Can I Apply to Law School With an Unconventional Background?

By Alice Foley, Associate Law School Consultant

When I worked as an admissions officer (AO), I got a lot of the same questions every year/every cycle. During my last few years as an AO, it really was a surprise when someone coming to my office asked something new - but I always loved it.

I loved these moments for a couple of reasons. First, it’s easy to get really comfortable in your job after year three or four - it starts to become pretty routine and new questions mean less routine! Second, because it almost always meant that this applicant had a new story to tell.  And third, it meant that I had a prospective applicant in my office that would add something unique to the classroom and, eventually, the legal profession.

If it’s not obvious, I’m not a huge fan of routine and sameness - in life and in my job as an AO. The most unique and changeable part of my job was the prospective applicants that I had the privilege of working with. While they may have had a lot of the same questions, they each had their own unique story to tell, and their own unique perspective to add to the community.

I want to be clear before we get much further: there is absolutely nothing wrong with going K to J.D. (that’s kindergarten straight through to law school). At. All.

To this day I admire the students I’ve met that have the drive, and quite honestly the stamina to do this. I certainly didn’t. Y’all, I needed a break before diving into law school. But we’re not focusing on those amazing humans here. This is for the folks that aren’t sure they should apply to law school because they’ve taken a longer or twistier path.  

First things first: Yes, you should absolutely apply to law school.

You should never let an unconventional or out-of-the-ordinary background keep you from law school if that’s what you want to do! Worried because you’ve been working as a school counselor for the last ten years? Don’t worry. I bet you have some excellent stories and I hope I’ll see some of them in your personal statement!  Concerned because you chose to serve your country right after high school, so your college career has been long and a little disjointed? Thank you for your service, and I can’t wait to learn more about what you want to do with your law degree! Think that law school isn’t for you because you’ve been a professional artist for the last 20 years and can’t see the connection between art and law? Stop. I can’t wait to see how your experience as an artist will shape how you contribute to class discussions!

But… having a full life before making the decision to apply to law school can sometimes make the application process seem all the more daunting. I get that. Real talk for a second - the process can be daunting regardless. So I’ve got just a few pieces of advice that will hopefully make the process a little easier. 

The first, most important, thing is that even if you may not see the connection between what you’ve been doing and what you want to do after law school, it’s there. Something is pulling you to law school and the skills and knowledge you have gathered in your first career can help.

It’s all in how you tell the admissions committee about them. Use all the tools you have in the application to tell me the story of your life before law school. Put your accomplishments on your resume! Give yourself the time to make sure your personal statement tells me a compelling story about why law school is your next step! Don’t turn your personal statement into a defense of your choices thus far, or (even worse) a narrative recitation of your resume. As an AO, I want you to be successful as much as you do - help me do that by telling me your unique story!

Next, don’t panic if your GPA may not be the most accurate reflection of your abilities. I’ve seen it so, so, so many times: an excellent-sounding applicant that has 5-10 years of work experience after her undergraduate experience shows up worried about her low college GPA. There are a ton of reasons why her GPA may be low, but if I’m honest, most of the time the reason isn’t terribly important. (It’s nice to know, so please do write about it in an addendum if it’s significantly below the median GPA for the school you’re applying to.)

However, at this point, there’s not really anything that you can do to change your GPA. So instead, focus on what you can change (or craft).

First, try to get the highest LSAT score you can. Give yourself time to prep, and take it more than once if necessary. Second, as I said above, tell me what you’ve accomplished in the interim. You probably have some pretty awesome success stories from after graduation - I want to hear about those. Third, do not - I repeat, do NOT - use space in your personal statement to defend your GPA. That’s not what your personal statement is for and sounding overly defensive will never help.

Finally, believe in yourself and your experience.

What you will add to the law school educational experience is invaluable. Once you start school, your in-class time is going to involve a LOT of discussion of case law, court rulings, and statutory interpretation. Your approach to each of these topics is going to be colored by your experience and will inform your contributions to the class discourse. The likelihood that you will process or examine a ruling in exactly the same way as a classmate coming directly from college is pretty much zero. And that’s exactly what AOs are trying to build in each class we admit. We want different lived experiences, we want different opinions and lots of different backgrounds. We always aim to build a class that isn’t homogenous. A class full of the same applicant would be sooooo boring and would probably be awful preparation for joining the legal profession.

At the end of the day, a unique or unconventional path to law school can be such a wonderful chance to share your life experiences with your classmates, your law school community, and eventually (if you want to practice law) the legal profession. Don’t count yourself out of law school just because you didn’t get here the way that many of your classmates did.

Your experience is valuable and you absolutely belong in law school.

If you’re still not feeling confident about applying with a unique background, myself and our team are here to support you through this law school application cycle! Whether it’s through personalized one-on-one counseling, our Quick Start essay plans, or just downloading our free Essential Guide to Applying to Law School, there is definitely something we can do for you to help make this process a little bit easier. 

As always, feel free to reach out to us at hello@smontgomeryconsulting.com with any of your questions! You can also submit a question to be answered on our weekly Break Into Law School™ Podcast, streaming whatever your favorite podcast service is.