Reviews (22)

WOW!
This book is truly indispensable.I looked at MANY different books, and this is BY FAR THE BEST.If you are even thinking about going to law school, this is a MUST HAVE.Very cheap, easy (actually fun) to read, and packed with useful, practical information.

The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions: Straight Advice on Essays, Resumes, Interviews, and More
It is a very good guide for anyone, intresting in applying to Law school.

Very Helpful
I really liked the no-nonsense advice in this book. Anna Ivey gives you straight up advice on how to get into your safety schools and how to tip the scales in your favor on the schools where you have a 50-50 chance of yes or no. There are some good sample essays in the back of the book that are helpful in crafting your own statement, as well as some bad ones that show you what to avoid. Helpful section on financial aid. If you only buy one book regarding the law school admissions process, The Ivey Guide should be regarded as a great primer to answer all of your questions (whether you are a recent grad or an older returning student, the over represented majority or a URM.) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Admission    2. Graduate School Guides - General    3. Graduate School Guides - Law    4. Law schools    5. Legal Education    6. Personal & Practical Guides    7. Reference    8. Study Guides    9. United States    10. Study Aids / Graduate School Guides   

Reviews (1)

Good for Basic Information, But Not Advice
This book is a great reference guide to general information about each law school.The information in the book may be available on each school's website or elsewhere on the web, but this book saves time by bringing the data together and presenting it in an organized way, which is especially useful when comparing various law schools.
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Subjects:  1. Graduate School Guides - Law    2. Law    3. Legal Education    4. Reference   

Editorial Review

While almost anything goes in a college-application essay, law-school applicants are expected to be a little more sophisticated. No navel-gazing allowed. But please, no pontificating, either. Like admissions officers everywhere, those at law schools are looking for something fresh. That means, says Boykin Curry, that unless you are quite certain that you've got a spectacular new approach, you should avoid such topics as "Why I want to be a public defender," "I have always wanted to be a lawyer since I was ten," and "What I think about justice" ("lecturing on the law--before you have studied it--" Curry warns, "is likely to bore and irritate the reader"). Instead, be honest, and be creative. Use these essays for inspiration. One essayist here demonstrates his bargaining skills by relating his Peace Corps experiences haggling over goat meat in Niger. Another writes touchingly of his stated goal: to practice law with the same integrity that his grandfather brought to his carpentry business. Read more

Reviews (10)

Very helpful for me
I have a biology and computer science background and was very nervous about my ability to write an impressive essay compared to other applicants with a background in english, history,and political science.I quickly identified with the essays of non traditional applicants, but also learned a great deal from the wit, charm, and literary styles of the other essays.I found the book to be invaluable in my application efforts.Thank you.

A helpful book but could have been better
I personally found it helpful to see what other applicants had written.The forty essays in this book are separated into seven categories.They are essays about: Character, the school and you, important changes, entering the legal profession, contemplative, crimes, and applicants with colorful backgrounds.I found about half of the essays to be of little help to me personally as they were more the result of an applicant's specific abilities than a good essay.For example, I did not find essays about being a congressman's son, growing up as a Native American, or living in Niger to be to helpful.It would also have been nice to know which essays worked at which schools.It mentions the schools on the cover but does not tell which essays went to each school.This would be especially helpful since some worked at Florida State and Tulane while others worked at Harvard and Stanford an obvious difference.Personally, I found How to get into the Top Law Schools to be more helpful but this is good as supplementary reading.

Boring Essays
The book has its helpful points, but the overwhelming majority of the essays in this book are boring and don't stand out in too many ways, in my opinion. I'm having a hard time seeing why the various admissions officers chose to submit the essays in this book--probably because most applicants write boring essays, as even the admissions officers in this book will tell you. I also guess it's because the title of the book is "Essays That Worked," not "Essays That Are Impressive." And I'll bet the essays mainly "worked" because everything else in their admissions files was stellar and they were written in a decent fashion. Read more

Subjects:  1. Academic writing    2. Admission    3. College Entrance    4. College applications    5. Education    6. Graduate School Guides - Law    7. Institutions Of Higher Education    8. Law (General)    9. Law schools    10. Reference    11. United States    12. Education / Reference   

Subjects:  1. College Entrance    2. Graduate School Guides - Law    3. Reference    4. Writing Skills    5. Advice on education    6. Higher & further education    7. Law    8. Reference / Writing Skills   

Reviews (43)

Very Helpful
Oh thanksgiving day, I am thankful for this book and the great help it was for me during the past year.
The Best Book on the Subject
This is the only book you will need to help you apply to law school.The author covers everything from personal statements to Loan repayment programs at top schools.The author focus on top twenty schools but the information should be helpful to anyone.The best part is hundreds of quotes on all subjects directly from the deans of admissions at top schools.It includes quotes from the deans at every school in the top 15 in the U.S. News and world report rankings and a number of other institutions including Boston College, George Washington, USC, UCLA, and Boston University.This is particularly helpful if you are targeting one of these top schools.There are executive summaries at the end of the chapters if you don't have time to read the entire book. This work will help anyone taking the application process seriously to maximize their chances of getting into the best school they can.

best for people who are still deciding whether to apply
This book certainly has some helpful information, but the author spends a good bit of time trying to help the reader make sure that he/she wants to go to law school and wants to be a laywer. He does some motive-chekcing (Why do want to go to LS? Are you sure you're doing it for the right reasons? etc). This may prove helpful for those who are still unsure, but not for those who have already thought through these questions.
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Subjects:  1. College Entrance    2. General    3. Graduate School Guides - Law    4. Law    5. Law (General)    6. Professional Education    7. Reference    8. Reference / General   

Reviews (21)

A friendly, but realistic, guide to law school
Deaver's book is a good, light read. The main, primary focus of the book is to: (1) introduce you to an outlining system to prepare for your exams (and to help you study for them) and (2) to give you a brief, but reasonably thorough review of your entire law school experience, from the pros and cons of law review to how to write a good scholarly paper. Note the short page length--only about 200 pages. Thus, the book doesn't cover *everything* about law school, but it is a very good start. In addition to law school itself, it has some good overviews and tips about job prospects, the legal profession, summer opportunities, etc. It also has a brief overview of the LSAT and application process, although these areas are really not that informative to be worthy of publication (the main point of the book is, as I said, the outlining system and a rough overview of the law school experience itself--which this book does very well). It is written in an easy, casual manner and the author can be funny at times, too. All in all, a good, light, easy read about how to best study for law school classes.

Law School
This was an excellent book; I am still working on my undergraduate degree planning on attending law school. I know people who are attorneys and I have received there feedback but this book was so much more in depth and precise. I am doing a lot of research on what to expect during law school and how to get into a high tier institution. This book tells it all from admissions to class selection to internships. Law school confidential is a must read if you are planning towards law school.

Excellent if you're not sure if law school is what you want.
My ten year career has been in software development management. I have aspirations for business management as well as politics. So I thought perhaps a J.D. would help me further those goals. This book helped inform me exactly what to expect in law school, the tests, the application process, etc. It gives some ideas of what one can do with the degree, etc. It's a nice short book that you can read in one sitting. It was nice to be able to do that and figure out whether or not I really wanted to invest 3 years in law school. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Graduate School Guides - Law    3. Law    4. Law (General)    5. Legal Education    6. Reference    7. Study and teaching    8. United States    9. Law / Legal Education   

Reviews (1)

General but Helpful Overview!
I was pleasantly surprised by this book, written by Kaplan.Although some of their LSAT books were not helpful to me, this "strategic approach" to applying to law schools was quite effective in offering solid information.Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Graduate School Guides - Law    3. LSAT (Law School Admission Test)    4. Legal Education    5. Study Aids    6. Study Guides    7. Test Prep    8. Higher & further education    9. Study & learning skills    10. Study Aids / General   

Reviews (2)

Not helpful.
I found this book to be incredibly unhelpful.The author does not offer good strategies for approaching the exam, and includes essays from a range of jurisdictions, which can be confusing at worst and just unhelpful at best.i thought the Adachi books were much better.

THIS is the book to use
I recently used this book to prepare for New York's bar exam essays.This book gives you a viable succinct format for writing bar exam essays. I took the BarBri workshop and this book was far more useful. It has many practice questions and essays (includes most states).For those of us who do not have the luxury of time to spend in endless workshops, this book allows you to learn the methodology at your own pace, and practice, practice, practice.Definitely worth every penny of the price. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bar examinations    2. Graduate School Guides - Law    3. LSAT (Law School Admission Test)    4. Law    5. Legal Education    6. Legal Writing    7. Study Guides    8. United States    9. Law-Legal Writing    10. Study Aids / LSAT (Law School Admission Test)    11. Study Aids-Graduate School Guides - Law   

Reviews (15)

Useless
This book does little more than expound the IRAC system, which will get you killed on exams.A much, much better book to get is "Getting to Maybe."Don't waste your time or money on this worthless waste of paper and ink.

Read this before taking the exam
Professor Whitebread has been teaching for a long time, and of course, he has been to law school as a student.These simple tips will help you prepare to write a better exam answer.These simple tips will also make the difference is how you finish in the class.
Short, Sweet, and Effective
The quick help is short and effective.It tells you the basics of what you need without going into totally useless topics.Whitebread does a great job of breaking down the IRAC Method that we all love to hate.I would highly recommend reading this in the beginning of your first semester at law school. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Graduate School Guides - Law    3. Legal Reference / Law Profession   

Reviews (4)

Good Resource
This is a great reference to anyone applying or thinking of applying to law school.Whether or not you agree with the influence US News has in law school admissions it remains a fact of life.It is a system that is inherently flawed, but along with the rankings, this book gives detail on each school which you can and should use to further investigate the schools to which you apply.Don't let the US News rankings dictate where you apply and don't let this book replace a campus visit and talking with the dean of admissions with a prospective school.Use it to supplement those things.

Some Good Information, but Faulty Data
First of all, I agree with the other posters that a lot of information is packed into this magazine/guide.It might be worth your while to purchase it for that reason.
This book lives up to its name
If you are looking for an all-encompassing guide to United States law schools, I would whole-heartedly recommend this book. I reference it continually and am amazed at just how much information is concisely packaged into it.
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Subjects:  1. General    2. Graduate Departments And Schools    3. Graduate School Guides - General    4. Graduate School Guides - Law    5. Law (General)    6. Legal Education    7. Reference    8. Study Aids    9. Test Prep   

Subjects:  1. Graduate Departments And Schools    2. Graduate School Guides - General    3. Graduate School Guides - Law    4. Legal Education    5. Reference    6. Study Aids    7. Test Prep    8. Study Aids / Graduate School Guides   

Reviews (2)

This Should Definately Be On Your Law School Reading List
I think Kaplan's Law School Admissions Adviser: The Expert Advice You Need to Get Into the Law School You Want is an excellent general overview of the entire admissions process. If you are just starting your research or initially contemplating law school, I highly recommend you read this book.
Useful guide to law school admittance
I thought this was an extremely helpful guide during my law school admissions process. I received quite a few tips on narrowing down my selections, essays and other factors involved in the process. In the end it's GPA and LSAT that matter most, but this guide will definitely give you a bit of an edge. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Admission    2. General    3. Graduate School Guides - Law    4. LSAT (Law School Admission Test)    5. Law (General)    6. Law schools    7. Reference    8. Research    9. Study Aids    10. United States    11. Study Aids / Graduate School Guides   

Subjects:  1. College Entrance    2. Essays    3. Graduate Preparation - General    4. Graduate School Guides - Law    5. Law (General)    6. Legal Education    7. Professional Education    8. Reference    9. Study Aids    10. Study Guides    11. Test Prep    12. Education / Essays   

Reviews (1)

barons guide 2005
hallo,Read more

Subjects:  1. Continuing Higher Education    2. Graduate School Guides - General    3. Graduate School Guides - Law    4. Reference    5. Study Aids    6. Test Prep    7. Study Aids / Graduate School Guides   

Reviews (129)

A MUST HAVE!!!
GREAT BOOK!Will help ensure your success in law school.Buy this 12 months out to start working on the suggested readings - You'll be glad you did!

not really necessary
My thoughts on this book can be summed up with a quote from "Law School Confidential" that starts their chapter on the summer before law school:
Excellent, insightful, and helpful
I love this book. It is very helpful and insightful. If I hadn't been lucky enough to stumble across this book I definitely wouldn't feel as prepared as I do now. I'm not sure how it will help the final outcome as I haven't started law school yet (3 more weeks) but I feel as if I have a great advantage over other incoming 1Ls already. Also, I really didn't find the author's "negativity" to be that bad at all. And, even if you find it to be, you'll be that much happier when you get to law school and things are better than you expected. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Graduate School Guides - Law    2. Handbooks, manuals, etc    3. Law    4. Law schools    5. Law students    6. Legal Education    7. Legal Profession    8. Reference    9. Study and teaching    10. United States    11. Advice on education    12. Legal skills & practice    13. USA   

Reviews (5)

Great Author, Great Book!!
Having had a chance to meet the talented Mr. Niewoehner during one of his recent autograph session/book reading at my local Jimbo's Bookwormania, I must confess that I was overwhelmed by is wonderous outlook on life and on law school.I found him, much like his book, to be an inspirational journey into legalistics.I, too, would someday love to attend that institution of institutions, Harvard Law School, and I believe that reading Mr. Niewoehner's book twice or perhaps even three times will start me in the right direction.It is, indeed, what I like to call a "must read" for the lawyers of the future! A Must Read for Anyone Considering Law School
I thought the book, notably the law school section, was superbly researched and written.A true must-read for anyone considering law school and a legal career. Very weak book in comparison to others of the same type.
After he persuades you not to go to law school, he gives very short and common descriptions of what law school is like.I think you would definitely be much better off with another book.A student counselor atany major college or university could have just as easily written thisbook, and quite possibly done a much better job. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Admission    2. Directories    3. Education    4. General    5. Graduate School Guides - Law    6. Law    7. Law (General)    8. Law schools    9. Legal Education    10. Reference    11. Study and teaching    12. United States    13. Vocational guidance    14. Advice on careers & achieving success    15. Business & Economics / Careers    16. Legal profession    17. Universities / polytechnics   

Reviews (19)

Essays that get into law school?
Most of these essays are garbage, foreign to what most people need to know.I'm shocked that some of these people got into law school.I'm starting to figure out why the profession is a dying one and why no one respects it.
Essays that don't relate
The general tips provided about writing your personal statement are good, but are generally common sense to anyone who has taken a argumentative writing class and/or a good english class.Most books about the overall application process include these tips.
For those who dont know where to start
If you are like me and had no clue where to begin writing a personal essay (the personal ones are always the hardest, this book offers a step by step outline of how to brainstorm subjects and how to organize your thoughts, write and outline and eventually the essay(s).Read more

Subjects:  1. College Entrance    2. Entrance examinations    3. Graduate School Guides - General    4. Graduate School Guides - Law    5. Law schools    6. Reference    7. Study Aids    8. Study guides    9. Test Prep    10. United States    11. Education    12. English    13. Jurisprudence & General Issues    14. Study Aids / Graduate School Guides    15. Writing skills   

Reviews (3)

pre-law book
this book is good for those who want to know about the legal field and the process of the LSATS, and financial Aid

If You're Thinking About Becoming A Lawyer, Buy This Book
This book has just about everything you need to know about what to expect in law school, what the job market is like, what you need to do to get accepted to the school of your choice, etc.The approach of this book is very straightforward, and it helps dispel some of the myths surrounding the legal profession.Many lawyers, looking back, wish they had never chosen law as a career.If you're thinking about law but aren't sure yet, don't jump into something that you might not be able to get out of.Read this book.It will give you a realistic understanding of law school and the legal profession.

Everything you need to know about being & becoming a lawyer!
Great book. Very concise and answers any questions you could possibly have about the road to, through and away from law school. Highly recommend to anyone thinking about the law. Covers every step of the way, thoguhtgetting a job and passing the bar. Also includes a great guide to US andCanadian law schools. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Admission    2. Careers - General    3. General    4. Graduate School Guides - Law    5. Law    6. Law schools    7. Reference    8. United States    9. Vocational guidance    10. Reference / General   

Reviews (18)

CORRECTION
The author, Willie J. Epps Jr., is of no relation to the previous Dean, as stated in Kevin Meyer's review. The author was a student at Harvard Law who wanted to help students reach their goal of getting into law school by uncovering the mystery of how others did just that. The author's purpose of providing insight into the types of candidates and applications accepted into Harvard Law is invaluable for college students interested in attending law school and the essays provided by accepted students gives those applying a view of what types of essays made the cut. The book is helpful for anyone trying to develop a strong candidacy to any law school -- not just Harvard. While some reviewers find the student comments 'egotistical' , one should be reminded that it is the nature of 'personal' essays. (Yes, one's own pride needs to be in check when reading the applications and essays of these exemplary individuals.)
Lame
I picked this book up in a "bricks and mortar" bookstore, and it only took me about two seconds to realize it was totally worthless.Epps's father was a Dean at Harvard College, which, I assume, is how he got the authority to pass such a book off as an expert "How To" guide.As other reviewers have noted, it's little more than a compilation of survey responses from people who have gotten in.
you don't have to spend money on this book
i will tell you precisely how to get into harvard law school:Read more

Subjects:  1. Admission    2. Cambridge    3. Education    4. General    5. Graduate School Guides - Law    6. Harvard Law School    7. Individual Institutions Of Higher Education    8. Law    9. Law schools    10. Legal Education    11. Massachusetts    12. Professional Education    13. Reference    14. Higher & further education    15. Law / Study & Teaching   

Reviews (6)

Interesting ideas for critical reading
I got this book as a gift from a friend after I had started at a top law school that, according to this author, is not particularly female-friendly.I would never have bought this book on my own because I've never really thought I needed "special" advice as a woman, and I did fine in school.But I am very, very glad my friend gave it to me, and I wish I had read it before starting school. Don't treat me like a child!
I only got through the first few chapters of the book before I was so OFFENDED I had to stop. The author clearly believes she is speaking to an immature and unintelligent audience. This is what cinched it for me:"At lower status law schools, the students of both genders are often the first generation of their families to get a higher education, and even a modest middle-class life seems good to them" (14). Why beat up your readers, Hirshman? I happen to be a first generation law student who is very displeased with the attitude of the book. I do not reccomend this for anyone.

Problematic thesis
This book explains how to choose a law school if you are a feminist who wants to go where no one will challenge your views.Hirshman seems to believe that feminist principles will crumble if exposed to any criticism, so she encourages people to choose schools that have lots of feminists, do not have any conservatives (and preferably not many men), and that will never question feminist beliefs. The problem is, lots of people say that the purpose of law school is to have your ideas challenged, and to face and overcome those challenges. Will Hirshman's approach train feminsists who like law school, but aren't very good lawyers? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Graduate School Guides - Law    2. Higher    3. Law    4. Law (Specific Aspects)    5. Law schools    6. Legal Education    7. Personal & Practical Guides    8. Reference    9. Study and teaching    10. United States    11. Women In Higher Education    12. Women law students    13. Reference / Personal & Practical Guides