I was just in the admissions webinar hosted by David but didn't get a chance to ask some questions. I hope David can see this :)

But also, it would be tremendously helpful if you 7Sagers can comment if you have any thoughts!

So, I've got essentially three questions.

I am a foreign student (UK educated) and UK institutions do not have GPA system per se. I've already submitted the transcript to CAS for their individual evaluation but their academic summary report does not say anything about GPA (it only says "Foreign" under the institution section and 'Above Average' for quality academic record) although the transcript has been already processed. How would this work? Should I just care about LSAT score since undergrad GPA is kind of unknown for now?

I know Law school admissions are mainly about the numbers (LSAT and undergrad GPA). But where does having a graduate degree (Master's) kick in as a factor? Does it only count as an academic/research experience?

I am in Asia so I'm obviously taking the LSAT this October. But depending on the score, I'm willing to travel to US/Canada territory to take the November LSAT. Would this say something unsettling to the admissions process? I mean I was fine and still am fine with the idea. But I have consulted one of my professors and he suggested that taking 2 LSATs in a row within two months may send a wrong signal to schools although I'm not really sure what he meant by that signal. He said that 1 more month wouldn't make a difference but I personally experienced that even 2 weeks of intense PT-ing makes a difference. Since even 1 point increase in LSAT score boosts your admissions chance by many points, I'm more than willing to take both OCT/NOV LSATs.

So.. questions got a little lengthy haha but I would appreciate it if you could share your thoughts on these matters!

Good luck everyone!!

Hi Everybody,

I have a pretty dumb question for all you 7Sagers out there....

So I know what a median is (I think) - half of the applicants accepted had stats above that number and and half had stats below that number. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

If you have the median LSAT and GPA for a particular school, should you feel pretty good about getting accepted to that school or should you feel more like you have a 50/50 shot? Now I know acceptance depends on other soft factors - work experience, personal statement, LORs, etc., but I am pretty average when it comes to those things. I have 3 years work experience as a paralegal, I am not a URM, my essays and LORs will be well written but won't have anything absolutely incredibly special to say.

My maternal grandparents are from Spain. I have always checked off the European caucasian box, however on the UPenn law application the hispanic box explicitly includes Spain. Do the "hispanic/latino" options for other law schools also include Spain or is this just unique to Upenn?

Thank you!

Hey guys,

I’ve been practicing in/out games for a while and although I understand most of it, there are a few things that still confuse me enough to throw me off. Hopefully someone can help clear that up :)

I normally get confused with conditionals. For example:

I understand /A—>B is an either or rule so at least 1 has to be in. I would put a place holder in the in group to visualize that.

B—>\C is a not both rule so at least 1 has to be out, so I would put a placeholder in the out group.

I seem to get confused when there is either a chain or a biconditional.

Ie: /A—>B—>C ( I would usually put 2 placeholders for /A—>B and /A—>C ) I get confused when A is in because then b and c become floaters and the 2nd placeholder doesn’t necessarily need to be there.

Or

If I’m given a couple of rules and they happen to link up as a biconditional. I.e -pt 83 game 3

We have

/N—>R

N—>L

R—>M

L—>/R

before I link them up I would place my placeholders. 1 in the in group (/N—>R) and one in the out group (L—>/R)

After you link them however, L, N and R become a biconditional so we know LN Always together and R is alway apart.

When I compare this to my original placeholders, I’m not sure what happened lol

Any advice would be appreciated. Please let me know if you guys would like me to clarify anything :)

Thanks!

This may be a stupid question, but I can't find law school applications online for the two schools to which I most want to apply. 7sage recommends researching the applications to discover what questions I'll be asked and so I can prepare my essays - and I wholeheartedly agree - but I can't seem to find them anywhere. Can anyone help?

Anyone ever heard of Kibin? Just randomly came across it a few minutes ago. Not sure if it's any good (please comment if you know), but thought I'd point it out for those of us who can't afford $1500+ for help on essays. Says in their FAQ that the average essay assistance costs about $30. Not sure if we're allowed to post links; try Googling "Kibin personal statements"

First things first, I understand that the LSAT score is definitely the most important piece of quantitative information on a law school application.

That being said, does anyone have an idea of exactly how much GPA matters? Is it given almost as much consideration as the LSAT, or is it much less significant when compared?

I think that my GPA will be above the median at more schools than my LSAT score, so any advice here is appreciated.

Thanks, and best of luck to everyone applying this cycle.

Hi everyone,

One of my letters of recommendation is coming from an elderly retired lawyer who was clerk of the circuit court for almost 30 years. The catch is that he is very nervous around technology. He's old school and even wrote out court dockets by hand. He's told me the idea of typing up the letter on his computer is making him anxious.

My question is - would it be an ethical violation if I typed it for him? I wouldn't change anything, I would have him approve the final product, and I would keep his handwritten letter in my files. Then I would submit it electronically.

But I do not want to do anything shady.

The other option is to have him mail in a handwritten letter. At first I dismissed this idea, thinking it would look unprofessional, but my mentor (not the same person) told me he actually thought it would stand out in a positive way. He said there aren't many handwritten LORs anymore and it could make a good impression.

I've looked for formal guidelines on LOR ethics and haven't found very much. Any advice is appreciated!

New round starting 16 Sept. Based on feedback received from some fine members here, I've made substantial modifications to my PS. Anyone up for another round of edits and comments, this time PS only? Although I kept my original topic and narrative arc, I have made significant changes to the structure and details within my PS. Would love to trade PS's with someone, new eyes or previous viewers. Hit me up if interested.

https://media.makeameme.org/created/if-thats-what-2jdpp7.jpg

.

Was wondering what role if any the undergrad school you attended plays in the law admission process i.e. if a higher ranked school looks better, lower looks worse - increasing or decreasing chances respectively?

The following is the wording of a question on the Character and Fitness portion of the application for the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah:

"Have you ever been disciplined in connection with any misconduct matter related to any educational, personal, professional, military, business, or employment behavior or activity? Being disciplined includes, but is not limited to, being sanctioned, placed on probation, suspended, dismissed, resigning in lieu of termination, surrendering a professional license, or having a civil judgment obtained against you."

Beings the wording of this question states "any misconduct matter related to ANY educational ... behavior or action," would that include disciplinary action in high school? There is a seperate question that specifically asks this type of behavior at post-secondary institutions, as well.

I am concerned because I was suspended for two days in my Senior year of high school for making a sexually suggestive joke toward a teacher. While I don't think it will keep me from being admitted if I disclose, any behavior related to misconduct of a sexual nature can be very detrimental to your show of good character. So does anyone think I should answer "Yes" to this question based on high school disciplinary action?

Thanks for the insight!

First of all, I am an LSAT 154 and GPA 2.64.

I definitely am not aiming for 1st tier law schools, I was wishing if I have a chance for 2nd tier.

With my terrible GPA, I start to worry even if any of the 2nd/3rd tier school would take me.

A little bit about myself, I am now 29, I moved out and became financially independent when I was 19, started my first law firm job when I was 20.

I have been working as a paralegal for 9 years, and my current position is in a fairly big firm, with my years of paralegal experience, my salary is now at 80k plus bonus and overtime.

However, when I worked and being financial stable for past years, I can only finish my Bachelor Degree with much longer time - 7 years. I was reckless to not care about my grades, I just wanted to finish the degree. I thought I will be fine being a paralegal for rest of my life.

But after 9 years of working, I now want to become a lawyer.

I am worried if I go to low ranked schools, I will get into attorney positions that offer lower salary than my current pay.

Some people advise me not to be a lawyer, because it may not be financially wise. I will have to stop working for 3 years plus law school loans, not to mention I still have a mortgage to pay.

But deep down I know I really want to be a lawyer.

What should I do? What do you guys think?

If I get rejected from my desired schools, should I go back to college and take more classes to bring up my GPA?

Another LSAT? Just go to low ranked school, my experience will help?

Or do you guys think I should just stay being a paralegal....:(

I am trying to decide who to ask for letters for law school. I am going to ask one of my college professors, but since I have been out of college for about 5 years, I was also thinking about asking my boss, who managed me for three years. While I could ask another professor instead of my boss, I am not confident they'd be as capable of writing a great letter. Is better to have two professors or one profess and one manager?

I'm 3 years out of undergrad and I'm trying to figure out how many jobs to include in the employment history of my law school applications.

I have 5 full time jobs listed on my resume but I started working at McDonald's when I was 16 and in high school. Should I include all of my part-time work from high school and college? (retail, hospitality, food-service, etc.)

If I list every job (part-time/full-time) and include internships I will be at 17 jobs.

Any thoughts?

When I graduated undergrad I ended with no extracurriculars. Worked 35 hours a week with 15-18 credit hours most of the time. I'm planning to take this lsat January and March. And apply ED to a school. Hopefully a t14. Which I guess would put me to attend law school fall of 2020. I was wondering if I should just attend grad school/ post bacc in that time. I'd basically be doing nothing anyway and I feel like I may want to get a dual law degree. Also I feel as thought doing well in another program would make my UGPA look like less of a negative on my application. I need guidance.

Apologies if this has been asked, but I have been in a semi-spirited debate with my wife about this. I've been in the workforce for the past 14 years (5 years as a federal employee at a three-letter agency and 8 years in the Army with extensive leadership experience and a combat deployment).

I was medically retired from the Army due to a mental illness that manifested itself immediately after I redeployed in 2014. (I am considered a disabled veteran by the VA).

Is this something that is worth brining up through a diversity statement? I am a little worried that disclosing an issue like this could impact me negatively, despite the fact that I am able to live/function with a service-connected issue.

Thanks in advance.

I originally wrote a diversity statement about the challenges of being an ethnic minority but I wrote another after learning UCLA has a section for socioeconomic disadvantage. Most schools only offer a place for one diversity statement. I've been struggling with which statement I should send to the other schools.

Is a socioeconomic diversity statement or ethnic diversity statement more compelling? Would it be better if I consolidate both at the risk of eliminating detail and having a less cohesive statement?

Hey there! So many questions now that I've started digging through apps...

Do people typically list hours/week on resumes?

When apps say "list all educational institutions attended," does that include high school?

Does a speeding ticket from 5 years ago count as a C&F issue? I know Emory says explicitly it does and should be disclosed. Should I be safe and disclose for other schools too?

Is there a good piece of advice anywhere on whether to do a GPA addendum? I'm leaning against doing so, because I don't have a great reason. (It'd be something like: I was very involved in a time-consuming extracurricular/didn't think I was going to school beyond undergrad/it's been 3 years since I've graduated and I've grown, yada yada...) AKA, I think it'd sound whiny and excuse-ridden.

And lastly, an unimportant technical question: on some schools' apps, LSAC auto-fills in a *****XXXX for my SSN. Should I re-type my SSN in full in the box below that?

THANK YOU

Hi everyone,

I identify predominantly as Latina (Mexican-American and Spanish) but I also identify somewhat as Native American because my father (whose family I do not know well because he passed away a long time ago) have a lot of Native American blood. Because I am not in touch with his side of the family, I wasn't even 100% sure that I was Native American until I did 23andme and it proved that I was nearly 40% Native American. I am still in the process of getting more in touch with my Native American heritage and thus, do not have the paperwork to prove that I am Native American or which tribe I'm from. And to be quite honest, even if I were to reconnect with my father's family, they would likely not have any paperwork or proof to assist me.

The problem is: A school like UC Davis requires me to list which tribe I am part of and my Native American card number--all things I do not have. What should I do? Should I apply to other schools as Latina and Native American and just apply to UC Davis as Latina--or should I reach out to Admissions and explain my situation?

I am planning on writing a diversity statement and now it feels like I'm in an odd place because I can't identify myself as Native American on one application even though I know I have more Native American blood than some people who have the paperwork to prove it (no offense meant here--but I have met people who are like 12% Native American and have all their paperwork and it feels frustrating that I can't "prove" myself).

As of now I have two LORs. One from one of my favorite professors and another from a Dean who mentored me throughout undergrad. Does the letter from the Dean in this case count as an Academic LOR?

Hey y'all -- thought I'd shoot this out out to the community because I need sage advice.

I applied to 8 Canadian law schools last cycle and was rejected by all of them. Ouch, I know. This was before I started my 7Sage journey. I wrote my first and only LSAT exam in December 2017, and went into it with all of my applications submitted and a vaulting sense of over-confidence (the ego bruises still hurt, friends). I scored a 143, didn't cancel my score because I was a rookie, and then watched as the rejections flew in one-by-one. LSAT score notwithstanding, I wholeheartedly believe that my applications (complete with my transcripts, letters of recommendation, and personal statements) were strong. With my second write taking place this November, I'm once again preparing my applications for each school (yes, I'm a shameless creature).

This brings me to my question: would you recommend that I reuse my same personal statement from last year for each of my applications this year? I'd like to keep the majority of it the same and make some minor adjustments, yet don't know if it'll reflect badly on my application...

For your consideration:

Things that have changed since I wrote my personal statement last year:

- I started an intensive LSAT study schedule with 7Sage (heeeey).

- I've (finally) learned to prioritize my mental and physical health/wellbeing through various new steps (mindful and balanced eating, implementing a daily running regimen). This is a huge part of my daily life and has had an enormous impact on my outlook and general health.

- I'm now officially a year out of undergrad, whereas when I wrote my personal statement before, I had just graduated and wrote from that perspective.

Things that have not changed since I wrote my personal statement (and are included in my statement already):

- I still work as an executive assistant for a local environmental firm (only now more hours)

- I'm still a regular volunteer at the plethora of places I'm involved with (the list is too long to type out here, friends)

- My professional goals and aspirations are steadfast :)

All advice is welcome -- I'm all ears!

I took the September 8th LSAT and doing my retakes in November, I am taking this week off from studying before I jump back into the LSAT Study grind so I figured I would use this time to not worry about the LSAT and focus on something more relaxing: my law school applications and would love to get some feedback on my personal statement. If you send me your personal statement I would be more than happy to read over it and give you some serious feedback, I love helping others make something they have written even better. I am currently working on my diversity statement and would love to get some one to read that as well, if you are interested message so we can exchange info. September test takers, hope you are enjoying your break!

side note: the fact that I find working on my law school applications almost soothing as compared to studying for the LSAT is very telling...

I am planning on writing optional essay #1 for Duke as I feel my personal statement doesn't fully address why law school is the next step for me, but I was curious as to how long these essays typically are. Should it be 2 pages like a PS or less?

Hi all -

I attended a Doctoral program in Fall of 2014, hated it, realized I had to make some serious career path changes, and withdrew after 1 semester. Unfortunately, while I attended all classes until the end of the semester, my grades were deplorable, as I was pretty checked out. And I mean deplorable.

Do I assume correctly that regardless of the fact I withdrew so quickly, I still need to send in my transcript to LSAC?

This period in my life is pretty well addressed in my personal statement and an addendum, but any other suggestions to remedy this? My Undergrad GPA is 3.56 so obviously I would hope this one crap semester shouldn't be indicative of anything to admissions officers.

Thanks very much.