dndlion '22–'23 app cycle Class of 2026 class year

The process is tough. You may question yourself. But it is, in the end, a process. This too shall pass.

What I did:
CompLit PhD student with both an MA and an MPhil, on leave, working as a researcher in space technology/sustainable development/social justice. Chose law schools based primarily on research/academic career potential. Applied with academia/research-oriented materials on human rights, international law, immigration law, environmental law. Top choice was easily YLS, due largely to research reputation, pedagogical style, and commitment to non-traditional/non-legal careers (more interested in sociology/theory of law than in legal practice). A

Completed optional statements for UMich, NYU Furman, and 2x SLS (which I stupidly forgot to submit!). Wrote YLS 250 on haiku. Included a health addendum to explain impact on grades/courseload early on in undergrad (which also didn’t calculate my GPA on a 4.3 scale). Applied pretty late– Thanksgiving for most places, New Year’s Eve for YLS– because I wanted to submit a writing sample, and ended up not doing that (figured they wouldn’t want 20 more pages of me). Chicago interview was not great (did not perform interest in school very well, I think); GULC group interview was fine; NYU IILJ interview went really, really well.

Agonized over slow decisions and uncertain results, to the detriment of my own sanity. Realized that what I probably wanted was to finish the PhD, since I’m still more interested in studying culture and society– especially without taking on debt. Felt down about the cycle I had, and then felt worse for feeling bad about what are objectively still pretty decent results.

Wrote LOCI for YLS.

I wish I had:
double-majored as an undergraduate; worked for a better record of publications and conference talks; thought more about whether law school was for me at this particular moment, and my motivations for applying in the first place; been more decisive about my career choices; written a more “personal” PS (what I wrote was more of a grad school Statement of Purpose); applied way earlier, especially since I was essentially finished with my materials in October; developed a healthier relationship with debt and obtained more knowledge about financing a legal education; been a little less hard on myself for not getting into HYSChi, especially during what seems to have been a pretty tough cycle.