What job looks best to prospective law schools?

Michael: What job looks best to prospective law schools?
I am planning to apply to law schools in the next year or two, but I need to work in the mean time. I have 2 years work experience out of college as a cognitive neuroscience research assistant. I would like to get a job in something more law related, what would look best on a law school application?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Jennifer King
not mcdonalds.

Answer by Joshua
mcdonalds

Answer by Jasper
try to find a law office and apply for any position that they will give you. even being a secretary in a law office will be a good start.

Answer by MM
Any law firm work would be good, and paralegal work would be particularly good, but it’s not necessary. Your grades and LSAT matter more.

Answer by W G
Few law schools really look at your work experience or letters of recommendation and the like unless you are “on the bubble”. You would do far better with getting your GPA higher and working to get a good score on the LSAT (the version of the SAT you take to get into law school). However, please note that unlike the SAT, your scores are averaged when you take it more than once. If you have not taken it yet, be sure you are ready before you take it. Make a great score on the LSAT and the other stuff will not matter much (unless you have a very low GPA). Have a high GPA but make a poor LSAT score, or even average, and you will have an uphill climb.

To do well on the LSAT, you have to know what helps you with standardized tests. For some people, it is taking courses and studying. That does nothing but bore me. For me, I do some studying if appropriate but otherwise I have to relax and watch movies, read or do whatever I really like. Then I am relaxed and can score well (I am a lawyer and scored well on the LSAT). That would make other people nuts though so don’t let someone give you a one size fits all answer. Think of what helps YOU the most in taking those types of tests and do that.

The LSAT is not really testing your knowledege as much as it is testing your ability to reason and to remain calm. Often there are sections that do not count but you do not know which ones will not count. The others taking the test will really make you nervous if you let them because many of them will be busy cramming or otherwise panicking. Just laugh at them and ignore them. Most questions are of the logic type (if all A’s are B’s and some B’s are C’s then are all A’s C? type of things) and reading comprehension where you read a short paragraph then the answers are based on 3 or so statements and you have to say whether all are false, all are true, 1 and 3 are true, etc.

I have taught paralegal courses and the training there will not help with the LSAT nor really help you get in. It would be useful once you are in but that is not what you asked. Working a law firm or county attorney’s office may give you good knowledge for when you are in school but it will not help you get in. Good luck