I applied four years ago (right after undergrad) with a 167. I applied this year with a 168 after three more LSATs, but with far more life experience. Night and day difference in outcomes. Don’t be afraid to take time, develop your story/resume/why law, and then come back to law apps; you may even see that law…
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
817 entries
Admitted to Georgetown UniversityMake sure you have specific* *- and meaningful reasons for wanting to go to law school and that your materials support this Apply before mid-Nov if possible; I think I got lucky but please don’t do what I did (esp for Duke) Hedge your expectations as an international student (esp for UChi, UVA, and Mich) Sending…
Spend as much time and resources on the LSAT as you can. It is the one single metric that can change your life.
I think for reverse splitters it’s all about selling yourself through WE and essays. I meticulously planned how my WE would feed into my ‘Why Law,’ and I think that ended up setting me apart from other applicants. Secondly, if you’re any kind of splitter, you need to apply early. If you’re past the Thanksgiving…
it really does only take one
Very proud of all my statements. Wrote all optionals. Several T3 and T4 softs. FGLI. 1 year of relevant WE (I think not having more hurt me for YLS). Did everything I could to make my GPA the weakest part of my application. Applied late oct-early nov. Would recommend waiting until jan/feb to apply for YLS if you…
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.
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!!!
For transparency, I’m attending Vanderbilt based on very personal reasons that also make the cost of living zero. If you’re looking at my profile and are weighing similar options, I would have gone to either UT or Northwestern if it weren’t for these circumstances. Go Commodores!
Apply to your top choices last (ya know, within reason). Michigan was pretty much my top choice going into this and so (logically, I thought) was the first school I applied to. My materials got a lot stronger, though, as I kept on tweaking my personal statement and got better at writing supplemental essays. I was…
No extra essays for Columbia and Harvard Wrote a Why X for UChicago, NYU, UVA, Northwestern, Michigan, GULC, Duke, and Cornell Did the teamwork essay for Penn, the failure essay for Michigan, and the unpopular opinion for GULC Got an HTE from NYU on 1/28 went UR3 for UChicago on 2/15 Also had a GPA increase during…
The only person who can tell you no is the admissions committee!
After a certain point, admissions results are totally random. Don’t tie it to your self-worth or identity! Given how late my results came back to me and how it affected my ability to pit aid offers against each other and generally plan for the fall, I’d encourage you to submit earlier so you can get results back in…
Try to get a good GPA in college, but if you can’t it’s not over. Write all the optionals, go to the LSAC fairs and talk to reps (I reminded one admissions team about our chat in my why x essay). If you’re on a waitlist, write them an earnest letter. Basically, be bold and put yourself out there as much as possible…
Don’t let the bastards get you down
If you’re going through hell, keep going.
It only takes one (good) offer to make a successful cycle. Given my goals (clerking + working in DC,) UVA with $$$ is about as ideal of an outcome as there could have been for me. Deferring to complete an M.A. at my undergraduate institution using my last year of scholarship funds there. UVA allowed me to keep my…
Completed all applications by the first week in October. Wrote at least one optional for all schools! 155 -> 167 -> 175 (No addendum written)
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