blackletterlaw left no wisdom for posterity… (◕︵◕)

Do not let me and the advice I’ve written here deter you from going to law school (this is just meant to be as helpful as possible) and don’t let anyone (even adcomms) on the Internet or in your real personal life stop you from going if you have done the important, deep, serious, soul-searching and decided to go. Shoot your shot.

Please stop listening to the advice of the neurotics on here and Reddit. This process can bring out the worst in people.

So much admissions advice and guidance directly from admissions committees exists for free and in perpetuity on the Internet. (A2Z and Navigating Law School Admissions with Miriam & Kristi are particularly helpful SEO also has great applicant advice videos on their website early in the cycle). Adcomms and their official advice should be your first and most trusted sources of information. You have to be willing to do some basic background/cursory research before engaging or asking questions in a public forum or you risk looking unprepared. Law school is a Big and Serious undertaking and doing this type of research will likely be a part of your everyday job. Attend forums! Some schools will explicitly consider these interactions in your application and other schools implicitly/unbeknownst to you. If you act right it won’t hurt you (see on acting right below). I am a big believer in attending admissions events when I was admitted to SLS Dean Deal said she remembered me from an admission events. Please be normal and not weird and good people at these events.

To law school admissions is an exercise in good judgment before you do something ask yourself “am I exercising good judgment?” This process can be inherently nervous-making, but do not engage in behaviors that will ultimately be to your detriment. Don’t be weird on the Internet or in real life.

Start doing things well in advance of when you think you need them (in an as reasonable way as possible). For example, LSAC has a Fee Waiver Program. I recommend everyone who qualifies to apply (apply if you’ve also recently suffered a change in economic circumstances). You can then use the LSAC Fee Waiver to qualify for reduced-price LSAT prep materials (see the timeline on LSAT studying below). The LSAC Fee Waiver is good for two years however; at which time you will need to reapply. No harm in reapplying just a tedious task especially if you have to do it around application submission deadlines which may mean delaying your applications. You won’t be able to reapply until it expires. With the LSAC Fee Waiver, you will get certain LSAC services for free and sometimes LSAT prep materials and other purchases related to law school admissions for a steep discount politely ask/inquire about services and products you’re interested in. Also, POLITELY ask schools for fee waivers/CAS waivers, the worst they can say is no. (You will automatically qualify for some school fee waivers and CAS waivers with the LSAC Fee Waiver.) If you even think you remotely need accommodations ask/apply for them. You must do this well in advance of the registration deadline for the LSAT. LSAC will give you ~$125-$150 to take the LSAT in a hotel, watch for this accommodation request typically comes after you’ve registered. They will also provide you with a device for the test and hotspot.

Start drafting your personal statement EARLY!!!! (especially if you struggle with creative/narrative writing) at least by the senior year of undergraduate if you can even if you plan to take a few years off. You can always revise/tweak this later but it is so helpful to have a strong working draft. This is because many colleges and universities have free on-campus writing centers, resources, and assistance that is not available to alumni which means you will likely have to pay to have someone edit and review your essay(s). (You can and should as long as you trust their judgment/advice guidance ask friends and family, but a professional editor/someone who is highly skilled at editing will make all the difference.) It will also have the added benefit of forcing you to think about why you want to go to law school. (Wanting to be rich and powerful in and of itself are not good enough reasons without serious explanation. This is because there are many ways to be rich and many ways to be powerful. Is there a specific way or reason your socioeconomic status or background has led you to want to pursue law school as a means of changing your/your family/your communities economic circumstances? What do you want to use the power of your legal degree for and why?) Think about why you want to go to law school and what groups you want to specifically use your law degree for. Using these metrics to frame and pursue opportunities and interests that then highlight and underscore the overall reason for wanting to go to law school now**. (Obviously, though pursue anything you have a genuine passion and interest in.) Although, the same personal statement can be used multiple times and in various ways, you will likely still have to change it to fit some of the other schools you want to apply to specifically. I recommend brainstorming 15-20 vignettes/anecdotes/things to talk about in your personal statement. Dean Ingber has said that single story/anecdote personal statements typically are not successful. She has further said that the most/typically most successful personal statements include separate (separated by time and place) 2-3 vignettes/anecdotes and show forward movement/momentum*. I was lucky enough to do the LSAC Writing for Impact course by S. Montgomery Consulting. I thought it was particularly useful, especially as someone who struggles with narrative/creative writing. Check that out if you can.

I can’t recommend taking time off more. I was originally dead-set on wanting to go completely through KJD, but the pandemic happened and it didn’t work out (I didn’t want to do Zoom University School of Law). Honestly, so thankful it happened that way (everything happens for a reason as the cliche goes.) I was not emotionally, mentally, psychologically, spiritually, relationship-ly?, mature enough to go to law school, and the time I spent not in school really allowed/forced me to grow and mature as a person.

I am now going to give some bland advice you have probably seen elsewhere. Take the LSAT seriously (for the time being schools may have moved away from it by the time you are reading this). General consensus is to study for no more than six months. I did 7sage (a little) and Loophole (read about one-third/half of the book lol do as I say not as I do) which I think helped me improve my original score from 166 to 173. Originally, I used Khan Academy and Mike Kim’s LSAT Trainer. I found Khan Academy to be repetitive (spent a few hours of total study on this before my original score definitely less than a week’s worth of study hours assuming an 8-hour day maybe 50-60 hours max), but it was helpful for an initial diagnostic and baseline. I made it halfway through LSAT Trainer honestly I found it was boring and only mildly helpful. I think this could be a skim or a skip. I found that the explanations for some 7sage questions didn’t really improve my understanding or make sense, but I was able to start to identify patterns of questions I was likely to get incorrect and what the likely correct answer was. I honestly only made it to 7sage Some and Most Relationships on the LR question types before quitting/retaking the LSAT (again probably didn’t study as diligently as I should have). I’ve heard good things from LSAT Demon, but I was a part of 7sage’s LSAC Fee Waiver program which dramatically reduced the cost maybe LSAT Demon has a Fee Waiver program I am not sure but check. I really enjoyed Loophole in both form and content. The LSAT is a bit luck, at any level, but especially the 170-180 range..

ERR ON THE SIDE OF FULL DISCLOSURE WHEN IT COMES TO C&F ISSUES!!!! This should be obvious but somehow isn’t.

22-23:

I would’ve submitted earlier but I took Nov LSAT 2023 (173) and was in a pilot LSAC writing course for my PS/DS in partnership with S. Montgomery Consulting.

Wrote books and songs optionals for Stanford did KH did not receive a video statement invite that went out in early Jan got the official dong on Jan 25th
CLS LSAT addendum (one sentence Why CLS in PS)
Why NYU
Why UVA
Why Berkeley
Why Michigan
Why Duke
Why Cornell (in application/not separate attachment)
Programmatic UCLA (in application/not separate attachment)
Penn Core Strengths and Collaborative Environment
Applied Rothman Why USC + LSAT addendum
GULC Optional #1 Something small that turned out to be big (about my senior thesis) I am obviously a chronic procrastinator something I am really trying to work, but I applied here late to keep a promise to myself that I would apply to the sixteen schools below even there is an almost near certainty I would not attend with my current decisions.

Rejections can hurt, even if you have great options. It was also hard for me to be happy during this process even with all the great results I had, since I was always waiting for the next thing and comparing myself to others. This is especially true of my HLS R, I got that after what I thought was a great interview and having already been accepted to SLS, but it still really hurt and threw me threw a loop.

Not shocked about my UCLA WL I knew I should’ve sent in a LOCI or applied for Achievement Fellowship, but out of the options I have available I likely wouldn’t have attended under any circumstances.

I am a reapplicant from 2020-2021 (updates since original application):

LSAT 166 -> 173 Nov 2023
WE (Jan 2022)

20-21 results (applied late/on deadline Feb/Mar):

Yale: R
Harvard: R (No interview invite)
Chicago: WL (Interview invite but did not complete and didn’t accept a position on WL)