Slay1997 '23–'24 app cycle Class of 2027 class year

Read ABA 509 reports to make informed decisions on your application and scholarship process: https://www.abarequireddisclosures.org/Disclosure509.aspx

LSATs: 170 > 171 > 179 (studied with the LSAT Demon, wouldn’t recommend anything else). In retrospect I should have explained this score jump with an addendum (especially at Michigan), but figured the proctoring issues would give me cover. If you have a jump, explain it.

I think admissions this cycle was more focused on GPA than ever before, which probably hurt my scholarship offers. I think my personal statement was also not what most schools were looking for.
Splitters can get good scholarships, but for the schools I admitted to, the $$$+ awards seem to go predominantly to URM or above-both-median candidates (which is fair). I truly thought being 5 points above NU’s LSAT 75th would lead to more $, but at the end of the day, they’re paying for medians, and being multiple points above median is the same as being 1 point above. And my GPA will always be below. I think as far as scholarships go, my stats could have been .01 and 1 point below median and I would have had the same $ outcome. Still hard to swallow that I got a below-median award at NU (per 509 report) as statistically I am about their median candidate — write good essays! In retrospect mine were sub-par and lacked a strong Why Law. Apply to NU ED if you’re a splitter who wants a scholarship — they guarantee $120,000 for ED candidates who are admitted.

Apply for named awards at NYU! Almost impossible to get $$+ there without a named award.

Apply for Berkeley reconsideration early. Whatever they tell you, they DO run out of money. I applied in the last few days as I was working to negotiate my other scholarships up before submitting and received nothing. Multiple other Berk admits had the same experience.

My LSAT score carried me for sure, but with stronger softs and essays I think I would have had very different outcomes (proof: stats twin this cycle got a Ruby at Chicago). Not R&Ring as my statistical profile can only depreciate and my softs are bad, so there’s no guarantee I have a better cycle next year.

Chose NU over Cornell as I will be a slightly older student and Cornell has a ton of KJDs, plus living in Chicago means better opportunities for my partner’s career and me not having to move over the summer for work, which will hopefully even out the cost. Also felt better about getting a clerkship out of NU.