Michigan: Admissions of a Director

http://www.law.umich.edu/newsandinfo/LQN/spring2004/director.htm

Sarah Zearfoss, Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions for the University of Michigan Law School wrote an article back in the spring of 2004 about the mission of an admissions director. While law schools do admit heavily based on numerical factors, the application and other "soft" factors do come into play. Of course, it is hard to tell whether this article is completely genuine. In fact, it might be a ploy for applicants to apply to a school that they have no business applying to (UMich Law Median LSAT: 168 Median GPA: 3.64).

The article is of great interest to me, because Michigan is likely going to be my first choice school. UMich has produced fine lawyers, most notably Clarence Darrow, and will continue to do so. Job placement is strong, with graduates pretty much able to command 145K salaries upon graduation regardless of rank. For those on law review or ranked somewhere in the top 10%, a graduate has pretty much his or her pick of any legal job in the United States.

I guess the challenge presented to me will be to construct a carefully planned application to prove that I am truly more outstanding than my numerical indicators imply. Hopefully, the strength of my extracurricular achievements coupled with my strong professional work experience will help alleviate concerns about my poor grades.