SteepColorfulChihuahua '21–'22 app cycle Class of 2025 class year

I was a one-and-done LSAT taker, thought the 164 was strong enough to get me in somewhere good. Looking back it might have been worth a retry but I can safely say i am happy with my options, and wont be going through another cycle. this advice should help anyone like me, who has their sights set on a school that’s well-ranked with good career outcomes, but has no delusions about getting into the most elite schools:

-APPLY EARLY! your seat might get taken by someone with the exact same grades as you if you don’t get your app in before they do! I applied in the first week of december which is pretty good, but i would get your apps in sooner if you can. if you’re tempted to take the LSAT again before you apply, you might want to remember that literally hundreds of applications are stacking up in the time it will take you to do that. if you have grades that are way above the medians at a school, timing might not matter as much, but if you are close to the median, timing could be all you have.

-Use the LSAC school predictor but don’t try to “play the odds.” I am a gambler and when i see i have a “20% chance” of getting into xyz schools, i’ll hedge my bets by applying to 5 of them, which means one will say yes, right? no. no it does not. if LSAC or 7sage predictor says less than 50% chance of admission, you should expect your application to be met with rejection. take care to apply to more schools you are likely to get into than schools you are not. i definitely think its worth “Shooting your shot” but make sure you have a sturdy amount of likely acceptances because you will likely be picking from that bunch 3-5 months down the road.

-Write a killer personal statement. again, if your grades are way higher than the median at a school, this might not matter. but if you are closer to the median this is your greatest weapon to sway the admissions committee. your statement should give an idea of who you are and why the person that you are is absolutely going to kick ass at law school and beyond. The school takes a risk by choosing an applicant (you can hurt their employment ratings, bar pass ratings, attrition ratings), so you cannot give them a shred of a reason to doubt you. When i see people who had better grades than me get waitlisted, I think it’s probably because my statement was more compelling than theirs. start sketching out your statement even as early as when you are prepping for LSAT. like the LSAT, it is a puzzle that you need to approach strategically. it should be as close to perfection as you can deliver.

-anyone on this site is probably going to start checking their email frantically every couple of minutes after you’ve shot your applications in. try to actively do something to relax and improve the quality of your life rather than sit and await these decisions, because they can literally take months. If you’ve followed any of this advice, then it’s all gonna be okay.

Cheers,
steepcolorfulchihuahua