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

only took the lsat once, my personal statement was about being a victim of assault and how that motivates my study of law, wrote a diversity statement, but no why x school essays.

ADVICE
in the off chance someone actually ends up reading this, here is some advice i wish i had given myself prior to beginning my law school admissions process.

firstly, i regret not using this website before submitting my applications. i think the majority of people end up making an account on here until after they have their status checkers as a way to view changes in status conveniently. however, this website’s greatest feature and benefit, in my opinion, is the ability of seeing each school’s graph and getting a better grasp of the pool of applicants that schools admit and reject. i would not have applied to UF had i seen the UF graph on lsdata. looking at stats plainly without this data, you would assume i had a chance of getting in because im above both 25ths although not too close to the medians. however, UF did not admit a single person (not even including URMS) under both medians. had i known this, i would have saved myself the money and time of applying. this is in stark difference to a school like NYU, which many would obviously say is more selective and more difficult of getting into, yet many people were admitted based on the graph even below both medians and even both 25ths. this is just an example, however. basically, view each school’s graph and get a better sense if schools have a “threshold” for stats. i would avoid schools like UF and others if you do not meet this threshold, as it is very unlikely (impossible if following the data) for admittance, simply due to your stats. this can be a very discouraging experience, however, not all schools do this, and because of that, it is good to view the graphs and see just how “holistic” the admissions process for schools really is.

secondly, i would have studied longer for the lsat, and possibly extended my time in undergrad taking more electives even though i was already qualified to graduate based on credits. many schools will let you take more credits than is necessary to graduate, and if i could do it again, i would have taken as many (easy A grade) classes as possible to boost my gpa before graduating. the lsat is also very important, but after i started working full time, i could not have more effective study time. unfortunately, as you get older, life really gets to you. so, i would have maybe put off finding a job for longer if it meant i could have more time to study for the lsat to get a better score.

lastly i simply want to say that it is ok not to get into a top school. you do not need an elite/prestigious school unless your employment goals require it (big law or big fed, for example). yet these goals are not the reality for many people. many people simply want to make a decent living and have a long-term, reliable job. i suggest anyone reading this to look into the employment and salary outcomes of recent grads on a site like lawschooltransparency and see how the schools you are interested in match up with your goals after graduation.