Start this process early. If you plan to be applying in the fall, take the LSAT in the spring to leave yourself time to retake if necessary. Start working on your personal statement. Get as many eyes as possible on your essays. In undergrad, try to take multiple classes with professors if you think you can do well…
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
277 entries
Admitted to Harvard UniversityService Academy graduate and military officer. Beneficiary of the GI Bill & Yellow Ribbon Program.
If you happen to come across this page, I just hope you know you’re going to have an amazing cycle! Biggest tips: LSAT: shoot for a score, not a test date. Take the lsat when you’re ready. If that means taking an extra gap year, so be it. You’ll appreciate it in the future. Highly recommend 7Sage + powerscore bibles…
I have 3+ years/4 seasons of experience in the front office of an NBA team in basketball analytics. Through my PS and DS, I tried as hard as I could to boil down the question of my admission to: “Do we want the basketball (analytics) guy?” My humble guess is that doing well in this regard is probably the main reason…
I wrote a why x/equivalent essay for Penn, UVA, Berkeley, Michigan, Duke, and Vandy. I worked hard to create a cohesive narrative that pulled together some of the disparate threads of my resume and answered why law, why now, and why me. I really wanted to make sure that my materials together painted a good picture…
Never expected these results - I am beyond excited to attend YLS! A few notes: I believe a key to my success was my strong focus on a specific area of law (reflected in internships, extracurriculars, leadership roles, etc). I emphasized this focus in every writing component of the applications.- Submitted 2-3 LORs…
Apply early (pre-Thanksgiving) if your affairs are in order and it’s the best app you can give, craft some incredible essays, and bet on yourself. You are not doomed post-Thanksgiving though. I did not apply to any more safety schools since UVA accepted me in September. Find a trusted friend, professor, mentor,…
I don’t really know what I’m doing. But if I had to say, here’s my best advice: Knock it out of the park on the personal statement. The advice I got was to be memorable – so I did not write about law (although I had a few sentences in the end). Draft early (like really early) and get help from the best writers you…
Make sure you do a good job on your applications to the schools that are your top choices. Then you don’t have to worry about the ones you are submitting to safety schools.
(in the order that they notified me) Harvard - A Penn - A - just updated my diversity statement to mention Penn by name; didn’t write any specific why Penn essay. Yale - A - 250 was on a time when I changed my mind in academics, but nothing to do with the law. Also, I believe them when they say that there’s no…
Optional essays: Yale - diversity addendum, no “why x”, LOCI Stanford - 1 optional, if you could talk to anyone from history and ask one question, no “why x” or DA U Chicago - included “why x” in my PS, no DA Columbia - included “why x” in my PS, no DA Harvard - no “why x” or DA UPenn - DA, no “why x”, invited to…
Don’t let anyone talk you out of your dreams, and don’t let anyone talk down on your accomplishments. You made it on merit. All the best and congratulations :)
write all optional essays spend time cultivating a strong narrative connect with current law students at the law school you’re applying to if you use reddit, use it with discretion attend info sessions for the schools you’re applying to write your essays the summer before so you have time to edit them and get them…
slay <3 Now that my crazy cycle has come to an end here is my advice to future applicants: Put your soul into every essay - make sure they should who you are and your perspective. Find what you’re passionate about and follow it headfirst. Don’t let the application process stop you from enjoying life. Law school…
Take a deep breath! It’s going to be fine. This is a long process, so try to take things one step at a time. Write the optional essays and take them seriously. I always chose to include a “Why X” when given the opportunity. Work experience is SO helpful. It drove my narrative and was the main topic of conversation…
Shoot your shot, you never know which law school will value your background, and likewise which law school will be the best home for you to thrive intellectually. I say this as someone whose undergrad GPA falls well below the median of most of the T14. However I have cultivated a career for myself and additional…
The only advice I have to remain strong. Even without the anxiety and unpredictability of the law school admissions cycle, this has been an incredibly rough year. At the end of 2020 and the start of 2021, with its prolonged periods of silence from admissions, I was wracked by insecurities and self-doubt. However,…
Wrote Why Northwestern, Why WashU, Yale Optional 2, Columbia LSAT Addendum (lol), Georgetown Top 10, Penn Core Values, Stanford Songs/Class, Stanford Optional, and submitted a diversity statement or equivalent to everywhere but Yale and Stanford. 4 LORs (2 academic, 1 research position, 1 WE). LPT: Help pay for…
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