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

Go Blue!

Advice for super splitters (everyone else, see below):
Every “chance me” prediction tool will be wrong for you. They are trained on regression models which do an okay job for people nearish the medians, and diddly-squat for you.You have a chance at most schools for which you are above a 75th.- The reason people will tell you to apply widely is that the As you receive will ultimately be from schools who, in order of importance, A) can afford the hit to their GPA median, B) like you as a person based on your application, and C) need/could use your LSAT to boost their median.
(A), above, is why you should expect to wait to hear from your targets/reaches- . They can’t afford to risk their medians by admitting you early, and will generally only do so once they have solidified their GPA median. Not every school will be in this position, nor will every school need another high LSAT to boost that median, which is why you need to apply widely and why you shouldn’t get your heart set on any given t20/t14 school.

• (A) and (C) above are also why you should apply widely to safety schools, as you never know which ones will be in those same positions and will offer you full rides (or more!) to cover their medians. You will probably hear back from your safety schools well before your targets/reaches, E waves from the latter excepted.
  While (A) is the most important factor determining your decisions, (B) is the only factor over which you have any control whatsoever (unless you decide to retake the LSAT). Fortunately, you have virtually unlimited control over how you present yourself in your applications- . See below and feel free to DM with questions:

Advice for everyone:
Most application advice you’ll get from lawyers is wrong. Your PS is *not* the place to impress adcomms. It is the vehicle through which you are able to breathe life into your application, to give it some sense of human depth that they can’t get from your resume or other application materials. It is the place where you can show them who you are and, most importantly**- , why you would be a good addition to their campus community and a contributing member of their alumni network.

• Have an over-arching theme to your application. Not just your PS, but your optional essays, C&F addenda, etc. You should have a central unstated thesis along the lines of “you should want me at your law school because…”
• Finish this sentence with something like “I will bring a unique perspective (make sure it’s actually unique) to the classroom and to my career,” or “I will contribute to campus life with my leadership experience,” or “I am a strong student with a passion for X field and a passion for X law school”
  Break this theme down into sub-points that you want to make in your PS. Do not write it like a research paper- where you state the points and back them up with evidence, rather your essay should flow conversationally—these points will simply act as a guide to help you ensure that your essays are leaving the impression that you want them to leave and that you are using the limited space you have efficiently and effectively.
  Don’t restate items in your resume or humblebrag about your accomplishments- . This is the sort of thing you want to ask other people specifically to look out for when reviewing your essays, because it can be really hard to accurately assess whether you are doing this yourself. Adcomms will have your resume in front of them, so repeating information about your accomplishments wastes valuable space and quite frankly makes you sounds like a dick (see below)
  Don’t try to sound smart or sophisticated. Just be yourself. This happens so often and it is always- clear when that’s what you’re doing. If you wouldn’t use a word or phrase in normal conversation, don’t use it in your essays
• Along this line, humor is okay! And even encouraged if that is your personality. Think about it, will you really be happy at a school that won’t accept you for who you are?
• Ultimately, you want them to come away saying 1. (for splitters) “Despite their UGPA, this applicant’s LSAT score tells me that they are capable of succeeding in law school,” and 2. (for everyone) “I want this applicant’s personality at my school.”
  Every word in your personal statement should be in service of this goal!!!**Keep your PS to two pages if at all possible- , UC Berkeley excepted. If you think you’re special enough to be the exception, you’re probably not. (This goes for most exceptions in law school from here on out)
  Do optional essays. Always. If you don’t care enough about a school to write one, you won’t care enough to go there.- Even if it’s for a safety school, the “Why X’ essay, or some other optional, might be the difference between a full ride or not. When in doubt on C&F, always disclose. I have seen hundreds of disclosures and very few are material enough to affect admissions decisions**- . Everyone has speeding tickets, or got busted for pot in their dorm, etc. Even DUIs aren’t a big deal so long as they aren’t recent.
• C&F addenda should be at most two paragraphs and half of a page except in uniquely complex circumstances (think prison time, complex long-term family circumstances, or something equally as dramatic). The formula is:
• Paragraph 1: What happened, straightforwardly: “In March of 20XX, I was cited for XXX offense at XXX school.” Then, why it happened, and what happened after: “Some friends and I made an immature decision to XXX, and the university ordered us to attend counseling as a result.”
  Paragraph 2: Mea culpa. In which you take responsibility, give a bit of evidence to support your assertion that you have grown from this experience and will not repeat this mistake. Don’t descend into self-flagellation, but especially- don’t come off like you aren’t taking full, 100% responsibility.
• The only time when most C&F issues end up hurting applicants is when they don’t take responsibility, or if there’s reason to believe they have not corrected this behavior. Don’t do that.
• And again, don’t go on too long and make people sad or come off like you want them to feel sorry for you. 2-3 sentences in each paragraph is plenty, and you should have a mature, matter-of-fact tone throughout, and end on a positive note.
• Most schools will give you fee waivers if you just ask (email the main admissions email). In fact, emailing admissions is a great second step for any questions that you can’t find after 5-15 minutes of googling, checking their website, and searching reddit.