"Help Me Find the Right Law School...for Me!"

I am regularly asked this question. I can help you determine the right answer.

Let me begin by asking you a series of non-stressful questions, the answers to which will narrow down the vast range of law schools to some appropriate choices for our further consideration.

1. First, let's think about physical location. Do you envision going to law school in an urban, suburban or rural setting?

2. Do you want to remain in such a setting after law school is over for you?

3. Do you think you want a national, regional, or local law school? National law schools are the toughest in terms of admission challenge, but offer the greatest access to a wide job market. However, they are likely to be the most expensive. Regional law schools, often public, can be very respected in their region or state, and can be less expensive than private law schools, but they lack a national reach in terms of the job market. Local law schools are the easiest challenge in terms of admission, but typically have only limited interest from legal employers beyond the local market. And private local law schools can be very expensive.

4. Consider the reach of the school in the job market. Begin to get a sense of who recruits there by checking the NALP Directory.

5. Do you want a law school that is cooperative in its culture? Or competitive?

6. How harsh or friendly is the school's grading policy? Does the school provide class ranking data? Or does it refrain from doing so?

7. How diverse is the student body there? Are you going to feel comfortable there, and part of the community?

8. What about the political character of the professors and students? Does the law school have what you are looking for?

9. Does the law school have a religious affiliation that you might want?

10. What about the law school's cost? Do students really pay the stated tuition cost, or do many receive discounts through aid, grants and scholarships?

11. Does the area surrounding the law school offer you some of the things that you want for recreation, personal growth, fun, learning, meeting people, jobs, and institutions that matter to you?

12. As you visit a potential school's website--or better the actual physical setting of a potential law school--what is your reaction to their facilities? Are they new, or old? How comfortable are the students? Is there convenient internet access for everyone? Adequate library and study space? What about parking? Public transportation? And what about personal safety, in the school and neighborhood?

13. If you are physically there, stroll into a public bathroom for a quick look. This might sound odd to you, but it can reveal something important about the culture of the school. Is the bathroom dirty or clean? Supplied adquately, or missing important things? Is the bathroom covered with angry student graffiti, or are the walls and stalls clean?

14. Consider the average age and life experience of students at this law school. Are they mostly fresh from college, or do they have some work experience? Which do you want?

Also consider the information at PrelawAdvisor.com as you begin to make your law school plans. For more information on how I can assist you, or to answer your questions, please send an e-mail to BradDobeck@aol.com.

Must Reading for Law School Applicants

One of my current advisees, a very bright young man now headed for an ivy league law school, brought to my attention this morning an article that all potential applicants to law school need to read. It was written by the distinguished federal judge Patrick J. Schiltz (U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota), a former professor at Notre Dame Law School and partner at the law firm of Fagre & Benson. Entitled On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession, it was published in 1999 by the Vanderbilt Law Review. With an extraordinary career from which to offer his perspective, Judge Schiltz revealed the minefields that can await one seeking a career in the law. His article is definitely worth the time of anyone contemplating law school. I strongly recommend it to you.

Let me also recommend one another frank, powerful, insightful article. Entitled The Rise and Fall of American Legal Education, written by New York Law School Dean and President Richard A. Matasar, it offers an assessment of the risks one takes in selecting a high-priced law school that is too low in the law school "food chain" to attract the interest of legal employers. Dean Matasar's article is most certainly worth your time, as you consider potential law schools. The law schools will judge you harshly, as they consider you for their student body. You have every right, conversely, to consider their market effectiveness. Most law school students borrow money to invest it with an institution they are trusting to educate them effectively, one which they hope will project them successfully into the marketplace of law-related jobs. Invest your time, money, talent and reputation carefully, in the law school you ultimately choose for your JD program.

For more information about how I assist law school applicants, please see my website www.PrelawAdvisor.com or send an e-mail to me at BradDobeck@aol.com.

Law School Applicants: Thinking About Lying on Your Resume? Don't.

Today's Wall Street Journal (4/27/07) reports the sad story of MIT Admissions Dean Marilee Jones. In 1979, she submitted her resume for a junior position in Admissions at MIT. She falsely claimed on it that she had bachelor's and master's degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a degree from Albany Medical College. MIT did not check. She was hired. Over the years, she rose to become a greatly admired admissions dean, for one of the world's most respected universities.

Then...in 2007, 28 years later, someone anonymously tipped MIT off. She hadn't earned the degrees. MIT investigated, and found out the truth. Today, for all the world to see in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, she was fired.

Do not, do not, do not lie on your resume. If you have false information on it, change it. Today. Such lies can surface later in a way that can destroy a professional career. No lie is worth the initial advantage it might gain for you.

If you have an issue of concern on this matter, and you are considering a future application to law school, let's discuss it. Feel free to contact me at BradDobeck@aol.com. For more information about my work for law school applicants, please see my website www.PrelawAdvisor.com .

PrelawAdvisor.com's Estimated 2008 “Yes-Points” for Law School Applicants

This table represents a current estimate of the GPA and LSAT score at which a law school is likely to accept an applicant from Georgetown University (the "Yes-Point"). For other schools, adjust upward or downward based on the competitiveness of your undergraduate institution. Use these estimates only as a starting point; results will vary significantly based on the applicant's achievements, ethnic background (in some cases), family resources, supporting recommendations and application strategy.

The data examined for this table include the Top 50 law schools' fall 2006 admission decisions. Schools are grouped by Difficulty Category (1 through 14). Within each Difficulty Category, schools are ranked according to estimated admission difficulty.

Rank	Law School	GPA	LSAT
1	Yale	3.9	173
2	Stanford	3.87	170
2	Harvard	3.84	172
3	NYU	3.74	170
3	Columbia	3.67	171
4	Chicago	3.64	170
5	Duke	3.76	167
5	University of California-Berkeley	3.79	166
5	University of Virginia (nonresidents)	3.66	169
5	University of Pennsylvania	3.66	169
5	Georgetown (Day Program)	3.65	169
5	Northwestern	3.6	169
6	University of Michigan	3.67	168
6	Cornell	3.65	167
7	Vanderbilt	3.69	166
7	UCLA	3.63	166
7	USC	3.61	166
8	Boston University	3.68	165
8	GWU	3.63	165
8	Fordham	3.58	165
8	University of Texas	3.57	165
8	Washington & Lee	3.51	165
8	Notre Dame	3.49	165
9	William & Mary	3.6	164
8	Boston College	3.59	164
8	University of Minnesota	3.5	165
9	BYU	3.6	163
9	University of Colorado	3.56	162
10	Washington University-St. Louis	3.45	164
10	University of Illinois	3.43	164
11	Wake Forest	3.45	163
11	Emory	3.45	163
11	George Mason University	3.44	163
12	University of Washington	3.67	162
12	University of Maryland	3.59	163
12	University of California-Hastings	3.58	162
12	University of California-Davis	3.54	162
12	George Mason University	3.44	163
12	University of Alabama	3.56	162
12	University of Iowa	3.62	161
12	University of North Carolina	3.58	161
12	Ohio State University	3.58	161
12	University of Arizona	3.52	161
12	University of Georgia	3.62	160
13	Southern Methodist University	3.58	161
13	Tulane University	3.53	161
13	Indiana University-Bloomington	3.51	161
13	University of Connecticut	3.47	161
13	American University (Day Program)	3.38	161
13	University of Wisconsin	3.48	159
14	University of Florida	3.63	158

How I Measure Success at PrelawAdvisor.com

"Brad Dobeck’s services at PrelawAdvisor.com were absolutely invaluable. When I started this process, I was a 27 year-old returning student with less-than-perfect grades, and genuine worries regarding law school. From the very beginning, Brad helped me put together a solid, methodical, and effective approach to the law school application process. With his help I was able to conquer the LSAT, and put together an application package that was sure to stand out and get the attention it deserved. But Brad’s services didn’t stop there.

With Brad’s guidance, I managed to receive admission offers and scholarship offers from more than a dozen law schools located all over the country, and as a result I was faced with an entirely different kind of challenge. Suddenly I had more offers than I knew what to do with, and Brad once again came through by giving me no-nonsense advice, and sharing real life experiences from his former advisees who now attend those very same schools. I cannot begin to stress the importance of Brad’s advice here.

While it is important to perform well on the LSAT and to have your ducks in a row for the application process--in order to open up as many doors as possible--deciding which school was right for me was a far more difficult task. With Brad’s help, I learned that rankings aren’t always the most important thing in the selection process, as there are so many variables to consider when investing in a legal career. In fact, the school I chose to attend was not the highest-ranking school in my pool of admission offers. However, it was without a doubt the school best suited for my needs in terms of location, faculty, student body, programs offered, and opportunities offered to help me succeed upon completion of law school.

Believe it or not, the struggle was not quite over yet. While I had survived the application process, and made an informed decision as to the school I wanted to attend, I still had to survive the real challenge: my first year in law school. With Brad’s advice, I was able to take this bull by the horns. The first year in law school can be one of the most challenging experiences of one’s life. Very little of what I had done in school up to this point actually prepared me for this experience, so having someone like Brad on my side to help me devise a plan of attack was an advantage that helped me quickly rise above the rest.

I am currently ranked in the top 25% of my class, am the founder of one of the most innovative and highly regarded programs to emerge from legal academia in recent years, and have landed a lucrative summer associate position with one of the top law firms in Denver. All of this was made possible because of the knowledge and guidance Brad shared with me, and because he has been a genuine advocate for my success.

I can’t thank him enough for helping me achieve so much."

---An advisee now at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law.