Improving Softs for Non Traditional Students

stepharizona

I know that softs can play a bigger factor for NTD students when it comes to admissions. What are some of those? I have picked up a few extra things over the past 2 years to help but wanted to see if @david.busis and perhaps @"Mike Spivey" could add a few tips or suggestions. While we are getting close to application time, there are still a few programs and opportunities available to do before needing to submit apps.

For instance, would being a "Fulbright Specialist/Candidate" have as much weight as a traditional "Fulbright Scholar" as a soft? I have often read that being a Fulbright or a Marshall Scholar is an outstanding soft that carries weight.

What about other things like:
Serving on a nonprofit board?
Lengthy Volunteering?
Conference Speaking?
Publishing in a Trade Magazine?
Obtaining or updating professional certificates?

For instance, I have both a PHR and a SHRM-CP. I updated the CLEs for my PHR so it goes through 2020, my SHRM-CP expires in 2018, but I can update it too in a month, to extend it to 2021. Or is just having those enough? The are both Human Resources certifications, equivalent to a CPA in the account world. You have to have enough experience to qualify to take them exam, pass (it has less than a 65% pass rate) and then maintain it via CLEs. I have been certified since 2004.

Do those hold any sway as far as "good softs" go?

Does anyone else know of important softs? I know I overlooked a career, but I will assume that those that are 30+ have had at least 5 years of professional experience in their field.

Alex

@stepharizona

Softs..... I won't speculate too much about them, because I truly don't know. I come from TLS community where the orthodoxy is only numbers matter and no soft is truly considered "good" However, after talking with various applicants on the internet the last few years, there is no question in my mind softs do matter and some are better than others. Also, if you go to mylsn.info you see many people with great softs outperform their numbers in some cases.

Softs may matter more for a NTD student because you've been out of school a while, and now your work experience is probably seen as a better indicator of your likelihood to succeed in law school. I know on Mylsn.info I have seen more than a few NTD students with sub 25%-tile GPAS and high LSATS (splitters) get into T10 schools. The common thread with these folks seems to be work experience that is career oriented. Military, corporate, owner of own business or non-profit. That and academic awards and/or leadership.

As far as comparing Fulbright Specialist vs. "Fulbright Scholar" as a soft, I honestly do not know. I do know that being a fullbright scholar is one of the best softs you can have. So I would assume a specialist would be up there as well.

That is the thing with softs, it is a hard thing to put a relative value on. But there seems to be two things that great softs have in common.

1) It is Rare
2) They somehow spin it to being relevant to law school. You can articulate a cohesive and convincing story about goals you've accomplished and do it well.

So in your case, I think you have some really great softs. Serving on a non-profit board, professional certificates, and publishing are all above average in my opinion. Certainly be sure to put all that on your resume and perhaps tie it into your PS/DS if at all possible.

I can't answer your question as to how much sway they hold as they are just too hard to quantify. For instance, what is going to have more sway your publishing in a trade magazine or another candidates publishing in a engineering magazine? Hard to say... I think it is all going to come down to how you articulate it and use it in your application.

Here are a list of some of the "good" softs I can think of in no particular order. Some may disagree on the importance or how good they are, but that is to be expected when discussing softs, lol.

Military
Undergrad Prestige (HYP)
Good work experience (upper management, owner of business)
TFA or similar long term community or public service
Leadership positions (student gov, frat president, club president etc.)
Rare and difficult major. e.g., nuclear physics degree from MIT
Advanced degree. MA or PhD
Economic or personal difficulty, reflected in PS/DS

I'm by no means an expert at this stuff. So I am hoping those with more knowledge on this can jump in. But I do hope this helps a bit

stepharizona

Thanks @"Alex Divine" yep familiar with most of those and you have some excellent insights other NTDs might not have known.

Hopefully @david.busis can weigh in about what, if anythng NTDs can decide what to do with our last few months/extra year (in addition to studying)!

We obviously cant go back and improve what we did in college, join the military, or finish a new degree, but those of us sitting out a cycle can pick a few things up that might be helpfull, especially for those of us 10-20 years poat grad.

My impression from Admission folks is the further out from undergrad we are the more important softs seem. But it could also just be admissions folks being well... Admissions folks.

Like Americorps, I couldnt work this in, but others might be able to (comitments are only a year). But is it worth it as a soft (some schools will give waivers for it) or should a NTD invest in getting on a nonprofit board? Or does it all not matter if its only a year (or less).

Our softs wont help with scholarships (in most cases) but might for admissions.

For me I only want to add one more thing before Oct so knowing which softs might be best would be great.

Chipster Study

From the somewhat limited feedback with law schools at the recent DC law school day, I think that softs for NTD can probably help a break a tie with someone with the same numbers and without the softs. Or, having at least an unique story or set of circumstances that led you to law school in the absence of a gold medal, Rhodes, Pulitzer, etc. I would bet that a Navy SEAL would get a boost or someone who sang opera at the Met.

Alex

@stepharizona I hear you! I understand how hard it is to only have a limited amount of time to build softs. I was really active for my first few years in college, so I have some average softs, but nothing amazing. I kind of wish I could go back and get some amazing softs that would make me competitive for Yale.

I bet @david.busis will know a lot better than me

David Busis

Hi guys,

The general rule for sorts, whether or not you're a NTD, is that WHAT you do matters a whole lot less than, well, how long and hard you do it. Sorry I just made that sound gross. Admissions officers are looking to see signs of committment and leadership.

Nothing you do at this point is going to make all that much of a difference for an application this fall, though if you write your essay about, say, your commitment to social justice, you could make it slightly more credible by beefing up your service-based activities.

As for awards and fellowships and other major accomplishments—of course they help, but there's not much you can do about that. It's not like you can choose to win a Rhodes in your last few weeks before you apply.

*Correction: originally wrote "WHAT you do matters a whole lot more than, well, how long and hard you do it." I meant to write the activity itself matters less than your commitment. Sorry, @stepharizona.

stepharizona

Perfect, that helps me decide on a few things, and hopefully helpful for those delaying a year.