A2Z S4 E08: 3-in-1 K-JD App Read

[@MrLollipop9899]

Such a great resource for applicants! Would love to see an application read with non KJDs/non traditional applicants!

[@Radicalmama13]

Yes please VERY non traditional please 😂😂

[@nathaliefrisch2360]

As an international applicant, these videos are so invaluable!!

[@thealchemistpowerhouse833]

Hi Dean Z, thank you for doing these videos! You are so poise and lovely as you deliver your opinions and providing some feedback to your viewers which can be insightful for any applicant.

[@kiabrodersen3009]

This is so helpful thank you for doing these!!!

[@yonghaoyu9028]

Thank you for another amazing video. Love seeing the kind attitude Dean Z displayed even if the student didn’t end up attending Michigan. Pretty sure the theme is Brooklyn 99?

[@valeriacampos3645]

This was so insightful! I’m applying this cycle and have learned a lot from these videos, so thank you! Do you have a video on how you assess reverse splitters?

[@SNB0516]

This was so great!! Can we get a look at a non traditional applicant in a different career field?

[@EmmanuelVelazquez-fv6vb]

What are your thoughts on JD/MBA and other joint programs? Are they worth it ?

[@baileighrhoads5637]

I'm loving the Brooklyn Nine-Nine names!

[@Robinson_Will]

B 99! Such a great show!!

[@maxonyoutube3854]

Hi Dean Z I have a specific question about my application. I’m finalizing putting together my materials for my application this fall and I’m 1 letter of rec short. I’ve worked and tutored most of my time in college so I have 2 great letters of rec from a former manager of mine at a retail store I worked at for a few years and 1 from a faculty member at my school who runs the tutoring center I work in. Unfortunately because I went from community college to my 4 year university and because there aren’t many on campus programs to get involved in for my major or the law in general I haven’t had any long term opportunities to get to know my professors and feel uncomfortable asking some of them to recommend me because of this. I have a few professors I could think of who I think know me a little bit, but I was wondering if it would be looked down upon to include a letter of rec from a highschool teacher I had who motivated me to go to college. She’s an integral part of my personal statement, and I still keep in touch with her as she’s had me and other former classmates of help her move, mentor her students, etc. Would including a faculty member and a former highschool teacher I’m still in touch with be equal to 1 professors letter of rec? Am I overthinking this? Please feel free to let me know as I’ve already rambled a bit too long on this. Thank you for the videos you make for us trying to figure it all out 💛💙.

[@umichlaw]

Thanks for your nice message! and I’m very happy to answer this question. I do *not* think including a letter from your high school teacher is a good idea. I can well understand that they are important to you and that they have been formative in your life-but the function of a letter of recommendation from a faculty member is to speak to your academic and intellectual readiness for professional school. There are certainly many high school teachers who have graduate and professional degrees and who are very familiar with what is required at that level, but all the same, they haven’t had the opportunity to teach you at the college level and to compare you to other similarly situated students. You’ve evolved dramatically since you were in high school, I promise you, and even though you’ve kept in touch, the teacher hasn’t been supervising your academic growth: They don’t see you in class, they don’t read your work, and so on. Also-a letter from a high school teacher would simply underscore that you don’t have a letter from a professor, making that omission more prominent. And, here’s a piece of advice that’s a little hard to give because I worry I’m overstepping, but-swallowing your worries and asking for a letter of rec from a professor is really an important indicator of law school readiness. You’ll have to do much scarier things than that as a lawyer, as I’m sure you know. Professors are, after all, obligated to write such letters. That said: A good way to ease yourself into the request is to write a polite email broaching the subject, acknowledging that they may not know you well but reminding them of how you performed in class, and offering to provide any other information that might be useful (e.g., your resume or a copy of your personal statement). I would counsel writing to every possible candidate you can think of, and then combing through their answers to see which seems most willing and open. Also, and this is very important-high school is two words! I see so many applications where people smush them together, and I always want to reach out to tell them not to! Thanks for giving me the forum. 😊. -Dean Z

[@victoriadominguez1798]

You’ve mentioned that résumés should include all work experience, do you mean all work experience since college or should we include high school too?

[@umichlaw]

All work experience since college. Don't include any from high school

[@ChaoticallyLawful]

NINE-NINE!!!

[@jme6421]

Do you have a video of application reviews of applicants who have work experience and are applying for JD later in life? 10+ years of work experience?

[@MrAmipaul]

Brooklyn 99 naming theme perhaps ?

[@jollyholly2851]

The first applicant is truly egregious. Clearly she is so entrenched in identity and victimhood politics to her own detriment in life.