Hi!

I'm new here and am considering purchasing a full course for 7sage. A few years back while in undergrad, I took PowerScore's in-person LSAT course. Admittedly, I was not sold on law school at that point in time and did not make the most of the in-class time. Apologies in advance, this is a mish-mash post of someone looking for some thoughts/advice.

Now, nearly two years out of undergrad, I'm looking at applying in the 2018-2019 admissions cycle for a Fall 2019 start date. I took my first timed LSAT in over two years and scored a 163 (December 2010, as I had taken the June 2007 LSAT previously; -5 rc, -4 lr, -7 lg, -9 lr). I felt generally good about the test, which I took at a noisy cafe/deal with distractions while timed. I hesitate in calling this a diagnostic score, as I recognize I did technically take a course. But, 2 years later, it feels like I'm restarting the process.

I'm looking at taking the June LSAT with the goal of around 169-172+ as a final score. Does that seem feasible? Thoughts on using 7Sage given my diagnostic score breakdown? I currently do advanced analytics for a large retail company through a global ad agency, so I suspect my reading comprehension is a bit off given how little reading I do on the day-to-day.

Undergrad was in International Affairs/Journalism and I received a BA w/ Honors (3.79 GPA) and led University government for a year. I took several graduate-level courses in undergrad and held internships/jobs throughout (legal internship under Federal Judge in NYC, paralegal intern at a class-action litigation non-profit, intern at US Mission to the United Nations, global strategy intern and part-time consultant at a global advocacy non-profit for young people). I also received some distinguished awards (student leader award out of all University students, inclusive of graduate students and humanitarian award upon graduation). I worked my first full-time job for 1.5 years at an LGBT non-profit developing health campaigns for NYSDOH and, as mentioned, now conduct advanced analytics for a leading advertising agency in NYC. I'm on a young professionals board for a legal non-profit outside of work and lead LGBT volunteer events at the agency I work for in the city.

I have quite a mixed background, all of which have been tests helping me decipher whether legal practice is where I feel I can contribute most to the world, and I'm now decided that it is. So, here I go.. Taking the LSAT for real.

Thoughts on my ability to get up to a 169-172 given my 'diagnostic'? Thoughts on my getting into a top law school (wanting to get into NYU or Columbia and dreaming of Harvard or Yale) given my background?

Thanks in advance for all of your help.

I was accepted to Harvard this morning!!!!! I couldn't have accomplished this without the awesome community at 7Sage and without JY's fantastic guidance. Thank you :)

Hi all,

In your experience, do all schools with a status checker switch your application status to 'under review' or something similar before sending you an admissions decision? Or do some simply mark your application complete and then eventually send you their decision?

Just trying to brace myself for who I might expect to hear back from soon.

Okay, so there are a lot of posts about this out there. But it's really, really, really true. I know how hard the LSAT grind is and how much it sucks and how much you want it to be over, over, over. I was there too. I was devastated when I got my score back from the June 2017 LSAT and it was not the score I wanted. It could have gotten me into a good school, but my dream is/was NYU and it wasn't going to get me in at NYU. Not with any shot at money, at least, and because I want to go into public interest, I need a shot at money. So I buckled down, studied for 2 more months, and I blew it out of the water in September.

Let me tell you, I started out not being able to do a single game. I would MAYBE get the first question when you could brute force it. Other than that, everything was a total mystery and I did not think I'd ever be able to solve the games, let alone get a perfect score in the games.

This test is so beatable, but you HAVE to put the work in. I started studying in June 2016, with a 156. I was finally done with it in September 2017, with a 174. If I can do it, so can you, and so can anyone. This community, the forum and the explanations are invaluable and I credit them with so much of my success. I am happy to share any tips, though I don't think I have anything revolutionary to share.

Cheers.

LSAC just sent me a letter in the mail saying they made a mistake on my academic record and my GPA should be lower... This is annoying but in theory fine, since my LSAC calculated GPA gave me quite a bump. Still, in the new letter they listed my undergraduate GPA as .01 lower than what it actually is, so I want to make sure they're not penalizing me unnecessarily. Just sent them an email and got an auto-response saying it will take days to respond because of high email volume--- anyone else have experience emailing/calling them to fix some sort of error? Should I have my college's registrar office reach out? They're going to email all my law schools an update so I want to fix it ASAP.

Hi everyone,

I just received notification from Emory stating that my application has been deferred for consideration through the regular decision process. The email was very concise and did not include information on how to update or add to my application. It's also too late for me to take the February LSAT. Any recommendations on how best to proceed?

Thank you!!!

I've had to email admissions about a couple of things, and I'm not sure how to address the people who respond. When it's not a Dean (say, "admissions officer"), do you reply with first name? Ms/Mr? My job is so crazy casual that I think I've lost judgment on what's appropriate haha.

After a long process, a school I attended in 1996 is removing 2 grades of "E" and making them a regular withdrawal. I am ready to send in all applications today but thinking that might be a bad decision since LSAC takes about 3 weeks to process transcripts. My question is (which LSAC hasn't answered) will the schools I have already applied to receive an updated transcript? Should I warn them via email that a new gpa is coming? It's a big difference (3.2 vs 3.48) so I am afraid of receiving a denial based on current gpa before the new one arrives but also considering it is so late in the cycle. Any advice out there?

7 sagers or other experts...

Please help. I just received this email from one of the law schools I've applied to last month. I don't know what this means?

It's the first update I've heard back from a law school I've applied to.

The email said "this is a normal step" and "not a wait list" ?

What does this mean exactly? IF it's not a wait list, what is it exactly? Isn't being placed on "Hold" mean wait list? Why a second review? Please help!

"Your application for admission has been reviewed, however, a final decision cannot be made at this time. Your application has been placed on "Hold" pending a second review. This is a normal step in our process and not a Wait List.

Due to the number of worthy applications we receive each year, decisions do not always come easily. Your application will be re-evaluated at a later date for a decision. We will keep you posted on your status.

We appreciate your patience and the time you took to apply. You may continue to monitor the status of your application by logging on to our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office."

Anyone up for a quick read of my personal statement? Also happy to swap if anyone else needs some comments!

Okay so I’m stuck on what to do here.

Situation: one of my transcripts is getting updated and removing credit hours (but leaving the grades) for 20+ units of failed, and dropped, classes.

I have already applied to 16 schools.

What do I do? Do I call all 16 schools? Will this change my gpa? What does this even mean?

Is it worth pushing or should I leave the cards on the table as they are?

Bleh I don’t even understand what is happening! And I don’t know what to do...

I just did my kira interview for UT and cornell and I feel like a fell short on the video questions. I was wondering if sending a thank you for the opportunity/I could do better email would be a bad idea?

Hi all, (if this has already been answered please point me in the right direction), how do the T-14 schools notify applicants of admission decisions? Anyone with specific knowledge chime in and I can get a list going!

Hi All!

Hope you're doing well. I'm planning on submitting Feb 1st, and have tried to scrounge together a decent personal statement by next week! Any chance that any of you will have some time to take a look at it? Would be happy to send over PM! Also happy to do a PS Swap!! Thank you.

I tried researching this online but couldn't really find any answers --- I recently discovered that my CMO went to my dream school for undergrad. When I begin applying after taking the LSAT, I was not planning on asking my current employer for recommendations since I didn't want to let them know I was leaving for Law School until I was certain I got into a school. My question is - does having a good LOR from someone that went to the school you're applying to really give you a strong leg up? If it does, I will consider asking him for one even though I hadn't planned on cluing my employer in that early. But I don't think I'd want to if it didn't help get me in.

Side notes:

Hi everyone,

I sent in my applications a couple weeks ago but I have a question/concern that I am sort of freaking out about. I have gotten a few parking citations from the parking patrol at my university for parking without a pass. Was I supposed to include that in my applications? I did not because I assumed those questions were meant for more serious issues like academic suspension/probation etc. Let me know if any of you have any experience with this - I am stressing out!!!

Hi all-

So I am active duty military, and applying to law school for JAG. Having been active duty for several years, I've collected some not-so-small tattoos, including a half sleeve and one on my calf. While visible tattoos are part of military culture, I understand that they can still be taboo in the law community. It was never something I considered being a possible hindrance until I decided to go to law school. I covered them for an interview today, but I was wondering if anyone has any input on:

Whether having visible tattoos at law school interviews, or wearing for example, a short sleeve shirt to class that shows my tattoo work would have consequences?

If I choose to leave the military and work as a civilian lawyer, how this would be viewed? As a woman, would I be able to wear a pantsuit vice a skirt suit to make it easier? I'm assuming its dependent on the firm (big law being more conservative, non-profit law less so, etc).

Basically, how screwed am I if I get out of the military and want to practice law? :)

Hi all, with a ( 3.0 GPA / )170 LSAT can I reasonably think about schools in the latter half of the T15 (#7-15) range? Or are those "reaches"? If they're reaches, where would my "targets" be?

Thanks in advance for your input, I really appreciate the noticeably kinder demeanor from this community in comparison with other Pre-Law forums on the internet...

Got the email today!!! WUSTL was my first choice too!!! Comes a week after my interview!

I want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone on this forum for all the encouragement and all the wisdom!

Good luck to those who have yet to take the LSAT, those who have applied, and those who know where they are going to school!

Okay so I did the 7Sage LSAT course and got fairly close to the score I wanted on the LSAT. I had 2 addenda (yes I made mistakes) but got the call a few months ago that I GOT IN!!!

anyways, do you think a 1L prep course is worth it? Should we learn a little background before we start this fall?

On UVA's application there is a section titled Activities & Interests as I am sure many people know. I know what I want to put for my answers to each question in the section, but I'm confused as to how I should format my answer for the first box. I originally just made a bulleted list type format for all of my significant extra-curriculars, but when I reviewed my application it all just comes out as a cluttered blob of a paragraph. Does anyone have any idea how to properly format the answer in this section? Or should I just assume that UVA admissions knows that my list is going to come out as a cluttered blob?

Here's an example of my formatting vs how it comes out in the preview:

XX Student Affairs Senate, XX, XX

Elected Student Senator, Academic Affairs Committee, 5 hours/week 8/2015–12/2015

• Helped conduct student review of changes in university admission standards.

XX Model UN Team, XX, XX

Team Member, 3 hours/week 8/2015–12/2015

• Represented XX at the American Model United Nations Conference in Chicago, IL.

vs

XX Student Affairs Senate, Lincoln, XX Elected Student Senator, Academic Affairs Committee, 5 hours/week

8/2015-12/2015 Worked on student legislation, allocation of budgets, and coordination of campus events. Helped conduct student review of changes in university admission standards. XX Model UN Team, XX, XX Team Member, 3 hours/week 8/2015-12/2015 Represented XX at the American Model United Nations Conference in Chicago, IL.

For all of you mortified at the thought of delaying a cycle because you're nearing your social security collection, go out and ask a friend what the business school average age is. You're welcome.

So I think that taking a year off will increase my chances of admission (one more year of grades to boost GPA).

Should I just wait to apply? Does it hurt my chances if I get rejected this year and re-apply next year??

Also, if I were to get accepted to a school, decide to take the year off then re-apply, does that hurt my chances of re-admission?? Thanks!!

So my first rejection was from a safety school. I am a little bit confused by the fact that I got rejected from Boston College Law. I mean, thank God I already got into 2 better ranked schools already (one being a top 14 school. Still waiting to hear back from 11 more schools). However, my stats are quite a bit above BC Law's median and my personal statement/resume are decently competitive. If they were trying to yield protect me, wouldn't they just waitlist me? Anyone else have any insight into this? I mean, I was never planning on attending BC Law but it is confusing...

About a year ago (a bit longer) I got fired from my second job out of college. Is worked at this job for 3 months then got terminated. Does anyone have helpful advice on how to acknowledge this on a CF essay? Or links to examples?