MightyFullGopher '20–'21 app cycle Class of 2024 class year

I went into this blind. It was suggested by my parent in October 2020 that I try the LSAT and become a lawyer. I signed up and studied for about 10 hours and took the November LSAT. I don’t have a strong reason for being a lawyer other than I think it will be interesting (I’ve been exposed after doing a prelaw camp at Stanford as a high school student and my parent is a lawyer). Join Law School Admissions on reddit but dont let it consume you. There’s also non-T14 specific reddit pages. For URMS, there are specific pages for us as well.

LOR:
I waited until December 1st to ask for LoRs from my immediate manager at work, a project manager at work and former prof, and my former prof and undergrad advisor. My W.E. is not at all related to law but is related to what I thought I wanted to do so all of my schooling internships and WE point towards dedication and commitment.

Additional Essays:
Georgetown - What is your unpopular opinion and why: I wrote about how I think Yogurt is the best food in the world and why I think that.
Stanford - Moon vs Travel Essay: I said travel because we are missing a desire to understand and connect with others when we discuss programs/plans/laws for the future
Berkeley - Why Berk: Generic

Interview:
Georgetown Group Interview: I prepared by looking at 7Sage. I formed my own opinions during the meeting, provided reasoning without restating what was already said and by pulling from common knowledge rather than what was just presented, I always stuck with my choice when variations were thrown in and I exclusively choose high or low numbers (nothing that could be misconstrued as a weak or neutral standpoint)

Personal Statement:
I wrote a draft the first week or Jan 2021 and then completely scrapped and rewrote it on January 6th during the capital attack.
I didnt read any other personal statement. I wrote about understanding what makes me black and how different the world sees me from how I see myself (grew up in all white household and community). I pulled in a lot based on the protests last year and developed a narrative of self-growth driven by social and political unrest to explain why I wasnt involved in the law prior to applying. My “law” portion at the end discussed the elitism and inherent discrimination with the way the law is taught, practiced, and written and ended with my drive to become educated is to bridge the gap between academia and the common person. I tried to incorporate feeling rather than describing events and asked a few rhetorical questions.
I had my mom, friends, and my undergrad poetry professor review it.
For VLS, I tweaked it. For a few schools, I made it shorter.

Choosing a school to apply to:
I picked schools based on location and how much I thought I would like my life if I attended. None of that blanketing T14s because I didnt care about them as a whole and because I didnt want to live in NYC etc. I had a specific reason for applying to each school that was personal to me and almost exclusively about living my life to the fullest while a student after quarantine.

Research:
After being accepted, I spent a lot of time attending all admitted student events. Reaching out to current students and undergrad alumni who went to law school and those schools in particular. I also set up conversations with all finaid offices and always asked for more money even after getting full-tuition scholarships (what are they going to say, no? and then I move on with my life. no worries)

Overall:
Do your research, understand what you want out of your education and out of life while in school. Be committed and try your best but have an air of nonchalance. At the end of the day, it isn’t the end of the world and you can make the most of whatever school you go to and if you dont end up going, you will figure something else out. Take the best advice from others and then live your life. Best of luck!