Backstory: I took multivariable calculus as a junior in high school (yeah I know, I was pretty far ahead), and skipped any math my senior year of high school to do a legal internship instead. By the time I took linear algebra my freshman year of college, it had been well over a year and a half since I had done any math, and even though linear is considered the "easy one" (at least compared to real analysis), it was by far my worst grade in college (a C+), although my grades across the board my freshman fall were pretty mediocre. It also made me remember that I absolutely hated math, and I never took another math course again. Is this something worth writing an addendum for, even though it's just one grade as opposed to say, a personal tragedy that seriously affects somebody's grades across the board for a semester?

Hi all,

I'm planning on applying to most of the T14, and I have already drafted a 2 page PS. Berkeley, however, has a 4 page limit. My pre-law advisor (at my undergrad institution) said that I should just submit a 2 pager (because it's apparently quite strong as is and "less is more").

Do you all agree? Should I keep it as short as possible, or should I fill the space? I would love to get @"David.Busis"' opinion, if possible!!

I'm the kind of person who tends to write a lot in general, but I know that's a habit I'll have to work on in law school. I would think concision is a trait law school admissions committees value, no?

I finally finished my PS and am now getting started on law school apps. So nervous I feel like I'm gonna f*ck up and spell my name wrong or something ridiculous. Anyways where do the 2 classes i'm taking spring 2018 fit in in the application? Do I update it later on when the classes start in January? I'm just taking them to avoid paying off student loans and will take them pass/fail.

Hi Guys,

I got through Columbia ED. It wouldn't have been possible without the help and support of this community. I'd really like to thank everyone who replied to my questions and random rants of despair especially my buddies and study partners. Special thanks to @"Dillon A. Wright" for being accommodating. And most importantly @"David.Busis" and the editorial team who helped me make the best possible application.

Those still preparing for the LSAT, I wish you luck. I hope you crush it and get your dream school.

Hi All,

I really want to add another element of my personality/background to one of my applications. I want the admissions officers to know that their school is genuinely at the top of my list and to express the reasons why, but their application does not offer to many opportunities for expression (meaning they don't offer optional essays or ask for a "Why School X" reason). I vaguely mention in my personal statement why this school appeals to me, but it barely scratches the surface. I'm hesitant to add a Why School X essay as "supplemental information" because that is typically intended for addenda/diversity statements. What do you all think?

Thanks in advance!

One edit:

One edit of an essay or résumé.

You’ll get a comprehensive critique, detail-oriented suggestions, a language edit, and/or a proofread as necessary.

Unlimited edit:

Unlimited editing for a single essay or résumé.

Help with every stage of the writing process.

I'm confused how "one edit" would work...so I might be paying $184 and end up just getting a spellcheck?

Are we supposed to include every single thing we did during our studies in our resume for law school? Mine will end up being around 4 pages long and that seems wayyy too long. Does anyone know? Thanks!

Is anyone else having trouble chopping down your statements? Or have advice on how I can?

Picking a topic, figuring out what to say, and all other facets has been exhausting and excruciating. I finally have something down and it is much too long (a little more than 2 full pages before being double-spaced). I have FOCO (fear of cutting out something that might be great).

When do you guys think, according to data and word-of-mouth, the first wave of acceptances for HLS will be?

Any affordable out of state schools outside the top tier that sometimes go under the radar that I should consider looking into?

I also have a similar question to a thread posted earlier:

I applied with my Sept score and did not mention that I will take the Dec LSAT. The reason being: I am registered but I am not sure if I want to sit for it, so I might withdraw. Some schools have already interviewed me and they made no mention of my December LSAT.

Worst case scenario: If my score goes down will it negatively impact my application??

I know they only report the highest score, but I am looking for some insight to this. Please mention your source too. Sorry, I am skeptical because I have received several different, ambiguous responses to this.

Thoughts?

I have an idea for a personal statement, but I'm not sure if it's a little too personal. To give you guys a better idea, I would tell the general story with all feelings removed to a stranger. However, the things I'd need to write about (aka feelings) are typically reserved for close friends. What I have in mind covers some of the basics; it shaped my world view and I can directly tie it into why I want to be a lawyer. I don't have any other topic ideas. Thoughts?

Hello all,

My first question is about writing an addendum or two. I got an unusually very very low GPA my second semester of freshman year. about .5 below my usual GPA. Should I write an addendum? Also I always took 5 or 6 classes a semester and my GPA is a little lower than it could have been. Is that grounds for an addendum? I also graduated a semester early from University. Will law schools look at that favorably?

Also I have been getting the stock emails from law schools...but a few have been from pretty good schools. I know they send them out to the masses. Even still should this give me hope or should I brush it aside?

I forwarded my transcript to LSAC and they received it. It occurred to me that I should get a copy myself so I can make sure there aren't any errors in it. If I find an error what should i do?

Thanks in advance for your time in answering my questions!

Hi everyone! I've been following the forum but this is the first time I'm posting. I'm not planning on applying until next fall after completing either the June or September LSAT but I was wondering how big of a boost one receives from applying ED? I want to apply ED to Georgetown. I'm also concerned about not getting enough financial aid because the school no longer has the incentive to give it to an ED applicant. Does anyone know if there is that big of a difference between a financial aid package for a regular vs. ED applicant or are these claims exaggerated? Thanks

If you are on the edge when it comes to the median score, would it help if you already had an advanced degree (MBA for example)? I recently got into a few Master's programs for business and was going to wait to see how my December LSAT test score is before I make any decisions. However, would an applicant be better off applying to a top school with already a CPA and MBA. Seems like it probably wouldn't hurt...but not sure how much weight they would put on it. Have to weigh my options between getting the JD now, or waiting a few years while getting an MBA and completing the last two parts of the CPA exam- one year removed from college by the way.

I’ve been working on my personal statement for over a year and all I have are a few shitty rough drafts on different topics which I would be embarrassed to submit. I was a philosophy major at a UC with over a 4.0 in my major and I can’t handle writing a personal statement. Feels like law school just isn’t going to happen.

Hi All,

I applied about three weeks ago and last week I received an email inviting me to interview. I interviewed last week and was wondering if getting a HLS interview is a good sign for my chances of admission?

So, I finally got around to broaching the subject to an admissions dean that I know socially about the GRE vs. LSAT issue. Their school is not taking GRE right now and they said even if they do take it down the road, for the foreseeable future they are really unofficially gonna want to see a high LSAT score and it will "count more" than a high GRE. The GMAT vs GRE example was mentioned. Unofficially, the attitude seems to be to consider why the applicant couldn't or wouldn't do what is needed to do well on the LSAT.

Hey All,

Should I include the same header for my resume that I do my personal statement? (Name, LSAC Number, Résumé)? NYU requests that you include this information for each attachment, so I added the header on my resume for them; however, I’m wondering if I should do that for the other schools as well. It sort of just adds extra clutter onto the page but if this is something schools find helpful or are expecting, I'd like to put it there.

Thanks

Hey folks. I'm planning to apply to Harvard, and I've finished the application and have my letters of recommendation already—two from professors, one from where I worked this summer. One of the letters, however, comes from a professor I've only known for a couple months, but my thesis reader, who I initially thought would be too busy to write me a letter, said that he'd love to write a recommendation, which he would have time to finish by early January. I know his letter will be superlative.

My numbers are not quite there for Harvard—I scored a 170 on the LSAT—so I worry that if I submit now, my letters won't be quite compelling enough to put me over the top. But if I submit later, will it be too late, given that Harvard does rolling admission?

My question here essentially boils down to this: What is the tradeoff between waiting until January and having a much better letter of recommendation vs. applying now with one of my three letters being adequate but not fantastic? How decisive are the letters?

Curious what your thoughts are. What would you do?

YEAH Y'ALL. What are you doing? I am torn between the top 10 list - chance to be funny, but how funny should I be?! - and making a video, which would be fun but even harder to get "right." Any thoughts?

Hey everyone,

I'm a little worried that law schools (in Ontario) will not know that I am writing the LSAT in December. My concern is that they will only look at the score from September and base whatever judgements off of that.

However, I did select my "future test date" on OLSAS... so is this how schools will all know that I will have another score coming in soon?

Thank you so much!

Happy studying :)

Hey guys,

I'm sending in all my applications this week but am retaking in Dec. hoping for a 2-3 pt increase. I'm sitting at a high enough score now that I'd like to have most of the schools go ahead and review my app without waiting for Dec. But many of the apps for those schools ask you to list all your scores, including future ones. I don't want those schools to know I'm taking it again because I'm afraid it'll send the wrong message (I'm already at 172 and retaking again when I'm already above the 75th for most of those schools will make it seem like I'm aiming for HYS etc.) and it'll increase the possibility of them rejecting me due to yield protection. But if I don't list the December test...would that be shady?

I am a little bit out of the box and would love to get as many views on this as possible from folks who are going through the same process as I trying to get apps ready. I am shortly to become a vowed religious in a cloistered Benedictine monastery. I am thinking about writing a diversity statement on this, in part to explain while I won't be doing the normal summer routine of most L1 and L2 students. So, my post grad lawyering will be a non-paid position with a "non-profit." Or, does this go into a short addendum? I don't think it is fitting to get too much into the spiritual aspects of it, because everyone's beliefs are a private matter. I don't want the ad comm members to go blind from rolling their eyes to the back of their head.

As most Canadian applicants have probably heard of before, Canadian GPA conversions from percentages to letter grades are quite different from LSAC's conversion standards. I was wondering if any Canadian applicants here know whether their GPA was calculated based on letter grades or percentages? Thanks! :)