Customer Reviews

How To Get Into Harvard Law School

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You're going to be attracted to this book no matter what I tell you. You'll buy it because you want to see what your competition is, you want to know if you're "up there" with the rest of them. This book will do nothing but introduce doubt for you. This book is filled with people who got 4.5 and above GPAs and LSAT scores of 170 and better. You already know from looking at Harvard's statistics that these are the scores you need to get in, so why do you need this book to reinforce the idea? The experiences of the people in this book are so varied that it really doesn't help to read them. All it really tells you is that Harvard looks for a diverse group of students who all scored well on the LSAT and did very well in college. This is nothing that you don't already know. Personally, I think most people in the book were annoying. They are the type who are so proud of themselves that they decided to broadcast their scores and experiences to the public in a book. It's an advertisement for egomaniacs. If you're applying to law school right now, you can't go back in time and change your GPA or college activities. You can only concentrate on you LSAT scores. Save your money and buy some LSAT review books or take a Kaplan course. (I give it two stars instead of one b/c it might help someone who is still in college. You can read this and see that you have to work damn hard in school and get good grades to get into Harvard law school).

i will tell you precisely how to get into harvard law school:

a) buy your admission or

b) be related to a dean of admissions or

c) earn excellent grades and a high lsat score from a reputable college, and don't come off as a jerk in your essay.

beyond that there is no other tactic at your disposal. no book will ever get you into an ivy league law school, and if you are looking for essay advice then you can find it online for free. there is a copy of this book in the career services office of my college. there is basically a copy of this book available on harvard's website (all the info is there).

you can only exemplify your worth to harvard through the choices that you have made in your academic career. that means if the extent of your extracurricular involvement was setting up the keg for that frat party frosh year, or you find yourself as a senior with a 3.2 GPA, your salvation will not be contained in this book. allay the desperation, and get some work experience.

good luck with your search, and discriminate against anyone who is trying to sell you something.

If you're looking for serious assistance on getting into one of the most selective programs in the world, this is not the right book. The author is obviously quite taken with his school, but I could have done without the dissertation on the drawbacks of student housing and more detailed information on the admissions process. "Step 1...Step 2..." may have been too simplistic an approach but this book does not offer any insight at all. Instead, it offers the words of a large group of rather egotistical, self-congratulatory Harvard law students who, according to them, all knew without a doubt they were going to be admitted because of their fabulous grades. I already knew grades were important. I was looking for some other information and it was not in this book.

This book seems to be have done with a minimum of effort. There is no "how" there is only "who". Only 55 pages of it were actually written by the author, and most of that is simply information he took from the Harvard catalog; things such as class offerings, parts of the application and what to do with them. There seems to be no advice whatsoever beyond the basic "only apply if you're really sure you want to go to law school". The only original insights he offers are 1) that he went there and 2) a short section (less than 10 pages) about the positives and negatives of Harvard. The rest of this 367 or so page book is composed of profiles of people who went there (in their exact words; they answer a bunch of questions and he just includes it in the book word for word) and a series of essays that these people wrote. The only benefit I can see from this book is that if you want a LOT of well written sample essays, this is a great place to start. However, one only needs a few to see what type of information and writing style is expected, the rest just serve to show just how good (and self absorbed in many cases) a lot of these people are.

I would definitely not recommend this book. It is even outdated; 5 years old now. With law school applications rising steadily since it was originally published and then up drastically this year, the "who" this books gives us may no longer even be representative of who is actually admitted. If pure voyeurism is your game, this book is great, but if you want "how" and actual useful advice try Richard Montauk's "How to get into the Top Law Schools". It has more useful advice in one page than this book has cover to cover.

This book quite simply should not be titled "How to get into Harvard Law School." Rather, it should make reference to profiles of applicants who actually got into Harvard Law School. Epps's advice is fairly generic, telling the reader what HLS is like from a social and academic standpoint. He spends more time concentrating on details that the reader probably already knows by just visiting HLS's official website. Other than share some basic information concerning the university, he lacks in any comprehensive detail regarding increasing one's chances of getting admitted.
On the other hand, the profiles were useful and the applicants' essays were, if nothing more than remarkable, quite inspirational. The profiles were indeed intimidating, but I would assume that people who have considered buying this particular book are not necessarily the types to be easily scared off by soaring GPA's and perfect LSAT's. I would assume that they themselves know where they stand academically on whether they should even consider applying to Harvard in the first place. If I were you, consider borrowing this book from a local library or buying a used copy. The full price is not worth it. The year the book was made is also quite outdated and does not accurately reflect Harvard's statistics today.

I certainly wouldn't say this book offers "invaluable" advice about applying; rather, it covers much the same things that those of us applying to law school already know. I think the only thing that distinguishes this book is its collection of student personal statements. After agonizing for weeks on what to write, I bought this book and read statements from actual students. Seeing how those essays were both similar (most managed to convey a real sense of the individual's personality) and different (some were whimsical while others were passionate) helped me to write my own statement. In that respect it was very helpful.

I found the book less a guide to admission to HLS than a general portrait of the school and its students. Though applicants to HLS might find such a portrait of some use, the book falls far short of its aim to show readers "How to Get Into HLS." Speaking as one who was admitted and who knows students there, I can say that there is no book the reading of which will turn one's chances of admission: the decision is made largely on the basis of the numbers, as other guide books will state.

Read the personal statements to get a feel for caliber your personal statement should measure up to. Use personal profiles of creme de la creme top-tier-school applicants to guage how you compare. My opinion- this book is worth buying if you can get it used at a discounted price as a reference for your applications, just as a bit of side reading, good-to-know kind of stuff as you are applying to top law schools. Definitely would NOT recommend spending full price on this.

Although I wasn't interested in what the author had to say, I did find the selection of actual student application essays fascinating. They influenced me greatly when I completed my application essay and I would recommend the book as a means of opening up the minds of potential law students before they begin the application process.

This book contains some insider advice for admission, but the stats of the students can be a little daunting for those of us that don't quite seem to meet the GPA and LSAT scores of the interviwed students. The personal essays are interesting and thought provoking, which helped me to better understand what law schools are looking for in an essay.