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Applicant wisdom

Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.

LSAT 176 GPA 3.94 2020–21 cycle

Admitted to Stanford University

Based on my experience, soft factors and essays are VERY important in law school admissions, especially at T-14 schools (I believe that the more you go up in the rankings, the more softs and essays matter). Strong numbers matter a lot too, but they’re usually not enough on their own to give applicants a strong shot…

LSAT 178 GPA 3.00 2021–22 cycle

Admitted to Stanford University

…things from the source instead of through hearsay. Both softs and numbers matter. Softs are everything about your app that isn’t quantitative. Whether it is a “good” soft is a matter of framing. In the words of Dean Andy from GULC, this is basically pole vaulting; the bar is set by your numbers, and the pole is your…

LSAT 173 GPA 2.72 2025–26 cycle

Attending University of Pennsylvania

…of my “core” applications NLT 27-Nov-2025. Materials: My softs, in my humble opinion, are incredibly unique but that simply didn’t come through in my writing. I went back and reviewed my 2024 cycle applications and while they weren’t technically weak, they did a poor job of emphasizing what I would offer an incoming…

LSAT 177 GPA 4.27 2020–21 cycle

Attending University of Pennsylvania

…the final paragraph to the school I was applying to. Softs include: master’s degree with thesis on legal issues + fairly competitive research scholarship supporting it, various leadership positions/volunteer projects, former varsity athlete. My softs don’t really have a coherent narrative, because I contain…

LSAT 172 GPA 3.92 2020–21 cycle

Admitted to University of Chicago

I’m doing well this challenging 2020-2021 COVID cycle, and I think my softs really helped me out. In March 2021, I will receive my PhD from a top-20 philosophy program, and my work has received recognition in print and via external grants. I received a full scholarship for my undergrad education at a top-40 national…

LSAT 176 GPA 4.00 2025–26 cycle

Attending Harvard University

…your answers concise as well since you are in a group. – Softs: 6’1, 405 deadlift, midwest charm. – Other notes: Stanford: These thoughts come attending from their admitted students day. They love students who have a prestigious undergrad background + are from a unique state. I met people from Kansas, Missouri,…

LSAT 178 GPA 3.98 2024–25 cycle

Attending University of Pennsylvania

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…

LSAT 167 GPA 3.99 2025–26 cycle

Attending Yale University

…to Yale Law School! BACKGROUND GPA: 3.99 / LSAT: 167 / Softs: T1.5ish Three years of work experience and am the recipient of two prestigious awards/fellowships for leadership & graduate study. As a future attorney, my main interests are law teaching/legal academia and litigation. Heading into the cycle, Yale was my…

LSAT 177 GPA 3.98 2025–26 cycle

Attending University of Pennsylvania

…for the prison volunteering that I did through undergrad. Softs details: I did two legal internships (one at a “Big Law” firm, one at a prominent plaintiff law firm), during undergrad I worked as an RA, TA, and Notetaker, I did volunteer work at a prison (and talked about it in 1 of my essays), was active in a bunch…

LSAT 176 GPA 3.91 2023–24 cycle

Attending Harvard University

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…

LSAT 173 GPA 3.93 2023–24 cycle

Attending University of Pennsylvania

…for rushing your apps just to start school a year earlier. Softs are everything, and the tiers most people use to categorize them are nonsense. Never feel like you have to do anything law-related in your free time if you don’t want to (i.e. paralegal, pre-law frat, pre-law classes). Doing something that actually…

LSAT 176 GPA 3.70 2023–24 cycle

Attending Stanford University

…to be a very strong application. I have multiple ~T2 softs and sharpened my essays for nearly a year. Strategy Lesson - write all optionals I wrote all the “optional” essays. This seems to be common sense to me but apparently some people don’t understand this. If you can neatly slip a variant of Why X into essays…

LSAT 172 GPA 3.79 2022–23 cycle

Attending Duke University

…many times as it takes to get a 170+, and lean into your softs. I don’t have any family members or friends in law, and had no idea what I was doing when I applied. I was just very candid and transparent in my application, and studied for the LSAT for over a year. Do some community service and show law schools that…

LSAT 178 GPA 4.00 2022–23 cycle

Attending Yale University

…don’t have prestigious awards/internships or other T1/T2 softs (I didn’t), it just means you have to have a well-rounded application with a compelling personal statement and cohesive narrative for law school. Without giving away too much personal information, I had some fairly unique aspects of my childhood that…