Hello!

Just a quick question: Following my undergrad graduation in 2015, I took 3 online economics classes from a local community college in order to fulfill prerequisites for a master's program I was planning on applying to. I ended up changing my mind and didn't apply, but I was wondering if I am required to have the community college send those transcripts into the LSAC? From what I understand only the undergraduate level work that you completed before receiving your degree is calculated in your GPA..

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice. I'm a non-traditional student who has wide variety of life experience. I'm having a tough time narrowing down a personal statement category. Here's the run down:

I'm 39

Graduated with my undergrad when I was 35. I bounced around different schools one was an upward transfer; the others were to satisfy vocational courses. I was able to finish my degree from the University of Colorado online when I was 35 while living in LA.

I moved to LA because I was (to some degree) still a stand up comic. Now I feel compelled to go to law school. I don't really want to draw attention to stand up, cause I probably said something stupid online at some point and I don't want that to hinder me. I've cleaned up social media pretty much, but still.

I'm an expert witness. I've testified several times in CA Worker's Comp courts regarding the value liens. I help attorneys and sometimes appear as a hearing rep in helping litigate work comp medical liens.

My dad was a felon. I don't want to play that card, but I do understand that hardships can be "inspiring."

I really feel like I have to explain why my transcripts are so incredibly ADD. My GPA is pretty good minus the first year and a half after high school. If I calculate it right, it should be a 3.7 and a graduated with honors. Should I do this as an addendum?

Hi

should I use past or present tense to describe my current job in resume?

Also, should I include hours per week? I did include them but they seem to clutter the page a little so I am considering removing them and keep the page as clean as possible.

Thanks! :)

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?

Hey everyone! Happy first day of applications!!

I just had a thirty second question about my C&F Addendum. Specifically, what length, in general, should an addendum be? I know that the answer to this will vary based on the situation, but for a simple underage drinking violation in undergrad I was curious about how many words would hit the sweet spot of informative, yet concise.

Excited to hear your thoughts!

Thanks!

Hello Everyone,

So I am studying for the December LSAT in addition to trying to get the components of my law school application together. How exactly does the electronic application process work? Because I thought law schools do not get your application until said application is complete, but apparently you can send parts of your law school application in early and have the law schools wait on the score. Which is it?

Hi everyone,

My school's pre-law advisor just sent out a link to sign up for Georgetown Law group interviews. I'm not sure if I should just sign up now to express interest or wait to see if they send an individual invitation.

Does Georgetown only offer one or the other? Or could I do both a group interview and an individual interview? Also are group interviews recommended or are individual interviews better?

Thanks!

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?

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

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.

I've read through TLS/searched the web and can't seem to find a clear answer on this topic. I was born in Colombia and migrated to the U.S. at 8 yrs old. I'm a first-generation immigrant & first gen college student. Is it true that Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans are the ONLY Hispanic groups considered as URMs? Seems rather strange given Latinos from different countries of origin experience the same immigrant experience. I know it's a touchy subject, but would like to know if I should expect somewhat of a boost or not at all.

Thank you!!

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?

HI all,

I scored a 172 and have a 4.0 from a big state school and I think my lsac gpa will be about a 3.96. I'm trying for yhs admission and was planning on retaking in dec. because I scored a bit below where I was practicing. I'm wondering whether it would be more beneficial to apply early in the cycle and use the dec. test to potentially get off a waitlist, or wait until dec. to submit apps. I think the rest of my application is relatively weak compared to other applicants.

Thanks!

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 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.

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.

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?

Hi!

For people who took the June LSAT and ticked off "yes" for the CRS service on LSAC, have you been getting merit-based fee waiver email notifications from law schools? I heard that the schools find potential candidates via CRS and start sending them fee waivers sometime after the LSAT scores come out.

Thanks!

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!