take everything here and on reddit with a huge enormous grain of salt, and talk to real students/alums and admissions officers. literally no 0L knows what they’re talking about; this is all a chaotic mess of the blind leading the blind with that being said and with the huge disclaimer that i also do not know what…
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
367 entries
Admitted to Columbia UniversityI wanted to highlight that I am a COMMUNITY COLLEGE GRADUATE who went to a tiny, unheard of, completely unprestigious state school. When I started my cycle I found it nearly impossible to find examples of people in my situations (fantastic stats, non-prestigious background compared to other applicants) and it made…
I got into multiple T14 schools with a GPA below all their 25th percentiles. Somehow. I’ve seen a lot of applicants with nearly identical numbers get different outcomes. People always say essays matter—and they do—but that leads to the next question: what actually makes a good one? Here’s what helped me. Go do…
ALRIGHT, CYCLE COMPLETE! I cannot wait to start my legal education at YLS! This cycle went way better than I could have ever imagined (now wishing I didn’t waste so much money on application fees lol). I don’t know if my application advice will be helpful, because who knows what about my application worked well, but…
🥰 hi all! My biggest recommendation for everyone is to try to drown out the noise regarding personal statements, supplemental essays, etc. My personal statement did not speak to any schools in particular or even answer the “Why Law?” question, and I think that while that was potentially a risky choice it also…
Apply early (by October), and put a lot of thought into your application materials. Your application is the first case you’ll make in law school, so show them that you have the potential to do it well. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare for the LSAT. I focused on taking practice tests and then going through…
Your written statements are critical. Outside of gaining you positive admissions results, they are an opportunity to define your dreams! Don’t take this chance lightly. Get some life and work experience after college. You won’t regret it. Take as much time as you need with the LSAT and preparing your application…
I wish I had given myself enough credit for getting to the point where I’m applying to law school. I was so stressed about the strength of my test scores and my essays. All of these things were important, of course, but I was so focused on the next step that I didn’t appreciate how incredible it was to have made it…
Don’t apply very early (September/October) if your essays aren’t in the best shape possible! A better application » an early application
I live in NYC, want to stay, and have public interest goals so NYU it is. staying on the Harvard waitlist just in case but it’s hard to imagine uprooting my life and taking on crazy debt for it at this point 4 years of non law-related experience my advice for future generations…write optional essays, have a…
Sign up for the Candidate Referral Service (CRS) on LSAC. You can get merit fee waiver from top schools this way, just because of your LSAT score and GPA. I got fee waivers and personal invitations to apply from 8/10 of my schools (all except Harvard and Stanford) through the CRS, and saved hundreds on application…
Control the controllables.
Write the optional essays for every school you’re serious about, that is non-negotiable if you want the best odds. Also try and apply september/october, I still feel like that does make a difference at most schools. Did not think t6 was a possibility when the cycle first began due to my LSAT being lower than their…
I took my time on my essays and iterated a ton. I believe my work experience in M&A played a huge role in my A’s as well! Don’t psych yourself out of applying - shoot your shot!
Make sure you have specific* *- and meaningful reasons for wanting to go to law school and that your materials support this Apply before mid-Nov if possible; I think I got lucky but please don’t do what I did (esp for Duke) Hedge your expectations as an international student (esp for UChi, UVA, and Mich) Sending…
apply EARLY. like september lol. and don’t give up on the LSAT until you get the highest score you can.
Very proud of all my statements. Wrote all optionals. Several T3 and T4 softs. FGLI. 1 year of relevant WE (I think not having more hurt me for YLS). Did everything I could to make my GPA the weakest part of my application. Applied late oct-early nov. Would recommend waiting until jan/feb to apply for YLS if you…
for future international students (esp those who are not URM): MAKE SURE you have an above median LSAT. as a “reverse splitter” at my target schools things were pretty tough for me, but i think my essays were solid enough to land me a few A’s. and if you can, apply as early as possible starting from October to avoid…
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