Applying Truly, apply anywhere you want to go (finances willing). You don’t want to leave any stone unturned- If you can, try to have a least two safetys Nothing is guaranteed in this process. Most schools do not admit in a predictable pattern or timeline and even if they do, you can always be surprised. When I…
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
388 entries
Admitted to Vanderbilt UniversityCycle Recap Yale (rejected 3/7/23) - BIG reach- Columbia (reserve on 4/18/23 and broke my heart, withdrew 4/24) - UG alum. Wrote Why Columbia and optional essay on Equitable and Inclusive Environment. Sent LOCI/job update on 3/20/23. Inquired about admissions timeline due to upcoming deposit deadlines on 4/10/23 and…
CONCLUDED 4/27/2023. BEST WISHES TO ALL WHO COME AFTER. Gonna do this by first giving some opening info, then making a list by date of admissions decision, and finish by giving a summary and final remarks. Read it all, skip to the end for my folk wisdom, or just look at my app chart; it’s all up to you. Intro I…
Hey future applicants! First things first, I want to thank all those who have supported me in this journey (mentors and friends, including those in online LSA circles that became my friends over the course of the cycle); I quite literally could not have accomplished this without a solid community around me. Pick…
TIPS: (I’m obviously not an admissions officer, so take these with a grain of salt; this is just what I felt helped me) When studying for the LSAT, don’t be afraid to take breaks! Especially if you’re studying a lot during a short period of time (e.g., 3-4 months of consecutive studying instead of 1 year of on and…
DISCLAIMER: I AM GOING TO SOUND VERY NITPICKY ABOUT MY APPLICATION, GPA, AND LSAT IN THE FOLLOWING SECTION. I AM CONTENT WITH MY OUTCOME AT THE END OF THE CYCLE. THIS IS JUST WHAT I WOULD TELL MYSELF ON HOW TO IMPROVE MY OUTCOMES IF I WERE TO GO BACK IN TIME. **Study hard for the LSAT. Like, take the amount of time…
Reapplicant from 2022-2023 cycle (LSD doesn’t have an option to have multiple cycles in the tracker and I wanna keep my old data there for my splitter friends). After some family things, my applications weren’t great and it just wasn’t a good time for me to do law school. Between cycles, I’m working full time and…
My biggest advice would be to apply broadly! I am so glad I blanketed the t14s because I was actually close to not even applying to the law school I ended up deciding on (UVA), because they never sent me a fee waiver and I didnt know much about the school due to where I grew up in. But fortunately, I decided to live…
if i could do it again, i would apply to fewer schools. i also wouldn’t retake the lsat - i took it a second time and scored lower. retaking is generally a good idea, but i didn’t set myself up for success to score higher by retaking it during the same semester i was taking 19 credits and writing my app materials.…
Shoot your shot! Application cycles can be unpredictable. Even if you end up at one of your top choices, it can still be a bumpy ride (looking at you, 5 waitlists). At the end of the day, I was lucky enough to get into my top two choices: Chicago and Virginia. Even with the gulf in cost of attendance, it was a…
RENOGOTIATE, ALWAYS. Say that five times fast and then do it. Even if the amount received at backup schools are smaller than the one offered at your goal school. Asking never hurts, only helps! A mi comunidad Latinx: You are amazing and its exciting to see us enter the legal field in numbers! Remember to apply early…
If you can avoid checking the status checker, do that. A couple UR dates may be inaccurate (specifically USC), I didn’t check my status checker too frequently. Wrote a Diversity Statement related to Athletics UR3: Duke went UR3 on 1/23 Penn went UR3 on 2/2 Accept: Vanderbilt didn’t give me any info until the…
“In the dark times, should the stars also go out?” Advice *More is better. **If a school allows you to submit optional essays (why X), spend some time crafting a compelling supplemental essay. Yes, there are people who get admitted without submitting optional essays. But the more information you can provide to the…
LSAT: Give yourself more time than you think you need to study. If you can swing it, a tutor or course is a great investment into your future because just a few LSAT points can mean a huge difference in where you are accepted and/or scholarship amounts. (I used 7Sage and PowerScore.) If you think you left points on…
I left notes for some schools: Hover your cursor over the “Result” and “Scholarship” cells. Main takeway: Focus on what you can change. You can’t change what happened in the past. Softs: HYPSM undergrad (with tough course load + GPA addendum), prestigious post-grad fellowship, legal work experience, salient…
LSAT: june ’21 164 –> august ‘21 170 thanks to just khan academy, mike kim’s LSAT trainer, and grinding PTs. my PT average was like a 165 so i truly got lucky on my second take. probably could have taken more time + money to study and squeezed out a few more points, but i was more than happy with a 170 and wanted to…
I’m hoping that this can be helpful for any future super-splitters out there (and don’t despair, there is hope - I’m attending Penn). The caveat of course is that I am a URM super-splitter, specifically a Hispanic one (Cuban & Puerto Rican). I am well aware of just how helpful that kind of designation can be. So,…
Advice for LATE applicants: Some of the schools you apply to will already have filled their class without you knowing. You’ve just got to accept it and not beat yourself up too hard. But also, it’s worth applying to a few extra schools even if they’re not at the top of your list. Other applicants will start asking…
Your study break just got better: follow @lawschooldata on Follow @lawschooldata on TikTok & Instagram