Hi all,

I'm having a bit of an existential crisis and could use some words of wisdom. I took the March 2022 LSAT and got a 160 with very little studying (~30 hours total). At the time, I didn't know whether I wanted to apply to top schools -- I likely have an opportunity to live with my parents and attend a T-60 with a good-sized scholarship, which would obviously leave me in a better financial position than a T-14 with loans, even taking advantage of an LRAP -- and wanted to use a real test as a diagnostic, to gauge how much studying I would have to do in order to make myself a competitive applicant at top schools. (There were some other considerations, including financial ones -- e.g., I make enough money to be ineligible for fee waivers but not enough to have much discretionary spending, and I didn't want to pay for an LSAT prep program if a top score was way out of reach. Trust me, I am now well aware that this strategy was misguided.)

After getting the score, I was encouraged that a 170+ seemed within my grasp with a reasonable amount of prep, which prompted me to look much more seriously at the T-14. I want to be a PD and already have 2 years of WE in NYC courts as a criminal defense paralegal, so I figured out not long after that NYU is an ideal pick to apply ED. However, I decided not to cancel my March score in part because I didn't know that NYU explicitly says they average reported LSAT scores when evaluating candidates. That'll teach me not to do exhaustive research before committing to a strategy to the exclusion of all others.

I'm scheduled to retake in August and I'm PT-ing around 172. Even if I improve another 2-3 points before test day and submit an LSAT addendum describing the errors in my strategy that led to the March score, I'm worried that I still won't have a good enough score, or that I will have a big red flag attached to March. Any thoughts on that?

Assuming I score around my average in August, would you advise retaking in September or October as well, in order to get (hopefully) 1-2 points higher than the August score? If so, would you recommend September or October? And would you advise submitting apps before or after the September/October score is released? In my view, retaking after August (1) would demonstrate that the 160 is the outlier and (2) would bump up my average score significantly. But of course, there are also risks, including: (1) that I won't improve in October, or will even score 1-2 points lower, (2) that the adcom would reject me outright if I submitted while still waiting for the score from the post-August retake, and (3) if I retake in October, that I would be applying too late in the ED cycle if I waited to submit until getting the score in early November.

There's also the question of what to do if I score below my PT average in August. It seems that if I get a 169 or below, I almost certainly need to retake before submitting, and I think I wouldn't have enough time to prep meaningfully between August and September, especially because I need to use that time to focus on refining my PS and other written materials (I work full-time, so I have limited ability to do law school stuff during the weeks). Am I definitely applying too late in the ED cycle if I wait to submit until early November (after getting the October score back)?

For context, I went to a T-5 undergrad with a 3.8-mid (no Latin honors) and have Tier 3 softs (see aforementioned 2 years WE as a very hands-on criminal defense paralegal). And the deadline to register for September is in 5 days. I'm freakin' out!

Any advice deeply appreciated.

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Hi everyone. I'm planning to apply this fall and would love some insight on letters of rec. I'm four years out of undergrad and have one letter already completed by one of my professors from freshman year. Thinking about the other two letters I need, here's where I stand:

I've worked for a small nonprofit since graduation and have a fantastic relationship with the Executive Director. I know she would write me a wonderful letter of rec and has worked with me for 6 years (two internships in the summer at the same nonprofit). This is a non-legal job.

The husband of my Executive Director is a trial attorney and partner at a firm in a mid-sized city, and has an excellent legal reputation. When he found out I was interested in law school and specifically public interest he asked me to interview for a part-time comms position at a pro bono legal clinic - of which he is the Board President. I have been working there for nearly two years very part time. I also have a great relationship with him and he would write me a wonderful letter of rec as well.

I'm not sure if I should use both of them for my letters of rec as I'm unsure how it would look to have a a husband and wife each writing me a letter. I've had a longer and more comprehensive working relationship with my Executive Director, but I don't want to leave out a letter of rec from the only recommender who is in the legal profession.

Any thoughts? Should I speak with an admissions consultant to further discuss this? Thanks in advance!

Hello all. I am intending to apply this upcoming cycle, and I was conflicted on who to ask for my LoR.

For context, I decided to apply to law school after graduating college, and I am now 2 years out of college. I did not intend to pursue further education, so I do not have too many professors I had close relationships with. Furthermore, I studied biostatistics and computer science, which are both very unrelated to law, and I currently work as a software developer. Being a STEM major, I often found myself in huge lectures with little face time with professors.

My question is who would be the best people to ask for LoRs? The relationships I have with my professors translate very little to a good law school candidate. I completed an undergraduate thesis, so I had an advisor I collaborated with, but our work was strictly technical. I have a couple of superiors at work I could ask, but again, the work was mostly technical.

I asked my employer to write a letter of recommendation for but they asked what I want them to include in the letter. Aside from a resume/why I want to go to law school cover letter, is there anything in specific people usually want their recommenders to write about?

Does anyone have experience (either themselves or know of someone else) who has applied to law school during their third year of undergrad? How did it go?

I was just wondering if after purchasing an editing package we are able to choose the person who edits it from the list of editors? Let me know! Thank you!

Does my AA transcript at my first school need to be sent to CAS? Or just the final BA granting institution/transcript

(edit) From further research I believe the answer is yes

going

I was pretty involved in extracurriculars while in undergrad (SGA, Alpha Mu Gamma, Honors Program, various volunteer opportunities) but have been out of undergrad for about 5 years. I've been in the military since finishing undergrad and have had little free time. The little bit of time I have had was spent pursuing my MA and studying for the LSAT. Should I include my extracurriculars from undergrad on my resume? Will the lack of extracurriculars in recent years hurt me? If so, is there anything I can do to limit that impact? Thanks for the help!

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Thank you, 7sage!

Hello, I am a reapplicant this coming cycle and I am wondering if it is recommended to submit both a reapplicant addendum and a Why X essay or to combine them? Any advice would be strongly appreciated!

I was just wondering which T14-T20 law schools ask for why statements. I have seen them come up on many podcasts and blogs about law school applications, yet most schools I've looked at don't seem to require or even offer any essays other than personal statements, diversity statements, addendum.

I'm looking to get into one of the Boston law schools (preferably BU, BC, or Northeastern). Had a 3.668 undergraduate GPA at a NESCAC.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Ideally looking to start law school in the Fall of 2023 or 2024.

Greetings, 7Sagers!

On Wednesday, June 22 at 8 p.m. ET, I'll be joined by fellow admissions consultants, Jacob Baska, Elizabeth Cavallari, and Tracy Simmons. Each of us have served as senior admissions officers at law schools across the country. As a panel, we'll discuss aspects of the general law school admissions application and process, and we will reserve time toward the end of the panel for audience Q&A. If you're in the process of getting prepared to apply this fall to begin classes in 2023, you don't want to miss it!*

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zSRVkPXGQmq64dbCvjGfww.

*Note: We will record this session for our podcast listeners, so if you do have to miss us, we will share the recording after the conclusion of the event.

I am curious about the best way to talk about graduate school in an application. I am asking particularly because my undergraduate GPA is very low by law school application standards (3.3), but my grad school GPA is 4.0 and I also received a research and teaching assistantship. From reading other posts, I understand that grad GPA would be considered with other "soft" factors after uGPA and LSAT, but I want be sure that my application shows I am capable of academic success.

Will it be enough for the admissions committee just to include my grad school experience on my resume or do I need to work to highlight it another way?

So as I redo my resume from my previous cycle, it's very clear to me that becoming sober has greatly improved my life and frankly I think I am much more put together as a person and will be a stronger candidate for law school. My drug of choice was alcohol which is something I know a lot of people struggle with even if it's in private. Now...I'm not really sure if I want to or if it's necessary to bring that up in a personal statement. But I attend a support group (not AA) for my sobriety and I am unsure if that's like unprofessional to say? I thought about mentioning it in the post-college or personal activities section.

On one hand, this is something I'm proud of and it means a lot to me to be a supportive person in their sobriety journey. But I also can see maybe an admissions officer saying (hm, that person had alcohol problems before, he shouldn't come to our school).

Does UChicago or Cornell need a Why X essay?

For UVA that welcomes a Why X addendum, could it go to 2 pages, or should I stick to 1?

Thank you!

When I was in the military I took two community college classes basically for fun and did not think about grades. After getting my academic transcript back it brought my overall GPA down a little. Is this a situation that is worth writing an Addendum for?

I currently go to a top 100 undergrad, but my specific college within my university has a good reputation with many of the top law schools since many students go on to succeed there. I've heard a lot of different things, some people say going right through is easiest since you don't have as many responsibilities, but others say that work experience is becoming far more important for T14 schools. My GPA is a 3.8mid and I'm registered for the August 12th LSAT. My scores have been 16mid but I'm showing fairly steady improvement as I get better at focusing on the test for the entire duration. My goal score is a 175+ and I am fairly confident that I can get close to it as I keep practicing.

However, I'm worried that my age will make it difficult for me to find work experience, since I am graduating from college at 19 since I'm doing my undergrad in 3 years. I think if I have a few more years before I get into the "real world", then it will be a lot better for me. I have 2 internships so far, 2 e-board positions in school organizations, I mentor for 2 different organizations, and I'm a researcher for my school's Human Rights Lab. I hope that my school involvement can make up for my lack of work experience, and I hope that the leadership positions will show maturity and ambition despite my age. My GPA was also a 3.8high before this past semester, but I have heard that you can include an addendum to explain a slight drop in grades, since this was my first fully in-person semester of college and many of the facilities were not fully operational, making the semester especially difficult.

I would really appreciate any thoughts!

Thanks :)

I know that 7Sage offers several different admissions packages, but I'm not sure what I need right now. I was hoping to be able to chat with an admissions consultant and get some insight into my situation, (I am a nontraditional applicant.) I'm not sure how this works.... do consultants on here have an hourly rate, or is there someone who would be willing to chat with me and answer a few questions? I've been reading on here how competitive law school admissions are getting, and I'd greatly appreciate some feedback on my soft qualifications.

Thanks!

HLS website and application says the following. I'm wondering if anyone has put it to test for HYS or HLS specifically. I don't see this at Yls website.

How many times may I re-apply to the J.D. program?

Applicants may apply for admission to Harvard Law School through the regular J.D. application no more than three times.

Anyone with first-hand experience with this? Is this a lifetime limit and other schools have similar limit?

Does it not matter whether their score or jobs changed after 3 applications?

Hi friends,

Stopping by to share this because I know how helpful these sorts of posts were for me when I was deep in the trenches of LSAT prep--and mostly struggling. Just here to say you got this, it IS worth it, and 7Sage is hands down the best resource to get you to where you're trying to be (although you probably already know that by now).

If you have any question about LSAT, consulting package, or just anecdotal law school tingz -- feel free to reach out! In fully transparency, bar prep is a horrible time so my replies might be a bit inconsistent, but I do promise to check my inbox more often.

With love,

Nabintou

Hi everyone, I am wondering if we are allowed to reference writers in our personal statement?

So I have been out of undergrad for less than a year, and I have been committing my life to the LSAT. I decided that I am going to try and get my LORs in line for when I apply, but the only issue is I was never close to any of my professors in undergrad, and I'm not confident they would write one for me. What am I supposed to do in this situation? I don't really have any mentors that could write one for me, attesting to my academic ability and work ethic, so am I just screwed?