For law school applicants, internship experience may not be as advantageous as they believe, according to a recent survey conducted by a national test prep company.
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions recently released a survey showing that 60 percent of law school admission officials say that applicants who have law-related internship experience have no advantage over those who do not.
Bill Griner, a law school advisement counselor with Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, said the Law School Admission Test has taken on greater importance than any other admission criteria.
“The LSAT score is more [important] than GPA and grades combined,” Griner said. “The four years that you spend in undergraduate school is less important than the four-hour test you have to take to get into law school. I’m not sure why that is, but it’s the truth.”
The survey was taken by 152 admission officers at different law schools. A fifth of admission officers surveyed said the LSAT should be changed to help better evaluate applicants.
Only 4 percent of survey participants said that legal experience gives applicants an advantage in the admissions process.
Anna O’Neill, an admissions representative for Stanford Law School, said the school looks at several criteria to choose a diverse class of students.
“[Stanford Law School] looks for a diverse class,” O’Neill said, “We don’t base your applications just on a good [grade point average]. We do look highly at what your recommendations had to say about you as well as your test score.”
For Stanford Law School’s class of 2012, the range of LSAT scores was between a 157 and a 180 while the average score was a 170, she said. The range of grade point averages for the school’s applicants was between a 3.29 and a 4.18 with an average grade point average of a 3.85.
But for most elite schools, Griner said a student’s LSAT scores will define their chances for admission.
“You have 4.0 GPA students who can’t make it into law school because they have 140s on their LSATs,” Griner said. “The LSATs are what determine how you get into law school. Your grades and extra opportunities are important but not as important as your scores.”
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