JessicaSparkleDolphin '23–'24 app cycle Class of 2027 class year

POST CYCLE COMMENTS
negotiate. negotiate. negotiate- . During my cycle, USC and ASU were the only schools to offer me aid. USC offered $$$.5 since I was selected to be a part of the Honors Scholars program. I used that aid to negotiate with UCLA to get $$. Same with Berkeley when they offered me $$. I could have negotiated with ASU, but I knew I was not going to attend even if they gave me a full ride, so I didn’t want to waste their time.

• I feel I had a very strong application. As a D1 athlete with a multi-racial background, I think I have a unique perspective to offer. Since my LSAT was below most 25th percentile, I think my essays and LORs were what kept me in the running to be waitlisted.
• The LSAT was really hard for me, so I don’t think getting my score up even 5+ points was really feasible. If I could, though, I think at least some of my waitlists would have been an A.
• I chose not to play the “waitlist game”. I didn’t send any LOCI, taking the LSAT again was not in the cards for me, and I didn’t put effort into supplementing up my resume. Knowing where I was going by the time I graduated from undergrad was important to me so that’s what I prioritized.

PRE-CYCLE NOTES
(Super KJD) I entered undergrad with most of my first-year gen-eds fulfilled by AP credit.

(LSAT) I took the LSAT three times: 158 –> 163 –> 162
I probably should have canceled the third test since I was happy with my second score, but I had already paid for it, so I felt like I had nothing to lose. I’m not super upset that I went down a point. I’m just glad my best scores were so similar.
(Other) no work experience, super active on campus with extracurriculars

(Applications) All applications were submitted on 11/29. I wrote the maximum number of optional essays/statements that I could for each application.
Stanford (optional essay + books short essay + music short essay)U Penn (lived experience statement)Harvard (N/A)NYU (diversity statement in optional additional information)Columbia (supplemental statement DS prompt)UVA (law school values statement)Northwestern (supplemental statement diversity statement prompt)UC Berkeley (perspectives and experience + why x)Michigan (essay prompt four + essay prompt seven)UCLA (diversity statement in optional addenda)Georgetown (optional statement + top ten list)USC (diversity statement)Vanderbilt (lived experience statement)Boston U (optional statement + ASPIRE)ASU (inclusive excellence statement + why x)
most of the optional statements were my diversity statement reverse super splitter for all applications (except ASU)