It’s never too late in life to apply to law school.
Although most applicants are under 25, roughly 20% are 30 or older, according to the Law School Admission Council. Many older law school graduates build fulfilling second careers that draw upon preexisting skills and experiences.
Law school applicants who have been out of college for several years or more should keep the following aspects in mind:
— Career paths.
— Application materials.
— Part-time programs.
— Campus resources.
— Personal challenges.
Career Paths
Law schools aren’t looking for students to come in with detailed career plans. Law students’ career paths can change shape and evolve as they explore the wide range of legal fields through classes, clinics and internships, career services offices, events and extracurricular activities.
[Read: Evaluate Law School Career Services.]
However, older applicants have a little more explaining to do to show they have realistic expectations about a legal career. In their resume and essays, they should clarify their past career path, their reasons for pursuing law and specific postgraduate goals.
They should frame their career change positively, emphasizing the future over the past. For example, it’s fine for a former teacher to say she wants to work on education reform or ensuring classroom access for children with special needs. She could even say that teaching has been a fulfilling experience but ultimately can’t support her growing family.
But if she says that she hates dealing with paperwork, office politics and ungrateful parents, law schools may wonder whether she will ultimately find satisfaction as a lawyer.
Application Materials
Law school applicants of any age need to submit all their academic records and ideally at least one letter of recommendation from a professor. Applicants unable to track down an academic reference should try to find professional references who can speak to academic skills.
Generally, law schools don’t expect applicants who have been out of school for several years to submit an academic reference letter, but older applicants should not feel embarrassed to reach out to professors they haven’t spoken with in years. It would help to give them ample notice and offer to provide a life update and details about old grades and examples of past performance.
[READ: How to Get a Compelling Letter of Recommendation for Law School.]
Law schools tend to put less weight on grades earned many years ago, but older applicants should try to demonstrate their academic capabilities through their work experience.
In their resumes, recommendation letters and personal statements, they can highlight recent examples of their skillful use of research and analysis. They might consider taking law-related courses at a local college, particularly if coming from an unrelated field.
Part-Time Programs
Older applicants may have more life responsibilities to juggle with law school. They may be limited in geography or time commitment. Fortunately, there are increasing options for part-time and low-residency programs.
There are now multiple fully online J.D. programs, and even more hybrid online programs, that allow students to earn a law degree fully or primarily from home.
Campus Resources
Many law school students feel atypical in one way or another. But even if older law school students feel worlds apart from younger peers more concerned with finding free drinks than child care, they should not feel alone.
Many law schools have associations of Older, Wiser Law Students, or OWLS, to socialize, commiserate and share advice. Older students with kids might also consider Parents Attending Law School, or PALS. Nowadays, law schools offer a range of resources for parents, from flexible schedules to lactation rooms.
Personal Challenges
Some older applicants may be looking for a second chance rather than a midcareer change. Law schools of all tiers have students who overcame hardships like addiction, incarceration, disability or fleeing a desperate situation. Schools value such students because they arrive with more motivation and more direct experience of the legal system than traditional applicants.
[READ:How to Overcome Fear of Applying to Law School]
Applicants with such backgrounds should use their personal statement, diversity statement or perhaps an addendum to thoughtfully provide context for an unusual circumstance. They should make clear their readiness for the rigors of law school as well as their career goals, uniquely informed by their past challenges.
However meandering the path that took them to law school, older applicants should feel undaunted. While they may perceive age discrimination in the legal field, they benefit from greater life experience, more resources and connections, and higher clarity of purpose.
For example, I once met a retired woman in Alaska who was working as a cook to save money for law school. She wanted to spend her twilight years aiding the Alaska Native communities that she had grown close to while working on the North Slope oil fields.
Her plan wasn’t easy, and she would have to travel out of state to find an accredited law school. But considering the hard life she had lived, I doubt she felt too old for the challenge.
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Advice for Older Law School Applicants to Consider originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 12/05/22: This article was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
