Soft Factors?

melloish

So I'm curious what everyone believes are soft factors that help with getting accepted into law school. I had built my undergraduate life under the impression I would be attaining an MSW not a JD and this decision happened rather spontaneously within the last few months, as you can deduce I have not done too much research on getting accepted and would truly appreciate help here (specifically pertaining to the 'Soft factors'). I'm a triple major (does this even matter for law?), I have presented my research at two conferences, published in a criminology journal (first name publication), received grants and fellowships, have held a steady job as a mental health professional aid for two years, and several other involvements/memberships in clubs, internships, etc. I have absolutely no clue if any of this matters? What soft factors are they looking for?

Alex

@melloish said:
'm a triple major (does this even matter for law?), I have presented my research at two conferences, published in a criminology journal (first name publication), received grants and fellowships, have held a steady job as a mental health professional aid for two years, and several other involvements/memberships in clubs, internships, etc. I have absolutely no clue if any of this matters? What soft factors are they looking for?

Hey Melloish,

Congrats on your recent decision to attend law school!

Softs are things other than your GPA/LSAT score (or hard factors)
So things like being a veteran, URM, extracurriculars, internships, awards, publications, and the list goes on. They do matter, but from what admissions consultants have told me, they matter very little unless they are BIG deals like being a Rhodes Scholar or inducted to Mensa. They definitely do help the admissions committees see a fuller picture of you as a student rather than just numbers on a page.

I think more importantly is how you choose to explain how certain soft factors might have impacted your life or led you to want to pursue law school. So even if you don't have any softs in mind right now, I'm sure there are things like your research conference that may have led you to want to go to law school may be helpful. But overall, I don't think you should worry about not having enough "soft" factors, because like I said numbers are what matter most at the end of the day vis-a-vis admissions.

Second, will being a triple major effect admissions decisions?
No, I don't think so. I think at the end of the day GPA is what is going to matter most insofar as what you do during undergrad. I don't think it hurts, as I myself decided to triple major (History. Economics, Philosophy) But again, I don't think it is going to get you in somewhere your numbers wouldn't have otherwise.

Sprinkles

Alex nailed it. But those are some ridiculous softs! I would consider them "strong softs"

Alex

@montaha.rizeq said:
Alex nailed it. But those are some ridiculous softs! I would consider them "strong softs"

Yeah, I neglected to say that... You have some good softs my (wo)man!

LawTweet

They do matter, but from what admissions consultants have told me, they matter very little unless they are BIG deals like being a Rhodes Scholar or inducted to Mensa

Not super important but I disagree that Mensa matters. You can get into Mensa with a 168 LSAT. Thus it says nothing more than that you received at least a 168ish on the LSAT.