A poor personal statement can overshadow your stats. Don’t overlook your written materials.
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
Wrote LSAT Addendum Wrote all why X law school Just applied everywhere Feb LSAT: 150 (What I applied with) April LSAT: 160
Apply wide. Really wide. Embarrassingly wide. Then let the dust settle and make the smartest boring decision available. Prestige is a fine thing until you’re paying for it with money you don’t have chasing outcomes that aren’t guaranteed. The humble path taken confidently beats the prestigious path taken anxiously…
Q: What do you wish you had known when you started applying? A: What I Know now.
Get your materials ready ASAP. I got mine ready to apply in the previous cycle, realized I would get no scholarship money so I waited for the next cycle since I had the ability to do so fortunately. With that I definitely feel it has benefitted me in the scholarship department. Also really think about where you…
Applied to numerous top 14 schools for the 2020-2021 cycle, and received all R’s aside from Georgetown, who placed me on their preferred waitlist. However, I wasn’t ready to make the financial commitment of relocating from Chicago to Washington, D.C. and removed myself from consideration. This cycle, I decided to…
-public interest inclined girlie (civil rights/human rights/immigration) -spring 2024 recent graduate -apply widely if ur a fellow reverse splitter !!!! final notes: -cycle went far better than i thought - essays will make or break you if you are a splitter or reverse splitter. ZERO rejections. i wish i tried…
LSAT 164 GPA 2.82 2025–26 cycle
Attending Loyola Marymount University—Los Angeles
never say never
Apply broadly splitters and February is the latest I’d suggest applying. Pour your heart and soul into your writing but don’t be too negative or whiny. Vulnerability and candor go a long way into humanizing yourself as an applicant and will give you some more leeway with the empathetic side of adcomms. also, it…
My mistakes: •Originally considered a gap year to study and work. Instead, I graduated in December 2021 and changed my mind, studying for almost a month and got a 156 on January LSAT. •Applied late in the cycle and got phenomenal responses from low tier and month-long static from my top choices. Be less impulsive,…
LSAT 167 GPA 3.67 2023–24 cycle
Attending Indiana University - Bloomington
Ask for fee waivers everywhere- , no matter what your stats are. I didn’t pay a single application fee and saved hundreds of dollars. This is a fairly predictable game. You don’t need more than 2-3 safety schools. I wasted time working on so many applications to places that I wouldn’t even want to attend. LSAT Demon…
LSAT 162 GPA 3.40 2020–21 cycle
Attending Illinois Institute of Technology (Kent)
Graduated from a T30 public university in 3 years. Working as a legal assistant while applying. 7+ months in legal field as of 03/2021. Previously worked as a book editor at a publishing company; laid off because of Covid. First gen undergrad student and first-gen graduate school applicant. Chicago-Kent went UR2 on…
Trans/nonbinary student, background in activism and nonprofits. Did really strongly in the first half of college, did somewhat poorly in the second half—ultimately won a couple of awards though. Took a year to heal (lol) and become more of a functioning adult. Strongly recommend taking a year+ if you feel the…
I did my masters and undergraduate in Bioengineering, looking to get into biotech patent law. To any future STEMS like me follow my journey. Did personalized essays for each school, and spent lots of extra activities during master’s and undergraduate. Might be T2 idk what graduate degrees are considered, but looking…
I am laser-focused on working in nonprofit legal aid (hopefully within a community and/or movement lawyering context) in Chicago. This is why I am choosing Kent over my higher-ranked acceptances (full ride, and allows me to stay active in the Chicago community organizing & activist spaces in which I already…
Never let anyone talk you into a boring, generic, “safe” personal statement. Sometimes our lives are “controversial”, and your ability to tell that story conveys competence and resilience. At least, I think that’s why I got quick movement A’s.
Busted my ass for all of these decisions, especially the acceptance at Alabama. Debt is a prison, go to the best school that will cost you the smallest amount of money.
I have received application waivers from a majority of schools on my list. Have a little over 5 years of total work experience. Official cold diagnostic 150 (5/6/2022); did not study for roughly 1 year and took another PT cold and got 155 (1/28/2023). Actual test score 168 (6/10/2023).
Your study break just got better: follow @lawschooldata on Follow @lawschooldata on TikTok & Instagram