From Wheaton to Law School

I received a full tuition scholarship to the University of Minnesota, and I am not the only Wheaton student to receive such a rare offer. Actually, I received full tuition scholarship offers to three schools: University of Iowa, University of Illinois, and the University of Minnesota. Wheaton graduates are competitive in the law school admission process, no question. This holds in other fields as well. My sister, for example, a 2012 Wheatie, is getting a PhD in physical chemistry from UC Berkeley, which is tied with UCLA for the top physical chemistry program in the world. Wheaton students can go on to do whatever they want.

A woman in my graduating class, also a history major, received a large scholarship from U Penn, and she was in their honors program for law students. Both she and I felt that we were very prepared academically for law school.

A small school such as Wheaton means specific, personalized law school recommendation letters. These are extremely valuable, and professors from larger schools likely will not be able to offer them. I actually received a handwritten comment on my acceptance letter from a University of Iowa admission counselor saying, “Great recommendation letters!”

I’ve been pleasantly surprised to discover that my law jobs after graduation (and my externship with a judge while a law student) were all due to the Wheaton connection. Small schools such as Wheaton have long coattails that large schools find hard to beat. I recently discussed the value of this with a Harvard law school graduate in his mid-40s, whose son is considering attending Wheaton. He wanted his son to attend Wheaton in part because he understands the value of that kind of community.