Hi everyone,

I have been teetering back and forth on whether to write an addendum explaining why I have multiple transcripts. I haven't been able to find much advice on this, so I am hoping that someone on here might be able to help! I have a lot of transcripts on LSAC right now... as in 6.

When I was a sophomore in college I decided to change my major. In order to graduate on time, I took summer courses in my hometown. Unfortunately, my college was strict about which courses from which universities were transferable, so now I have transcripts from three different universities for courses I took over the summer. I also have one transcript from a Spanish class I took at a community college during my senior year, my transcript from my graduating institution, and now I'm in grad school so one from there as well. I'm not sure if this will cause concern for admissions offices. I could have probably stayed at my school over the summer (although very few people do), but I had jobs/internships at home and none of these courses were offered online over the summers. I worry about coming off as someone who didn't put in the effort to fully complete their major at their graduating institution. For the record the courses were: an elective computer class, two spanish classes, and macro-econ course

So...I'm pretty sure that the title explains itself. I am usually anal about my outgoing emails, especially when they are to law school admissions offices. I reread this specific email like 10 times and ended up having to change something, but didn't notice that I needed to change it in two spots. Basically, I had to change the quantity of something from 2 to 3, but only did it in one place.

"...I took 3 classes at [X Institution] in [X years] before I was enrolled full-time in any undergraduate institution. Those 2 classes show up on my transcript and contribute to my overall GPA..."

What are the chances this will hurt me? I sent it to a T14 school...do they consult previous emails from applicants when looking at their applications?

I AM SO MAD THAT I DID THIS!

I got a 172 in September and have a 3.49 lsac gpa with a stem major. I'm applying this cycle and planning on blanketing T14. I'm trying to decide whether or not to retake in December and try to get a slightly higher score to mitigate low gpa...but I don't know if it's worth it. I wouldn't be able to complete my application until scores are released in January and I don't know if a few points increase would significantly increase my admission chances or if that's worth the later app submission. If I don't retake, I would submit all my apps by Thanksgiving. What do you guys think?

I wrote one of my PS about an experience that really solidified my interest in becoming a lawyer; spending a summer doing an independent research project in Arizona on US-Mexico border policy. One particularly memorable event, which I write about at length, was in an Operation Streamline proceeding - to learn a bit more about the program you can read this NYT piece on it from a few years back, but it's a really dehumanizing proceeding with pretty appalling due process issues.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/us/split-second-justice-as-us-cracks-down-on-border-crossers.html

Anyway, while I go in depth about the proceeding in the PS, I decided to cut all the exposition explaining what exactly Operation Streamline's purpose and history is for length. Is it a crazy idea to hyperlink to that article on my first mention of Streamline, or should I just assume admissions readers will look it up if they're not already familiar with the program?

I had a question about my degree GPA verse my actual GPA. My actual GPA is 3.25 which is really low. However, my degree GPA is closer to 3.7. I know most law schools do not look at that, but I feel like it does say something about me as a student. Thanks!

Am I just blind or is there no information on WUSTL's fee waiver policy on their website? I got an email with a "request a fee waiver" button but it just redirects to your email app. I can't find out whether I should bother requesting a merit based fee waiver or not.

Hi everyone:

Hoping to get some advice on negotiating scholarship offer. Has anyone had success?

Even with money offered, these schools are crazy expensive!

Thanks.

Is it okay to name the school in a personal statement? I have a school that I really want to attend and in my final paragraph want to say something like;

or something like that. Is this okay to do or is it frowned against?

I know that I should already know this, but I unfortunately don't. Should my LSAC GPA be on my resume and the blank in the education section in my application? I originally put down the GPA that is on my school's transcript.

The difference is just 0.01 (so basically nothing), but I just wanted to make sure.

Any help would be really appreciated! :)

So i am wondering exactly what softs i should put in my resume.

Example, i am a Caring Network volunteer, which entails that i run around and do favors for people who are having medical issues- its not an official position and i only do it when i am available. Should i put this down?

Hey everyone!

I will be taking the December LSAT. I'm guessing we will have the scores back by Christmas. Does applying late December (26-30) make a difference compared to early January?

I also had another question. I don't think I will be getting a high score on the LSAT. But the rest of my application is really strong. I will be aiming to the LSAT's 25th percentile in most T14. I've heard that the 25th percentile gets filled up really quick. Does that mean that by January those spots are almost all taken?

Any advise is appreciated!

Hey guys,

I promise i'm normally not an idiot but today I feel like one. One of my schools transcripts just hit LSAC and I'm trying to get an idea of what my LSAC GPA is. The other transcript is just from my dual enrollment years, so it's only two grades. But I can't seem to find out where to find my actual LSAC GPA. Do I need to wait until both transcripts are in for LSAC to calculate?

Thanks in advance!

I attended the San Francisco LSAC Forum yesterday with a lot of questions regarding my status as a splitter. It was EXTREMELY helpful to talk to the school directly and to ask them how to approach my situation. It gave me both a boost in confidence, and a strategy for each individual school.

Each school repeated the typical "we have a holistic approach" mantra but then followed it up with some advice on how to show them you are a different candidate than your record might suggest.

A couple of examples;

U.C. Irvine - While they have to consider grades, they will break it down by year and history. For example; I had bad grades in 2008-2010. This was almost a decade ago, and since then I have considerable experience in the military and work force as well as a 4.0 form my undergrad college. They will draw a red line on my application to note this distinct change. Their suggestion? SEND MORE LETTERS OF REC. For someone like me, with work experience, he said it would be invaluable to receive 3-4 letters of recommendation. One from each aspect of my life (work/school/military) in order to show work ethic and to show I'm not the person I use to be. I wouldn't have known to do something like this without attending the LSAC Forum.

University of Virginia - Told me to focus on my work experience. The grades were so long ago that if I focus my application on work experience they would probably get a better idea of who I am today. This will help them to "excuse" my past discrepancies because they can see a notable change in who I am. She even gave me her contact info to reach out to her if I have more questions about this. They said while my LSAT is low (163) to submit the application, retake the LSAT, and then have them look everything over. She said I sounded like an interesting candidate and wishes all the best for me.

I am SUPER pumped to go to law school after talking to the 10 or so schools at the LSAC forum. It really helped to break down the wall between me and these schools. It helped me to understand that these people are humans, and they won't devalue you for past mistakes, if you give them a good reason to value you now.

Please, do yourself a favor if you are a splitter, and try to get to one of these forums!!!

I just finished writing my personal statement. While it is about an event that changed my life, and the way I see hard situations, I feel like I was not able to communicate that through the story. There are too many details that I feel need to be included, which leaves me with no room for "what I learned" type stuff.

Is anyone either willing to read my PS and help me incorporate that stuff, or have suggestions on how to give details of the event while saying I learned XYZ?

Basically I want to convey the messages of;

I've learned that you shouldn't judge people by their actions alone

I learned to deal with stressful situations in constructive ways

I learned the value of working with other people and relying on others

Edit: It is also a very rough draft still and a bit too long in its current state.

Does anyone have a decent indicator of how much your everything else factors into your apps? I'd have a 3.64 gpa after this semester, with some experiences like campaigns, interning for a district court judge for four months recently, being an Eagle Scout, other Scouting experiences (16 years now), and chairing/leading a strong nonprofit in my community for almost a year

Hi 7sage community!

It's the night before the Los Angeles LSAC Forum and I'm a bit nervous. Have any of you attended these forums before? I'm what I hope to be a splitter (low gpa, high lsat), so I assume the networking might come in handy.

I'm just not sure what to even ask them, though. When you approach the table, do you introduce yourself and briefly talk about yourself? Do you jump right into questions?

Do you have any ideas for questions, aside from ones geared toward the school's programs?

Let me know. Thanks, so much.

I recently emailed back a forth with the admissions office at UofM, and I thought the correspondence might be useful for those of us retesting in December.

Tldr; Apply as soon as you can, if you improve your score they will reevaluate you for both admittance and scholarships.

Me:

My question is about the process of applying now and then potentially updating my application if I do in fact raise my LSAT score. I would like to apply as early as possible both for admission and to put myself in the best possible position for scholarships. Is there any disadvantage to applying and then updating vs simply waiting to submit any materials until my application is complete?

UofM:

Thanks for your e-mail and your interest in Michigan Law. I would encourage you to submit your application as soon as you can. If you submit your completed application before the December LSAT scores are released, because you have a score from a previous administration, we would consider your application to be complete and we would begin to process your application and place it into our queue for our reviewers. It's possible that our reviewers could be ready to consider your file before a December score became available. If our reviewers were inclined to admit you, then they would do so without waiting. If they were considering a negative decision, then they would know to wait for your December score before finalizing that decision.

Me:

I do have one follow-up question. When would scholarship allocation be decided? At the same time as admittance/denial, or later? Would this follow a similar system of being evaluated initially based on my score on record and then adjusted later if my December score becomes relevant?

UofM:

All our admitted students are automatically considered for merit-based scholarships, and yes, this does typically occur a bit after the admissions decision is made (scholarship decisions generally start rolling out in January while admissions decisions have typically started coming out earlier than that). We do also have a mechanism to consider any updated LSAT scores for scholarship decisions, even if we made a previous determination.

Sorry for the curt title, not enough room for politely asking for advice :P

Anyways

I emailed her a month ago, and she only responded now. Furthermore, she said she could only write one after January.

I already got two LORs from other professors so I don't exactly need it. That being said, I'd still like to have it just in case. How should I respond?

I am a senior at an "average" college, and I have a 3.99 GPA. I am a transfer student, so my combined GPA is a 3.8. I am aiming for a 170 on the LSAT, but I wouldn't be surprised if I wound up closer to a 165. Anyway, I am concerned that I won't get into schools that look for decently high LSAT scores unless I score well above the median score... like maybe I will need the 75th percentile score to get in without scholarship. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this issue or if anyone has any thoughts on it.

Hey guys,

How long does it normally take for you guys to have your transcripts uploaded to LSAC? I had my school send my transcript on 10/17 and it's yet to hit LSAC. Help a stressed-food-posioned-yet-still-at-work girl out lol

Victoria

How individualized/tailored should the reference letters be? I already feel bad enough that my references took the time and effort out of their busy schedules to write one general reference letter for me...

So someone told me that we are required to fill out FAFSA for law school. Does anyone know if this is true and if so by when are we suppose to do this? before or after the application.

My essay is about how I overcame insecure instincts that tried to keep me from a volunteering experience. The experience ended up being worthwhile and made me a more confident person.

Here's an issue that an editor friend brought up. While I described the experience of insecurity in what I felt was enough detail (e.g., "I'm such an awkward person, I thought."), my friend said that it didn't constitute a compelling internal obstacle. She suggested that I add an explanation for why I was so insecure.

While I can certainly understand her reasoning, my issue is that my experience with insecurity was more like personality trait, like shyness. It's really difficult to explain. In any case, I think showing how I got over this internal personality issue is more important than why it existed in the first place.

So what do y'all think?

Hey I was just wondering for those schools that say they want their personal statement to be two pages, would they hold it against you if you went a paragraph or two over the two pages?

I am the worlds most boring individual.

https://media.giphy.com/media/Dbo31UlQgVIdO/giphy.gif

So...how did you guys decided what to write about? The obvious choice for me is to write about the military, but that feels like such a cop out. I've tried to brainstorm other, more interesting ideas, but I'm basically the king of boring town. How did you get the juices flowing?