LSAT on resume

[goaliechica]

I never heard about that custom. In fact, I've seen job applications that request that you share your LSAT score. I think it was the Office of Chief Counsel at the IRS that wants it. It makes sense to ask for it, too, because it's a useful reading comprehension test.

Is an application a resume? No, it is not. If an application asks for it, then you give it to them. But you don't put it on your resume. It's like telling them you were valedictorian of your high school - it might well be impressive, but it just makes you ridiculous.

[jmcarothers]

I think the fact that some employers request the information suggests that it's not extraneous (like information about your high school class rank).

[jmcarothers]

At best, it's a waste of space.  At worst, it triggers social sanctions (like I said, tossed in the trash), and indicates unpleasant personality qualities.

At best, it gets you an interview. At worst, your package is passed over - I doubt this is the sort of faux pas that gets you permanently blacklisted anywhere, goalie's opposition notwithstanding. Also, these survey respondents - some of whom found LSAT scores to be somewhat useful - were participating in Yale's OCI, where interviewees can be presumed to have done quite well. I don't go to that sort of a school. Thanks for posting that info, by the way. Here's a link to the entire information sheet, for anyone else interested:

http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/CDO_Public/cdo-resumequestions.pdf

[jmcarothers]

I dunno, I personally consider it to be a valuable data point. Some older attorneys I know also do. It only makes sense to put it on the resume to differentiate yourself, and I think I'll take the risk. If there's some "custom" that it doesn't belong on the resume, now's a good time to start putting an end to it.

[Miss P]

If you don't go to a school that usually attracts people with 179s, your LSAT score will put a red flag on your resume: why isn't this guy at Yale?  If you have an endowed merit scholarship, list that instead.  The people who care will use it as a proxy for your LSAT score, and no one will be put off by it.

ETA:  If you're serious about this,

I dunno, I personally consider it to be a valuable data point. Some older attorneys I know also do. It only makes sense to put it on the resume to differentiate yourself, and I think I'll take the risk. If there's some "custom" that it doesn't belong on the resume, now's a good time to start putting an end to it.

I think you're probably going to have bigger problems than your LSAT-laden resume.

[jmcarothers]

I don't have an endowed merit scholarship. The reason I'm going to the school I'm going to is likely clear: I didn't do as well as I could have at college. It's not like they'll think, oh my god, this guy's a murderer, and the Harvard admissions committee found out and decided to reject him.

[Miss P]

I don't have an endowed merit scholarship. The reason I'm going to the school I'm going to is likely clear: I didn't do as well as I could have at college. It's not like they'll think, oh my god, this guy's a murderer, and the Harvard admissions committee found out and decided to reject him.

As a fellow splitter, I guarantee that you don't want to call attention to this in your job search.

[jmcarothers]

You quoted some text I typed out and implied that it suggests I have serious problems, but you didn't say why.

On the guarantee: what happened?

[Miss P]

You quoted some text I typed out and implied that it suggests I have serious problems, but you didn't say why.

You really shouldn't put so much stock in an admissions test.  It's great that you did well, but you're in law school now.  The 179 served its purpose.  Go out and do something you'll be proud to put on your resume.

On the guarantee: what happened?

Nothing happened to me.  But as someone who has been through job interviews for years and who used to do job interviews with highly pedigreed lawyers, I know that learning about your poor college performance (especially when it's contrasted with a high LSAT score) will make prospective employers think you are lazy.  Assuming you are applying to elite/selective jobs, the people reviewing your resume are likely going to be hyper-ambitious overachievers who will not understand why you didn't work harder or do better if you're so smart.  Really.  I know I'm just a stranger from the internet, but listen to the resounding chorus of advice from people who have been through this. 

FWIW, I empathize with your desire to tell people that you are a splitter.  Still, it will be much better for you in the long run if you let go of the defensiveness and concentrate on excelling now. 

[jmcarothers]

So you're suggesting that it's better to leave the LSAT off the resume because it might signal to overachieving interviewers that I did poorly in college?

I think that's also a risk I'm willing to take - I do have a scholarship, although it's not an endowed one, and I go to school near where much of my family lives.

Thanks for the advice, by the way, and of course I'm doing my best to do well at law school. Law exams, unfortunately, are not standardized.