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…
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Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.
297 entries
Admitted to University of ChicagoI 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…
Yes, you have to write all the optional essays. Schools that called: UVA (434), NYU (212), Northwestern (224, caller ID = “spam risk”), Harvard (617), Penn (215). During the process, a very compelling reason to stay on the east coast arose. If that were not the case, I would have maybe (?) picked Chicago. Looking at…
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…
Genuinely shocked and so honored by the results I’ve received this cycle. Coming in, I could hope for but never imagine this outcome. The decision for me will ultimately come down to YLS vs. HLS, with the main factor being proximity to my SO at HLS versus my significant interest in clerking + prestige-advantaged…
I’m shocked at how much I overperformed in such a competitive cycle, especially given a GPA that is quickly trending towards being below the 25th percentile at most T14s. Here’s what I think likely helped me out: Get some work/life experience after undergrad- don’t be in a rush. Be sure you’re overprepared for the…
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…
Shoot for the moon, don’t count yourself out. If you really can’t get your LSAT up (I took it 3x), make sure the other parts of your application (essays, LORs, etc.) are outstanding. I spent months on my personal statement, and I’m really glad I did. I wrote additional essays for Stanford, NYU, Georgetown, and Duke.…
Most of the advice you will find on this website is repetitive but true: take shots at dream schools, don’t count yourself out (let the adcoms do that for you), take time off the internet and do some hobbies instead. I would encourage that last one most of all. Adcoms know how to contact you. And when that email…
Hey visitor! Hopefully this documentation can help you along your own process as others’ words and advice helped me along mine :) Materials Submitted & Timeline: (in order of subission) University of Michigan (8/26) Optional on personal qualities- Why X Academic Addendum ACCEPTED 11/6 University of Virginia (9/1)…
Important context: I intentionally applied only to “reach” schools this cycle, intending to reapply next cycle more broadly. Essentially, I applied this cycle to my top schools only on the off-chance that I got in. In fact, I initially only applied to UVA (BED), but that was back when my LSAT was only 174. Only…
“I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.”
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,…
Trying to be as detailed as I possibly can for posterity. **Stats Background: ** LSAT 172 (September) –> 179 October. -Didn’t write an LSAT addendum even though I increased 7 points in a month. Underperformed slightly on my first test likely due to lack of sleep the night before (I live in a loud area of campus and…
Recognize how much of a blessing it is that you can offset your four-year GPA with your two-hour LSAT score. STUDY FOR THE TEST AND TAKE PREP TESTS WEEKLY.
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