In my last post, I discussed how to write a Personal Statement. Knowing that many of you are currently facing the choice of which graduate school to attend, I want to focus today’s post on how to choose your graduate school.

I spent last weekend with bright-eyed admitted students visiting Harvard Law School, each grasping tightly onto their red folders and bursting with smiles.  Amidst the variety of questions circulating the conversations, one remained most salient: why did you choose to go to Harvard?

I wanted to give the simplest—and perhaps most honest—answer of “It just felt right,” but I knew that would be unsatisfying to the inquisitive students facing such tough decisions.  Let me start with this:

You are in a great position to have options and you can—and will—be successful regardless of which school you choose.

With that in mind, there are several factors I considered in making my decision that may be worth contemplating.

1. Location

Do you prefer cities or suburbs?  Mom-and-pop or chain stores?  These questions may seem superficial at first, but they are crucial in shaping your graduate school experience.  For example, Stanford is in beautiful, sunny Palo Alto, away from the city and full of spacious roads to drive through.  Harvard, on the other hand, is in the vibrant city of Cambridge and a short subway-ride from Boston, one of the U.S.’s largest and most historic cities.  Ultimately, consider the impact of location on everything from jobs prospects in that area to even food and weather.  As one of my Californian classmates jokes, “Go to where the weather sucks the most – you’ll study more.” (Julia Choe, HLS ’12)

Location, Reference: http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_map/usa.gif

2.      Size

Size matters!  You may want to have a tight, close-knit community, or you may want to have the opportunity to meet new people everyday.  In considering small class sizes, for example, picture yourself in your third or fourth year of graduate school.  Would you be tired of knowing everyone’s business or would you feel fortunate to have the support of your entire class?  With large class sizes, you may fear being lost in the crowd, or you may relish the opportunity to find friends form a greater pool of diverse students.

Class Size, Reference: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/

3.      Student Life

Location and size impact student life more generally.  You should notice the atmosphere of the school both inside and outside the classroom.  Are students generally more collaborative or independent?  Friendly or aggressive?  What environment would suit your personality and bring out your best?  How diverse is the student body?  To be honest, you’ll face all types of personalities wherever you decide to go, so this may not necessarily be the dispositive factor.  Lastly, look to the types of student groups and activities available outside of the curriculum, making sure to find those with interests you share.

Student Life, Reference: http://www.sa.ucsb.edu

4.      Curriculum

Do the schools differ much in terms of curriculum, especially the variety of courses or style of teaching?  What is the grading system?  Would you prefer a quarter or semester system?  Although most schools probably offer the same “foundation” courses, some have more developed programs in certain areas of interest.  For example, one reason I chose Harvard was for its Program on Negotiation, which none of the other schools I considered offered.  Stanford, on the other hand, was quite appealing for its focus on a variety of law clinics. 5.      Faculty

I assume that most schools have outstanding faculty, so similar to curriculum considerations, faculty should factor into your decision if there are outstanding professors in particular areas in which you have a strong interest.  This may be especially important if you want to pursue academia. More generally, you may want to consider faculty diversity and accessibility.

Faculty, http://www.independentschools.com

6.      Financial Aid

My advice with financial aid is simple: unless you are facing serious financial concerns or you are considering a full ride scholarship, discrepancies with financial aid should not make or break your decision.  You can always try to negotiate with a comparable school that gives you less financial aid.  More importantly, what may seem to be a noticeable discrepancy in money now is actually not much of a difference when paying back loans over an extended period of time.

With so many issues to consider, I understand that the decision you face may seem quite daunting.  However, I’m simply going to repeat myself: You are in a great position to have options and you can—and will—be successful regardless of which school you choose.

At the end of the day, do what feels right.  Your intuition, above all else, may be the best advice to follow.

Harvard Law School: one of the dreams of Vietnamese parents around the world.

Doctor, lawyer, engineer–the three dream jobs every Vietnamese parent has for their children. Today, I’m going to talk about lawyers, and specifically the long path towards law school that begins right about now for many students across the nation.

The great thing about law school is that it doesn’t require any specialized undergraduate degree. Sure, there’s a ton of political science majors that tend to go into law school, but to actually get into law school, all you need is a degree, any degree. So for those of us who failed in the first two paths to our parents’ approval, there is always law school.

There are of course some major problems with a profession that allows pretty much anybody to enter into it (over-lawyering being one of them, but I’ll address that next time). For now, all you 3^rd year undergrads who just decided that medicine or engineering isn’t for you, take heart because you can still apply for law school!

So what can you start doing right now to get into law school?

LSAT

Start studying for the LSAT. Doing well on the LSAT is the single most important thing anybody can do to get into a good law school. The LSAT is the universal law school admissions test.  The LSAT tests you on your logical reasoning and analysis. That’s why it doesn’t really matter what major you are, though philosophy majors and those with a strong math background tend to do well on the LSAT because of how much those subjects emphasize logical thinking.

The LSAT is administered several times a year, with the most popular test time being in late September. It’s a good idea to take the June LSAT because it gives you the summer to prepare the rest of your application.  Additionally, this is also well timed because it provides you with three more chances to retake the LSAT (September, December and February) if you don’t do as well as you’d like. The LSAT is scored from 120-180, with the average score around 151. Law schools vary in how much weight the put into an applicant’s LSAT score.  Generally, top-tier law schools accept students with an average score of 166 and up, translating to applicants that are within the 94th percentile of test takers.

Grades

I would dare to say grades matter to law schools, even more than getting into a top tier medical school or your desired engineering job.

Your junior year spring grades are usually the last grades a law school will see if you are applying after junior year to go straight into law school after college. Typical applicants apply early in the fall and find out about acceptances spring of their senior year, giving them the possibility of supplementing their senior year grades. However, you shouldn’t depend on last minute grade improvements to influence your chances significantly.  Your undergraduate record is taken as a whole, and it is advised that you do well all throughout college.

A “good” GPA is hard to determine as it naturally varies across majors and schools. Hard science majors tend to be considered more difficult and are often more valued, while popular “easy” majors valued less.  There is no actual required GPA, but the higher your GPA, the better your chances.  Most top law schools have a 75th percentile average GPA of around 3.75.  A GPA of 3.75 translates to getting a transcript with the majority of As and few B+ or A-.

Apply Early!

Law schools start accepting applications around October, some even earlier. The actual deadline may be in late spring.  An important factor to note is that most applications are considered on a rolling basis so most available spots may already be filled up even before the deadline. So apply early when room is plentiful, and admissions officials are a little more free with their hand in admitting students.

Diversity

Finally, one last piece of advice: emphasize diversity! Almost every law school in the nation values diversity in the classroom and considers it in their applications. This doesn’t necessarily have to mean race, but can be anything from socio-economic background, worldly experience, or interesting talents and hobbies. Whatever it is that sets you apart and makes you unique, make sure to emphasize that in your personal statement! Law schools can be a brutally cold and dreary experience, not to mention a mind-numbing subject. For that reason, law schools try hard to stimulate and liven their classrooms and halls by bringing in truly interesting students.  Show law schools that you can bring in a unique view point and add an interesting kick to the class!

To Sum Up…

Aim for that 170 on the LSAT, do well during your undergraduate years, be extraordinary, and APPLY EARLY!

C’mon prospective law students who spent time saving babies in Vietnam and volunteering for OneVietnam Network… show us that getting into the top-tier law school is possible!

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This is the first of a series of “Graduate School” articles.  Stay tuned!