Jason Wu Trujillo, Senior Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Virginia School of Law, gave us his two cents on the effect of the current job market on law school admissions.
What should law school candidates keep in mind when applying in this economy?
I’m not sure that things are very much different, other than they should look at the quality of school they’re applying to and what their likely placement rate will be after school. So for example, the risks have just increased that not going to a program with an established career services program would be somewhat more risky than it otherwise would be, so that’s probably the biggest thing that I would keep in mind. I think obviously you’re fine if you’re coming to a place like UVA or one of our peer schools, but I would say really check out the career services offices in the various schools you’re applying to, and check out their placement statistics.
Do you want to see professional goals in law school personal statements?
Not necessary at all. Some people write very generic personal statements about why they want to go to law school, and that kind of thing. Others are writing more about a story in their life or some formative period or formative incident in their life, and that’s absolutely fine too. So, not at all important.
Have goals become more important in light of the recession?
I don’t believe that’s changed because of the economy as well.
Do you want to see that the applicants have a Plan A and a Plan B?
And nor is it important, at least in the personal statement, for the applicants to have a Plan A or a Plan B. I mean, we’re really not looking at the personal statement for anything other than to get a sense of who this person is, so it’s really not necessary for them to demonstrate their anticipated career paths.
Are you interested in short-term and long-term goals and how the applicant intends to use your school’s resources, programs, and extra-curricular activities to achieve those goals?
I am interested somewhat when they talk about our school specific. We just get a lot of applications, and it’s really hard to sift through them. We try to make a match if we can, and so if somebody has really looked and done some research on UVA and they say, “I really want to come to this law school for this particular program, or this particular professor teaches an area in which I’m interested,” that can be persuasive in the admission process. So, I would encourage them if they have a reason to apply here specifically to flesh that out.
Are you planning any changes to your application to reflect the changing legal job market?
No, our application has actually been pretty standard for a couple years.
So, you don’t find that the economy has had much of an impact on your specific admissions?
No, other than the fact that it’s given us more applications, but that’s been the biggest single change. Last year we had a 20% increase in the number of applications, which is obviously an insane number.
Read the full article: The Great Recession and Law School Admissions (cont.)