If you have a true interest in a school, SHOW IT! I would have never in a million years believed I would have gotten into Duke. I definitely ascribe my acceptance with a genuine Why Duke statement.
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
471 entries
Admitted to Duke UniversityGet off LSD and never come back.
Applied end of October/early November. No supplemental essays for Chicago, Harvard, Columbia or NYU. “Why X” essays for Michigan, Duke, Penn, Cornell, and UVA. Failures essay for Michigan.
International student with US undergrad (big ten) Wrote why X for all T-14 schools If Cornell’s interview invite “recommend” you to take the Kira within 10 days, it actually means REQUIRE. :/
you should be proud of yourself for going through an application cycle no matter what. and do not feel bad if you give up rank for scholarships, especially if you are doing public interest!!
Wrote Why Berkeley, Why UVA, Why Michigan No interview for GULC or any other programs so far Have prior Masters degree and 5+ years of work experience in field related to that degree.
Applying to law school is hard! you got this! I took the LSAT 3 times to get my score, don’t give up. Try not to obsessively check this site and Reddit, it’s not terribly helpful :)
Ivy undergrad Legal job after gradation Strong personal statement / diversity statement (I think this was the most important part !!!) Recs from professors I was very close with
Duke: wrote Why Duke - got in the day after going UR3 NDLS: Did not write a Why NDLS. Went UR5 before being accepted UT: No Why Texas GW: No Why GW BU: Wrote Why BU
Proverbs 4 (Too lazy to list all 20 schools I applied to, only R all cycle until accepted to Duke was from the big H. Applied to the top 20 schools that accepted GRE from HLS to BC.)
Wrote all optional essays including Why X for Berkeley, Duke, and UVA. I did not include a Kira interview for Northwestern. Didn’t interview with & didn’t personalize PS for Columbia.
apply early!
what, like it’s hard? (it is, in fact, hard)
3.9low before fall semester GPA increase Why essays for UVA, Duke, and Cornell Core strengths essay for Penn Supplemental essay for Michigan Video for Georgetown
There are more important things in life than the law school admissions process. Remember to appreciate how far you’ve come and the people who have supported you along the way. 💖
Went to a large state school for undergrad. Worked for one year after graduation in government relations. Low-income background and from a very underrepresented area of the US.
Try to visit schools and picture if you could see yourself living there. It’s 3 years of your life, so the choice of school can go beyond just the school itself, it’s life too.
A @Indy and Rs @Mich/Cornell/USC w/156 LSAT. Received 2/16/2021 NYU HTE ; Went UR3 @ NYU on 3/28/2021. Released from CLS waitlist 6/24/2021 via email. Did not send LOCI.
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