Hey everyone. Just wanted to share a lil' something that may be of some help. I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this, but about 3-4 years ago Kaplan used to conduct a live mock admissions panel in NY. They basically invited admissions officials from four Tier 1 (usually T10) law schools and had them do a live evaluation of transcripts, PS, ECs, etc. of "mock" candidates. They (i.e., the admissions committee) also provided some real handy tips on how to approach writing your PS etc.

I don't believe Kaplan conducts this anymore. They do, however, have recorded versions of the sessions on Livestream.

I personally think it's a great way to get first-hand insight into how law schools evaluate applications, and definitely recommend prospective students to check it out.

Here are the links (each video is about 2 hours long, btw):

Link 1 (schools: Harvard, UVA, Penn and NYU): https://livestream.com/kaptest/the-180-admissions-roundtable/videos/27765588

Link 2 (schools: UVA, BC, GWU and NYU): https://livestream.com/kaptest/lsat-180-live-mock-admissions-panel/videos/60476031

P.S.: You may need to create a free account in order to view the videos.

Hope this helps!

I attended David B's webinar and he suggested we apply to schools in Oct/Nov but is it possible to apply in Sept?

Alright - I've managed to raise my pt scores to the high 150s/low 160s. Trying to consistently score in the mid 160s; I've been scheduled for the June 2017 Lsat for awhile now. My goals are kinda simple - obtain a full ride scholarship offer or highly reduced tuition offer to T2 or T3 state school nearby.

Is it possible to get full ride to let's say Baylor or Texas Tech or Texas A&M law with 3.5 / 161?

(Not willing to move out of State (In Texas) or far away for Law school) - Was really impressed with A&M and Tech.

Some background - I'm making a career change, in my early thirties, I have a BA in Political Science (finished with 3.5 gpa), have four years of land title/curative title/real estate experience. Probably won't have any academic recommendations (almost 10 years removed from College), just work exp. My ultimate goal would be to work as a general practitioner/criminal law attorney in the small city where I live. (Living in somewhat rural Texas)(prefer to keep any future law school debt minimal, hints the full ride question).

Any suggestions, tips or recommendations on how to achieve a conditional full ride?

I'll be studying the LSAT for several months, hopefully getting a high score. I've realized that 4.5 months until September may not be sufficient study time for the score I need. I also know early admission is ideal for splitters, so I may have to wait until 2018 application period for my best chance. (Thoughts? Does Early Admission matter that much?) I take my diagnostic this weekend.

I tanked my GPA at an average school, significantly improving during the last year, but that was obviously not enough to offset the average. (2.2 to be exact) This is a primary reason as to why I put off the idea of going to law school some years after college, aside from my serious concerns about debt and job prospects, but I'm finally going to apply. I'm also seeing if some MPP programs will accept the LSAT, just to maximize my options. (Due to my background experience, I qualify for scholarships and significant discounts for some other programs, including MPP programs.)

Has anyone here succeeded as a splitter with a low GPA?

Any tips for succeeding? I know the gist - addendum, great recommendations, and essay.

Does anyone here have good experiences with T3/T4 schools? (Education and Employment)

Is anyone else applying to such schools?

In my true nature, I've already read and analyzed the shit out of my dim prospects and the looming financial burden, but more advice is always welcome. I'm applying to schools way out my reach, mostly to see what happens. I may not get into any schools, and I know my best chance is with fourth/third tier schools. It seems like many lawyers have good careers after a T3/T4 education here in the MD/DC area. I'm also interested in possibly going back to NYC after school. I'm hoping the networks here would help with that, if I chose that route. Jobs in DC will probably be more accessible. In MD, we only have two schools and neither are top tier, so it seems that most of the attorneys here come from UB or UMD. I've heard that the strong local networks mean good job prospects in the MD/DC area. My idea is that doing well in a lower tier school + networking my bum off = getting a good job in MD or DC, which could provide more opportunities in NYC, if I chose that route.

Sorry for the long post. :)

Help!! A friend and I submitted our apps for a number of t14's almost simultaneously (on the deadline days of Feb. 1, Feb. 15, etc.), sometimes within minutes or hours of each other. She has heard back from some of these schools (and I believe most were rejections, though I'm not 100% certain), but I have not yet heard from those same schools. I have also heard back from a number of t14's (these were rejections) that we both applied to, but she has not. What does this all mean? I know I am driving myself crazy trying to understand this seemingly incomprehensible process, but am wondering if anyone out there might have some insight.

Is the "Cumulative GPA" in the "Summary" box the GPA that law school admissions officers are going to use? It's just SO far off what I estimated it to be using the LSAC's guide to grade summary and 7Sage's calculator. It's much higher than my estimates and it has me worried I'm looking at the wrong thing.

Hi,

I am graduating this May from Emory University and I am debating whether I should stay another semester to improve my GPA for a better chance at T14. I majored in Media Studies (Mass Communications) and will be graduating with 3.78 GPA. I understand that Media Studies is often easily judged as a "soft" and "easy" subject and I was wondering if such "bad reputation" will have an affect on how my GPA is viewed (and if so, how much of an impact it would have). If I do stay, I will be pursuing a sociology minor. I am torn between graduating now and focusing on LSATs to apply this cycle or postponing a year and applying with a stronger GPA and a major and minor. But is the latter choice worth the headache and extra tuition?

Any thought/advice would be extremely helpful! Thanks.

Since we're compelled to report them to the CAS, do Summer School classes factor in to your undergrad GPA even when the Summer classes weren't part of your undergraduate degree?

Example: I earned a BA at University X. I took unrelated summer classes at University Y during the penultimate summer of my BA course. These summer classes contributed nothing towards my BA degree from University X.

Hi,

Was wondering how big of an impact a 3.65 GPA is vs a 3.66 GPA is for Law schools. I'm debating if I should take an extra class to raise my GPA, but I also want to make sure that I can get straight A's, not stress out too much, and study a little for the LSATs when I dont have midterms or finals. I'm kind of wondering what you guys think if taking the extra class is worth the headache?

Im nervous that my past is going to haunt me while pursing law school and taking the bar. I had a minor consumption at 19 and public intox at 21. I had a driving suspended when I was 16 for some insurance problem that I had no idea about. Am I screwed? I am 28 now

.

Hello, all! I've been agonizing over this decision the past few weeks and would like some help deciding which school to attend. My narrowed-down options are:

My family is unable to make any contribution, I don't have a spouse, and my savings are minimal (only a few years out of undergrad). I'll be financing law school on my own. I'm a Texan, but I'm not set on practicing law in the south. I see myself working in the private sector. I haven't explored PI much, but I would like to have that as an option as well.

My heart is set on Columbia, but is it truly worth the crippling debt? I attended their ASD, and it seems the most common path is big law for 2-5 years to pay the loans down.

Hi!

I am planning to apply to law schools this upcoming cycle and was wondering if anyone could give me advice. I know that I primarily want to practice Environmental Law and have been doing a lot of research on which schools would be best. The top environmental law programs according to the US News rankings are not always T14 schools. I have been reading that to get a good Environmental Law job (working for EarthJustice, NRDC etc.) they often hire from T14 schools. Does anyone have any advice on if I should focus on only T14 schools or schools that rank highest in my area of interest?

hey all! i'm prepping for the june 2017 lsat currently and planning on applying to law school this fall. i'm curious about what experiences you all have had within the legal field before law school.

tomorrow i start volunteering at the local municipal court resource center and am very excited to be on the front lines of our justice system. any other volunteers out there? what has your experience been? what about professionals? anyone working as a paralegal or law enforcement officer? or unpaid interns? did anyone fetch starbucks for a big law firm? or brew folgers for your local legal aid clinic?

were you inspired by working within the legal system to pursue law school? or did you already know that you wanted to attend law school and subsequently sought out a job/volunteer opportunity within the specific area of law that interested you?

any type-a personalities out there who mapped out a perfect post-undergraduate plan of two years of professional work before getting into HYS?

lastly, and perhaps most interesting i think, how did your pre-law school work/volunteer experience surprise you? did it change your goals when applying to law school?

curious to hear what you've experienced!

I have another 1-2 years before I apply to Law School. Being a NTS, with student government leadership positions in Undergrad, 2 professional certifications, leadership positions in local Human Resources associations and 8 years of work experience do I need any other 'soft' skills to add to my application? Since I have a while before I apply, I figure I have time to add a few more things that could get me ahead of someone else in a tie-breaker. I also have a low GPA (3.5) so I feel I need as many legitimate, quality extracurriculars as I can get. I am becoming a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer this year and hoping that will also put me over the edge. Will that be enough? Am I overthinking this?

I know this question shouldn't and won't affect my studying habits (except for maybe lighting a fire under my ass), but I noticed that UCLA, my goal school, jumped to #15 in the most recent US News rankings. Is this going to make them more selective? I'm doing my best to make a 170 the next time I take the test, but I felt a little comfort knowing that if I have a bad day, UCLA's average LSAT score is a 167...

I've been reading a lot that most softs don't matter at all except in tie breaker situations. Is this true? I just did my LSAC GPA calculation and it dropped my GPA a whole point and a half (sigh) but I have extremely relevant work experience (negotiate contracts/represent individuals in arbitrations and employment hearings for a union) and military service. I'm kind of hoping that's still looked at, but the more I read on the subject the less important softs seem to be.

I am curious what is the relevance and weight that will be placed on work and internship experience for law school admissions and then also (and perhaps more importantly) once one gets into law school and needs to find a job once in law school & upon graduation. I currently have no legal experience but am not sure how important it is that I gain experience before entering law school -maybe not so much because I believe it could harm my chances of getting in as I am afraid it would harm my chances of getting a job in or after law school. I am in my junior year of undergrad and at this point desire to apply to law schools this fall and go straight to law school after graduation. According to my pre-law advisor at my undergrad university (UC Berkeley), law schools do not place as much weight on experience (as LSAT and GPA) in terms of admissions. However, I am unsure exactly how much it would affect me after getting into a law school. Does anyone have concrete advise on this issue?

Hi everyone!

I'm kind of stuck with a few good offers, but a lot of silence.

Full scholarships from ASU and IU. (Took Feb. LSAT so I know I'm late to the game.)

Complete silence from: BU, Georgetown, Vandy, UVA, BC, UW. Has anyone else NOT heard from these schools? Afraid of what the silence means.

For some background, currently enrolled in undergrad at Purdue, hoping to work in foreign affairs or for a multinational corporation. Brother in Boston. Parents retiring in Phoenix. S/O in Seattle. Vandy/Georgetown were my reaches, but it looks like I could get in, given their LSN profiles.

Some of you know that my dream school is UTA, but my scores fall below the qualifications, and I am in that 0-10% range in LSAC for acceptance. I am not expecting miracles here, but I was wondering if I could push my chances up by a point by sending in a "Why UT?" essay to the admissions office?

If so, how do you go about that? Do you just send an e-mail attachment to the admissions office and title it with a "Why UT? Letter add on to admissions committee for consideration" type of thing? Also, if I wished to add an addendum , could I do the same?

My application was sent in about a month ago, and it's possible that I receive an answer soon. I may be too late, as a matter of fact. Still, in case I am not, are these things I should do? Or is it best to wait it out at this point?

First off, I wanted to thank 7sage and its awesome community for its support through this LSAT endeavor. It hasn't been a smooth and silky road, but i've made it through thanks to some webinars, lessons, and chat discussions. Thank you all.

I took the feb LSAT, and the re-take was a moderates success. I ended up with a 165, froze on the games and had to blindly guess on i think 8-9 questions. Still, I got into the University of Washington with that score, and i'll soon find out about scholarship info.

Im happy that I was accepted, but because i was scoring 170-172 on my PT's, (and feeling like I could still improve), my aspirations were a bit higher. So now, I'm deciding whether to just accept this route towards UW or wait one more year to take one last crack at the LSAT. My s/o was accepted at her ideal university, also here in Washington, and my whole family is here as well, so there is that additional consideration of even if I do get a higher score on another take and get accepted to a goal school, would I really be emotionally able to leave? It's also just still kind of hard thing for me to swallow to accept this last take as final, as i've figured out (as much as i can) the anxiety issue that made me freeze.

These thoughts have just been bouncing around in my brain for a while, and mostly I think just writing/posting this will help the decision making process. But still, any thoughts/opinions?

Thank you all again for being such an awesome community these past months.

I've been tearing up for the past hour haha. Never imagined I would be making a post like this on 7Sage.

Just wanted to thank this awesome community and @"david.busis" . The advice I received on this forum and blind review calls has been invaluable.

(3(/p)

Thank you 7sage. The waiting process of admissions has been brutal but this week I got into both of my dream schools! None of this would have been possible without this amazing community. I cannot say enough times how awesome 7sage is and everytime I see what is new it seems to be getting better and better. I love this community and owe so much to many people here. THANK YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!

If LSAC does not process your transcript before the application deadline, are you just screwed? I know you can still submit your application to the school even if your transcript and LORs are not processed, but do the schools consider your application to be incomplete and just not accept it?

So I recently have been considering schools and careers beyond what I originally have thought of doing. I am curious aboutthe University of Virginia's Law School and would love to hear anyone's experience with them (interviews, what they're looking for in an applicant, etc.). Thanks!