CleverCaracal '22–'23 app cycle Class of 2026 class year

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Essays written:
UVA: Why UVA?
Michigan: Why Michigan?
Berkeley: Why Berkeley?
Duke: Optional Essay #1 (Why Duke and why law?)
Georgetown: Top Ten List
Stanford: Three songs 🎶
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General advice:

I did much better than I was expecting, and I attribute much of my success to fact that I was able to provide specific reasons for pursuing law and articulate a clear idea of what I want to do with my J.D. I also had a year (ending in the summer before I matriculated) of work experience in the area of law I expressed interest in. I believe this helped me convincingly communicate my interest in this practice area.

I think that my results refute the idea that you need to have some absolutely extraordinary element of your application to get into a top school with a large scholarship (and to get into Harvard). No element of my application, as far as I can tell, would have been the kind of thing to knock an adcom’s socks off. Rather, I spent a good deal of time making sure that each piece was as polished, intentional, and as sincere as possible. All told, don’t underestimate the power of a continually reinforced good impression, and try, as much as possible, to leave the adcom with some reason to like you at each step of the process.

Miscellaneous tips:

UVA seems to really like a why UVA even though they don’t ask for it directly. They also (per a podcast with the admissions team and affirmed by my experience) respond positively to a LOCI if it’s been a few months since you applied.

Stanford takes foooooooorrrrrrrrrreeeeeevvvveeeer, don’t take it personally.

It’s far easier to answer an interview question or write an essay if you actually believe what you’re saying. If you can’t muster any sincerity, take that as a sign to carefully consider your course of action.

Be consistently polite and friendly when communicating with adcoms. This goes double if you have an interview! You have so few points of contacts with admissions that each one should be approached cautiously. Additionally, even brief messages with adcoms can help to ‘fill out’ the image they develop of you from reading your application materials.

Apply as broadly as you can afford to (as long as you would actually attend each school) and put your full effort into each application regardless of your relative interest in each school. You never know how your feelings and priorities will develop over time.

Proofread, and have at least one other person look over every part of your application! Take as much time as it takes to make sure that not only is everything error free, but also that each portion of your application communicates exactly what you want to express exactly how you want to express it. Although this work can be tedious, it will absolutely pay off in the end.

Figure out what you want before you have it! Even if you haven’t been admitted to Brown and Dartmouth Law yet, you can still decide under what circumstances you would choose one over the other. More generally, figure out how much debt you’re willing to take on as early as possible. Don’t be blinded by a dream acceptance or a surprising scholarship and end up taking on more debt that you can afford.