Teach for America > B-school?

Don't fall into the trap thinking that it's only IB/VC/PE that gets into HWS!

If I had your background I would definitely put some spin control on it. "Coming out of undergrad, I knew I wanted to explore the law. But before sinking a lot of money and time into an expensive law school, I thought I would get some experience as a paralegal to verify my interest and serve as valuable experience if I did go to law school. While taking every opportunity available as a paralegal to learn about law, I actually developed a superior interest in A, B, and C, and I am now convinced that your MBA program is the best route for me."

Tons of MBA applicants are career changers. If you present the paralegal experience as a cost-effective way of testing the waters, I think you could show a tremendous sense of maturity that's respected from a business perspective.

Anyway, interested in seeing the other advice on this! Good luck mate!

you got this! i'd agree with method - it's all about how you write your essays and present yourself to show your career progression.

paralegal is a dead-end job. Paralegal = Secretary. Sorry I don't think you can spin it in anyway to show leadership. You are competing with actual lawyers. My advice is get a real job and do it for a couple of years.

To be fair, associates don't "lead" at all either.

My problem is that I'm unqualified for a "real job."

There's no such thing as leadership in law. Period.

True. So did you practice first or go straight to b-school? Obviously different situations, but how did you spin your law experience into a "leadership" story without making it look like you just hated law and wanted a new career?

Practiced for about a year and half. Focused on pro-bono stuff.

The spin control doesn't have to be about leadership, it just has to turn an "ugly" into something more intelligent. And the fact that aren't going into law proves you made a wise choice by not going to law school. If the job prevents you from leadership opportunities, that's almost a plus for you since you can explain it as the nature of the work.

You'll have to muster up some leadership points elsewhere, but not all is lost. Plus, lets say you take the advice to work a few more years -- there's nothing stopping you from applying now. If you get in, great! If not, you know what you need to work on.

It's just that the OP's chance is kind of slim given that he only worked as a paralegal.

Might as well give it a shot. Not much to lose. Plus I have other experience I can draw from. Did you go to CLS?

If you can show real leadership experience outside of work, such as starting an charitable organization and running it, and so forth, then that can help compensate.

Not CLS, but another T6. Yeah, I agree, you should just try it.

Gotcha. Yea my plan was to go to a T6 last year (N) but that got derailed by the bottom falling out of the legal industry. Plus I really kind of hate law, so hopefully it was a blessing in disguise. Thanks for your help and good luck at CBS.

Let me be the first to congratulate you on not going to law school. the legal industry is in a deep sh*thole. I think you may want to switch to a non-profit for a year or two before applying. I went to law school when the whole thing was at the peak of its bubble stage.

Yea, it's a nightmare. I know people at HYS who struck out at OCI this year... Not to mention, the best case scenario is Biglaw working 80-hr weeks while narrowly avoiding layoffs. No thanks.

Definitely will look into the non-profit idea.

Like your clear-headedness. law is dead for the next 10 years. too oversaturated.

How much better would a non-profit/NGO type gig look for a b-school application? Are any of them easy to get? I'm in the DC area so I think there are a bunch of those types of organizations, but not sure how to go about looking.