SlowSleepySloth '25–'26 app cycle Class of 2029 class year

I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to have had a fantastic S2S mentor, a best friend who just completed the process, and the world’s most supportive and incredible spouse to help me along the way. Hopefully, you have the world’s second-best spouse — but in case you don’t, here are some tidbits I wish I had known (I’m assuming if you’re reading this, you likely already know the basic stuff):

1. Make a conscious decision early on about what stories you are willing to share. I wrote a deeply personal essay about past experiences, put friends and family through the uncomfortable and emotionally weighted task of providing feedback, and ultimately decided I wasn’t comfortable sharing those experiences with an admissions committee. I regret wasting my loved ones’ time and emotional energy. This process will force you to slice and dice your most potent memories into a caricature of who you are — do yourself a favor and decide at the start where to draw the line.

2. Addenda: Outside of Character and Fitness, I really wouldn’t recommend writing one. Admissions committees have enough information from your transcript and LSAT history to deduce what they need, and it’s unlikely to impact your admissions decisions. You are also more likely to hurt yourself by writing something that sounds like an excuse. I regret ever submitting a GPA addendum. I had a tough time in college, but my many challenges and failures made me into the military leader and person I am today. Not once did I look back and think my GPA was bad — in fact, for the longest time, I was quite proud of it. It was only when I was applying to law school that I felt ashamed of my gpa. To some extent, I think my addendum was a reflection of that insecurity.

3. Military Folks: You, like me, might have some impactful professional experiences that you’d like to share but can’t because of security and classification concerns. First, consult the appropriate authority (S2, JAG, SCD, etc.) early and often — you never know what they might be able to bless off on. Next, identify the impact those experiences had on you, your worldview, and your motivations (for law school, for life in general, for family). Finally, get creative and find some other anecdotes or avenues to share these reflections. Ultimately, there was so much I couldn’t include in my application, but I haven’t lost a moment of sleep over it. I’m proud of my military service. I never picked my work with the intention of writing about it in a college essay, and I truly don’t think it would’ve made a difference.

4. Network before your interviews. I waited until after, assuming schools would mostly want to discuss my professional background in the interviews (these questions were few and far between). Instead, the interviews seemed to be a gauge of commitment and fit, and I flopped on a couple because I just didn’t have a deep enough sense of their school’s culture and programming. Shame on me, but totally avoidable for you. Also, I suspect there was a dissonance between the tone I brought to the heavy topics in my essays and the cheeriness I brought to lighter questions about law school clinics, externships, classes, and community. My recommendation: if you’re a lighthearted person most of the time, try to fit a bit of that into one of your essays.

5. Help other people — and do it for free! The more competitive law school gets, the more complex admissions committees’ expectations become, and the more it lends itself to a pay-to-win system. I paid for an LSAT course and received free application advice from the Service to Schools program for military veterans. I would’ve been lost without it, but it still makes me queasy to think of people who make just enough to not qualify for free services, yet not enough to afford the tools to ensure their applications get a fair shake. Don’t pull the ladder up behind you. Help others.

Most importantly, do your best and be proud of yourself. When the self-defeating thoughts creep in (and they’d better, otherwise you’re a psychopath), remember you’re resilient, you’re gritty, and your dream will assuredly endure setbacks more painful than a disappointing law school admissions decision. One day, you will look back and wish you were a little nicer to yourself. And for what it’s worth, I can say with total confidence that if I heard your story, I’d be proud of you too. You got this!