Does anyone know if the people that write our letters of recommendation will be notified by LSAC when the letters are used/sent out? I am getting a few letters written for me and I want to decide which one to use for my application package - but it will be awkward if the recommender is told by LSAC that his/her letter was never used. Hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance.

I have a partially formed theory that word choice in personal statements and admissions essays in general, is important.

It seems to me that as a law student and then lawyer, it's crucial that you speak with clarity and specificity. So it seems like admissions would at least notice whether your writing achieves these goals.

Ie. The distinction between "Tennis fueled my competitive nature" and "Tennis awakened my competitive nature" is huge. 1 implies that the competitiveness existed and was increased, while 2 suggests that a dormant condition came to prominence.

@"David.Busis"

@"Cant Get Right"

Others?

Thanks

I have a quick question about how to handle the title for one of my LOR writers. This person was a professor of mine during undergrad, but she is not working as a professor at this time. She is currently a fellow and a scholar-in--residence at the New York Public Library.

On the LSAC Recommender form, I'm considering these options for the "Title" field:

a: leaving it blank, letting her name and the "Ph.D." suffix suffice

b: writing in her current title

c: writing in what her title was at the time when I was her student

What do you think will serve as the best and clearest option?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Hi all,

I've recently started my applications and was wondering if anyone would mind taking a gander at my resume

Thanks!

Hi!

Is there a list as part of 7sage's resources or discussion board that shows the schools and whether they require school-specific essays for applications(or specific optional essays)? I thought I saw this floating around somewhere a long time ago and I'm having trouble finding it.

Thank you!

Hi All,

I'm putting together my resume for my law school applications and I've come across two issues that I'm not quite sure what to do with.

Back in sophomore year, I won an award for a research project (I was 1 out of 5 winners). There was a ceremony, where we all gave speeches. I ran a Google search for this award and my name. My project came up along with a statement I had written-- all fine with me. However, the video of the ceremony also came up (It's an hour long video and my speech is 3 minutes at the end...but I am also the video "screen shot", so whether or not you watch the video, someone clicking on the page would see an image of me giving my speech). I DO NOT WANT AOs WATCHING MY SPEECH. It is an incredibly immature speech...I joked about how I tend to skip class (which is just not true...I hardly ever skipped class. I said that out of pure nervousness), I was not grammatically correct in more places than one, I come across like an airhead at points...it's just not something I'm proud of. I can't seem to find the video if I just Google my name, but if I Google the name of the award, I can find mine by clicking on the year I received it. If I Google the name of the award and my name, I will find it no problem. If I Google my name and my alma mater, I will find it no problem. My question is-- how concerned should I be that an AO will dig deep enough to find this video? Should I just leave the award off my resume to decrease the chances they will find it? It's a pretty impressive award, so I think it will help my resume, but I'm also convinced that, if for whatever reason, the AO researches me enough, they will find this video. Granted, they would have to make the decision to watch the video or skip through to find my speech--but I am featured as the video image, so that increases the chances of that happening a bit.

I was the President of a club at my alma mater that apparently no longer exists? I guess when I left my school, no one resumed the role of the President and it sort of just ended. I can't find any record on the school website or anywhere else of the existence of this club, which is a real bummer because we used to have a website where I was featured as the President. I'm nervous to put this on my resume because I don't want an AO to try and verify this and not be able to find it. I mean, if they called my school and asked about it, I can only assume the school will be able to verify that this club existed in the past (we were an official club through the student government), but I'm not sure they will put that much effort in. My question is this--if an AO cannot find this club via Google, am I taking a risk that they will think I am being dishonest? Or am I being wayyyy too paranoid? Everything else on my resume is verifiable by a Google search, except for this.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all!

I have a silly question that I couldn't answer on my own, and I feel it's worth the risk of looking foolish on here just to ensure I end up submitting this application correctly. I'm applying to Colorado Law and they have a somewhat specific prompt with a part 1 and an optional part 2. Here are the instructions from their website:

The personal statement requirement provides you an opportunity to present yourself to the Admissions Committee. It is to be submitted with your electronic LSAC application. The personal statement for fall 2018 is below. Your essay must be in your own words, double-spaced, and should not exceed 1,000 words. Supported file formats include: doc, htm, html, txt, PDF, wp, wpd, rtf, wps, wpt and docx.

Personal Statement Prompt for 2018

At Colorado Law, we seek students who advance our core values of character, diversity, leadership, and commitment to service.

Part 1: Explain how you can contribute to these goals. You may also discuss any other factors that you think may assist the Admission Committee's evaluation of your application, such as: background information; experiences, talents or special interests; adversities you have overcome; and your reasons for applying to law school.

Part 2: (Optional): In considering applicants for scholarship awards, Colorado Law considers not only academic merit, but also economic need and obstacles, personal background, and a wide variety of individual qualities, so you may submit a statement of up to 500 words on any one or more of the following: (a) aspects of your upbringing, life experiences, work or service experiences, or education that you believe set you apart from most law school applicants; (b) economic disadvantage or other obstacles you have overcome in pursuing your education or career thus far and in applying to law school; (c) how you think you will contribute to society with your law degree; and/or (d) your financial need for increased money to fund your legal education.

So, it seems that one could interpret this in one of two ways:

Additionally, if I decided to forego the optional part 2 portion, that would mean I could use the 1,000 words all on part 1.... right?

What are your thoughts? The main reason I'm putting so much weight on this being correct is because of this Q&A with Colorado admissions and USN which just got me all worked up:

The most common mistake applicants made is failing to follow instructions, which differ from school to school. Some applicants ignore deadlines and fail to pay attention to details, such as addressing our specific essay topics in their personal statements or not submitting our two required recommendation letters.

So yes, any words of wisdom you guys have on the matter would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance :)

Hi, I have just completed a draft of my personal statement and am hoping to have someone who has attended or is attending law school critique it (theirs had to make the cut). I don't want to swap since I am unsure of how one should read and need help myself. Any takers?

Hello everyone!

I would like to know if there are any February 2018 Study Groups already existing, please. And if there are none yet, can interested students like myself form one???

Hi all,

I am a little over 5 years out of college and am working on my resume. I have plenty of experience from my full time work to include on my resume, so I am wondering--- should I include information about internships I held in college? While my college experiences were meaningful in the way they lead me to my current career, I don't think they were more meaningful than the experiences I have had since then.

Will admissions officers wonder why I left out any college years experiences? Also hoping to keep my resume to one page.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

I'm kind of lost as to where to start with my personal statement and would appreciate any help!

I had my son in 2015 and since the my world has revolved around him. When I had him I really got into holistic/non-toxic living and nutrition even so much that i'm pursuing some nutrition classes at the local community college. I'm also really passionate about advocating for lead safety not just in dwellings but in children's toys etc. which has sparked an interest in environmental law overall.

When I'm not studying for the LSAT i'm home with him and so it makes sense to me that my PS should be about me as a mother since that's the biggest portion of my identity. Before I had him I wasn't nearly as conscientious about the world or as motivated to become a lawyer - he really change me.

Does anyone have any tips on how I can put this together? I don't want it to be boring since being a Mom isn't something "interesting" or "new" and I do want my PS to stand out in some way. Can this work as a PS?

Some people might find this very obvious, but it didn't really set in for me until I actually heard an Admission Dean say it. There is a big difference between admitted and enrolled class sizes. UT Dean of Admissions said that they offered admission to around 1200 applicants last year, and their class size ended up being around 300. So with a median LSAT of 167, that means that ~600 applicants scored BELOW a 167 (or at). Anyway, medians are important, but don't sell yourself short!

Hi all,

I'm sure this is true for many people, but I am using what clinics are offered at different schools as one of the main ways to differentiate between them. Here's my question, just because a school offers a clinic you are interested in, does that mean you will be able to partake in it? How competitive is it to get a clinic spot? Does this differ by school, and if so, is that information available online?

Here's my subsequent question... Would it be better to go to a lesser ranked school in which my numbers are above the medians to increase my chances of getting into a clinic (assuming I do well), or would my chances be the same if I went to a 'reach' school, and then potentially didn't do as well? What do you all think?

Hey everyone,

So i'm in an odd position for my PS. For the a long time I was thoroughly committed to writing about some family issues that shaped me in to the person i've become, but i've attempted writing about 18 drafts at this point. None of them felt genuine and all encompassing. Every single one had an issue. Too dramatic, too cold, what's the point? Sort of problems if you seem what I mean.

Well today, I had an interesting moment where I decided to write on a topic that's totally off the wall. I wrote an entire draft (in under an hour, while I sat in class) on finding a three week old kitten.

If any of you guys remember, I had "study cat" as my LSAT study buddy. I found him when he was three weeks old and raising him as one of the hardest things i've ever done. I've never thought more about quitting something in my life, and today I have one of the sweetest, well - mannered and healthy kittens numerous vets have ever met. So well i've been approached to help foster other orphaned kittens.

This topic encompassed everything I wanted to show case about my character and how I see the world. But it's literally kittens. Like i'm considering writing a piece about kittens to send to the world's biggest shark tank - A law school admissions board.

Am I insane?

Help!

Hi all,

I have a mechanical question about using different letters of rec for different schools. How does it work?

I am planning to send 3 letters total to each school. I have 2 letters (1 work, 1 academic) that I am planning to send to every school. Then a 3rd letter (work) to send to most other schools, except the schools that require a 2nd academic reference, in which case I'm sending my 4th letter (academic), and not the 3rd letter.

Then, there are a few additional letters that specific schools require for different scholarships.

How does the uploading, labeling, and sending of these different letters work on the LSAC website? I have been looking at the LOR section on LSAC to see, but I'm afraid to test anything out and then mess it up.

Any advice/knowledge appreciated.

Thanks!

The September 2017 LSAT was my third time and I'm wondering if I should write a score addendum. The first time I took the LSAT (June 2016) was the first full-length test I took. If that wasn't stupid enough, the second time I took the LSAT (September 2016) was the second full-length test I took; I scored a 167 and a 164, respectively. I finally decided to get serious and took 37 full-length practice tests in preparation for September 2017. I'm expecting a score in the low to mid 170s from this past September.

Hey @"David.Busis" and @"micah.bateman" , what's the word on contractions in personal statements? I've noticed that many of the sample PS's in the essay bank contain them, but I can't decide if they're right for my essay?

Thanks!

I am attending the JD Law School Forum in Houston next month and wanted some advice on what questions were appropriate/inappropriate to ask.

I'm most interested in: HYS, Columbia, Chicago, Cornell, and NYU. My main concern is my GPA. I'm aiming for a 170+ but with a 3.58 GPA I'm technically in 'splitter' status for those schools.

Is it too forward to ask the admissions folks at these schools if I should even bother applying with those stats?

Also, any suggestions on other specific questions to ask? If anyone else has attended the forum in the past, I'd love to hear your experience.

Hey everyone,

So I just started filling out the basic material on my first law school application and one of the options was to inform which schools I plan on applying to. Is this a trick? Should I put them all on, or not? I have no idea if it's a good move communicating your interest in other schools, especially because this is my number one choice.

Are we supposed to put any kind of header or title on our essays?

I was told by a former professor that the best personal statements he's seen for graduate schools often have some intellectual theme that is cited in the writing. For instance, having some academic's theory influence your decision making or perspective. However, that really does not fit in well with my personal statement.

Is that advice at all valid? Would an intellectual theme strengthen my personal statement if I could incorporate it?

Thanks!

I feel like I'm overwriting simply because I have so much to say (even though a majority might just be me ranting LOL). As of now my Personal Statement and Diversity Statement are both 5 pages. I still have to edit them, so that'll probably shorten them a bit.

But my question is, roughly how long should the Personal Statement & Diversity Statement be?

Hi all!

I know law schools calculate your study abroad GPA into your overall GPA (if it shows up at pass/fail at your home institution), but I was wondering how deeply law schools look into these grades. For example, if you're studying abroad at a place like Oxford or Cambridge, and law schools know their grading system is very intense, will they scrutinize the fact that your grades abroad bring down your overall GPA? I'm not talking about a significant amount; just if your GPA is dragged down 0.05 to 0.1. (Thinking about T14 schools.)

Thanks!

I completed 3 classes of an MBA back when I thought I wanted to go to B-School. I am using the 7Sage calculator to do an estimate on what LSAC might consider my GPA. Would I lump in the 3 letter grades I received from Grad school in with my undergrad? Or would I leave these off since I didn't complete the degree?

OR... would LSAC only consider the degree I completed (undergrad)? The most recent incomplete degree (MBA)? or both? #confusedAF