I graduated with a graduate degree in 2014 summer. From then on, I had roughly an employer for every year of my work experience. Is this going to look bad for the admissions committee? Inconsistent or flighty?

My reasoning is that I was working as a contractor/freelancing so I was working with different employers.

Here is briefly how it looks.

Would this have a bad impact on how I come across to the admissions?

Sept 2014-Jan 2015 Employer A

Dec 2014-Jun 2015 Employer B

Jun 2015-Jun 2016 Employer C

June 2016-Dec 2017 Employer D

Hi all, I just discovered a resume typo. For one of my activities, I put down 9/2014–6/2014 instead of 9/2014–6/2015. I have applied to one school two days ago. Should I re-send my resume?

Hello everyone,

I have been diligently working on my Law School Applications (I am a Canadian so I need them in before Nov. 1). And just realized that I did not explicitly state that I had been on academic probation in my first year of my undergraduate degree. Instead I wrote a addendum that explains my poor grades. Was this a detrimental mistake? Should I contact the law school and let them know? And finally, if I disclose it from here on out, will the mistake from not explicitly stating it to the first school haunt me? Note: It is on my transcripts.

Thank you!

Samantha

Hi 7Sagers,

If you've got questions, ~~I've got~~ I'll try my best to have answers. Join me on Wednesday, October 24 at 9 p.m. ET for a Q&A. I won't give a spiel; I'll just call on people and field questions about law school admissions from start to finish. Feel free to get into the weeds about your situation. I'm even happy to talk about your essays, though I won't be able to read them.

You don't need to register in advance.

When: Oct 24, 2018 9:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Q&A with David

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

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Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

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If an applicant has distinguished her/himself in, say, art, would s/he send examples of such artwork? Or only make mention, in the personal statement, of the accomplishments and/or accolades accrued from that endeavor?

Once you’ve gotten into a law school of your choice, perhaps in part because you score at your target score or quite close, does the significance of that accomplish fade away? Looking for answers based on actual experience in law school- do people really care whether you got a 165 or 157 once you’re in law school? Or is it one of those things where it’s just like everyone’s happy they got in so now they’ve moved on to learning other stuff?

Any 7sagers attending tonight's admissions panel with Upenn, Michigan, and University of Chicago?

Is it better to go to a 2nd tier school that's giving you full scholarship tor to an ivy league that's paying maybe a sixth of your tuition?

My original plan was to take the upcoming LSAT in June, but I realized the error of my ways and decided I could use a LOT more time to study. My GPA sucks, so I'm relying more heavily on the exam than most. So, I intend to take the December/January test in about 6 months.

I spoke to some people familiar with the admissions process, and one of them advised me to begin the application process ASAP (maybe about 10 months before I'd begin school) because scholarships are limited and many are claimed early on. So my question is this: if I take the LSAT at such a late juncture, should I then hold off on applying to schools until the next cycle (18 months hence)?

This is also working on the assumption that most law schools only permit L1s to begin in the autumn semester rather than allowing entry bi-annually like most undergraduate programs.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Hi everyone! I know this question has been asked before but I was wondering if anyone could provide some more insight on this...

While I was in undergrad I studied abroad at a small UK school. My home institution counted the courses I took there as direct equates. So for example, on my transcript it says, "University of Winchester- The War on Terror- (TB)". These transfer grades were not caluclated into my GPA either. I'm only concerned because of the fact I got 4 B's while I was there so when I factor that into my LSAC GPA it drops significantly. I was there for only one semester.

Thanks for any help!

If the PS instructions do not specify a font size, is it acceptable to use 11 pt. font? If so, should the rest of the application materials be uniformly at 11 pt. font?

Does anyone have any leads on good personal statement samples? would love to look at one before submitting applications

So I feel like I'm at a crossroads. I have two LORs already from professors, but I'm still not sure if I should ask my boss for a LOR? I know you only really need two letters, but I've been working for this office for two years now. This job has really opened my eye up to the law and is something I discuss heavily in my personal statement. Because of this, I wonder if adcomms would wonder why I didn't get a LOR from my job? I've been told that this isn't true -- that adcomms understand that some people can't/won't get LORs from their employer because of job security. And while I don't believe I'd be fired or anything, I just don't want to create an awkward environment for my boss since I've not really mentioned law school with them.

My plan right now is to wait until I take the November LSAT, see how I feel about the test, and then re-evaluate as I finish up my applications. I suppose I'm venting/looking for any advice from anyone who's been in a similar position? Would the lack of a LOR from my employer negatively impact my "soft" factors?

Hi there!

I was planning on applying into the Fall 2019 but there have been some turn of events and now I have to wait a year. I already received my LOR's on LSAC. Will these expire? Can I still use them in a year?

I came across this article today and thought it's interesting for those who are curious about entertainment law. Entertainment law is a niche and a very small one, but if it's your passion, there are ways to get a foot in the door.

This list seems to be mostly top of the T14 and either NY or LA, which is probably the best way to pursue a career in entertainment law. (Slightly surprised Vanderbilt isn't on here, being in Nashville.) Location is probably most important, because you need to get hands-on experience with internships or other work in the industry in order to have a shot. It's cliche, but it's definitely about who you know. I have a background in the entertainment industry, and happy to discuss specifics or answer questions via PM if anyone is interested.

This list is handy too, I think it's a good overview of some of the offerings that these schools have. UCLA's new music law clinic sounds awesome.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/8480764/top-music-law-schools-2018-list?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20Template%20BB:%20Multi%20Story%20-%201.0&utm_term=daily_digest

So I took a summer language program, and then two more language programs from Chinese Universities after graduation. In short, these transcripts are super complicated to get and I didn't take any of the classes for credit or towards degree granting program. They were really only for my own language advancement. Do you think I need to get the transcripts for these? The requirements are sort of unclear and I know they won't impact my GPA so it seems like a waste of time. (Two of them will also be in Chinese)

Anyone have some to help with getting through RC in a timely fashion? I am just mainly looking for some tips on how to best interpret the each section while not wasting too much time so I can answer all questions on the exam.

.

I'm wondering how other applicants who've been out of school for a while have addressed this section. The prompt is as follows:

"If it has been more than three months since you attended college, describe what you have been doing in the interval. You should include graduate or professional education, paid or unpaid employment, as well as any other activities that you consider relevant. Please answer this question separately from any information provided in a résumé."

The word "describe" suggests this can take a narrative form. Which is the approach I took, providing roughly half a page of single spaced paragraphs, describing my 6 years since graduation.

My concern is, there are portions where I describe why I changed jobs/roles/industries (instead of just saying "and then I started at...x"). For the most recent career move, I cite the reason being a desire to serve the public interest by practicing law, elaborating briefly on the process, saying that I took a few months to research career paths and meet with friends who work in prosecution, advocacy, and public policy before committing all my time and resources to LSAT and law school preparation

My concern is if that last bit would be out of place on this submission? Is it providing more that what is asked? Should it instead go into the personal statement?

It is technically describing how I spent my time, but it also elaborates on my thought process. I'm just hoping the latter isn't misplaced.

Yale has two unique sections on their application, titled 'College Activities' and 'Post-college Activities,' respectively. I'm not sure whether these should be answered in the form or a list or through a narrative/essay format, as the guidelines are fairly ambiguous.

Here are the prompts:

College Activities:

Please answer a, b, and c separately from any included résumé. Your application will not be considered complete unless a, b, and c are answered. Please list:

(a) Significant extracurricular activities and unpaid externships or internships in college, in order of their relative importance to you. Please estimate your time commitment for each activity.

(b) Paid employment while in college and during vacations.

(c) Other activities during college (in or out of school) that you consider relevant.

Post-college Activities:

If it has been more than three months since you attended college, describe what you have been doing in the interval. You should include graduate or professional education, paid or unpaid employment, as well as any other activities that you consider relevant. Please answer this question separately from any information provided in a résumé.

How are people handling these? If there are any 7Sagers on the board who have applied and been accepted to Yale—and who are still active on here—I'd love to hear what you did. I'm also curious how others who are in the midst of preparing their apps are going about answering these sections.

Hello! Sorry, I feel like I've had a zillion questions these past few days but you all are seriously the best at answering them.

Anyway to preface my question, my undergraduate degree is in design so it's kind of a requirement in the field that my résumé is relatively beautiful. I have a two column resume with light bronze headers (at minimum I might change these to black) and the typefaces used are all sans serif. With that being said, looking at the example here: https://classic.7sage.com/admissions/lesson/sample-resume/ this is a very standard, non-designed résumé and looks not at all like mine. Law is (obviously) a totally different field from my background, so I was wondering if I should revert my résumé to this format.

On one hand, I like my résumé. It's well spaced, easy to read, nice looking, and a reflection of my design background. On the other hand, I'm not sure if it's too unconventional for the admissions officers (mine is pretty conservative in my opinion, some people have sweet logos or their name in gigantic font or weird but cool alignment with their columns).

Also a side question, does anyone know if they print out our applications or look at them on the computer?

Anyway I welcome your opinions! As always, thank you for your time!

Hi everyone,

I took the LSAT twice this year, in June and September. I got a 161 in June after fudging up my pacing and guessing on too many questions, so I thought this was a good sign going forward if my minimum goal was mid to high 160s. All I needed to do was work on my pacing, right? In the following two months, I felt my understanding of the test got even stronger, and in isolation, I was very good at answering all question types. However even with more conscious timing, I was getting low 160s on PTs, with the rare 169 and 170 on older tests. I was confident that at least I could not do worse in September, but to my horror I did: 159. I am still in shock. I feel discouraged and burnt out, and know it would not be wise to take it again this year.

I am aiming at top 25 schools, which makes these scores all the more upsetting. Fortunately I have a very high undergrad GPA, a strong personal statement and good recs, but I know the LSAT score is key. My question is this: should I apply for 2019 with my application as is, knowing that I will likely not get into my top choice schools, and theoretical try to transfer in my second year? Or should I wait and take the LSAT again next year and apply for 2020? Besides my own personal urgency to apply now, I also have exhausted all recent PTs (save for future tests), and honestly do not think I will get much better at undertanding the test or how to answer questions. I feel like the problem is just the physical taking of the timed test, for whatever reason. In other words, I don’t know how much my official score will improve.

Any and all thoughts/advice welcome.

Thank you!!

LSAC will be hosting its law school forum in NYC this weekend. Does anyone know if you are allowed to bring a guest with you (parent, friend, significant other, etc.)?

Does anyone have interest in reading and providing feedback on each other's Yale 250? I'm happy to trade readings with one or more people who are also writing this. PM me if you're interested.

Of the top 10 schools, Columbia and Penn have personal statements that suggest putting in elements of a "Why School X" essay in them. How are my fellow applicants handling these personal statements?

For reference, here are Columbia and Penn's prompts:

Columbia:

Candidates to Columbia Law School are required to submit a personal statement supplementing required application materials. We are curious about your interests, goals, and aspirations and how the J.D. program at Columbia can help you achieve these. You are encouraged to think about the contributions you hope to make to both the Columbia community and the legal profession while considering your personal, intellectual, and professional background and any relevant information that you may not have otherwise conveyed through your other application materials. Please note that the personal statement should be double-spaced and approximately two pages in length. This statement should be attached electronically.

Penn:

The Admissions Committee requires that every applicant submit an original example of written expression. The purpose of this personal statement is to provide you with as flexible an opportunity as possible to submit information that you deem important to your candidacy. You may wish to describe aspects of your background and interests--intellectual, personal or professional--and how you will uniquely contribute to the Penn Law community and/or the legal profession. Please limit your statement to two pages, double spaced and label it as "Personal Statement" with your name and LSAC account number on each page.

How's everyone handling these? Are you guys explicitly addressing why you're interested in Columbia and Penn in your personal statements? If so, how much space in your two-page allotment are you dedicating to addressing that?