xeniko '23–'24 app cycle Class of 2027 class year

I’ve enjoyed seeing what other people have written here when they do write something so I figured I’d give my advice (LSAT/apps/essays) to the wind for anyone willing to read it:

LSAT

My diagnostic was 152, ended up with a 166 after studying for like a month lol. You can get a lot out of free content if you don't have that much money to spend on tutors and all those fancy prep materials and books, but they often can only get you so far before you start running out of materials. But I'm just a lowly 166 so that's just my two cents /s

Applications

As a KJD who has been working as a barista for the past 4 years, my applications aren't anything super impressive, so I did my best to focus on my hard stats and put all my effort into my essays. I'm mostly just slightly above average so I didn't apply to any T14 because low debt is very important to me. All I can say is take a deep breath and get started on your personal statement ahead of the game so it's one less thing you have to worry about after the LSAT <3

Extra notes on app statuses not in my chart below:
Minnesota: - ur1 12/19, substatus changed 1/2, ur2 1/19, ur3 1/30

• admissions emailed me 1/25 to request an updated transcript, told me once it is received I’ll get a decision -> got acceptance email 1/31
  Denver:- received scholarship info in my acceptance email
  Chicago-Kent: - ur1: 11/16, ur2: 12/5, ur3?: 12/13
• received scholarship info in my acceptance email
• received an scholarship increase 3/6 after Honors Scholar finalists were chosen
  Colorado (Boulder):- received scholarship info in a separate email that came ~15 minutes after the acceptance email
• status checker changed to decision rendered ~10 minutes or so before I got the email (but that’s just when I refreshed so take that with a grain of salt)
  Marquette:- status checker changed 12/15 to “your notification has been sent”, I finally received the actual letter on 12/20
• I also talked to someone who sent Admissions an email asking for a pdf and they were able to get their letter that way
• Registered to stay on the waitlist 12/20, not strongly intending to send a LOCI though

Essays

For most schools, I just submitted my general personal statement focused on my experience in mock trial and how it shaped my leadership skills as well as how important music and fine arts have been in my life and why that led me to be interested in IP. For each school, I had a specific "Why X" end paragraph at the end to individualize my statement a bit more.

Minnesota:- Optional supplemental statement
Denver:- Specific prompt personal statement -> chose to talk about perseverance and compassion
Chicago-Kent:- Honors Scholar Essay -> wasn’t chosen as a finalist :(

• Separate “Why X” essay
  Illinois (Urbana-Champaign):- Option essay prompt #1
• Optional essay prompt #7
  Colorado (Boulder):- Optional statement
  Marquette:- Optional essay
  Optional separate “Why X” essay