Okay, so I am torn. My PS is really well written (not to toot my own horn), but anyways, Pepperdine has an optional response about your passion. I wrote a draft and its not as well written. I'm wondering how important is it to submit one?

My stats puts me at a 50% with Pepperdine, but the optional response directions say, "You are in no way disadvantaged should you choose not to exercise the option of selecting ONE of the four prompts..."

What would you guys do?

Does anyone know if the law schools you apply to can see the picture you loaded up for the LSAT? Mine is fine, but I wore glasses in the picture because I wore them to take the test, but normally I have contacts in so I look quite a bit different in said picture. I really hate taking my picture, but should I take a new one nonetheless and load it up to look more like me? Can the admission teams even see it? I emailed LSAC, but got a reply that it may take seven days to respond. In the grand scheme, I know this is a lame question, but I want everything in my application to be just so. Thanks!

I got invited to GULC's group interview. For those of you who went through the interview process:

I am looking for tips on re-applying to the same school I applied to last year but got rejected. I took the LSAT and improved my score by 5 points. Should I submit the same personal statement as previous time? Fix the same one? or Submit a brand new personal statement? Or should I just submit an addendum explaining how I increased my LSAT score and leave the personal statement same as the previous time I applied. Also, should I submit the same LOR’s or get new ones? Thanks for any and all tips!

On your law school app, not the CAS report, under the education section where you list ALL the institutions, do you have to fill out GPA and class rank? I went to 2 community colleges, one extension program, and a UC. I honestly don't remember individual GPAs...or even class rank, so I have been leaving them blank.

I still fill in the institution my major, and what else. I just didn't think I needed to because they get my CAS report, and I don't want to guess wrong on the app. Let me know what you guys think!

I'm not exactly sure how to go about drafting a personal statement. I'm applying to ND, and their application states that I should provide insight about myself and about why I'm interested in pursuing a legal education... But beyond that, I'm stumped. I've overcome adversity in a number of ways; I definitely plan to write about this because I feel it'll set me apart from my peers in a positive way. What else might I touch upon?

Since as long as I can remember, I've ALWAYS had a fascination with the law. I went through undergrad thinking I'd begin a career in law enforcement, but as I progressed through my undergraduate years my interests shifted more and more toward working in the legal field in more of a "white collar" type of atmosphere. After branching out, doing my research, speaking with a few lawyers that I knew relatively well, I decided to pursue a legal education.

I do plan to mention all of this in my personal statement. However, I believe that my personal statement will still be pretty skeletal beyond touching upon that and my section on overcoming adversity.

Thoughts?

Prompt: "If there is any information you would like to bring to the Committee's attention that has not been covered in the application or your personal essay, you are welcome to do so by attaching a separate statement. You can include information about your family background, reasons for a weak semester in college, or any other information that you feel should be considered when your application is reviewed."

I understand the first portions of of the prompt for diversity, background, and academic record but if I have done other additional essays, in my case adversities and achievements in my elected office bid, should I include it or not? For context my personal statement talks about my career and my motivations for going to law school, but doesn't address adversity or achievement within the campaign itself.

I was wondering if anyone would be interested in reading my Diveristy Statement and giving me some feedback? I'm happy to do the same.

My PS is all about being a minority. You read it, and you know I'm an URM.

So do I need to write a diversity statement? The only topic I was thinking about writing was being a first generation American, but the statement I came up with, ends up with the same message or goal (I want to represent my minority community in the legal world). What do y'all think?

So I am working on my optional essay for Stanford and have a dilemma. One of the questions I want to answer is;

Option A -

Now, I can instantly think of a character that I've connected to for years. I read the book every year because I love it so much. It is by my favorite author, and I love everything about it. The problem is I fear the book might be too obscure. I feel like not enough people would have read it, and I'm worried the admissions team might not gain anything from it because they don't know enough about the character. I understand this is where my writing comes in. I have to show them who the character is, and how I associate with him in 250 words, but is it a risk?

Option B-

I could also write the essay about a well know character, but I feel like it loses some power because I'm being "less honest" with how I associate with the character. The admissions team would know the character for sure, but I don't feel the same connection to these other characters and feel like my essay would lose that earnestness.

I think option A is my best bet, but what do you think?

I only have one publication, but definitely want to include it because it was the featured cover article (and am kind of lacking in other resume areas). Should I include this under my Education section? Or make a separate section? Thanks for any thoughts!

I know the general advice for a personal statement, and essays in general, is to avoid quotes. When writng my diversity statement should I continue to do so?

I was a Marine, and us Marines really like to toot our own horns. Every Marine knows the famous quotes about our branch of the military. It's a part of our 242 year history. There is one quote in particular I'd like to use in the essay, but I am hesitant to do so. Is it appropriate?

Wrote my top 10 goals for 2018. Thoughts?

Anybody who wants to go into public interest law want another set of eyes tomorrow on your PS for free? I work part-time as an editor (not on law school apps, but also just submitted my own law school apps) and have some free time tomorrow. If yes, DM me! :)

I want to prioritize folks of color, and/or folks raised poor or working class and/or queer or trans people.

Solidarity, Kay (3(/p)

Hey y'all! I'm writing an addendum for my LSAT score--would anyone be willing to take a quick look at it? I can DM it to you! Thanks so much in advance 7Sage community:)

For people who received acceptances already, did you also receive merit scholarship offers before FAFSA

So I am applying to Seattle University School of Law as a part of a 3+3 program. I was hoping for a 150 when I took the test but I got a 145. The LSAT score in the 25% percentile is a 151. However, I have about a 3.6 GPA which is a little bit above the 75th percentile. I am familiar with the admissions office folks and I am hoping that I can apply and get accepted. I am also a Indian and Muslim Student, while I know that South Asians are not considered URM typically, I think I might be considered a URM at SU. When I spoke to the Dean of Admissions she told us that for the 3+3 applicants the most important thing was our GPA but she did mention that we should talk to them if we get a 145 in passing which is making me nervous. Does anyone have advice for me? Or is anyone familiar with Seattle University School of Law?

So I am currently debating whether or not to use the 7sage one time editing package for an edit of my personal statement. My dilemma is coming from the questions on the Yale app regarding whether or not you've used an admissions service for help on anything. Dean Asha's post about this on her blog seems to indicate that using a service could negatively impact your application. Given that I'm a splitter for Yale (178, 3.67 cum GPA) and that Yale is such a blackbox anyways, I'm pretty conflicted on what to do. I was pretty set on it before I read that part of the application. On the one hand, I know I'm an extreme long shot at Yale to begin with. Everyone is no matter what their scores/gpa are, so the edit might not help there but it could on other applications. Making a decision about an integral part of my application because a concern about just Yale seems a little ridiculous. On the other hand, I'm worried that what chance I do have at Yale will be hurt by using such a service. And Yale is just the dream for so many reasons. Anyone have any advice on this? It's a needy question, so my apologies in advance.

So I have finished both of my Stanford optional essays, but I've been thinking about changing one of the songs I picked. The original one I picked is pretty cliche and while it sends the message I want it to, I will bet they have had the same song submitted hundreds of times before.

I was thinking of new songs to switch it to but once again I am struggling. My primary choice of music I can almost guarantee the admissions committee does not listen to. (It might even scare them...I'll never understand why.) Music is all about interpretation and I have gained countless amounts of inspiration and motivation from some of the hardest metal songs.

So this is along the same lines as my question yesterday, but it is much less clear.

Do I stick to softball music that everyone can appreciate? Or do I show them who I am and send some hard metal Stanfords way? haha

(These questions are actually quite fun, and I am enjoying them!!)

Anyone willing to swap PS or just go hard on mine and make me cry?

Thanks

Hi friends - now that I finally have an official LSAT score, the fee waivers are rolling in and I think my head is getting jumbled up haha. I know that getting fee waivers doesn't really mean anything, but I can feel that it's making me re-think my plans. I thought I'd ask for advice on which schools I should be applying to from the upper ranges (my safeties and mid-range are all set).

Stats: 168 / 3.85

Softs: not much to brag about... 11 years work experience (obv, non-traditional) in entertainment industry, 2 years of that as a legal assistant. Should have good LORs.

Goals: very interested in PI/government. Very debt averse - need big scholarships. Prefer more collegial than competitive. Ultimately would like to live/work anywhere on the west coast or Chicago, maybe DC. I'm a delicate flower from the pacific NW so southern heat/humidity is a nightmare to me and would like to avoid it haha. There are great schools in the south though, so that's tough.

From about #20 and up, I'm planning on applying to USC, UCLA and Northwestern, and just recently decided to apply WUSTL too. I'm thinking maybe Iowa because they give out money hand over fist, but not sure if I'm really interested in attending there. Anyone else I should be more open to considering? Berkeley, Cornell, and BU are on my maybes.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

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.

Hello All!

I am seeking out anybody who has done more research than I have on schools and esp if you are a minority. So stats first my highest LSAT is a 159 and my LSAC GPA is a 3.23... I know this seems rather low compared to many of you guys on this site but I can't do more about it, hoping my community experience and diversity will help out a bit...

I'm first generation Mex-American and first generation college student interested and have worked in public interest law. I'm mostly applying to schools in CA but anything above the top 40 seems pretty out of reach for me with my low GPA and within the median LSAT score. Wondering if you guys know of any schools that are more open to diversity or resources to look this up?

Also for scholarships, I thought there would be a lot more external ones for minorities but I have only found 1 through the hispanic scholarship fund (for entering students at least). A lot of them seem to be targeted for current law students (1L, 2L) and the schools also offer merit ones right when you apply so you don't need a separate application. I have searched within my city and found a couple I am applying to but being minority isn't a requirement.

Any advice is welcome, thank you!

-Steph

If you're accepted, waitlisted, or denied at a certain school and you apply to law schools again the next cycle, do law schools view the applicant in a bad-ish light? does it depend on whether you were accepted/rejected the previous cycle? I've read some anecdotal success stories on TLS and on 7sage forums, but I wanted to get more general facts on what it's like to reapply.

And I'd imagine that it's definitely recommended or required for you to send in a brand new personal statement?

Do you also need to send in new recommendation letters or can you reuse the ones you had sent in a previous cycle?

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