Admissions
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Hey guys, I am debating whether I should write a diversity statement or not. I am already writing about a socio-economic challenge that I overcame in my socio-economic addendum and I don’t really have a topic to write for my diversity statement aside from the fact that my family was dirt poor but we still moved around the world in search of a better place to live and so I got to live in different cultures and learned to adapt. Is that a good enough topic? Because I don’t see how that could contribute to the classroom disscussions. Maybe I just don’t know enough of what they want
Hi guys,
I have written on these discussion boards a few times. I am applying to Canadian law schools this November.I finished writing my personal statement. I was wondering if someone could have a look at it and give some feedback. Someone who is good at personal statements.
I would actually really appreciate it.
Thanks
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.
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As mid-May approaches, Tajira McCoy hosts her latest roundtable with law school admissions leaders from around the country. With law schools receiving the highest number of applications in over a decade, our panelists dive into all matter of questions related to last minute applications, waitlists, holds, and reapplying. If you're on a waitlist, is it advisable to visit the school in question? How many LOCIs is too many? What are admissions officers looking for if you apply in consecutive admissions cycles? All that and more is covered in this roundtable!
Hello Everyone!
I am applying to Canadian law schools. I am planning on applying by November 1st as that is the deadline and I plan to write the LSAT in October. Here are some questions, please answer if you have experience:
Before, I never considered writing a diversity statement, because I didn’t realize how broadly law schools defined “diversity.” I understand that women are becoming better represented in the legal profession than they have been in the past, so I don’t want to seem like I’m just trying to have an extra essay to write. Coming from a STEM background in undergrad, I have seen how underrepresented women are in STEM. I am considering some legal fields pertaining to this (patent law, IP law), but I’m not set on these fields. Would it be worth discussing this in a diversity statement (my potential to bring diversity to the STEM-related fields of law)? I just don’t want it to come across as not being genuine or anything! Thanks in advance!
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With initial deposit deadlines in the rearview mirror, Reyes Aguilar (a fellow 7Sage admissions consultant) joins us to talk about all things related to the waitlist - why do schools have them, how do they select students from them, and what can you do to navigate them?
Is this standard practice? I am writing a LOCI to School A and was wondering if I should include any info on other acceptances, or should I skip entirely?
Schools A and B are in the same city. School B is ranked slightly worse. I applied ED to school A.
Deleted.
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.
I was waitlisted a UM and they invited me to submit any additional materials I didn't include in my application. I have a diversity statement that I could send or should I just send a LOCI?
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.
Hi,
In the midst of studying, I take some time to draft multiple versions of personal statements so I am not rushed later when I am looking to apply and to remind me why I am doing this studying. It’s helpful!
But, I am torn on the statement vs supplement strategy. I have a very mixed background: I started college at a conservatory for musical theatre and left reimbursed due to harassment by a faculty member, which drove me to consider legal coursework at my new university. However, at my new university, I also interned in the legal field (with a Judge, at a class action nonprofit, with men re-entering public life post-incarceration, at the US Mission to UN) and took several legal studies courses at the undergraduate and graduate level (wrote papers on LGBT asylum procedure, which included an interview with an asylum grantee in the US from the Middle East, Fourth Amendment tights and their protection of Christian religious single cell terrorism in the US; the legality of securitization around drone warfare, etc.). My thesis was very legally focused (exploring how indigenous communities in Alberta might use international norms to subvert environmental degradation and displacement).
However, even with all of this passion for law, I wanted to test the aspects I loved of my studies in different settings to ensure law is the field for me, so I worked in the non profit sector (public health campaigns) and now I work in the private sector (analytics) to address two main facets of law I love (serving the public as analytical thinking and persuasion).
Now, I know I want to do law, as these career experiences have taught me that I can’t do either in isolation nor address public interest needs in as proactive or impactful a way as I desire without practicing law.
So I’m torn on where I start. I’ve written about 3 statements, ranging from very plain Jane to driven by a metaphoric concept.
Is there a strategy, given my story, that I should focus on with what goes in personal versus what goes in supplemental?
Part of me thinks I shouldn’t take up space sharing the details of my transition from musical theatre to academia given I have other more recent and relevant experience. However, I know an ad com will look at my transcript and say “what happened here/what was that semester gap”? Do I mention anything about the research work I did in while in school, or is the fact that I took a class titled "Rights of the Accused" or "International Human Rights Law" enough?
My gut is to write a very direct statement that focuses on my legal interests/studies and decision to test the other career paths I thought might address them (recognizing they did to no avail). Then, I would write a supplement that discusses how I went from musical theatre to law (this would likely have some more metaphor than the statement).
Thoughts on this strategy? Am I wrong in assuming an ad com will want to hear about what happened that early in my university career, even though I ended up with a pretty decent GPA (3.79)? Also, given that I took about 6 graduate-level courses in undergrad, is it worth listing those out in a supplement as well so that they are aware of the rigor of some of the courses I took?
Should I nix mentioning my research work I did in school and instead include something like that in a supplemental? I plan on addressing my thesis work in my resume under the "academic" portion, which might be enough.
Thanks for the help and guidance!
So I missed my Oct test, (my fault PST vs CST) I total miss read the time and when I logged in it was too late.What is the consequences on my application for missing an exam? I will schedule to take it on January again.I called LSAC and they said I can't do anything about it. How will this effect my chances of get into LS?
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Although not among the headlines during Congressional debates, the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July has massive financial ramifications for this year's crop of law school applicants. Joining us to break down the ins-and-outs of the bill and provide a broader historical perspective to matters is fellow 7Sage admissions consultant, Reyes Aguilar.
So a Professor I asked a letter for had me amend the form multiple times as per them moving around and what not, but now I'm worried about the letter number on the form. Do law schools care if it says L8 for example on the letter form even though I have like 3 recommenders?
Hello! I am applying ED to UCLA - is it better to apply early or does the timing not matter too much before the November 15th deadline? Good luck to all of this cycles applicants!
I know it is early in the game, but I am curious anyone getting off waitlists and where? just want to celebrate those moving on up in admissions.
Hello all
So a month ago I got waitlisted at a pretty decent state school where I live. I immediately sent a LOCI and stated that I would definitely attend if granted admission.
But...
Today I got a waitlist offer at a much much better school that I was so convinced would reject me. This is a school that I would attend without thinking twice about it, but now I am conflicted because I am terrified that if I send that school a LOCI, they may contact the state school that I sent my first LOCI where I claimed that I would attend if taken off the waitlist and then I'd be in trouble.
What should I do?
So I ran into this workshop series that apparently hosts private workshops with T14 schools across the country every year at different locations. By any chance has anyone come across this website before and/or attended one of their workshops? Are they any different from the LSAC forums? If anyone happens to be in the LA/Silicon Valley or Atlanta area, I hope this can be of use!
Website: http://www.lawadmissionsworkshopseries.com/
Thanks!
-Michael
I am planning to apply to a T140-150 tier Law school and even with a high LSAT score of like 160, would that be enough for me to enter there? Thanks.
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Have you ever wondered how admissions officers review applications? What they pick up on, what they notice, and - maybe - what irks them? Then be sure to tune into this week’s episode as we present a recording of a mock admissions committee review. Two prospective law applicants submitted their resumes and personal statements to 7Sage. Three of our admissions consultants then walked through their thought processes when reviewing the documents - the good, the bad, and the “this confused me.”
Hello! I'm planning to take the LSAT in November for the first time but most likely will not be applying in this application cycle. I'm hopeful that the score I get in November will be strong enough that I will not retake it. Will an older LSAT score count against me in admissions if it is still within the 5 year window? Do law schools prefer a fresh LSAT?
So for example, if the deadline is Dec 1 for X University's early binding deadline, would there be an advantage for someone who submits on Nov 15 over Nov 29?