Wrote optionals for Michigan and NYU (Scholarship Essays) Spend as much time getting the best LSAT you can, including finding a study group that works well. Heavy PI or bust focus Worked full time for first two years of undergrad, transitioned to internships afterward Do your prep work for each university that…
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
367 entries
Admitted to Columbia UniversityTake 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…
I studied for the LSAT for about 3.5 months using 7sage. My softs and essays were more business oriented which I think aligned with Penn and Columbia. I helped found a start up. Harvard, Duke, and NYU are more advocacy and community focused which is why I think my profile did not align as with these schools. I have…
Supplementary Statements - Stanford: Optional Essay, Optional Short Essays (2) Yale: Optional Essay 1 UChicago: Why UChicago, Diversity Statement Duke: Why Duke, Diversity Statement Harvard: N/A UPenn: Why UPenn, Essay Two, Essay Five UVA: Why UVA, Diversity Statement Columbia: Optional Statement + Public Service…
Do NOT trust what LSAC tells you over the phone. I received misleading info multiple times. E.g. I called in about latest processing times for foreign transcripts: Me, reading off the website for JD applications: “So is it currently 2 weeks for LSAC to process and then 2-3 weeks for AA–”- LSAC agent interrupts me:…
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,…
Shoot your shot and APPLY EARLY because timing matters (especially for $$)!!! My friends with similar backgrounds, gpa, and higher lsat scores get rejected or waitlisted after applying in January rather than October/November. As long as your score isn’t horrendous, apply with the score you have instead of waiting…
Don’t be afraid to take a gap year! It made my cycle much less stressful because I already had my LSAT squared away and I was able to apply very early. There are few good excuses for rushing your apps just to start school a year earlier. Softs are everything, and the tiers most people use to categorize them are…
Your story MATTERS! I have come to learn this cycle that though having amazing stats helps, it is all about how you tell your story. Aim to get the best scores, etc. but don’t let you scores deter you from applying to a school; you really never know what may happen. With just my stats, esp. LSAT, at face value, my…
Track LSAT studying by counting hours. Start early. Try to prep your personal statement before Sep. 1. Stay off of Reddit. Go for walks.
Don’t be in a hurry to take on six-figure debt and give up 3 years of income and career advancement. Make sure you know what you want. Law school should be a means, not an end. Try working in the fields you’re interested in until you hit a ceiling/become sure you want to go to law school. You may decide you don’t…
First Gen/Low Income – PI or Die Has anyone seen my “F*ck the Patriarchy” keychain??? I think I dropped it somewhere on the ground. Please stay off LSD and r/LSA as much as you can!! Stop worrying about what tier your softs are; what matters is how they contribute to the story you tell. When you’re thinking about…
i am not a URM but for some reason there was no “asian” option other than “east asian”, which i’m not. some things i did: wrote every why x possible took a week and a half off work to tour schools kept in email contact with my top schools attended every in-person or virtual event hosted by all of the schools i…
A few bits of advice: Apply earlier than I did if you can, you’ll probably cut back on the stress a bit, but they’re right when they say you should submit when you’re ready. Really think about whether you’d actually attend a school before you apply, maybe save yourself the money. I sent in far too many applications…
Wrote Why X for CLS (integrated into personal statement), Penn (core strengths), Mich, Berkeley, Fordham. Did optional essays for SLS, GULC, NYU (Furman public policy scholarship app), and BU (PI scholarship app). Extremely minor C+F (speeding ticket) disclosed on applications that required disclosure of civil…
Included diversity statement in addition to PS in all applications (non-URM). Yale: N/A Stanford: wrote optional essay. Harvard: N/A Columbia: N/A UChicago: N/A NYU: Applied to RTK, wrote optional scholarship essay. Rejected from RTK. UCBerkeley: Wrote why X. UPenn: N/A Northwestern: Did Kira. UMichigan: Wrote why…
Shoot your shot, put good essays together, and sell yourself to the max (and always, ALWAYS negotiate scholarships)!
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