Hi everyone,

I sat for the LSAT in June and scored well but also 6 points below my average from the previous 15 practice tests I had taken, so I am registered to re-take in two weeks. That said, I realize I will not get my score back until mid-October. My application is almost good to go. I plan to edit my essays a few more times, and my recommendation letters will hopefully be in by the start of October. Given the rolling nature of admissions, is there any difference between how my application would be received mid-September or early-October compared to mid-October?

Can you please help me decide on whom to ask for LOR?

I graduated undergrad 2012, went to graduate school, graduated 2013. Since then I have been working for three-four years.

I am now trying to go to law school and have been thinking of my LORs. My potential LOR Candidates are

My former supervisor whom I interned for during my undergrad years. He has great credentials and I am very close to him. Have been keeping in touch for a long time, so definitely easiest to ask for recommendation and I have no doubt that he can write me a great recommendation. Now, potential issues I have with this LOR is that 1) he is not my professor and 2) I interned for him, so this was very long ago, so I don’t know what the admission committee might think of that.

My current supervisor from a non-profit organization that I am involved in. I don’t think I can get a LOR from my main job because I can’t let the company know that I am applying to law school. However, I have been involved in this non-profit organization for as many years I have been working. It is not my primary occupation, but could even be more relevant to law school because I do more writing for this job than my primary job. My primary occupation is quantitative research, dealing with numbers and computer modeling. Now, the only issue I have with this LOR is that it is not from my main job.

A professor from my school years. Couldn’t really think of professors who would write me a good recommendation because 1) I went to a really big school 2) my major was engineering so most of the classes I took were exam oriented, requiring minimal interaction between students and professors. Fortunately, for this professor, I took his class and even became his TA. So he can probably write me a good recommendation. My issues with this LOR is that 1) I haven’t been in touch since I graduated, which was four years ago. 2) This class is a project/presentation class so I don’t know if my professor can write me the kind of recommendation that law schools are looking for. Also, maybe he will write a “meh” recommendation. Who knows what he will do whereas LOR 1) and 2), I can 100 percent guarantee that I will get really good LORs.

Now, I have been reading a lot about how an academic LOR is a must for law schools. But as you can see, I feel like I can get better recommendations from non-academic sources. So if I can get some feedback on which LORs I should get, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks a lot

So, I plan on applying this cycle. However, I've come to the realization that I haven't really connected with any of my professors. I've always gotten pretty good grades in college, but haven't ever really gone to my professors for help or just to talk in general. I understand I need a letter of recommendation from at least one of them. What should I do?

What are law schools looking for in a LOR?

My professors told me to figure out the academic and non-academic traits I would like to include in the LOR and then they will tell me if they could write it for me. What would be traits that catches law school admissions' eye when they read my LORs?

Thank you!

So, this might not be benefiting this community overall... But I've been really wanting to talk about it for the sake of my sanity...

I finished my undergraduate in cello performance in 5 years---University of North Texas. For all of those years I received full tuition plus a little bit of stipend from school... I did well the first three semester but life took a turn for the worse beginning of my 4th semester... My parents business was beginning to fail and I had to jump in and help while trying to maintain the level of skill to keep my scholarship on stop of taking regular load of class work at school. I calculated the amount of time I spent practicing, working, studying, going to classes, rehearsing, and commuting, and it was around 70-80 hrs a week. Parents business eventually failed and I was failing courses left and right. GPA took a plunge from 3.5 to 2.5 (at my lowest). Got burnt out and horribly depressed. Bit the bullet HARD and raised my GPA to 3.2 but failed to meet my major professor's expectations(?) on cello so I ended up with a 2.99 instead of a 3.2 (I guess the more you do well, higher the expectation). Since last December, I have been introduced to the field of law by a family friend and saw that it wasn't IMPOSSIBLE to tread these waters. I got 154 for my diagnostics test in.... I think March? so that nudged me into proceeding with purchasing the Ultimate+ to really sink my mind into this world. Sorry, I tried to keep this as short as possible...

I'm not sure if I'm making any sense or not (I'm a bit drained from the level 4 weakening questions) but I was hoping to get some perspective on my chances at getting into a tier 2 law school? I mean I don't even ask for T-14... My DREAM is SMU Dedman and I think I can do it if I work hard to get at least a 162... or should I quit while I am 'ahead'?

I'm ready for the blows.

Hello everyone! Quick question:

I've been thinking long and hard about my personal statement and I've decided that I can write the most enthusiastic paper about a poker experience that I have had. I believe that this is a great story and would really catch the attention of perspective admissions staff. However, I am concerned that the subject matter may be viewed negatively, as poker / gambling can come with a stigma.

What do you all think about this?

Hello all! I was just wondering if anyone knows if any of the more extensive admissions courses on 7Sage (like the editing options) would be applicable to people only applying to Canadian schools?

Thanks!!

Hi guys,

It was just as I has predicted. I have a Below Average evaluation. That is tantamount to a D.

I seriously need some opinion/advice on whether or not to apply to law school at all even if I get a good LSAT score.

A D evaluation will be regarded as not passing by law schools, so I think my application will go to the bin regardless of LSAT scores.

I am targeting T3/4 law schools, but those won't be possible and might be a long shot.

Advice much needed.

Hi all,

I'm in a bit of a conundrum. I will preface this post by saying for most of my life race/ethnicity was not a big part of my identity, nor did I really research or probe my parents about my ancestry. My parents are both from the Philippines, so naturally in Undergrad admissions I merely put "Asian" as my race.

However, throughout college my ethnic background and ancestry has become more important to me. In fact, my personal statement will be about how my family's immigrant history pushed me to pursue law.

I found out that my ethnic background isn't just purely Filipino. I always sort of knew this, my dad doesn't look Filipino at all and my mom is more pale-skinned.

My dad is what Filipinos call a "mestizo-pinoy" - 1/2 Spanish (from Spain), 1/2 Filipino. My mom is 1/2 Chinese, 1/2 Filipino.

I mean my dad literally gets mistaken for purely Hispanic (he has really really curly hair and pale white skin). Our mixed genetics has made all my brothers look very different - one looks Mexican, one like a Hapa, one like an Italian, and then me - the most Chinese looking one.

To mark my application as just Asian - Filipino/Chinese feels wrong. It's not an accurate portrayal of what my ethnicity really is, nor is it what I identify as.

But how do I mark "Spanish?" Caucasian? Hispanic? Also, while the U.S. Census Bureau's understanding of the definition of "Hispanic" is those Latin American countries or other countries that speak Spanish, others define it as those countries that were colonized by Spain and had resulting Spanish influence. The Philippines, a country that was colonized by the Spaniards, has pretty evident Spanish influence (a high level of Catholocism, the food, even people's names (dad's name is Alberto, mom's is Trinidad (Spanish for Trinity)), and is grouped in as being a Hispanic nation according to non-Census standards.

Because of that, I personally identify as having come from a Hispanic country, but this is currently incongruous with the U.S. Census Bureau's definition.

If it were up to what I personally identify as, I would 100% put Hispanic. However, I'm worried this will look disingenuous to the admission's officers or the LSAC in general. I'm contemplating sending an e-mail directly to the LSAC to lay all my cards on the table and get a decision with some finality.

But what do you all think? What should I mark my ethnicity as? Especially mentors/people working for 7Sage. I could really use the advice!

Thanks in advance.

Hello 7sagers - good luck to those taking the upcoming September LSAT! I'm having some trouble coming up with a personal statement topic. Does talking about my college athletic career and the characteristics/traits its developed in me an overused topic? I've thought about taking the angle of how I went into college with an idea of how my career would turn out, how it didn't, and what I learned from that and how it lead me to pursue a legal career. Thoughts?

How can we pit schools against one another? I am working under the assumption that if I applied to school X with a GPA/LSAT higher than their medium and I applied to no other schools, then I would receive less scholarship money (generally speaking) than if I applied to schools which School X competes with and was accepted to those competitor schools.

Maybe that assumption is wrong. Please let me know.

But assuming that it is right, how should we choose those other schools to apply to? Regionally? USNWR rank adjacent?

@"David.Busis" perhaps this is covered in one of the admissions courses. I am focused on my LSAT so have not ventured much into that world.

I have deferred taking the exam a couple of times now and I just have to bite the bullet and take it in September. However, I am making progress and I feel like I could get the score I want by December. I know that everyone says that you shouldn't take the test until you're ready, but I've wasted so much money and I think putting it off again will mess with my head space. My plan is to take the test in September, apply to the schools within my range, and then if need be, take it again in December and apply to my reach schools with the (hopefully) better score added to my application. Does LSAC allow this? Please don't tell me to just wait until December, my parents will kill me if I put it off AGAIN!

How important is club leadership position in applying to law school and resumes? For such a long time I have heard how it is able to boost your resume or application, but how much so?

Hey so I'm curious if it matters if the LOR's are from a TA or professor? does it look bad if you have one written by a community college professor (I am a transfer student) and another one from a TA at a University.

I'm aiming to take the test between December and June 2018 so won't be applying until end of next year most likely. I have a few work trips coming up next month to cities where schools I am interested in are located. Is it too early to do a school visit since I'll be in town? I was once told not to visit a school until you've completed your LSAT and you're ready to apply. Is this a rule or am I just overthinking? I'd love to visit any school I'm interested in in order to make an informed decision and many are in cities that are far from where I live. If I have an opportunity for a free trip from my company, I'd like to take advantage of it.

Hello, everyone!

I wanted to hear opinions and gather data on weighing the costs and benefits of applying to law school after fall semester (early December at my university) with a higher GPA compared to applying much earlier in the application cycle (Late September/Early October) with one's existing GPA.

For context, I'm currently in the 75th percentile for LSAT, and between the 25th and 75th percentiles for GPA at most of the schools to which I'm applying. If all goes well, my GPA will rise by .03 after Autumn semester grades are applied to cumulatives. Obviously .03 wouldn't matter much if I was already well above or well below the inner GPA quartiles, but being inside of it, how does the potential GPA boost stack up against the drawbacks from a later application?

I've seen those statistics that try to equate additional units of GPA with additional chance of admission, but my hunch is that those are more correlative and based on averages whereas incremental GPA increases aren't nearly as distinguishing as other soft factors.

Does it vary by program? Would T6 schools treat it differently than T14 or T50 or T100?

I'd love to hear input for all contexts of the question :) Thanks!

Hey guys,

I was just going through the admissions package on 7sage and came across the resume portion. I am applying to Canadian law schools and was wondering if the applications require a resume? I did create one but not sure if I even need one.

I didn't see anything about a resume on any of the law schools admission requirements or maybe I just missed it entirely. I know 7sage discusses that American law schools do require one..

Thanks in advance!

So I am applying to law schools early (September/October) and my target school has interviews for an honors program that I am applying to. I have tried googling possible questions that they may ask but I get mostly examples for post-law interviews. I assume that many of the questions will be similar to the ones asked during post-law job interviews minus the obvious law school performance ones. Do you know what sort of questions may be asked? I don't have any shortcomings on my profile and I am not aware if it a group interview or with one person.

Hey 7Sagers!

Bringing up a touchy subject here, but I have been told to stay away from PS that talk about how to change the injustice/horrible world through law (in your PS). Does the same apply if you have personally gone through tough circumstances, poverty, or grew up in a country with such?

Further, I have been looking at many example essays (both admitted and rejected students) and it seems to me like many of the ADMITTED students talk about "securing rights and liberties for disadvantaged individuals" or "changing the world through law" aka making the world a better place. Now I realize there are a lot of different factors that can cause these individuals to be accepted, but nonetheless I couldn't help but notice a trend of these essays being admitted, when people are told to stay away from them...

Thoughts?

Let me preface this by saying, I am a minority. The purpose of this is in reference to an article I read a couple days ago regarding affirmative action in higher education admissions (not trying to ruffle any political feathers...but if you want to read the article, I attached the link at the bottom).

As a minority, is it true that admission officers prefer certain sub-sects of minorities over others? For example, do they prefer Filipino applicants over Chinese applicants, or Mexican-Americans over Cuban-Americans (as referenced in the article)? And in the case of Asian minorities (hint: I'm Asian), does it help to specify what type of Asian you are, if it will indeed be preferred by the school?

From what I've been reading, it basically doesn't give you any advantage to say that you're simply Asian, but I'm wondering if it actually does help if you specify what type of Asian. Anyone have any experience with this?

Article: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/450088/sessions-investigates-racial-discrimination-affirmative-action-college-admission

Hey 7sagers,

I think it's time for me to ask for some LORS. I understand that most law schools require academic, but what does this actually mean? I have had mainly sessional professors and I did not have a lot of contact with them. I have four professors in mind right now.

One is a professor who I have had a close relationship with, however I did not receive in an A in the class. I am not sure if it is a good idea to ask her.

As for another professor, I have had him teach me one class but he did say that he would love to give me a reference letter. Nonetheless, I went to his officer hours, and I've met him outside of class for dinner with other students as well.

Recently, I took only one class and I did receive an A from the professor and he does know who I am but I did not have a lot of contact with him as he did not really respond to any student's emails. He didn't even attend office hours. Though, I do believe he would give me a good reference letter since he did like me as a student in his class. I did exceptionally well in the class.

Lastly, this professor taught me two classes where she was my TA for one class, and a professor for my other class. She knows me fairly well, however I have not had any contact with her ever since my last class (which was a semester or two ago). The class I had with her was super interactive so she does know me pretty well. Plus I did really well in her class!

Basically, I have done pretty well in their classes but I am not sure how to approach these professors and what LORS are really looking for. I have always been a student that sits in class, engages in the class, and gets A's but I haven't had A LOT of contact with my professors. I am basically a student who aims to do exceptionally well in classes but I didn't have a close relationship with my professors.. which I probably should have now that I am applying for law school.

Not sure how I should email them and what I should include in my email that I am sending to them.

Also, is it recommended to email the same reference letter across schools since some of them ask for only two whereas some ask for 3?

Sorry in my advance if I made this confusing to understand. Just a little stressed since applications are coming up!

Hey guys!

So I am going to begin writing up my personal statements, however I have no idea where to start. I am applying to Canadian law schools and I am not sure how to start writing especially if applications are not yet open.

I understand that each law school usually has a different personal statement topic but they are all similar to some extent... Any suggestions on where to find specific topics and how to get started? I also don't want to spend any money on the personal statement bundle.. What have been some past topics?

Thanks in advance!

Hi 7sagers,

I am a few years out of UG and finally ready to apply to law school (hoping for fall 2018 start). My UG institution submitted my transcript the other day, and I payed for the CAS earlier this morning to get the ball rolling. I'm a little confused about my LSAC GPA and transcript. During my junior year, I studied outside of the Untied States from August to June. Although my UG grades are not calculated with the study abroad grades, they are listed under the category of "TRANSFER CREDIT ACCEPTED BY THE INSTITUTION" with the credit information and alphabetical grade listed next to each class. For example, Economic Development is listed with 1.00 and T A-. The T denotes that it is a transfer credit. Since this was a year's worth of study it's a significant amount of credit...

Now, when I got to my Academic Summary Report on LSAC, the LSAC GPA is calculated using my other three years of UG, not the year I spent abroad. The year I spent abroad isn't even listed in the yearly row at the top of the report. Even though my total credits add up to the right amount, it looks like I wasn't doing anything for an entire year. I called LSAC earlier today, but they weren't very helpful. They said LSAC will only calculate things in your GPA if the courses were taken at U.S. institutions or a foreign institution on one of the list of approved schools.

Is this something I should consider writing a short addendum so admissions know I wasn't sitting around for a year doing nothing? Anything else I can do?

This might be a stretch…but do any of you know of a guide of sorts to the T14 (and maybe beyond)?

Hey everyone,

I know i'm still studying like a mad-man for the LSAT, but I want to get my ducks in a row regardless of if i'm taking the September or December. As of today i've had four LOR offers from various people and I'm not quite sure who exactly I should take since I believe the typical amount is 3. I've heard four is overkill, but please correct me if i'm wrong!

Head of my major - I took his course and was the only person to receive an A in his class. I routinely went to office hours and he had me organize review groups before exams to help those who were struggling. I have a great relationship with him and he's even offered to proof my applications and personal statements.

Congressman - I am a summer intern for this Congressman who i've had a great experience with. There is a good handful of us who are interns, but I routinely get pulled to attend exclusive meetings/summits/interviews/roundtables/etc by him. I know the LOR would be a solid one, as he has told me himself that he would love to write one for me for law school.

Senator - I was a fall intern for this Senator who has remained in touch. This was another incredible experience from start to finish. She has well offered to write me a LOR due to the extra hours I always put in and flexibility in rather crazy situations. This woman threw me a surprise birthday party to put this into perspective.

PHD Professor - This professor was an amazing class with an even more amazing professor. She was incredibly kind, informative and helpful. She always took the time to send me detailed notes on my work and offered at the end of the semester to write a LOR for getting an A in her course. She's the youngest tenure professor in my major.

I've heard academic is always a better option but I feel all four would be excellent LORs that I'm lucky to have. What should I do? Who should I turn away? Should I take them all? I also still have two more semesters to get LORs if need be and I have a couple of tentative offers as well if you guys think these aren't a good fit.

Thank you so much!