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

Your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
-Bukowski

Wrote all optional essays, though admittedly I should’ve taken my time with them a bit more. 3.1high GPA at my JC during zoom university for 3/4 semesters. Transferred to university and maintained a 3.8High, including a 3.97 GPA in my last 4 semesters. I initially applied to every school in November with a 3.52 and then got a 4.0 during the Fall semester which brought my GPA to 3.59. Davis, GW and SCU all accepted me with a 3.52, no other schools gave me any decisions (unless you count a hold from Fordham) until after my transcript was updated.

My advice/takeaways:

1. It only takes 1 acceptance.
2. Don’t be so hellbent on BigLaw, plenty of ways to make money and have great careers within law. (Big4, Midlaw, regional firms, boutiques, in-house)
3. Believe in yourself to the point that it becomes naive.
4. Don’t write the optional essays if you cannot write an excellent essay. I wrote the optional essays for every school I applied to EXCEPT for UF.
5. Everything besides LSAT, GPA, PS and work experience is basically just noise. I applied in Feb to UF without the optional essay and got a full tuition offer and it was my only T30 acceptance.
6. being a splitter is no fun, do everything in your power to get your GPA up. Kind of a no-brainer, but I feel like it should be said.
7. Don’t rush your applications just to apply early. This was most likely my biggest mistake.
8. Don’t trauma dump in your PS. If you have a traumatic story to tell that’s genuinely related to your applications, try to fit it into a GPA addendum or an optional essay. This was another mistake I made.
9. If you’re below the 25th on GPA, you better be above the 75th on LSAT.
10. I don’t think a single school (besides maybe USC) genuinely gave a flying fuck about my GPA uptrend.

Go Gators :)