is three. But that's because I've been very active over the past 11 years.

nicole.hopkins

@"Accounts Playable" said:
However, when you are applying for a job, one page max. Always, no exceptions.

Agreed. This is a very different kind of resume.

nicole.hopkins

@"Accounts Playable" said:
From what I have read, you don't want to mention stuff from high school unless there is something very unique

I've heard the opposite. Nothing from before Freshman year. Believe me. I had many super impressive things on my resume prior to matriculation at Princeton (I did, after all, get in there). Alas, they do not apply to law schools admissions.

Accounts Playable

@nicole.hopkins

Yeah, it goes to show there isn't one right answer to the resume problem. I think each admissions officer is different, so there isn't a single template to use. Either way, I think the most prudent advice would be "cost/benefit" considerations. If leaving something off the resume would destroy something of value/something useful to the admission's officer, then keep that thing on.

nicole.hopkins

@"Accounts Playable" said:
something of value/something useful to the admission's officer

And nothing from before the day you matriculated as an undergrad would fall into that category. One possible exception would be if you took junior college classes that are counted towards your LSDAS for some reason.

justrandom

@nicole.hopkins -- hmmmmm...I may have to disagree with you on this one. I definitely understand what you mean, and for the most part I think most high school experiences may be irrelevant to the law school resume. Nonetheless, I wouldn't automatically say that anything that occurred before high school is of no value to the admission's officer. I think there can be rare circumstances where it may actually contribute to an applicant's personal narrative. I have met with advisors from NYU Law who explained that in some circumstances you may add something from high school. An example of this that was given who perhaps had to work throughout college and did not have an opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities during college but participated in something substantial during high school that has contributed to their personal narrative. Also the idea of something being useful and of value is subjective.

nicole.hopkins

@justrandom said:
I think there can be rare circumstances where it may actually contribute to an applicant's personal narrative.

That's what a personal statement is for.

Pacifico

Length all depends on the school, however 95+% of K-JD should be one page because most people just haven't done enough at that point to require moving on. If you're 25+ years old with a few years work experience, then two is cool. After that you really shouldn't even need to add a page per decade. Mine was seven pages when I wrote it (to include literally every little thing you could imagine) and now it is three full but concise pages. I'm in my early 30s almost ten years out of UG with just over six years in the Army so that adds an extra dimension but should still give you a sense of what you should be shooting for given your particular circumstances.

Always check their requirements though as some schools will say one page (not super common but it happens). So make sure you have tailored resumes if this applies to you. Same goes for your PS. Mine is a full two pages and about 700 words, meeting the requirements of most schools. However one of my safety schools required 500 words or less, and I can't not apply to my safety school so I need to change that one up a bit.

And unless you cured cancer in high school, nobody cares, so leave it out. Even if you got arrested for making a clock that people both did and didn't think was a bomb yet was actually your science project, and you became a national hero to intellectuals, it still doesn't belong on your resume.

I was valedictorian of my one year post graduate school in the year between high school and college, and I got a bunch of awards and all that bullshit. I even took half my credits at local colleges, and raised my LSAC GPA with the grades I got. And still, that school will not show up anywhere on my resume, or even my application for that matter. You've only got so much space to fill out a page and not spill over so pre-college stuff should always be the first cut.

nicole.hopkins

@Pacifico said:
95+% of K-JD should be one page because most people just haven't done enough at that point to require moving on.

Fact.

@Pacifico said:
three full but concise pages

Same.

@Pacifico said:
And unless you cured cancer in high school, nobody cares, so leave it out.

FACT.

@Pacifico said:
And still, that school will not show up anywhere on my resume, or even my application for that matter.

Word—good point of clarification.