As one of the Editors in Chief of the Boston College Law Review this year—and in keeping with my general life goal of seeking to encourage as many people as possible to consider law review—I thought I’d put together some quick tips for success in the application process. For my dear anxious 1Ls: I was in your shoes two years ago. I was exhausted. I was limping towards the summer break and trying to wrap my head around the commerce clause. But I did the application and got offered a spot on law review. And you can too. Here are my top tips for journal application success:
- Treat it like a job
Channel your inner Dolly Parton and treat putting together your journal application materials as a job. Take a couple of days off to recover from the post-finals malaise, then hit the ground running (but within the confines of an eight-hour-workday). Start work on the materials at 9 and finish at 5. You do not have to spend all of your waking hours on the materials—see my next point.
- Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good
You could spend an entire semester perfecting your application materials. In fact, that’s what you do in LP: you spend a semester writing and honing your writing to produce one perfect memo. That’s not what the journal application is about. We are not looking for perfection, we are looking for: 1). a good faith effort that shows you can write at a high level about a new area of law and 2). that you can apply and understand basic Bluebook rules. It does not have to be perfect. Good enough, is good enough.
- Understand that the Bluebook is a necessary evil
One sentiment was universal among my fellow 1Ls two years ago: hatred for the Bluebook. I feel you, truly. But at some point, I realized it would be easier not to fight it and instead, grudgingly, accept that to become a lawyer—at least for now—means having some level of familiarity with the Bluebook rules. The moment I accepted this and tried to focus on understanding its rules rather than just fighting its premises, it became easier. (And the Bluebook exercise for the writing application was a lot easier as a result.) Also, on the upside: the Bluebook is mostly mechanical. There is a rule for almost everything in the Bluebook. And most of the rules can be explained by three things: brevity, consistency, and clarity. Finally, if you really hate the physical Bluebook, the online Bluebook is a game-changer (and it has a free trial).
That’s not to say there aren’t many valid criticisms of the Bluebook (see, e.g., Judge Richard Posner). But alas, the Bluebook is what we have, for now—you might as well learn it.
- Ask your job to start late so you can work on the materials
Almost everyone I know who took part in the journal application process timed their summer jobs so that they had at least one entire week free to focus on the journal application. (This is a good idea anyway so you don’t go straight from finals to working.) I have not heard of one employer who turned down a request to start their summer job a bit later so they could take part in the application process. It’s generally in employers’ interest to allow folks to do so. On the other hand: I also know people who worked during the application process and still made it work (see my next point).
- We give you more time than you need to complete the materials
We give you just over two weeks to complete the application materials. This is more time than you need. We deliberately give everyone extra time because we know that folks are doing this after finals, at the end of their 1L year, and—in some cases—while juggling summer employment and other commitments.
I’m absolutely not saying leave it until the last minute. But I know that the idea of spending an entire two-week period working on the materials can be really daunting and overwhelming for many folks. To the extent it’s helpful, take heart in the fact that you can (and people do) complete the application in a lot less time. You can even prepare some parts of the application materials, like the personal statement, ahead of time.
- Bonus tip: overcome the post-1L struggle and think long term
The post-1L struggle to do anything is real. Been there, done that (got the T-shirt). I know how tempting it will be to decide not to take part in the application process once you’ve finished your finals. The urge to want to leave your 1L year firmly in your rear view mirror will be overwhelming and writing a legal memo and completing a Bluebook exercise will likely be the last thing you want to do. But if you think you might want to do law review, try not to give into this feeling. Draw on all of your inner grit and determination to make yourself do the competition.
Being on law review changed the entire trajectory of my time in law school. It also led me to think more expansively about my future career and the sort of things I want to do—and think I’m capable of doing—after graduating. It is among the most valuable things I have done (both in school and out). It is wild to me, now, to think how close I came at times to not taking part in the application process and how different my time in law school would have looked had I not done so.
Jonathan Bertulis-Fernandes is a third-year student at BC Law. Contact him at bertulij@bc.edu.
BC Law: Impact 