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

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!

How reliable are Loan Repayment Assistance Programs? How can school guarantee that the programs will exist well into the future? I know that we can't predict the future, but how likely is it that schools would cancel or drastically change their LRAPs in the near/distant future? I'm considering GULC specifically, but also asking for evidence from law schools in general.

Hi everyone!!

If anyone is interested in looking over my first (very) rough draft, I would be so thankful!

If you are, just PM me!

Thanks!

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!

Does anyone know how US GPA's convert over to Canadian GPAs? Specifically to schools in Ontario. I can't find anything online and the conversion chart on OSLAS is confusing to me. I have an LSAC GPA of 3.89 with only one B on my transcript for all four undergrad years (although,it is a B- in a 5 credit course). Also, my university did not have grades of A+. A+'s would be considered an A.

If anyone has any insight on the 2 last years or 3 best years or whatever that is I'd love to have more information on that as well!

Thanks!

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.

I have worked abroad for the last decade and my undergraduate and master's degrees were attained far in past. I think Moses wasn't shaving yet when I got my MA. I am not deterred by the notion of having my LOR translated, but I do worry about the authors' facility with LSAC's English-only website.

If anyone knows about the step-by-step process for uploading LOR, I would like to translate it. I have asked LSAC for the same with screen shots, but am preemptively asking here in case they come up gor nisht.

Of course, in the event that LSAC comes through, then all of your birthdays will have come at once and I'll be the one doling out the multilingual screen shots.

Thanks in advance? You're welcome in advance? To be concluded...

Hey 7Sagers! I'm doing some research on schools at the moment and would love to connect with any current Cornell Law students or alums who could give me some thoughts on their experiences there, both academically and personally.

For some context, I don't know exactly what field of law I'd like to practice, but I'm interested in immigration law and international law, potentially labor law. I'm definitely intrigued by the alternative dispute resolution program Cornell has as well.

If anyone on here is a Cornell student or has a friend there who would be willing to connect via email, that would amazing! Thanks in advance.

Hi!

Is the Oct 12 test in the MENA region digital or na?

Moreover, what do you think of sitting for it to apply in the fall/ applications in by Nov 15 latest?

Thanks!

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

Hi all! I'm planning to apply to law school this cycle and am confused about ordering my CAS transcripts on LSAC's website.

When I submitted a transcript request to the community college where I dual enrolled, it says the LSAC mailing address for transcripts (Box 2000-M, Newtown, PA) is invalid. Has anyone else submitted this address? If yes, have your transcripts been delivered?

Also - do I need to wait until my fall classes are reflected on my current university's transcript before requesting it? I know I don't need to wait until my fall grades are posted, but I'm not sure if it's okay for me to submit now without my current enrollment reflected.

Thanks!

I posted a question but have now edited it to this as I don't know how to delete it.

I've been out of school for 3 years. Going to law school only became a goal of mine my last semester of college. I ended up getting 5 academic recommendations the summer after graduating just so I'd have them on file when I was 100% secure in the decision to go to law school and likely rack up debt. Since I've heard academic letters are preferred to non-academic, I never really thought about getting one from work because I already have more than I can submit to any single school. Should I be getting one from an employer?

For some context on the letters I have, two are by STEM professors (I double majored in STEM & non-STEM), one is from a non-STEM professor, and two are from non-STEM professors who were also my thesis advisors and law professors at my undergrad's law school.

Since graduating I've worked at two law firms and am about to switch to a third firm. The areas of law I've worked in are pretty relevant because they all combine my interest in law, technology, and science in different ways: my first job was as a legal assistant/paralegal at a boutique firm representing start ups and individuals in IP (mostly trade secret) litigation, my second job has been at a boutique criminal defense firm representing clients facing computer crime charges, and my third job will be as a patent litigation paralegal in big law.

Even if I get rec letters from employers which letters should I submit given that most schools accept 2-4?

I feel like my STEM LORs help me stand out, especially because one is from a professor whose lab I worked in and co-authored a peer-reviewed scientific article with. My thesis advisors have a really great picture of why I want to go to law school because my honors thesis empirically studied an area of patent law I'm pretty passionate about (and about to work in w/my third job).

I would love to exchange both and see how they work in tandem. Let me know if you'd like some eyes on yours!

If a school, especially a top choice school, doesn't have a "Why Us" essay, does it make sense to add it on to the end of your personal statement?

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Received a 164 in July, my average for PT is a 165. Is it worth waiting for October to take again, or should I try applying in September for a reach, like Georgetown? I have heard conflicting advice so I am interested to see what all of you smart people have to say. I know it’s towards the 25th percentile of 163, but I’m hoping that my GPA from a top 30 undergrad university will help me get over that.

If there’s a deadline for ED, does it matter whether you apply the day before or a month before that deadline? Thanks!

#Help — How necessary is it to follow a specific anecdote throughout your entire personal statement? I have been writing mine about a disability that I have, and I start it off with an anecdote of me at the doctor’s office for the intro paragraph, but I largely depart from that for the rest of the essay in order to describe how that disability affected me negatively for years, then how I learned to cope with that disability while still feeling as though it would only ever hold me back, and finally how I discovered that the coping mechanism I learned in response to my disability is actually a skill that is underutilized in law and one that I plan to use in my legal career.

I feel like my essay is pretty good (I’m not finished writing it, but in terms of where I see it going), but it seems as though every personal statement I read follows a singular anecdote throughout the essay. Also, 7Sage recommends that you focus on a scene (specific point in time), rather than a summary (span of time), but I don’t see how I can squeeze my idea into a specific anecdote/point in time. Help please:(

Morning everyone–

I am in the process of drafting a diversity statement for my applications, but I am not fully convinced I need to write one. My PS already addresses my religious/racial diversity. My diversity statement would just be highlighting a different aspect of my diversity not mentioned in my PS. I feel as though it would be repetitive to submit both, but I would love to hear y'alls input on this. Thank you in advance!

Hi All,

To quickly summarize:

I applied to law schools last year with a162 LSAT score, and a strong resume of federal government and political work. I got into most schools I applied to, receiving 50% - 70% scholarships from every school I got into.

I decided to decline all of my acceptances. I work as a political consultant for progressive candidates and campaigns around the country, and I felt that I needed to stay working in the campaign world for one more year. When I told my company I was leaving for law school, they gave me a huge promotion, which included allowing me to oversee all of the national political projects and campaigns that our company was working on. I was/am in a unique position to help candidates I support get elected, and causes I care about get brought to the national conversation. I'm glad I stayed. It's been the right decision.

That being said, I am reapplying because I want to keep my options open, and my doors open, just in case.

Clearly I feel that my applications and essays were very strong, as they resulted in me getting solid scholarships to the schools I wanted to go to.

My question is this: do you guys think I can re-use my personal statement and/or optional essays? How much do you I need to change? They personal statement was very strong and it worked out for me very well. I'd prefer not to have to change it, but I could see why that may look bad to an admissions committee.

Would REALLY value your thoughts here!

Thanks!

Most of my apps ask me if my education was interrupted, then ask me to elaborate why. I wrote a very brief answer for most of them, but I'm not sure it's enough: "A protracted illness forced me to leave university in March 2012. I returned in August 2016." Columbia wants me to actually attach an addendum detailing exactly what happened. Do I need to detail my medical history or what?

The other thing is I was terminated four years ago from a job I held for two months. Two of my apps ask me to disclose this and they both ask me to elaborate. How detailed should I be? The answer is actually very simple, I was cashiering and my till came up five dollars over one day so I must have accidentally short changed a customer. To my surprise I was fired a few days later. Do I just say that, or do I talk about how I learned from the experience and so forth?

Since the unlimited editing has been out of stock for a while are you able to purchase the one time editing and repurchase it for each draft of your essay?

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)?