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
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
545 entries
Admitted to New York UniversityMy 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!
Reddit cycle recap/reflections: https://www.reddit.com/r/lawschooladmissions/comments/1301vd7/hefty_stem_splitter_reflections_and_recap/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1
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!
No additional essays except: UVA Activities and Interests - did it essay style Why UVA Why Berkeley Cornell - just the short Why X required in application Georgetown Top 10 Why Michigan Stanford 3 Songs
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
Wrote Why X for all schools I was admitted to. Heavily lent on my soft factors (URM, legal experience, great LORs from folks who knew me well). Tried to limit how much I check r/lawschooladmissions.
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.
Go outside. Stretch. Breathe. Make your favorite meal. Refreshing your email won’t summon your decisions. Once you get to law school, remember what brought you there. I hope you change this world.
Get off LSD and never come back.
Listen to The Sisters of Mercy, Autopsy, New Order, Morbid Angel, Immolation, Type O Negative, Bauhaus, Virgin Prunes, Mercyful Fate, Razor, Dua Lipa, Alien Sex Fiend, Hikaru Utada, and Pestilence
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.
no wisdom just extremely ready to be done with this process honestly i just spent a truly depressing amount of time agonizing over writing and rewriting and editing my PS/DS/other statements
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 :)
Apply earlier than I did lol - applying early doesn’t guarantee you will get a decision faster, but applying late nearly guarantees that you’ll be scrambling as deposit deadlines approach.
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