halfasleep305 '21–'22 app cycle Class of 2025 class year

For reference, I failed out of community college early on, retook classes, and graduated from a top university with a 3.9, but my cumulative GPA is still pretty rough. My LORs are strong and I think my essays are too. If you don’t have any disposable income, the whole process will be harder and I feel for you. YouTubers have lots of advice and recommendations for free resources. Hopefully, you can find people that are also going through it for support. If you’re working while studying for the LSAT, give yourself at least 5 months to study. Im getting ready to retake it right now. When in comes to personal statements, I think less is more. My strongest essays were the versions where the word limits were shorter, so I cut out a lot of unnecessary fluff. If you get waitlisted at your top schools, your work is just beginning. Write letters of continuing interest and do what you can to boost your application. Then write more letters to brag about whatever you’re working on. Tell your top school that they’re your top and, if you’re accepted, you’re committed to attending.

Remember, whether you get into your top schools or not, you’re doing any incredibly difficult thing. I wouldn’t have believed it if I wasn’t doing it myself. Don’t forget to celebrate all your little accomplishments along the way. Its so easy to listen to the voice that always says “not good enough,” but that voice is debilitating. So go easy on yourself. You’re doing a good job.