Ultimately, this was an easy decision. As a PI applicant, my goal for the cycle was NYU or Berkeley. I am exceedingly fortunate to have received a full ride at Berkeley and after being rejected for RTK, it was a no-brainer to attend.
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
367 entries
Admitted to Columbia UniversityPI Goals, aiming for good vibes. Gonna go CLS despite effective full ride at GULC. I wanna live in NYC, and I think the difference in outcomes between the two is sufficient to justify the decision. Gonna ride the HLS and SLS WLs.
Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, and you’ll never go wrong. Wrote supplementals for: UPenn - Core Values UVA - Why UVA Duke - Why Duke Georgetown - Top 10
Softs and a cohesive matter so much more than you think.
STEM major/business minor. Otherwise, fairly average softs (legal & financial internships, volunteer work, club leadership positions, TA experience, etc). T20 undergrad. Did not apply for aid at NYU, Duke, or Northwestern.
Wrote every optional essay to all of these applications. I didn’t keep exact track of the dates, so any of the applications where the date complete is the exact same day as the date received was just an approximation.
Wrote Why X for Michigan, optional essay for Stanford, Why X for Berkeley, Why X for Cornell, scholarship essays for NYU, optional essay for Penn (not Why X), optional essay for Georgetown (not Why X), Why X for Duke
My advice to future applicants is to slow down and take a breather. Law school is exciting but there is a lot more to life than checking your statuses 75 times a day. Life is beautiful, and don’t let it pass you by!
Have a mediocre GRE score on file, which I had to send to Harvard, NYU, Penn, and NU. Did not write an addendum. T3 = master’s degree. Wrote a “Why X” for Penn and Michigan and one of the supplements for Georgetown.
PS about my interest in human rights law, DS about my racial identity. Wrote why X or optional statements for all non T6 schools. 1 year out of college serving in Americorps, attended a non-prestigious undergrad.
Negotiate your scholarships!!!! The worst they can say is no. With the exception of Northwestern (because they said they weren’t going to negotiate with anyone this year), I got more money everywhere I asked.
Wrote Why Michigan, Duke, WashU, Cornell, GULC. Wrote Penn Core Values, GULC Unpopular Opinion, Stanford Library Books. Updated personal statement for Columbia. work on your materials early and apply early!
Very mundane softs (typical extracurriculars/internships), but connected all of my experiences into a coherent story in my PS that showed Why Law Hover over result column for essay/interview details.
apply earlier for peace of mind
don’t listen to any admissions predictors. essays/resume and your fit with a particular school are more important than your stats
LGBT+ GPA was 3.70 when I applied, updated schools with my new 3.73 in December. Chose not to be on any waitlists I was offered as I did not want to have to wait longer for decisions/change my plans
Wisdom is forthcoming depending on how I do lmao.
KJD but graduated from undergrad with BA & MA in 4 years. Withdrew from Stanford, Columbia, Penn, and Duke before receiving official scholarship offers. Did not negotiate for more aid from schools.
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