Didn’t write any optional essays in addition to my personal statement, unless you count the mandatory Yale 250-word supplement (in retrospect, this definitely hurt me at UVA, Penn, and Columbia, where I was above 75th for both stats and didn’t do a good job demonstrating interest)
T4 softs, did some research at my well-regarded undergraduate institution and had some limited freelance work experience, but nothing super impressive – I would say my admission was mainly a factor of stats, solid recommendation laters, and also having clear essays that articulated my resume well and applied it to my goals in the legal field. A good piece of advice I got is that no one in the admissions office is going to be checking up on you 2 or 10 years down the line to make sure you’ve adhered to whatever type of law you discussed in your essay (excluding public interest/targeted/conditional scholarships of course), so be aware of how to best “sell” yourself as a candidate regardless of how you actually feel/what you’re actually planning on doing in law school.
In terms of tips for getting merit scholarships at UChicago/NYU, I’ve heard it’s important to show interest after admission/before getting financial aid, especially if you’re above 75th percentile in both stats and they could see you turning them down for HYS – I would recommend opening all emails they send, visiting any “For Accepted Students” pages on the school’s website that they direct you to (they usually give you a password for these in the official acceptance email), and even signing up for a welcome event or two, as any of these could be potentially tracked and reviewed when they’re considering what aid to offer you.

School

Result

Scholarship

Sent

Received

Complete

Interview

Decision

Yale University

Waitlisted, Withdrawn

Oct 31, 2020

Nov 02, 2020

Nov 04, 2020

Apr 09, 2021

Harvard University

Accepted, Withdrawn

$90,000

Oct 31, 2020

Nov 02, 2020

Nov 16, 2020

Jan 14, 2021

Feb 16, 2021

University of Chicago

Accepted, Attending

$280,000

Oct 31, 2020

Nov 24, 2020

Dec 18, 2020

Jan 22, 2021

University of Pennsylvania

Waitlisted, Withdrawn

Oct 31, 2020

Nov 01, 2020

Nov 20, 2020

Columbia University

Hold, Withdrawn

Oct 31, 2020

Nov 02, 2020

Nov 04, 2020

Jan 15, 2021

University of Virginia

Waitlisted, Withdrawn

Oct 31, 2020

Nov 02, 2020

Nov 03, 2020

New York University

Accepted, Withdrawn

$212,100

Oct 31, 2020

Nov 01, 2020

Nov 23, 2020

Duke University

Accepted, Withdrawn

Oct 31, 2020

Nov 01, 2020

Nov 02, 2020

Dec 16, 2020

Nov 12, 2020

Total Applications: 8

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

OldMasterCannoli's wisdom

School	Result	Scholarship	Sent	Received	Complete	UR	Interview	Decision
2020–2021 cycle Oct 01 May 01 160d tracked on LSD.Law
Yale University	Waitlisted, Withdrawn	-	Oct 31, 2020	Nov 02, 2020	Nov 04, 2020	-	-	Apr 09, 2021
Harvard University	Accepted, Withdrawn	$90,000	Oct 31, 2020	Nov 02, 2020	Nov 16, 2020	-	Jan 14, 2021	Feb 16, 2021
University of Chicago	Accepted, Attending	$280,000	Oct 31, 2020	Oct 31, 2020	Nov 24, 2020	-	Dec 18, 2020	Jan 22, 2021
University of Pennsylvania	Waitlisted, Withdrawn	-	Oct 31, 2020	Nov 01, 2020	Nov 20, 2020	-	-	-
Columbia University	Hold, Withdrawn	-	Oct 31, 2020	Nov 02, 2020	Nov 04, 2020	-	Jan 15, 2021	-
University of Virginia	Waitlisted, Withdrawn	-	Oct 31, 2020	Nov 02, 2020	Nov 03, 2020	-	-	-
New York University	Accepted, Withdrawn	$212,100	Oct 31, 2020	Nov 01, 2020	-	-	-	Nov 23, 2020
Duke University	Accepted, Withdrawn	-	Oct 31, 2020	Nov 01, 2020	Nov 02, 2020	-	Dec 16, 2020	Nov 12, 2020
Total Applications: 8