I hope these comments do not express hubris—this is my best attempt at an objective assessment based upon what I consider 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…
Applicant wisdom
Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
128 entries
Admitted to Stanford UniversityI can say with certainty that I had the cycle of my wildest dreams. I almost can’t believe that it’s over. I put my head down for 4 years for a chance at having this moment arrive, and now it finally has. I’m going to Yale Law School! BACKGROUND GPA: 3.99 / LSAT: 167 / Softs: T1.5ish Three years of work experience…
“The only time a lawyer can cry is when it’s all over.” – Diego Armando I stressed myself out way too much over this process, agonizing over how many recommendations to send to each school, which optional essays to complete, etc. My advice is to not do that. If a school is willing to accept 3 or 4 recommendation…
My two cents: When I applied for undergrad, and even master’s degree programs a decade ago, I always felt I was forcing my application essays. In the time since, I’ve been fortunate enough to do things that fit almost perfectly into each schools’ prompts. I’m not suggesting people need to work for 9 years before…
Wow what I cycle I had! I wish everyone who comes across my profile the best of luck in their law school journey. I will try and impart my best advice. – Ranking the most important parts of your application: Get the best LSAT you can. Your highest score is the only one that matters. I had a 161 and a 176 (don’t call…
I entered into this cycle fully expecting to be humbled, that despite my stats I would be met with WL/Rs in the increasingly competitive admissions world. I spent A LOT of time on my materials and researching how different schools would work for my interests. Meaningfully researching every school I applied to and…
Update 05.11: no, Penn is not a better law school than Harvard. Please look at employment stats over USWNR. Please be aware of regionality issues. #happyrankingsday More accumulated advice: https://www.reddit.com/r/lawschooladmissions/comments/qf400l/machos_guide_to_admissions_an_effortpost_by_a/ I am remarkably…
Definitely the right decision to take the money, hurt like hell turning down HLS/SLS though. But Philly is great, the people Penn are fantastic—they all keep pushing “collegiality” but it is a real thing here—and the job opportunities are pretty much the same either way. Advice: don’t neglect your recommendation…
It’s never too late to apply! If you think you have a shot (or even if you don’t) you should absolutely go for it. I applied to Stanford crazy late and the only way I can justify getting in is that these admissions cycles are total crapshoots. You and wonderful reddit have no clue what admissions are looking for and…
For future lurkers, the below are just my musings, so take them with a grain of salt! Reasons I think this cycle went well: Strong narrative focused on PI (and specifically public defense), reinforced by relevant legal internships- Active in undergrad extracurriculars. Did not expect this to help much, but it kept…
Take as much time as you need for the LSAT, start very early or reapply if you can/need to, and have faith in yourself! Only take the LSAT once you are getting practice scores that you would be happy with as official scores!!!!! ««< Good luck! **Harvard Interview: ** I am one of the few people who got rejected from…
blackletterlaw left no wisdom for posterity… (◕︵◕) Do not let me and the advice I’ve written here deter you from going to law school (this is just meant to be as helpful as possible) and don’t let anyone (even adcomms) on the Internet or in your real personal life stop you from going if you have done the important,…
Don’t let anyone discourage you from applying beyond your stats! I was incredibly nervous going into the cycle and had convinced myself I wouldn’t be admitted anywhere, and lo and behold, I had the cycle of my absolute dreams. My biggest piece of advice would be to find your particular area of interest and let it…
Your personal statement is your gold. Also, I highly recommend doing social work or something adjacent to it prior to law school. You learn a ton about how the law interacts with vulnerable people at systemic and individual levels, and it makes for a great narrative. I think that’s what gave me the edge in…
Applying during the 2024-2025 cycle. Currently in grad school and will update throughout the year. Used fee waivers for all application fees and all but 10 CAS fees. Did not negotiate with any school since most got back to me after I was happy with other offers.
Advice: This is not just a numbers game. You can set yourself apart in other ways and it will be essential when shopping in the T-25 or better range. URM boost is real, but I believe my extracurriculars and unique WE carried heavy. Don’t blanket the T-14, blanket the T-30/50/75. Give yourself realistic options with…
I solicited need-based fee waivers from Yale and Harvard (denied by Stanford) and merit-based waivers from Georgetown and Berkeley. Berkeley was for Fulbright and Georgetown just the general merit-based waiver, although they reached out later and gave me a CRS waiver anyway. Everywhere else was unsolicited and these…
According to Dean Deal, I got SLS in spite of my GPA for a few reasons, most notably that my weaknesses were mostly in STEM courses and that my experience with Teach For America was extremely unique. Apparently my app was pushed around to various faculty members because I was so borderline, but my essays and softs…
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