It took 3+ months to hear from most schools. Also, in general acceptances came later than rejections/waitlist decisions. Try to keep the faith during the wait. I wrote optional essays and Why X essays for all schools that mentioned them in their application. I did not write any pre-decision LOCIs.
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
367 entries
Admitted to Columbia UniversityIt’s all God. Thank you Jesus for holding me tight, thank you Holy Spirit for giving me peace. Tell your story and trust in the Lord to do His will; whatever the destination, you will find peace in it.
Take sooooo many deep breaths. Everything happens for a reason. You are going to do great and end up right where you need to be!!!
3/13/26: Some law schools really favor their undergrad alums. 7/28/26: Sometimes, the waitlist pays off.
I am a reapplicant this cycle and it has slowly turned into the cycle of my dreams. For people that are uncertain about how their current cycles are turning out, do not be afraid to apply again and make your app stronger. I remember crying at least five times last cycle because I felt like I was not meeting my…
Shoot your shot - especially if you have compelling life and work experience.
Going into this process I told myself I would go to the highest ranked school I got into, so to see myself picking NYU over Stanford would be INSANE. I didn’t qualify for need-based aid at Stanford. I chose NYU for the half-tuition scholarship, because I was interested in public interest (the PI community at…
***General *** Essays:- I wrote my personal statement about my goal of working in IP and the arts space rather than tech and focused on my personal experiences that led me to that goal. I had one person review my essays that I’m not too close to, which helped to give more objective advice. I wrote a…
The process is tough. You may question yourself. But it is, in the end, a process. This too shall pass. What I did: CompLit PhD student with both an MA and an MPhil, on leave, working as a researcher in space technology/sustainable development/social justice. Chose law schools based primarily on research/academic…
All peace and love to everyone here no matter what. This process sucks and is absolutely grueling. Even if you didn’t get into your dream school, you’re still a champion for overcoming all the difficulties you’ve had in getting here. Just with the law school admissions process, you’ve had to study for and take the…
Things I’m happy I did Applied early to most*******- schools (before Thanksgiving) Ask for LORs by end of July so I wasn’t worrying about it during the cycle Give my letter writers extremely specific instructions about what I wanted them to write about Vary my LORs because I’m paranoid and not sure how good some- of…
Personal statement was modeled off of the UChicago hobby examples on their website. I think it hurt my applications that didn’t expand on my professional goals in app questions/supplemental essays (CLS, HYS, GULC, Penn, UVA) vs. ones where I did (Berkeley, Cornell, NU, NYU, UC) & would’ve benefitted from a clearer…
Do everything early. Start studying early, take your LSAT at an earlier administration than you need to, start writing early, submit your applications early. Don’t feel like you have to do law-related work to seem qualified. My work was only tangentially law-related, but was pretty unique and related clearly to a…
For college students: I highly recommend getting a year of work experience. You will be able to speak on your experience during the application process, have a matured perspective, and get better results. It really helps to have a year to step back and be deliberate about your next choice. Also, be a unique and…
Notes and dates for future applicants to promote transparency in this painstaking process :) Harvard 3/18 - Waitlisted 5/1 - Sent LOCI 5/3 - Interview invite 5/8 - Interviewed 5/14 - Feeler call (5:30pm ET) 5/15 - Acceptance call (11:31am ET) UChicago 3/14 - Received initial scholarship award ($30,000). 3/22 -…
Initial reflections: I think that HYS outcomes are very difficult to predict. Others felt a bit more straightforward. For me, Harvard interview was more direct, more formal, and less friendly than the Chicago interview. For HLS, I would prepare thoroughly and be prepared to give a strong “why law school?” answer…
wrote diversity statement (LGBTQ, mentioned URM identity) for all schools, wrote why Xs for chicago, penn (core strengths), duke, UVA, berkeley, and michigan and integrated why X into PS for columbia and georgetown. STEM background and work experience in STEM field, had a pretty specific PS topic and clear goals,…
Wrote optional essays for Michigan, Penn, and Stanford (ironically, the schools I didn’t get into lol). I did not write any LOCIs and was rejected from all my waitlists. PS was on my personal growth through taking on a hobby-related challenge. I brought in my legal work experience at the end, but probably could have…
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