Personal statement and narrative is SO important. had a near perfect cycle applying to schools where i was below median LSAT for all of them. work experience is important!
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
439 entries
Admitted to University of California—BerkeleySEVERELY better cycle compared to 2022-2023 for me (◕_◕). I did not retake the LSAT, just strengthened my application parts and applied in November instead of February.
uchicago ur3 1/12, ur4 1/18 nyu hold 1/21 usc “may” sentence gone 1/28, “may” sentence came back 2/7 harvard ghost update 2/5 (probably meant nothing)
Wrote Optional essays wherever possible. STEM major from a mediocre state school, but I spent a ton of time on perfecting the written materials in my application.
apply early, broadly, and write all the optional essays! T10 ug, international fellowship after graduating, interest in specific area of law that came up in my essays
Give yourself a few years to decide if you really want to go to law school. Then, give yourself more than a month to study for the LSAT. I did one of these things.
Wrote Why X for Duke, Mich, Berkeley, Cornell, Virginia. Core Values for Penn. Additional Essays for Stanford and Georgetown. T3/T4 Softs STEM double major
Grind hard. Make money. Protect the Law.
Lean into your narrative in your essays. Really show the passion and the reason for making this first step in a big life decision. Exhibit your best writing.
South Asian Muslim female. Wrote ‘why Berkeley’ and ‘why Michigan’ essays. To whoever is creeping on this in the future, good luck with your cycle :)
Took the LSAT twice. First take got 168; Second take got 169. I was accepted to ASU, OU, and WashU with a 168. I was accepted to all others with a 169.
Shoot your shot. My top schools were Michigan, Berkeley, UCLA, and USC… Thankful that someone saw my potential. Please know you are more than #s.
LSAT 171 GPA 3.93 2025–26 cycle
Attending University of California—Los Angeles
Show some vulnerability and personal voice in your essays. Be professional, but don’t be overly stiff.
Don’t stress out too much! Everything about applying to law school takes far longer than it really should, but someday it’s suddenly all over :)
Have fun, proofread essays, and space applications out to avoid burnout especially if your applying in October and November. Best of luck!
Honestly, I have to say one thing if there wasn’t a max at $400,000 on the scholarships amount that I am able to input, they would be higher.
Took LSAT 3 times: 169 -> 170 -> 180 Undergraduate and Masters degree in economics KJD Attended T50 undergrad on full-tuition scholarship
Clock it & gagatrondra
Your study break just got better: follow @lawschooldata on Follow @lawschooldata on TikTok & Instagram