Hi! If you’re reading this, I hope my advice is at least a little bit helpful to you! I realize that nothing I’m saying is super unique or new but hope that, if anything, it reinforces what you may have already heard elsewhere. Wishing you the best of luck with your cycle! Pursue your genuine passions during…
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
545 entries
Admitted to New York UniversityGod is good
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…
Ivy+ undergraduate degree, one year Master’s degree (’23-’24 year) from prestigious school in legal-adjacent field. On the strong side of T4 in terms of softs. Reapplicant to 7/14 schools. Took LSAT 4 times, scoring well below PT numbers until the 4th attempt. Applied with public interest as the goal and many of my…
Very grateful for my cycle and results. I cannot recommend enough retaking the lsat even when you don’t want to, and studying differently if you weren’t thrilled with your initial results. If it is possible for you to work w someone 1:1, do it. LG was my biggest struggle (would’ve probably had a much easier time if…
Read ABA 509 reports to make informed decisions on your application and scholarship process: https://www.abarequireddisclosures.org/Disclosure509.aspx LSATs: 170 > 171 > 179 (studied with the LSAT Demon, wouldn’t recommend anything else). In retrospect I should have explained this score jump with an addendum…
Cycle Recap: Strange cycle with all kinds of ups and downs. Incredibly excited for Duke,- thankful for my scholarship, and looking forward to what’s next. The location, size, cost, proximity to DC market, reasonable integration into the university, culture, name recognition, and tight PI community were all critical…
Thoughts, Vibes, Advice: As a future Fed Soc member with clerking goals and parental support, my decision was easy(pending Stanford). I felt like Chicago was the best school for my goals and will be free. Minus parental support, I think I would have gone to UVA. People are too prestige-obsessed, especially when it…
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…
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…
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…
As a December applicant, while I don’t think applying earlier would have changed my outcomes for most schools, I do think it would have saved me the stress of having to commit to a school prior to hearing back from all the others! I would recommend applying in October if you can, but if you can’t it’ll be okay! I…
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 -…
Application info: Submitted a DS to every school except UVA, as I made my DS the answer to their “resilience” question. Wrote Penn Core Values, Why UVA, Why Mich, Why Duke, GULC Top Ten, Why Florida. Advice: Stats are necessary, but not sufficient. Get the best LSAT and GPA possible, then write the best essays you…
I wish you the very best of luck (and preparation). This process is not easy, but neither is being a lawyer. My cycle recap and thoughts are below, if they are of any use to you. Background/context: ivy undergrad (according to LSAC, during my cycle 3.86 was in the 72nd percentile of GPAs of applicants from my school…
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,…
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