(exchange platform: President He Qinhua and the five Yale J.D.)

Section Two: Applying to YLS

  Unit second: Yale Law School

Zheng Yeqing (the 2009 law doctoral candidate of Yale University law school):Everybody is good, just the Jinhua students introduced me to everyone, said I might have experience in application, it is because I have no experience in other projects. I think all of us here read the legal age limit is longer than me, I was in law school for a year, and I before the professional is not legal, so some background content if the law school a subject or say college words, I am not a not very good the candidate. But in the application, because I just after the application of this stage, so some people talks as a Chinese applicants are more concerned about the content.

For example a before I make the interview survey, how many people may be ready to apply for USA today's LLM project, can you give me a hand? If you have the intention to apply JD project, probably how many? Just the Jinhua students also said, is the middle of JD application and LLM application actually has the very big difference. I only asked for the JD project, and the Jinhua students may apply for the LLM project experience richer. When I talk about may two will talk about some. You can see more and more people now to prepare for the JD project. At least a few years before, Carnegie from American investigation in China classmate before, most are still read LLM degree. LLM itself is a scientific law students design, but the JD project, like me, no legal background students to read may be relatively more. But the past two years the situation has changed, including the various university law school graduates this year many law school graduates to read JD ratio is very high, I believe that students read JD in American university law school graduates have some. You may know the JD application usually has several elements you may have heard: for example a test LSAT is to make all sounds very headache. Now LSAT examination required is not the ability to focus all traditional English examination in vocabulary and some other memory. I feel LSAT examination more emphasis is reading speed. If the comparison of LSAT and GRE reading, you will find the LSAT from reading to a content is more than GRE. May be said from the reading speed to accelerate from 1/4 to 1/3. This is very relevant and law school teaching. Because the law school need to read a lot of books to a great extent. So, in this case the following will emphasize your reading speed. If you have no way to every day of the READING after reading, you will encounter many problems on the second day of the class.

In addition to the reading part in this LSAT, there is a logical part. Logic is part of the Different people, different views. problem. Many students I've seen that logic was not ready to play, as long as he can get very high test scores; but there are also students that logic is to really work, then take several months to put logic to improve performance. I think reading is a progress through the accumulation of many parts, but the logic I could feel often through direct questions, for your performance improvement may not much, but each student may have other experience in the preparation of time. From my personal point of view, the experience of reading is to read. If the conditions I hope you every day to maintain a certain amount of reading. For example, a variety of English newspapers, not necessarily associated with the law. If you do LSAT, you know there are a lot of the law it doesn't matter. It's like a topic is related to anthropology topic, followed by the history, philosophy, and then the environment. A little when I have the advantage of is my major is engineering, and my LSAT exam, there is a problem with the whole reading all about science class, all the students finished out have said this article is too difficult. But I think this article and I used to read scientific papers very similar. I have a good advantage in this. But even so, in law school exam, it is about you in all aspects of knowledge are dabbling, have read, the application will also help you.

After the LSAT is about GPA, China students will have a fatal injury in GPA, is our GAP is generally lower than the American GPA. For example like Yale School, it is not GPA to a high school. 3.6 or 3.7 of GPA, is only the ordinary students this stall. I know there are many schools in the China (I don't know the Chinese political situation) No 4 GPA, some GPA to very low, this time with foreign students competition, our GPA will be done. In this regard, I think when the application is able to produce a ranking of the notary is good. I don't know the Chinese government Is it right? This approach. Because in many university application, such as Harvard, Yale, Standford, Columbia these four schools, one in the application materials will be on a table called the dean that. In fact, this is not necessarily the president signed, the president of the proof is likely to be your teacher to sign, but there is a column is you rank in the grade, if can through the above this point (the year ranked) shows you in the middle of this year's ranking is relatively high, some disadvantages can at least make up for GPA on the surface of the. I think the domestic many schools now in this regard will give students some help, if can will benefit in it do better.

Another point is America application has a middle is called LYCAM, is a Unified School of law application system, the application system in the middle of this law school, you may be asked to send the GPA to the application system, by which to evaluate your GPA. They don't believe in yourself out of GPA. In this case, the two students complain China very much is the transcript in the past, GPA would be given the low. If this is the case, one can appeal, on the other hand, in the PS or other place to write some can explain.

In addition to the JD application proportion of a maximum in the middle of the two, for China students, I think your PS or on your other aspects of social experience will be of great help. Because Chinese students apply for JD also belongs to the minority, if you can show your own background, show some out of the ordinary. For your application will certainly help, but I think the law school, PERSONAL STATEMENT, is a personal statement and other school personal statement, and some are not. Because I have some students in PhD, their personal statement intermediate can write very hard, that is he can in his completely done before the project. Each of them will say I tried worked for 6 months in one experiment, I published a paper, I have found a wide variety of. So for law school applicants for PS, you need to highlight its own characteristics, and not necessarily on a personal history of your own. To a large extent the law school PS is the value of your views on certain issues. If you can show you a little out of the ordinary in these views on your resume, list than those who simply at the time of application for individual applications much better. For instance, Yale has a very strange request, Yale requirement is that you write a 250 word small personal statement. 250 words in English intermediate very short, if you have the impression, Lincoln Island of Green speech lasted only three minutes, that is 287 words. If the 250 word is generally accounted for 2/3 in a one page above only, but also double spacing. In 250 words say a thing is very difficult, so it requires you to understand a problem in a very short very little space, and this problem is considered by your own, out of the ordinary, but also can show you a particular. I have seen many of my classmates, we here I asked some of my classmates, what is asked when applying these 250 words to write. Writing is really all kinds of. For example, the question of philosophy view, a classmate I met the most interesting, he writes is why he likes the ironing. Then he would write very good, the ironing intermediate fun with his own personal contact together, and a passage of others that it is not possible to write. You see, for every teacher to see hundreds of letters of application, if there is a article can let him shine at the moment, is out of the ordinary, which of course is a great stress. This has to China composition of the university entrance exam is not the same, China composition of the university entrance exam, is not to encourage innovation, the composition of the university entrance exam I hope you can write articles in the next frame. The application materials of Yale's very encouraging innovation. 250 words subject does not limit any subject can be. You can write poetry, if you are willing to write 250 word poetry.

In addition to these aspects, there is a contribution to the social problems. Yale Law School and American many other law school are very stressed you have social contribution consciousness. So how to embody the social consciousness of devotion? The general is to see you is that graduation just over the years when in the undergraduate or, some of the things you do. That is to say, for example in my resume that I have done volunteer, I helped an orphanage in this category is possible. A better is an ideal I of the things I have done and my personal statement intermediate can be logically connected together. For example, I was writing the application, basically put me in the science of environmental engineering, I am master of environmental management together, including a few of my internships are also in the environmental protection administration or in the National People's Congress for authority and ring, including the Legal Affairs Office of the State Council, these are very relevant to the environmental protection. Like when I was writing my personal statement and resume, it will be very easy to put these experiences and my ideal very closely together. The most taboo is to write your resume is every time you in the studio, then your personal statement said I have to devote themselves to scientific research. This situation is very difficult to make admissions people convincing, especially when they have seen hundreds of thousands of copies of the application materials, any false place, are easy to be exposed.

With these, I may have to introduce the application of LLM. The application of LLM, the difference is very big. As Yale's LLM is very not easy admission. It every year to recruit 20 students, and China recruited students basically have academic background, or in the work of the government. The two recruit students, many of them are doing are professors or associate professors in each school, to go over there to read a LLM degree. This and other schools do not like very much, I feel like Harvard, like NYU, like Columbia these schools, much of it every year from Chinese recruit people. For example, NYU recruited each year about 30 people, Columbia recruited each year about 20 people, Harvard would attract 10 to 20 people each year, the annual difference in some. The school enrollment intermediate likely to hire those who just graduated from undergraduate programmes or do not have what experience, or just in the firm for two or three years such students, these students will go to other schools will be better. In fact, also can make the person's occupation development better. Because Yale it after all, like Jinhua said, Yale its preference is very obvious, is the partial academic and partial public law. So LLM, it from the students' structure, Yale, and JD is not the same. You see several JD students basically is 22 years old, 23 years old. Just graduated, so to say, this also can say is the exchange of learning, just came in to see what's what, the heart straight to tremble, because we haven't got the doctor first, second is that we got, we learn the law of time than you have short. However, if the LLM degree, you will see a lot of students are in many firms work over many years, or as in Yale's words have a lot of experience teaching students. Their discipline and learning methods are very different. So you have a different occupation planning, you can choose a different degree.

Of course, just referred to the JD degree come what may, an impression of Jinhua just to the Yale students are to devote themselves to the public, are not going to help. However, not all, because there are sixty or seventy percent of the time we just graduated students finally choose firm. In law firms and the development of better also tingduo. But that is to say, from the firm to the public the proportion is much higher than other schools. Then the JD degree, now from the American top comparison for example, the top fourteen schools. From American a ranking above, before fourteen words, Yale, Harvard, Standford, Chicago, NYU, Columbia, Utah, Virginia , Georgetown , Northwester this type of school a total of about fourteen schools, they are thought to have the job market is in the national scope of this school, I know people, every year from Chinese recruit JD students together in the middle of the 30 to 40 people. There is such a number, then the 30, 40 directly from the domestic people in the past, directly read undergraduate or direct read master the past should be less than ten, most is to finish a degree in American, this batch of employment basically is very good, from this years I look. Now, because China lawyer market is very fire, attracted a lot of foreign to China to invest, they urgently need the China background JD graduates, so that these students employment also is a good school, but behind these schools was fourteen after JD graduates, their employment is not security, because it is the school's career was mainly concentrated in the law School of the local, but also as a Chinese students, you have no what background in the local, to engage in a American legal business in the local school, actually has certain difficulty, speaking from income difference will be more.

The LLM degree is very difficult, the LLM degree has got a very good job. I know that in recent years, last year's LLM job market is very good. Some LLM after graduation to income are higher than my JD graduates. Some lawyers experience in China, I know a best student got $210000 in revenue, is because he has some work experience at home, then he went to USA, his salary is three years in accordance with the law to the count. So very very high; while the poor and very poor, there will be many LLM students can not find work in America. Therefore, LLM degree, a word is said, if you read LLM degree, we try to consider it is a better degree, rather than a timely assistance degree. If you have capital, and do you have any experience in China, if you have a very strong ability, then the LLM degree can help you improve in the occupation; but if you merely undergraduate just graduated or not what particularly proud, special background, I suggest you still going to work for a few years, its own characteristics gradually discovered in the course of work, then work a few years, through the efforts may also go to a good school LLM degree, be so good for your employment will. Thank you. If you have questions you can wait a bit longer and you discuss.