See my post on 17 Dec below for update:

After submitting my apps to schools that I am seriously considering, I opened up my data to the LSAC CRS program, thereby eliciting the typical volume of fee waivers and marketing emails one gets from this service. Based on school solicitations, I have done a deep dive on a few, including Boston College. Up front, I don't feel that I would be a competitive applicant for Boston College, either for admission or for any significant amount of scholarship. However, one part of their application's fine print made a statement, to wit: Any scholarship offer will be reduced based on any veteran's benefits you receive so that the two combined will not exceed the cost of tuition.

As a veteran, I took serious offense at this statement. What I earned as a benefit in my 25 years of military service has absolutely zero to do with and should be totally independent of any scholarship consideration a school should give me.

No other school that I've applied to or looked at has made any statement remotely similar to this one. Has anyone else seen anything like it?

I unfortunately made a minor mistake in all my statements for one of the law schools. In the header, I included my name, what type of document (personal statement, etc.), and my LSAC ID. I messed up my LSAC ID. I somehow did not add the last number of my ID, so it is noticeable that it is not a complete ID number.

Should I contact the admissions and ask to submit the revised documents? It is my top law school but I made this stupid mistake in an otherwise flawless application. I only submitted the application 2 days ago.

Bit of a specific request. My GPA/LSAT are 3.46/169. I graduated in 2011 and have pretty solid work experience and strong extracurriculars. So far I've gotten waivers from Penn and Michigan. Looking at LSN it looks like people with my numbers have been admitted to both at decent rates.

Here's the issue - the latter half of my college years were sort of marred by mental health issues related to a side-effects, dependency, and withdrawal symptoms for a medication I was prescribed but in hindsight should have never been taking. I went from straight A's my first two years to a basket of B's and C's my later two years.

I plan to write an addendum for this for top 5 schools - because I figure my chances there are slim anyway, my gpa (and probably LSAT) will absolutely be an issue for them and explaining the circumstances can only help

For schools like Penn and Michigan where I have a waiver, should I bother explaining anything? Or will the explanation just hurt my already okay chances? The worst on my transcript are a few C's Junior/Senior year, and then a withdrawal (non-punitive) from 3 courses my last semester.

What about other T-14 schools where I don't have a waiver. Addendum or no?

Thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

Hello everyone!

There are two schools I am seriously considering going to next fall, first choice being the University of Utah and second being the University of Montana. My GPA is 3.92, so above the 75th percentile for both schools, but my LSAT is 159, which is above the 75th percentile for Montana but at the median for Utah.

In order for me to financially justify going to Utah (would have to pay all 3 years of out of state tuition, their new policy) I would need a substantial scholarship. With the LSAT score I have, I don't think I will be offered enough in scholarships to justify going there. However, I just recently found out the Utah just implemented an ED program. In general, I think applying ED is a bad idea in most instances, but for out of state students that are accepted ED at Utah receive a $75,000 scholarship (roughly 65% of base tuition for 3 years). The only conditions to keep the scholarship are to 1). maintain a 2.5 GPA and 2). don't violate any student conduct rules.

While it would be great to receive a scholarship of that size to a school I want to go to, I am uncertain of how difficult it is to attain a 2.5 GPA in 1L. While I take pride in my academic performance and don't think I would have an issue keeping that GPA, I have no clue what types of grades are generally given out in 1L and how the grading curve would factor into that? I am just trying to be as cautious as possible since it would be very unfortunate to lose out on that amount of money and end up paying sticker price after the first year.

Montana is far more affordable, and I can be reclassified as an in-state student after the first year. I suppose my question is how do you guys feel about receiving scholarships with GPA conditions? And from your perspective, would it be worth the risk to apply ED to Utah? Thanks in advance for the help!

I’m thinking of hiring a law school admission consultant, and I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations. I’m interested in Ann Levine, but I heard there are somw other options out there. Any experience or thoughts ?

I just received an email from a law school I applied to. I submitted my application for this school yesterday. This morning I received an email saying my application was incomplete. Turns out that my undergraduate transcripts were not received but everything else was including my letters of recommendation. Do you have to assign the transcripts like the letters of recommendation in order for them to be sent? Or is there some other process that one needs to do so LSAC can send the transcripts? Or should LSAC just automatically send them?

Has anyone else had this issue? Thanks

Hi everyone,

A lot of the schools that I'm applying to list their letter of reference requirements as "2 required - at least one academic." I was just wondering if it is better to get two academic references or use the other as an employment reference, personal, etc. Is there an preference from law schools on this? I have a few choices for both but I'm just not sure what route to go down.

Thank you all in advance :)

*P.S I'm applying to Canadian schools - not sure if this matters

I'm quite interested in studying health law but many schools don't offer this program. The T-14 only has some schools with health law courses, but there isn't a large focus on it. However, many tier 2/3 schools have health law departments and programs. Should I be focused on getting into the best ranked school I can? Or school I focus on a school that has my interests?

Hi all! As I'm working on my resume for applications, I was wondering if anyone had some advice about how to list my UG merit based scholarship. It has a specific name (Coronat Scholar) and with came with full tuition; only about 15 people per year receive it. I'm wondering if it would be better to just simply list "Coronat Scholar" or include some elaboration in a bullet point (like full tuition scholarship). Just not sure if thats considered tacky or if thats actually helpful information to an admissions officer. Thank you in advance!

Can I apply ED with a current LSAT score, and then retake in November and apply with a new, potentially improved score?

I’ve been crunching the numbers and my chances of getting ED into the school of my choice (one of the UCs) is 23% with the LSAT score I have now. If I retake and apply in December, I have to improve by 3 points to get back to that likelihood, and by 7 points to even get to a 50/50 shot of acceptance. But the average improvement seen for retakes at my level (mid 160s) is only 2 points. Doesn’t seem like my chances of improving things are good. But I really really want to get a 170, or at least get a chance to go at it again.

I am pulling my hair out over GULC's optional essay prompts. Anything I come up with feels forced, lame, or like it doesn't add to my overall application. I know they are optional, but GULC is my top school, so I'm fretting a bit over what it might (subconsciously) mean if I don't feel motivated to write one -- they're just so funky! I'm done with all of my other applications at this point so I'm just trying to figure this out... For reference:

If anyone has any tips or examples they've read, feel free to pass them my way!

Hi All,

I took the June test and scored a 153 which was my average at the time. I studied all summer and only had time to take two PT's before September; both were recent tests and I scored a 159 and 161. I took the September test feeling really confident and scored a 150 which I haven't scored that low since my diagnostic. Test conditions were good and I wasn't feeling nervous. (-11 RC, -15 LR, -8LG, -10LR). I have never done so poorly in LR, but RC and LG were relatively consistent.

I was hoping to apply ED but that is out the window. I was wondering if I should sign up for November or just wait it out until January? I graduate in early December so I will have more time then but I can't help but think that I should try to sit for November so I don't pin up my hopes of having one last take in January for this cycle. I'm curious whether it would be advisable to just sign up Nov and withdrawal before if these next weeks don't go well.

My target would be 158-162. My average BR is 165.

Thank you for your input!

I was advised to not repeat things on my resume and I'm not really sure why. I was under the impression that your resume is just to briefly describe what you did at your work. Of course in an essay one wouldn't want to be overly repetitive and use the same words/phrases, but some job duties between jobs are the same.

If one were i.e. working at a fast food restaurant, and then their next job was working at a different fast food restaurant....one would probably expect to read "flipping burgers" repeated between the jobs...I don't understand the importance of trying to rephrase that to ..."rotating" burgers or something.

I think it sounds a little bit stupid and like I'm trying to be fancy and trick the reader into thinking I did something different between jobs...or it just lacks consistency...I just think this is the wrong advice...

If I take the January LSAT can I still apply for law school this cycle? Generally, when is the latest LSAT that one can take and still apply this cycle? Thanks!

Hey 7sagers, advice needed:

I took the LSAT three times already with a 162 high score and a 159 average. I don’t know what happened with my last LSAT; I was practice testing in the mid-160s. But anyway, there’s nothing I can do about that now. My GPA is 3.99.

My dream school is Northwestern (I’m from Chicago). I was planning on applying early decision, but given my low LSAT scores, I doubt I’ll get in. Should I still apply early decision? Or should I apply to a different, lower ranked school early decision? Other schools on my list are Georgetown, George Washington, Boston College, Boston University, U of Illinois, etc.

I am planning on going into public interest immigration law and I know Northwestern has a new Pritzker public interest grant so that might help me in addition to my post-grad experience, but not if admissions only cares about the LSAT score and GPA.

Thoughts? Advice? Also, should I write an addendum for my low LSAT score?

Thanks!!

Transmitted Application Warnings - we are unable to release your CAS report to the following law schools. Select the law school link for detailed information.

I submitted 3 applications yesterday. 2 of them went "complete" on the LSAC page. 1 of them gave me the above alert this morning? However, there is no "detailed information" concerning what the problem is. I'll call LSAC Monday morning, but has anyone else run into this issue?

As an aside, of course it has to be my reach school that I'm having this problem with. Grrrrr.

My life feels kinda empty and meaningless... I started this whole LSAT life consuming obsession over a year ago and now I have nothing to do but wait for responses. Does this mean I have to re-enter normal life?

https://i.gifer.com/1WDC.gif

Hi all,

I got my Sept LSAT score back today and got a 153 (bummer) and am mulling over what to do - if anyone had any advice that would be greatly appreciated!

Here are the circumstances:

SOS :)

Hey all!

JK on the title, there are just going to be some difficult decisions to make in the coming months. This post is mainly me just decompressing after receiving my LSAT score and asking for input from others on my current situation, as I don't like to just sit and think to myself at times like these.

So like many people, I got my score back today and was kind of disappointed with the result. My last three PT's averaged like 162.7 and I got a 159 on the actual test. The main school I was highly considering was the University of Utah and their median LSAT is 158. My GPA is 3.92, so I'm not really worried about being accepted, but the issue is that I don't think I will receive much in the way of scholarship money. Utah changed their residency policy so now if you are classified as an out of state student (which I would be) you have to pay out of state tuition all 3 years (base is around $38,000, they are still figuring what the final number will be). I am pretty debt averse, so being over 100k in debt after school sounds like a bad financial decision. My "safety" school (I use quotations because I would enjoy living in the area because I love the mountains and am not really going into law for the money) is the University of Montana. Their median LSAT is 154 and I would be paying significantly less in tuition. I plan on going into environmental law, and Utah has a top 10 EL program, while Montana does not.

For some reason I seem to have a weird ego thing where I would be less excited about going to a school ranked where Montana is ranked (although I could probably accomplish the goals I have there). As for taking the test again in November, I seem to have no motivation to go through prepping and actually taking the test again. I am just trying to make the decision whether to apply with my current score and get into Montana and most likely Utah (but without scholarship money), or to apply to Montana in October with the 159 and then retake in November to see if I could get a better score for more scholarship money at Utah.

So a few questions for everyone: How highly do you consider school (and program) rank when comparing schools if you would enjoy living in both states and would plan to stay in those states to practice law? Given the information in this post, would you recommend applying to both schools in October with the score I have or to apply to Montana in October and then retake in November and apply to Utah in December?

A lot of this post might be me getting my thoughts and feelings off my chest, but I feel that is the best way for me to rationalize the score I got since I tend to be way too hard on myself when it comes to things like this. Thanks in advance for any insight!

Admin note: edited title, no all caps please

I had planned to apply to law school during this cycle, but things in my life have changed. The new circumstances already had me leaning toward waiting to apply next year, and getting my LSAT score today basically confirmed that waiting is the right choice. I have already requested LORs, and one professor has already completed the letter. Now I will not need the letters until next year. Is there a specific protocol for how to address this with them? Can I just send an email or should I meet with them in person?

Do I get to see what my transcript or what the admission will see? I’ve graduated forever and a day ago and I honestly don’t remember mg gpa and what I did badly on. Makes it hard to write an addendum.

Happy Friday, ya'll

I've been thinking a lot about my personal statement and I've decided to talk about an experience that reaffirmed my commitment to justice and pursuing law but it might be a little controversial. Basically, I had an encounter with a retired cop and a lot of his stories were really glamorized stories of what was essentially police brutality and power trips. By no means do I want to come off as a police-hater. I have a lot of respect for law enforcement and I believe that good police officers carry out justice. In fact, I have a few police officers in my family.

It was just a really eye-opening experience and I think it might show my commitment and passion for law and justice.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks!

I have two situations I want to ask you guys about:

A while before and during my prep for LSAT and law school, I started doing angel investing, and got incredibly close to 2 founders at now multi-million dollar companies. I've changed and developed enormously during the last year or so, especially during the process of helping with their companies. I feel like they know me and speak for me better than any of my professors, and probably any past colleague or boss can. They have all eagerly offered to write and basically wrote it on the spot when I asked them if they would be my referrer, but I am not sure if I should use these. From an outside perspective, there is obviously a potential conflict of interest, as I am a partner and a shareholder in their life's work. Do you think I should use these letters?

One of my favourite professors has agreed to write a letter for me, but the thing is, I got a B-, and a B in his classes, meaning, I was not only not a top student, but in fact, a low performing student. However, that professor, who taught me marketing and entrepreneurship, knows that he affected me deeply, and is part of the reason why I changed from my traditional banking career, and went into the start-up world and then started getting involved in venture capital, and can provide a unique perspective to my application. It probably won't be too personal though, because it was about 5 years ago, and he probably didn't pay much attention to me. Do you think I should use his letter?

I really appreciate any insight on this topic. I know it may be a tad unusual, but I honestly don't quite know what to do. I'll probably end up using them though, if there are no strong objections, since I don't want to re-use past references and have been self-employed for too long now.

Hi all! I'm wondering whether (& to what degree) student activism belongs on a law school resume. It was one of my main extracurriculars and leadership roles, but I'm not sure how much to say if it involves a branch of an explicitly left national student organization, or organizing around raising university service workers' wages and unionization struggles (things that law schools probably aren't so keen on either?)

Thanks in advance!

Hello,

So I'm just looking at my very rough draft for PS and I'm quoting someone I've worked with in the past and I'm opening my PS with a very brief conversation with him. And as a direct way to quote that person to help illustrate my principle in life/work ethic, I threw in the word "half-ass." Once again, I didn't say it. S/he did. Will this make admissions officers cringe? Since I'm going to directly quote him, it would sound super awkward if I rephrased it like "halfheartedly" because that's not how colleagues at work speak to each other in an informal setting. Well at least I know that's not exactly how the conversation went.

What do you think? I mean it's not an F bomb but I don't know what to do with this. Should I not risk it? #supercautious