I know that the Nov LSAT is on the 17th. A lot of schools have their ED deadline as the 15th though, despite the website saying that students taking November LSAT are still eligible to apply ED. In this situation, do you have to call the school and tell them what's going on and they will make a note in your file?

I'm currently finishing a PhD program and applying to law school for next fall. Since most of the people I interact with are professors or aspiring professors, it can easily get at least two academic letters of recommendation. However, I'm not sure if I should stop there. So, my question is whether it would be better to have three academic letters of recommendation only or two academic letters plus one non-academic. It seems like most people go with the latter option, but that might be because undergrads tend not to have as strong of a relationship with the faculty as graduate students usually do. What's more, because I haven't had a non-academic job for over eight years, it's not exactly easy for me to get a solid non-academic reference. So, what do you guys think? Would three academic letters be better than two plus?

I wanted to share my story about transferring even though almost everyone will advise you against my approach and recommend instead that you take another year off to improve your LSAT score. I agree that you shouldn't go to a law school you wouldn't be comfortable graduating from, but also wanted to share my story on how I went to my 1L law school with the intention of transferring, and ended up successfully transferring. There isn't a lot of information about transferring out there, and I would have appreciated reading more transfer stories myself when I first started looking into it.

I decided pretty late in the 2016/2017 application cycle to apply to law school. I purchased 7Sage after a lot of research on prep courses and completed the ultimate course. I loved the course and found that it improved my score quite a bit, but it took longer than I was expecting and I soon realized by December that the February 2017 LSAT was my last shot to go to law school in fall 2017. By the time I completed the course, I only had time to do about 3-4 practice tests. I think around that time I was scoring close to 160, but with a 3.5 GPA (from a top 25 undergrad), I knew that I wouldn't have a shot at a T-14 school. The advice I got from everyone I talked to, and the 7Sage forum, was that I should delay a year and work and improve my LSAT score to get into a better law school. However, I kept thinking about how starting law school fall 2017 would already put me at 3 years between undergrad and law school (I did a master's in between). At that point I realized that I didn't want to take an extra year working in a random job after I had already made the decision to practice law. Despite everyone's advice, I decided that I would apply and go to law school with whatever I scored on the February test. I scored only a 156 and applied the day I got my score back with the help of the 7Sage admissions program. After hearing back from schools, my best option weighing scholarships with rankings was a school ranked 45-55 that gave me a half ride. Because I wasn't happy with my law school choice and the city it was located in, I started looking into transferring that summer and decided that my ultimate goal that year would be to transfer.

My 1L year started before everyone else's. I bought E&E's and started prepping about 4 weeks before school started. I read Getting to Maybe, completed LEEWS, skimmed Planet Law School and the Delaney books, and then worked through parts of the E&E's. Looking back on it I wouldn't recommend doing the E&E's before, because it's really so dependent on your professor, but I do recommend reading the other books before starting 1L. I think going into 1L thinking about transferring the whole first semester really motivated me. There were times when I wanted to go out and not study, but each time I kept reminding myself how much1L grades matter, how I really didn't like the city where my law school was located, and how badly I wanted to transfer. I think this worked for me at least as added motivation. After I got back my first semester grades, I was pleasantly surprised and realized that my plans to transfer were feasible. I asked 1L professors for recommendations in February and submitted apps to some schools ranked 14-25 by March. The benefit of applying early was that I heard back from all of those beginning of May, which took the pressure off a little bit for exams second semester. I committed to one of those schools and submitted a deposit, but once I got my second semester grades back and realized I did just as well as I had first semester, I decided to apply to my dream law school. I was so shocked and happy when I got in in July, and it felt like all my hard work 1L year had finally paid off. I am now at a T-6 law school---a school that I would have probably never had a shot at even if I had spent another year prepping for the LSAT by virtue of my undergrad GPA. My experience so far is that there hasn't been a transfer stigma at my new school, and I had a pretty good outcome at OCI and will be working at a V10 firm next summer, so there doesn't really appear to be transfer stigma among employers at my new school.

Although I didn't get in the conventional way, I couldn't be happier with my decision to do it the way I did. Obviously, this approach will not work for most due to the curve, but I just wanted to provide an example of how it can work for some people, and how your LSAT score doesn't always have to be the final determinant for which law school you graduate from.

(Final note: I have a friend that transferred to a T-3 this year and was able to get a substantial grant from the school, so although financial considerations may be another reason to not transfer and improve your LSAT score instead, it might still be possible to receive need-based grants as a transfer).

https://law.yale.edu/admissions/profiles-statistics/entering-class-profile

Not me... but I would love to meet this person: both because they must be exceptional to have a 154 and get into Yale, AND because they had the self-confidence to have a 154 and apply to Yale.

Anyone know other examples of super low LSAT scorers hitting above their weight in terms of admission?

Is it acceptable to request a fee waiver with no LSAT score? I am thinking of having all of my applications ready to submit when scores are released and would appreciate having this out the way? Thoughts?

Hi everyone. I'd like to get some thoughts about the topic of my personal statement. I have two potential ones in mind, and would love some opinions.

Background: I am a nontraditional student. I will be 50 when I start law school in 2019. I have been to law school before: I finished two years back in 1997-1999, before I decided to leave under financial pressure (from now ex-husband) combined with having one toddler and another baby on the way. Now that both kids are grown (youngest starts college this month), I am going back to law school because it is unfinished business, and all I've ever really wanted to do is be a lawyer. Before, when I was in law school, I pictured myself in a courtroom winning cases and being brilliant (ha). Now, after being a mom, and having both my kids be transgender, I'm very focused on wanting to focus on LGBT issues and civil rights.

Topic 1: my kids being transgender and how that has inspired my return to law school. Pro: it very much fits the overall theme of my application. Con: it's actually a very big topic to try to address in 2 page and still make the kind of impact a personal statement should make (?) There's no one moment or story to tell. I could address this in other places, such as a "Why X" statement (I'm looking at schools that have LGBT journals and/or clinics or other programs), and/or an addendum that explains my years away from work and school. So it's not like it will go unaddressed entirely.

Topic 2: This is the one my gut is telling to write, even though it doesn't speak to WHY I want to go to law school at my age. It's about how, after getting divorced and feeling very "not me," I picked the scariest, most difficult sounding trip in a travel brochure and went to Nepal to go trekking in 2004. I wanted to be out of my comfort zone and challenge myself, and to remember what it was like to feel successful. I'd never been trekking before and was out of shape. The Annapurna circuit is nothing but steps, and this incident is about how I got so far behind my group one day, that I just wanted to give up. I wanted to just lie down on the side of the trail and quit. And then it started pouring, and we (myself and the poor porter who spoke no English but had to stay with me) ended up on some random woman's front step, next to her chickens, while I fought off hypothermia. I had a moment of realizing that there was no giving up: no one was going to come get me; there were no cars to call up there, or any way for find an alternate way out. I had to just suck it up and keep going. And I did.

So I think topic 2 is much better personal statement material, and says a lot about me. But it doesn't tie in with my overall application theme.

Thoughts?

UC Irvine's application states:

Other than the LSAT, have you taken another standardized test? If so, please provide the following information below...

Is this in reference to other graduate school entrance exams like the GRE/GMAT/MCAT? Are we required to report college entrance exams like the SAT/ACT/AP tests?

I am realizing now that many of the truths that hold for an academic CV may not apply for a law school application resume. I was hoping to get some clarifications on some aspects!

do you include dollar amounts for grants/funding? A lot of the grants I got during my masters to conduct research are above 5k, and one is 17k... on a CV dollar amounts are a must to show you are able to get significant funding, but since that is not the case in law school is it too pretentious? Also, should I list every award I've gotten? It takes up half a page which is normal for academia where your CV can be like 20 pages, but it seems to take up too much room for law school applications.

In my CV, conferences organized and conferences presented at are two different categories. Should these become one larger category? I also have a separate volunteer work section.

I just explored LSN, and found that no one with my numbers has ever gotten into my first dream school, and only less than 10% have gotten into my second dream score (UChic, UPenn). I don't know what to think about this. They're also not on the LSAC official guide either. Should I even bother ED with a school that has never accepted a student with my stats, or put it somewhere more realistic?

TL; DR version: Start your apps early to ensure you know all of the requirements.

While attempting to nurse my bruised ego back to an acceptable level (thanks to yet another underwhelming LSAT performance), I started my actual LSAC school applications this morning. I'm applying to 3 schools, each of which I have researched exhaustively on their websites and on other forums. Only 1 of the 3 schools has a "Why X" requirement published on their admissions page, which, like any good obsessive law school applicant, I have already written. However, in each of the other 2 school LSAC applications, there are specific questions that lead to a "Why X" essay (and an additional "What ties do you have to the area" essay). I groaned when I saw these questions because I thought I was largely in the edit / revise phase of my application materials and now have to draft 3 more substantive essays (2 Why Xs and 1 What ties).

I realize its a first world problem, but still: Come on, man.

https://i.gifer.com/304v.gif

Hi guys!

Any advice on choosing a final schools list when I don't have a reportable LSAC GPA? I got my undergrad education outside the US and my CAS report gave me the "above average" categorisation. My graduate degree is also non-US and was categorised as "superior".

Obviously you can't compare these directly to a UGPA, because it's not the same fine detail. So my question is; should I consider UGPA a wash when looking at schools? Am I right that my transcript is unlikely to help, nor hurt my chances? In which case, should I judge reach/target/safety status on LSAT score alone?

Thanks.

Okay, so I am glad you came into this discussion. First off I lied this may not be the an awesome personal statement, but with your help it could be. I need someone to take apart my paper and make sure it has all of the elements needed to make this a awesome personal statement. Please be critical so I can go back and make revisions on this paper. I appreciate anyone willing to take the time and evaluate my work.

Hello! I am going to my first law school fair next weekend in Boston — not the LSAC forum, that’s not until November, but there are 50ish schools in attendance. I am hoping to snag time with quite a few schools but was looking for any and all advice on how to stand out, what to wear, what to ask, etc. I am holding off on a few apps (BU, UCLA, BC, and some others) who I know will be there so I can have something to write in the “did we speak at an event” box (lol) since I don’t see a week this early making a huge difference. Anything is helpful!!! Also let me know if you’re going :)

Hi everyone,

We've updated our Application Requirements for Top Law Schools, and we'll continue to update it as more applications become available.

Special thanks to @akiko for helping us with this project!

Hey all. Would love to swap subject essays and get some feedback. Hit me up if interested and thanks!

https://i.imgflip.com/16gnae.jpg

Any idea whether it makes a difference applying Sep. vs. Oct. ? I never thought it would but then I saw this : https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/does-submitting-an-early-law-school-application-improve-your-chances. Was gonna sit on my application until Oct. but am low key freaking out about whether I should submit them this week. I'm not retaking LSAT.

Just wrote a rough draft of a new PS, hoping someone could read through it for me? Happy to return the favor. Thanks!!

Is it necessary to have a final list of law schools before requesting an academic letter of recommendation? Or can the request be sent while in the process of creating/finalizing the list?

What are your thoughts on modifying the list after requesting a letter?

Please let me know the pros and cons for the above and where you got the advice. I haven't been able to find anything on the topic so far.

On the letter of recommendation email requests to college/graduate school professors, did you specify the academic highlights and positive themes you wanted your recommender to convey to your law schools?

Did you ask to highlight course assignments and/or other academic accomplishments specific to that recommender's classes?

If I don’t include a work experience on my resume in order to save space (plus it was a part-time job that lasted for only 2 months), would this be considered violating a Character & Fitness protocol/requirement? Would it be safer/better to include it, especially because it was a legal work experience?

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I am just wondering what you guys are thinking about when choosing law schools to apply to. I feel that I wanted to go to Top 14, but when I look at the possibly ED full ride at WUSTL, it does seem very compelling. Why would you apply to Top 14 or WUSTL ED? Why wouldn't you? I noticed that WUSTL did have about 76 students who went to firms with 500+ people. Would that be big law? Would you likely have the same chance at big law from WUSTL and Top 14? It appears that Top 14 means better chances at Big Law and 160-180k salaries, but is that still possibly from WUSTL? I may be wrong though, so thank you for any clarifications!

Reported by the Daily Wire:

https://www.dailywire.com/news/35303/lawsuit-student-denied-college-following-alex-amanda-prestigiacomo?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=062316-news&utm_campaign=benshapiro

I'm wondering to what extent something similar is possible in law school admissions?

Hello

So let's say I take September and use that score to apply to schools.If I decide to take November and hopefully score higher, can I use those test scores even though I sent and completed applications?

Thanks

Edit: I apparently didnt understand the difference between personal and diversity statements. I do now! This is a post about a potential personal statement. Edited the title.

Hey friends, personal post below. I'm Interested to hear if this would qualify as a good personal statement

I suffered from some difficult mental health problems that landed me in the hospital during my adoolesnce (depression, panic attacks, psychosis and hearing voices). I dropped out of university and lost a lot of my friends, it was a really rough period in my life. If it wasnt for my family and close friends who stuck with me as well as wonderful doctors and specialists I would never have made it.

I finally sought treatment, medication was huge but also I went Tree planting, which is this brutal job that is popular among students in Canada. For five seasons I worked outside 60+ hours a week, living in a tent and being feasted on by bugs with a small group of people who became some of my best friends. It was during these seasons and long days that my mental health improved the most.

I want to write a diversity statement called "how tree planting saved my life" or something, and tie my own mental health problems and my total 180 in terms of my own life (I'm getting great grades + good lsat score) could help me empathize with other people who arnt as lucky as me and didnt have the same access to supports. The criminal system is filled with people who feel through the cracks and it's important lawyers on both sides have the capacity to emphasize with the extraordinary difficulties people can face with their own mental health.

Is this an appropriate topic for a personal statement? Are there elements I should emphasize or things I shouldn't bring up? should I try and find something else?

Thanks