If the target school has specific instructions on how to submit LOCIs, follow the school’s instructions.

If the target school provides no such guidance, it may be better to send a LOCI shortly before a school’s DD. Prior to the DD, the school would have been receiving deposits all spring. The outlines of the class are likely coming into focus. At the same time, they may be previewing their WL to see who are the best candidates to admit if necessary. Depending on the size of the WL, which may differ from school to school and from year to year, someone in the admissions office is probably keeping track of the WL and taking note of strong files, very interested files, and notable files based on admissions officers’ interactions throughout the cycle. This is where points of contact and LOCIs are distinguishing.

If it looks like the school is going to receive a total number of deposits that is short of their expectations, given the expected melt through the summer, they will go to the WL. Some schools may have already been reaching out to current admits by phone or by email to get a sense of how many deposits to expect in the lead up to and on the DD. When the DD has come and gone, if the deposits are down, some schools may chase down earlier admitted students to see if they forgot or could be persuaded to deposit with enhanced admissions offers. Some schools will not follow up and go directly to the WL if necessary. If a school has received more deposits than expected and they are concerned about bringing in too large a class, they may do neither.

Continuous curating of the WL throughout the spring by the admissions office makes sense because schools will want to act quickly with new offers at the ready. They would not likely wait until the day after the DD to start looking at 500-1000 files on the WL. If an interested candidate sent a LOCI shortly before the DD, admissions would more likely consider this recent activity to yield a deposit than a LOCI sent back in January and then silence afterwards.

If the candidate sends the LOCI a week after the DD, it too will bring attention to their file as the school is preparing their WL admit letters. However, if the school only needs to make a handful of admit offers off the WL, perhaps they school already has a list of new admits prepared and will have decided or acted by the time the post-DD LOCI arrives.

Trying to predict an admissions office’s actions or motivations is an impossible task since strategies change all the time. Trying to time receipt of the LOCI becomes less of an issue if the candidate has maintained a good line of communication with the admissions office before the DD. Polite, professional contact every four weeks or so as a WL'd candidate is a reasonable approach. Good luck!

For one of my recommenders under the letter's status, it reads "acknowledged." Does anyone know what this means?

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Tis that time of year! Anyone want to swap LOCI? Let's show those adcomms just how excited and well-informed we are!

If anyone wants to swap diversity statements or other materials, PM me!

I am taking the LSAT somewhat late in the admissions cycle (November) and because of this, depending on how it goes I may wait until the next cycle to re-take the test. If I were to wait until the next cycle, would I need to gather my LOR's or would the ones that I have now carry over into the next cycle?

Thanks.

How big of a disadvantage is applying in April to schools like St. Johns, American, Cardozo, Brooklyn and Loyola Chicago? Does anyone have experience.

Hello all!

Another personal statement swap post here (I know there have been several recently). I am working through drafts of two different personal statement topics. After speaking with my pre-law dean and a friend who gave the exact opposite opinion of my pre-law dean, I am stumped (though I know my dean is obviously more qualified and weigh his opinion much heavier). Anyway, just looking to do an old-fashioned swap. You read mine and I'll read yours.

Cheers!

Any 7sagers attending tonight's admissions panel with Upenn, Michigan, and University of Chicago?

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Our panel of law school admissions deans convene for their November panel to answer that most eternal of questions—is “optional” really optional and how required is “required”? Touching on Why School X documents, character and fitness explanations, background statements, and more, our panelists will walk you through the ins-and-outs of these documents and will remind you that the most essential truth of a competitive application is “be sure to follow a school’s instructions.”

All that—and more!—in this month’s discussion.

Title says it all. I live in Canada and 7Sage provides a great ranking system (that also estimates your chances of acceptance) for law schools in the US but none for Canada. Does anyone have more information on Canadian law schools?

I submitted my transcripts to LSAC about a month ago. They have all been received without a problem. However, the OLSAS website shows that I have no transcripts on file. Is this normal, or do I need to call them?

I'd love to swap all three. DM me if you're interested!

Hi all — I have a question on the admissions process. I took the September exam and received a terrible score (in the low 140s), so I am planning on sitting for the November one. Ideally, my November score would be higher, but regardless, I’m committed to applying this cycle and given my career goals and situation, I am fine with going to a lower-ranked school. A little background about myself: I graduated from a strong liberal arts college in 2018 with a 3.8+ GPA and worked as a paralegal at a big law firm in downtown NYC for about a year following graduation — stopping early this summer to dedicate full-time studying for the LSAT.

Now to my question: am I allowed to apply to a couple of schools where I have a high chance of securing admission (Roger Williams, New England Law, Vermont Law, among others) with my September score right now — and then wait for my November score to apply to a different set of schools, assuming that my score is higher? The rationale for applying right now to lower ranked schools would be to take advantage of getting my app in early and to get a couple of acceptance letters, which would give me the peace of mind that I will be going to law school next fall. Does this rationale have merit or upside? (Would I even hear back from schools before December?) And will admissions at schools like Roger Williams frown upon that or not at all? Moreover, would they delay rendering a decision on my app since they know that I am taking it again and do not want to immediately accept me knowing full well that I won’t likely attend if my Nov. score is higher? As you can discern, I am in the process of processing my September performance and am concerned about admission. In addition, if I apply to a school right now/before my November test, will they wonder why I am applying at this moment, as I assume that they can see that I’m registered for November? Further, I plan to write an LSAT addendum, but if I were to apply before the November test, how would schools interpret that? Will they think: “Why is he writing an addendum when he only took it once and seems to be settling on such a dismal score?”

Any advice and insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to take this time to share my experience regarding study abroad transcript so hopefully you won't have to go through the same frustration. This is a very long story but I hope it gives some guidance.

I submitted my transcript to LSAC September of this year. I ignored it for a while and focused on arranging my school list, working on my personal statement, getting LORs, etc. It wasn't until October when I noticed something wrong. On my transcript tab, it said "1 of 2 transcripts received." Listed under the missing transcript was University of Richmond so I thought that they were referring to the school I did my summer study abroad. I called LSAC and asked if I needed to submit my transcript from my study abroad even though it was only for the summer. I was told yes, however, the answer didn't set right with me because I remembered specifically not having to because it was for less than a year.

On the LSAC website, it reads:

"Do NOT have a transcript sent from an international institution IF your bachelor’s degree is from a US, US territory/associated state, or Canadian school, and

the total amount of work you completed at all international institutions combined is equal to or less than the equivalent of one year of undergraduate study in the United States, its territories/associated states, or Canada, or

your work was completed through an overseas study program that was clearly sponsored by a US, US territory/associated state, or Canadian school. In this case, the transcript must be sent by the sponsoring school."

I called again to clarify because obviously, I was getting different answers. While on the call, I was assured that I did not need to send in my transcript because it was for less than a year. Also, there was a confusion because I attended Richmond University in London and NOT University of Richmond in Virginia. They said that they will make the correction.

A week passed and I still saw U of Richmond on my transcript tab. I called LSAC again. Apparently, on my undergrad transcript it said transfer credit from "RICHMOND UNI" and so whoever handles transcripts at LSAC just put U of Richmond. Great! Problem solved. No, not quite. Turns out that Richmond University in London is an accredited American school so I did still have to send in a transcript! I ordered them right away but I'm afraid that it will not get processed fast enough to meet the early decision deadline for the school I am applying to.

Long story short, if you studied abroad at an accredited American school, you still have to send in your transcript no matter how long you went there. Also, you have to keep bugging LSAC and sometimes it takes three to five calls in order to reach any solutions.

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The leaves are turning, decorative gourds are everywhere, and the law school admissions cycle is in full swing. We break it all down, from the statistics regarding enrolling 1L classes (up), to LSAT numbers (up!), to a look ahead at what this likely means for application numbers (UP!).

Also see if you can spot the error regarding the year in which Cecil Fielder hit over 50 home runs for the Detroit Tigers!

Hey guys, is anyone willing to look over the first draft of my personal statement? I just want to make sure I'm heading in the right direction. Willing to do a swap if needed! Thanks!

In the interest of writing my LOCI's I've been visiting schools and contacting admissions offices.

I recently contacted a school that told me I was welcome to do a self-guided tour, OR, to wait a few weeks and then schedule a meeting with an admissions officer. They specifically told me it was a "Wait List informational meeting" and that it was "neither evaluative nor an interview."

What exactly is it then? Does anybody have experience with this type of meeting? Is it worth it to wait until after May 15th to visit this school or does that sound late? Does it sound like they'd take my interest more seriously if I did this then just check in at the office for a self-guided tour? I only have the $ to visit this school once and honestly even that is a stretch, so I'd like to get the most bang for my buck.

Currently a VA resident, so I will get in state tuition from both schools. I am basically a median applicant for both LSAT and GPA for both. GMU gave me some scholarship $ (not much, ~30% of total tuition), and W&M gave me no scholarship offers.

That being said, I visited both and liked W&M more. GMU is currently ranked 41st, and WM is 37th. Is it worth is to push them for some $ to make the decision easier since they are similarly ranked? The worst thing they can say is no right?

Its basically down to these two schools unless a magical fairy decides to grant me admission to Boston College, which is the only app I am still waiting on. Getting some $ from WM would make the decision easy :|

Hi 7sagers!

I've been placed on the Reserve group for Columbia Law a few days ago. I wrote a LOCI and was wondering if anyone would care to take a look/edit both the substance and format as this is my first time writing one. Please let me know and I'll PM you the letter. Thanks so much! :)

Hey everyone, I recently wrote a personal statement and I would truly appreciate it if someone could review it for me. Please be very critical when you critique what I have wrote.

Admin note: edited title (no all caps please!)

Hi all-

I am hoping to negotiate for scholarships with one of the schools I am admitted to. It is equally ranked with another school that offered me a partial scholarship, so I think I have good grounds to go off of. Is it common practice to do this with a formal written request, or can I ask via email or even over the phone?

Thanks!

Hi all! Can anyone who has completed an interview with CLS describe your interview experience? In terms of what questions were asked and how it generally goes. Thanks!

I originally planned on taking the LSAT in December but since then have decided to push it back until June and upgraded to the ultimate package. I am hoping to get some advice on choosing the right schools to apply. I realize it is a bit early to ask this question but I already signed up for CAS on the LSAC website and my email has been blowing up from many different schools. I knew there were a ton of schools out there but woah the amount of emails I have received is a bit overwhelming. I have 2 main focuses in choosing a school. The first is a scholarship and the second is finding a school that has a program and/or clinic for child advocacy law or juvenile law. The first focus I understand will depend greatly on my LSAT score but also finding a decently generous school. The second focus is important to me because I would really like to find a school I can get involved in what I am interested in. I really want to help kids and plan to focus primarily on child advocacy, juvenile and adoption law. I have done a lot of research and have found a few schools that I have my eye on but I am curious if anyone knows of any schools with these programs. Or at least have any advice on how to narrow down schools. Is there a recommendation on the amount of law schools to apply to? I was granted a fee waiver and have already received application fee waivers from some schools so I wonder, if there is no fee then, would it hurt to apply to many different schools and see what kind of scholarships I receive? I have talked to some family and friends on the subject and I am curious what my fellow 7sagers think on the subject. Thanks so much :)

Hi all! Is anyone interested in talking through interview questions/doing mock interviews together sometime in the next week or 2? I don't have a super clear idea of how we could structure it. If so, please DM me with some info about you and what you're interested in studying/where you've applied. Thanks! (3(/p)