Wrote “Why X” essays for Columbia, Duke, NYU, Northwestern, Chicago, and Michigan; wrote GULC 250 optional essay on “Top 10 List;” wrote Core Values essay for Penn; wrote about thesis topic for Yale 250. Kira interview for Northwestern; group interview for GULC. Chicago UR3 on 2/15.
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
367 entries
Admitted to Columbia UniversityApplied to same schools (minus Stanford) in Jan 2020 with 168, got into Georgetown, rejected from Harvard and Yale, waitlisted at the rest. Reapplying this year in October with 174, a new rec, and a revised statement to see what happens. white, female, decent but not exceptional softs
Hispanic from southwestern state, extensive experience living/working/studying abroad, speak 3 languages, won a prestigious fellowship, currently working in a hot industry (and hope to focus on that during law school). Hope schools ignore my low GPA :) edit: they are not ignoring it
what is meant for you won’t miss you xoxo best advice i can give is to not be like me and decide to take the lsat/apply to law school for that cycle in august. i think i lost *at least *5 years off of my life with the study-for-the-october-lsat-then-apply-by-mid-november turnaround.
A cohesive narrative and clear idea of what you want to do as a lawyer goes a long way! Also apply as early as possible so you have max time for scholarship negotiations (and peace of mind).
Wrote every optional essay possible and a Why X to avoid YP outside the T6. Did not write any DS. If you get an HLS interview, make sure you’re really jazzed and emphasize that it’s your first choice. That’s what I think got me WL’ed, since my interview otherwise went really well.
lol don’t apply with the gre Went from all Ws and Rs to a strong cycle
Wrote Penn Core Values and Why X School essays for Berkeley, Michigan, UCLA, USC, Cornell. Added a sentence in PS for Columbia. Sent Why NYU after NYU hold. LSAC GPA was slightly lower than uGPA. Retake the LSAT if you need to, apply early if you can. Good luck! You’ll do great!
Write your Why X’s not as essays as to why you want to go somewhere, but why you WOULD ACTUALLY ATTEND. Anyway, CLS was my goal and I got it! But if I had to do it over again, I would apply much earlier, write a Why NYU, and not apply KJD. Work experience is so worth it.
Just breathe, and trust that it will all happen as it is meant to.
Supplements Yale: Wrote optional on community- Chicago: n/a (not sure I told my move well enough) Penn: Why X Harvard: 2 pages each for Perspective & Purpose NYU: n/a Columbia: Why X, fun fact Vandy: Lived Experience WashU: n/a Reflections on interviews:
Renegotiated with Texas Law using all of my other scholarship offers, except NYU (hadn’t received my scholly info yet) – offer went from 54k total to 60k total (off of in-state tuition). Headed to Texas Law to stay close to my fam and significant other! :)
Emo(ry) Isn’t Dead: Dear Ave Maria Count Me In I Write Stetsons, not Tragedies Samford, We’re Goin Down My Songs Know What You Did in the Duke (Light ‘‘em Up) This Must Be the Pace (Naive Melody) My Body is a Temple U, How Much You Think I could Get For It
please don’t be afraid to take a gap year (or a few) between undergrad and law school!!!! being able to articulate why law and why you’re going to be a great lawyer is more important to adcomms than what club you were president of or your favorite class
Save up early bc apps are insanely expensive without fee waivers Start studying for the LSAT like a year in advance and if you can work with a private tutor, DO IT Listen to podcasts/absorb as much material about law school admissions as possible
no explicit why law in my ps(you better write one) Wrote why Duke/Cornell/GULC/Columbia/Penn(core value) No surprise from Mich, UVA, and UChicago. They do not like international students 😭 international students!!!!!!!!!! Work on your soft!
Didn’t put my exact numbers to avoid doxxing, but very close
I had a pretty tight resume with plenty of softs related to mentorship, athletics, and research, as well as demonstrated success in a field (IP/tech) where there are very few URMs.
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