At my university, we have discovery credits, which allow us to designate 1.0 credits of undergraduate courses as pass/fail on transcripts. Having recently completed my fourth year, I'm considering utilizing one of these credits for a course from last semester, which would boost my GPA. However, I'm curious about whether law schools might view the use of discovery credits unfavorably. If anyone has experience with this, please let me know (I am applying solely to canadian schools). Thank you.

Hey all! I have a friend who is in the process of transferring law schools and could use some advice from the 7sage community. Anything would help, here it is:

Hello, I was accepted at UCLA and Northwestern as a transfer; i.e., I will be paying sticker at both, but if I go to UCLA I will not have to take out any loans (savings). I will have to take out loans for the last year at Northwestern (80k).

If, ideally, I want to work in SoCal BigLaw, what would be the smarter course of action: attending UCLA or Northwestern?

After performing a basic cost-benefit analysis, I am leaning towards UCLA, on the theory that the benefit of attending Northwestern (ending up at median and still getting BigLaw) has largely disappeared, while the benefit of attending UCLA (attending school and networking in my target market) is still in play. Further, the cost of attending UCLA (the risk of ending up at median and doing poorly at OCI for that reason) has already dissipated, while the cost of attending Northwestern (taking out loans for the last year) is still in play.

Given my SoCal focus and above-median grades (top 25% at BC/BU), I don't see much of a benefit to attending Northwestern, other than the added prestige of being in the T14 as opposed to the T20. Are there factors I'm missing here?

Said another way, will I see any meaningful boost in SoCal employment prospects by going to Northwestern, or will my top 1/4 GPA at BC/BU be sufficient at UCLA for my OCI process to be similar as between both schools (if I am targeting SoCal biglaw). I am thinking that at this point my OCI process will be the same at both schools and that it will really come down to my interviewing skills. If so, I don't see a point to take out loans to attend Northwestern.

Thanks for your responses! I’ve attached a poll below as well.

If all goes well and I'm admitted into law school, I will have been living in my state for 11 months when law school begins. You have to live in a state for one year before you can be considered a permanent resident. There's an option to write a non-resident addendum to qualify for in-state tuition, but I'm not sure what to say/how to begin the addendum. Any suggestions?

Hello!

Some people state that you should go to admission events to get yourself know to the admissions office. What do I talk about/ do to stand out?

Hello hello! I'm new to 7Sage and I'm hoping someone can offer me some advice!

I've scoured the Internet looking for a good resume template and have found myself rather disappointed. I did find two that are alright, but does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could find a decent one? Or, if anyone is willing, could I take a look at yours to see how it's formatted? Just trying to figure out the best way to format my resume!

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! :)

I recently moved my test date to April, does that mean I have to pay for score preview again or does it transfer to my current April test?

I am hoping for advice on choosing what degree to finish undergrad. I’m a non traditional student, I just took the April LSAT and I have a few options for completing undergrad in a year in order to apply next year. I’m in Texas and a Bachelors degree is required. Does anyone know if a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Science would be considered or if it would make me a ‘lesser’ candidate?

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 guys!

I'm in the process of applying and came across a school that wants an explanation for the variance in the LSAT score. My LSAT scores are 161 -> 167. I wasnt too sure what the "correct" explanation is or what they are looking for here. Thoughts?

Hello All!

I was hoping someone could help clarify a questions that I have.

I would like to apply to law school as early in the cycle as possible (not early admissions). I took the August LSAT and was hoping to use that score for apps but I don't think it was at the score range I would have liked granted all the technical issues. If I were to use my August score to apply but make a note that I am planning on retaking the test in January, would my applications still be counted as if I applied early in the cycle or as if I were applying in January since that is when the score would be updating?

Thank you!

Schools that have honor programs that you can apply for do these hurt your application at all? For instance, scholarship consideration if you don't get in? Also, can you still get full tuition if you don't apply for these programs (given that your GPA and grades are right)?

I understand that applicants with foreign undergraduate degrees do not fare well in admissions, but would an engineer with two years of experience in the US be a plus? I plan to apply to schools that rank from 70 to 100 (LSAT 150~160).

I decided I'm going to do early decision with Cornell. Round 1 began on September 1st and ends on November 1st, and Round 2 begins November 2nd and ends on January 8, 2018.

I'm not really sure, then, what would be better: applying late in Round 1 or applying early in Round 2.

On one hand, if I apply late in Round 1, then it would certainly be earlier than applying Round 2 if there is no distinction between rounds.

However, if the applications are categorized "by round," then it seems clear to me that it would be better to apply early in Round 2.

I hope my reasoning makes sense. Does anyone have any insight on this?

Cornell's website has this to say:

WHEN SHOULD I APPLY?

Applications are reviewed in order of completion by our Admissions Committee, but applicants are not always notified in that order. We recommend submitting your application as early as possible.

I am currently enrolled at a law school (set to come in Fall 2024), but I am thinking of deferring because of life circumstances that have come up. Deferring would mean that I would have to withdraw all of my applications from places I have been waitlisted at, some of which are schools that are my top choices. In addition, I would not be able to reapply to other schools while deferred, this makes total sense to me. However, if I were to in the future decide I would like to apply to other schools, would I be able to withdraw from the law school I deferred and then apply or would I not be allowed to do this?

My agreement obviously does not comment on withdrawing and then applying to other schools and I have not found a resource out there that provides this type of information.

The deferral form I would sign says "I will not apply to other law schools while holding a deferral " so I am wondering if I were to withdraw, could I then apply to law schools because I wouldn't be bonded by the contract anymore?

I figure this is because it’s a tricky route to take. Would appreciate any of your advice. Thank you!

I graduated this past weekend and was hoping to order my transcript and get everything for applications sorted before I leave campus shortly. I was planning on buying the CAS so I can get started on ordering my transcript to eventually submit to school but I'm not exactly sure all of the schools I'm planning to apply to in the fall. Should I still buy the CAS and order my transcript if I don't have any institutions listed, or do I have to list all the institutions I want to send my transcript before purchasing? Let me know!

Hello Everyone, I recently signed up to take the LSAT in November this year. I am confused though because it doesn't tell me a specific day to take the test or a time. I just generalizes it and I am very confused, trying to figure it out. Also I noticed on the LSAC website they offer this thing called CAS, is this needed? I was confused on what that was as well because financing everything by myself is VERY expensive for the time being.

TLDR: When do they release the test days? Do I have to check once a week or something to sign up again? And is the CAS required for Law School Applications.

AHHH. Im trying to decide between two versions of my personal statement that I've had written. They're both similar but go in slightly different directions. Two schools I'm applying to have their apps due tomorrow. I spoke to someone previously involved in law school admissions at an ivy league and they really liked the first version. But also had some negative feedback from others on the first. I haven't had the chance to show my second version to anyone involved in admissions though and I'm worried if I take the leap and go with the second statement I'll be hurting myself. Im really procrastinating aren't I. Yep. Don't need serious feedback, just wanna know which to submit :)

If you know anyone that could help with a last minute decision like this, let me know!! Thank you!

Would anyone be interested in swapping personal statements? I finished my first draft and am too close to my essay at this point to move forward on it.

Hello,

I recently received my CAS evaluation and noticed they included grades from non-undergraduate courses. These courses have no undergraduate standing and were for a certificate course. Does anyone know if non-undergraduate courses are included in the CAS gpa calculation?

Thank you!

Hello, is there anyone here who is applying to University of Melbourne's JD program for the 2020 intake/ currently enrolled there ? I was wondering if I could hear about your experience!

I'm planning to apply to a merit scholarship ED program, but I'm torn between BU and GW.

Here's the deal: I'm currently planning to pursue some type of criminal or national security law (either at the DA, US Attorney, or other federal law enforcement agency like FBI or NSA.) I'm drawn to GW, just because the location will afford me to be closer to lots of national agencies and make more connections. Additionally, they have a national security law specialty, which is rare at most other schools.

However, I've heard some negative feedback about GW and am also slightly deterred by the huge class size. Additionally, I'm worried about making a decision based solely on location because there's a chance I won't end up pursuing this type of law.

As for BU, I've read that they attract some really renowned professors and scholars, which is very appealing. Also, the class size is much smaller and it is still located in a large city, which will afford me some connections.

I really want to apply to one of the merit scholarship ED programs and I do feel like I can confidently choose one of these schools, especially with some additional insight for all of you. Thoughts?

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone has advice to address a gap in my resume. I separated from the military in April but due to my husband also being active duty and us currently being stationed overseas I did not apply for any jobs. We were originally supposed to move back to the states in July which is the main reason why I didn't apply for jobs but his unit just extended our tour another year. I plan on applying for jobs not that we are staying longer but I will still have the gap. During those three months I focused on healing (I was medically separated) and studying for the LSAT. I plan on adding an addendum to my resume to explain the gap but I'm nervous it might affect my chances of getting into my school of choice. Any advice, or just some reassurance that the gap won't affect my chances too severely would be really helpful.

I've been studying for 2 years on the LSAT averaging 136 and have used the loophole book, 7 sage, tutoring, and lsat hub with practice test each week. Can I just apply to law school with my score because it's not increasing honestly. My GPA is 3.7, and I'm at a Ivy grad school hoping to start law school fall 2027.

I've read through the Good LOCI examples, and they all mention campus visits. Regretfully, I didn't visit my dream school before being waitlisted, and I fear I won't have the opportunity to do so before May 1st (first-deposit deadline). Any ideas of how I can make up for this? This school typically doesn't allow prospective students to preview classes, but maybe now that it's all over Zoom I can ask?