My PS already touches upon most of my diversity factors (immigrant, minority, first-generation college graduate) so I'm a bit lost on what to write for my diversity statement so that I don't sound repetitive. I have two ideas but not sure if they really work well:

My Catholic upbringing/faith and studying at Jesuit university and how this has shaped my values/outlook

Being raised by a single mother and having to work throughout all of high school and college to help support myself and how this taught me to be independent

Thoughts on whether these topics could make good diversity statements? Thank you!

I applied ED to University of Texas, and I received notice today that my application is being held for consideration with the regular decision pool. Not sure what this means for my prospects overall. Is there anything I can do at this stage to increase my chance of admission? LOCI are recommended for those waitlisted; are they appropriate for this situation? If so, should I wait until February or March when they are whittling applicants down?

For background, I am in-state, non-traditional age, LSAT 163, and GPA 3.59 (not great but from a top liberal arts undergrad - now completely regretting the multiple semesters of Mandarin I insisted on taking in spite of the fact it was shredding my GPA!).

Thanks for any insights!

I am working on applying in the first week of January. I have done some work on my resume but I was wondering if the 7sage community knew of the best resources to help? Best of luck to you all!

Don’t know too much about them— how much of an admit guarantee does the priority track invite portend?

Does anyone know any current students or alumni at Duke or Berkeley? As the all-wise David Busis once said, I should "leverage my virtual network" and asking 7Sagers! Thank you all.

So I did a program called running start in high school and took some college level classes, starting in Fall of 2004. I started with just one class that quarter. I graduated HS in spring 06 with 55 college credits completed. I proceeded to take a few more classes including some lower level math classes I needed, but then took some time off Winter 07 to get my pilot's license. I returned to school in Fall 08 working full time and going to school part time and finally graduated in Spring 09. So what this means is I have to list my Comm College years of attendance as 04 - 09. On paper it looks like it took me 5 years to get a 2 year degree! In a way, it did, but it wasn't as if I graduated high school and went to school immediately after. It was a long winding path including a break to get my pilot's license which was a career I thought I might want to get in to at the time. I didn't have the slightest inkling back then of wanting to go to graduate school...now I'm realizing it is making my resume look really bad.

So I guess my question is, does anyone have any thoughts on how I can make it look less terrible on my resume? They're going to get a transcript so leaving it off completely seems like I'm trying to be deceptive. Will the adcom think this is super unusual? Any guidance is appreciated.

How should I include part-time and volunteer work that took place in between the time I was employed full-time. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Hi All,

Now that finals are over for me and the LSAT is out of the way for good, I am finalizing my material for my applications.

I am stuck on the addenda and diversity statement. My first three semesters were a little weak as I had things going on in my life and was adjusting to the college transition/life, but now I am at four straight semesters/two straight years of 4.0s. I am getting As on everything without extra credit for the most part. Assuming I also greatly improve on my LSAT, how would I write this all into an addenda? Does anyone have an example they could share?

For the diversity statement, how do I go about doing that?

Hey all!

I've been taking a break after my fellowship for family reasons and to work on my applications. Do I have to include anything in my resume? I'll be working again in January so I was planning to send a updated resume when I start a new position.

Do I have to do anything else...I was told by some people that since it's normal for people to take time off after a fellowship, I don't have to do anything. I can just update the schools when I start something.

I'm currently both involved in a court case and attempting to apply to law school. My parents have told me to ask my attorney to write me a letter of recommendation, but I've said that I think this would be really weird. After all, I'm paying her, so why would the law school trust her objectivity?

BUT, when my attorney heard I'd taken the LSAT, she got REALLY excited and happy. She told me that the comments and feedback I've given on a certain document were "third-year associate level," and is thrilled that I'm planning to try for law school. So it would be really awesome if it wouldn't be weird to ask her for a recommendation, since she's both a well-respected attorney at one of the top law firms in our city, but genuinely gung-ho about my potential.

I'm 95% sure that everyone will tell me this is a terrible faux pas, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Hi- This may sound like a silly question, but I just wanted to double check and make sure----- how do we indicate on our application that we want the law school to WAIT for my December score?

I want to go ahead and apply as soon as possible to law schools because I know it's best to go ahead and submit applications as early as possible (now that it's December) but I want them to use my December 2017 score. Since it hasn't been released yet, how do I make it clear on the applications on LSAC that I want them to WAIT and consider my December 2017 score?

Thanks so much!

Realistically, how important are personal statements in determining whether you get in or not? I've been stressing out over mine and I'm starting to think that I don't need to worry too much about them.

Answers from people who have already applied/got into T14 schools were be especially appreciated. I'd like to know about your experience

Hello,

I will be petitioning Columbia to use my February LSAT.

This is what their admissions page says:

"For the 2017-2018 admissions cycle, we will consider scores from the February 2018 LSAT from candidates who petition in writing and receive confirmation of petition approval by January 1, 2018. Petitions for 2018 February LSAT score consideration should be emailed to admissions@law.columbia.edu. As we have in past cycles, the Admissions Committee strongly encourages applicants to take the LSAT no later than the December test administration and to complete their applications earlier rather than later in the cycle."

Has anyone ever petitioned to have their Feb LSAT used? Is there anything specific I should include in the petition (i.e. explaining the circumstances as to why I am testing so late?)

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I'm curious if anyone has received an application fee waiver from a top 30 or so school WITHOUT an LSAT score on file. I'm currently in undergrad and have a high LSAC GPA (3.97) but canceled my September score. Is getting a fee waiver unheard of without a score on file? I guess that'd make sense…?

If yes, what are your stats?

I went to a college with a Pass/Fail system (ie no GPA) so I assumed that my "GPA" is just gonna be something like "NA" or simply left blank.

But a 0.00???

Does that mean if a school accepts me, I'd be bringing their entering class average GPA down with my "0.00 GPA"? This is ridiculous! Not a single school would be willing to accept me in this case.

Guess I'll have to call or email LSAC asap.

Northwestern offers an interview to all applicants, and they "strongly recommend" scheduling one. I'm considering opting out, wonder of anybody has input/knowledge whether this is monumentally stupid, or no big deal.

I'm above their 75th for lsat, and just below median for gpa. It's not in my top 3 dream schools, but probably 5th or 6th. I suck at phone/Skype interviews, so if definitely have to travel there (3 hours each way from w michigan)

Originally i was planning to interview on a Monday and then take that day and maybe a Tuesday to tour Northwestern and UChicago. But im hesitant to burn my precious vacation days...

Any thoughts welcome :)

This is hard for me to write about or even think about, but I thought turning to other 7sagers is the safest I'll feel. I'm trying real hard to think of what "sets me apart". People say to write your personal statement on something you've experienced that made you who you are or that has given you reason to go to law school. I have had several experiences in my life that do so, but only one that would certainly make heads turn. BUT the thing is, it could give the admissions counsel grounds to throw my application in the trash immediately....

About 2 years ago I was arrested for petty theft. I was in a bad place at the time and it was by far the HARDEST thing that I've had to deal with. I've torn myself down, almost given up on getting anywhere in life, built myself back up, and tried my hardest to prove that what is on my rap sheet truly is NOT who I am at all. I've even gotten an internship at my county's District Attorney's office a year after the incident. So the question is.... should I write about that whole experience and explain why it's taken me on the path I'm on now, or pick something else? Risk it for the biscuit or naw? Thanks guys :)

many schools request that applicants write an LSAT addendum when they have two or more scores that are "significantly different" but they do not define what this means in terms of points! The only school I have seen define it is University of Michigan, which considers a difference of 6 or more significant. Should this be the standard to apply to all schools that ask this questions? Any thoughts appreciated!

.

I graduated undergrad in 1997. There is 1 professor who I'm still in touch with, and he would write me a fine LOR. But I doubt he really remembers my academic performance from 20 years ago. My other LORs are from judges and other prominent legal types who know me much better. Would the absence of an academic LOR seem suspect, or is it understood that older students don't generally have them? Many thanks.

I'm curious if you're going the extra mile for schools that you don't really want to go to and with your stats you should be able to get in to.

My issue is specifically about Pepperdine. The optionals are write about either a goal you pursued, your passion, a mistake you made, or who you'd want to road trip with. My personal statement is 3 pages and it definitely covers what i'm passionate about, a goal i pursued, and is sort of about a "mistake" I made and the postives that came out of it in that I wrote about my attitude changing from negative to positive when I overcame adversity. My GPA is well over the 75th percentile and my LSAT score is right under the 50th percentile. I don't mind writing the optional essay but I'd rather not if I don't have to. I worked really hard on my PS over a year and it took me a couple weeks to clean up my final draft. I can't imagine being able to write just as well about wanting to go on a road trip with Beyonce or something.

Hey everyone! I had 2 questions about the admissions process that I was hoping to get some advice on:

Coming into college, I was a student in my college's education school. My major was along the lines of child developmental psychology. But during my first year, I also took some philosophy classes and sat in on a sociology class that I just found far more compelling than my child developmental psychology classes. And so, in my second year, I switched to the Arts & Sciences school and switched my major to philosophy and sociology-- these were also the majors I graduated with. I just thought this school switch on my transcript might be a question mark for the admissions committee. Should I write a brief addendum explaining why I switched schools, citing the exact reasons I mentioned above?

During the fall semester of my junior year, I took 4 classes instead of the typical 5 classes/semester. I was studying for the LSAT during that time and just wanted a lighter school workload. However, the 4 classes I took were all upper-level and graduate-level classes related to my majors. Overall, I still got the credits needed to graduate because I had taken some seminars and classes with labs that offered additional credits during freshman and sophomore year. And so, should I write an addendum for this case? Is taking 4 classes instead of the norm 5 classes even considered an abnormally "lighter" class load?

If anyone had advice at all, I would appreciate it so, so much! Taking a long shot here but tagging @"David.Busis" to see if you had any advice! Thanks so much guys!!

I have a graduate transcript that only lists an accounting course from September 2015 to December 2015. This is the only graduate course I have taken. Should I include an addendum like the following? I received my B.S. in 2011.

"My graduate educational experience shows I attended xxx from September 2015 to December 2015. I took an accounting course while working full-time to build this skill."

Thank you 7sage Community! I recently learned I got into my top choice school. When I first started studying about a year and some change ago, it really seemed impossible to get to this point. I read posts like this one that I'm writing of people getting into law school and never thought it could be me. 7sage has been extremely helpful and I'm forever grateful for the lessons, BR calls and support from this community. Just wanted to stay that if you are at the start of your studying career and are feeling doubtful, please know I felt the exact same way but just decided to keep going. I know you will do great! Good luck to everyone and congratulations to everyone else who has recently been admitted!