Hey all,

I need some advice on the upcoming admissions cycle. I was granted a non-binding deferral of admission to my first choice school (a UC-system law school) to attend beginning in the Fall of 2022. Being a non-binding deferral, the school cannot guarantee the amount of merit-based aid I will receive. During the last admissions cycle I was offered merit-based aid from this school amounting to about 75% of tuition costs.

I have three questions given this situation:

Does an unhealthy relationship with someone count as a reason to write a GPA addendum?

I'm a non-traditional student who has been out of school for several years now, but when I was in undergrad, I struggled with setting boundaries with other people and ended up in an unhealthy relationship that consumed my whole life. From the first day of Freshman year, to basically end of my first semester of my Junior year, my boyfriend (we met at orientation) went from being a bit clingy to being in my life every second of every day. He would constantly want to be with me and when he wasn't he'd seek me out on campus or ask me where I was. He'd tend to have emotional episodes that always seemed to correspond with the times I had a big test or essay to write and I wasn't available. I eventually broke up with this person, but by that time, I had basically lost my whole undergraduate experience and my GPA was mediocre(low for law school purposes).

In my final semester of undergrad, finally free from the toxic relationships (and the mental health issues) that I had built for those 3 years, I got a 3.9 taking serious classes. I've always wondered if this was a fluke, so eventually, I decided I'd go and pursue a master's degree at the University of Edinburgh. I completed the degree and received a distinction, which is the highest mark you can get. I know that my graduate experience is a soft and not really useful in a sense, but I do think that it helps show that I can succeed in academic settings.

I just don't know if this is a stupid thing to write about or not.

Hi everyone!

To get right into it, I'm not applying to law school until next fall, but I want to ask this question now so I might be able to start preparing the addendum as soon as possible. I'm not entirely sure when an addendum is necessary to write, or even okay to write.

Personally, I'd like to write one. I was home-schooled almost my whole life, I went to a pretty rigorous STEM school and majored in biochemistry - I got a 3.0 GPA. Halfway through it, I figured I didn't really want to keep going with STEM, but I had no idea what I would want my major to be instead. I did know that law school was the path for me at that point, but I couldn't convince myself to take an extra semester/year (because of money) to major in something else that I was unhappy with.

In the end, I found out that I love philosophy by taking a philosophy course in my last semester of undergrad. I got into the M.A. program at my school and did well there, and my GPA in my last semester was far better because I was enjoying my education a lot more. I believe that my last semester in undergrad and my M.A. are much better indicators for my academic potential in law school than my first couple of years in undergrad when I was still figuring myself out and learning how to study in the first place.

That said, I want to get some other opinions before I bank on my intuition. Any advice/answers would be greatly appreciated!

#Help

I graduated from Undergrad in '15 and Graduate school in '17. Receiving degrees in Cello Performance. I have been spending the last 4 years working as a Suzuki Cello teacher with young children and as a professional freelance cellist. I write in my personal statement about my journey through music and teaching it, and how that led me to want to pursue law school. I'm quite happy with how my statement has turned out.

I'm wondering if my untraditional background as a professional musician and especially as a Suzuki cello teacher (a specific type of teaching that requires specialized training) warrants a diversity statement. I have already written a version of a statement where I use two fairly specific anecdotes to help illustrate the unique skills that I have acquired which affect the perspective that I believe I will bring to the classroom and the legal profession. I think it helps to provide additional context to my personal statement.

If a school defines diversity broadly and doesn't limit it to traditional diversity factors, should I submit my statement? Or will it be redundant since my personal statement is also about music to an extant. My identity for the last 20 years has been as a musician.

Thank you all so much!

Andrew

I am in a confusing position: I haven't taken the LSAT yet so I don't have a score. How do I know what personal statement to write if I have no clue what school I will apply to? Thanks in advance.

On Wednesday, August 4 at 9pm ET / 6pm PT, join 7Sage Consultants for a discussion on how to create personal connections with law schools that help law school candidates assess fit while demonstrating to admissions officers a thoughtful assessment of programs and offerings. There will be time reserved for a Q&A.

If you have a Clubhouse account, use this link to RSVP and join Club 7Sage: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/xoakeD28.

If you do not currently have Clubhouse access, or are on the Clubhouse waitlist, the first 1,000 people to use this link (https://www.clubhouse.com/join/club-7sage/NnTSUK52/xoakeD28) will be able to skip the Clubhouse waitlist for access to the platform, RSVP for our event, and join Club 7Sage. Unfortunately, we cannot provide additional access beyond the first 1,000 people. We will record the session for those unable to attend and post it to our podcast, which is available via Apple and Spotify.

We hope to see you on Clubhouse!

Is there a significant difference between applying in early September vs in October, regarding chances of admission?

Hello everyone!

I'm student born with an American passport, grew up outside of the United States, and attended an accredited University outside of North America which offered courses in English(had a faculty that taught courses in English which I was enrolled in). Will I count as an international student in my application for law school? Also, is it true that my GPA will have little bearing on my evaluation for admission? I hear GPA is weighted much less heavily for international students, and that a third party institution 'translates' scores before sending them to lsac. I'm not sure about this so I would appreciate if someone could confirm!

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Situation: 4 LSAT's: 137, 143, 141, 165.

Reason: Didn't study correctly, did undergrad with multiple internships and jobs. For the 137 I was part time in family law legal assistant, other part time internship at the PD's office, plus course load. GPA was 3.20 but CAS 3.0 (I repeated Bio and Chem, school doesn't count initial fail, CAS does.)

165: Graduated, own my business so I gave myself time by hiring an additional assistant to deal with day to day ops and concentrated on 7Sage and most importantly PTs.

My worry is that the schools would think this is just luck and that a similar situation could happen in law school, especially with the workload. On my personal statement, I plan to cover about challenges in starting my business and the lessons learned, I will also talk about learning from experience and delegating which would ideally tie to lessons learned in undergrad with the insane load I had. And also make it clear to them that I will hire someone to take care of operations to relieve me from the responsibilities of my business during law school.

But I'm not sure if an Addendum is warranted if I should just incorporate that into the personal statement.

Edit: Removed Diversity statement question that was clearly answered in the admissions course that I hadn't seen.

Is it possible to get into a school where your LSAT score is under the median but GPA is there , combined with a good personal statement? Anyone have experiences or know anyone that has gotten into a reach school?

Would it disadvantage me to ask for a LOR from a professor from a different university who taught a course at my university that I took with her? She came to my university, taught a class one spring, and I really enjoyed her class and got a lot out of it but she isn't technically a professor at my university, she is a professor at another university close by. Can anyway take a guess on how that would be viewed during admissions or if it doesn't really matter?

I'm graduating a year early (in 3 years) and am wondering if that is something that I should write an addendum about. My university classifies me as a "third year" but I have the credits to graduate early and I'm worried that the third year classification may be somewhere on the application and may confuse the readers? Idk. Any guidance would be great!

Hi Everyone,

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I have been out of school for 10 years now and due to my job have moved to another part of the country. I don't have any close ties to my undergrad university plus it was so long ago I doubt a letter of recommendation from an old professor would be effective. I've worked for the same company rising through the ranks for the last 9 years. I don't believe I can go to a superior to ask for a LOR because I would be notifying my employer of my intent to leave the company. I can't take that risk with my family so long before I would actually attend law school. I am not a member of any major organization, church, or anything of that nature. My work schedule never really allowed for it. Has anyone else experienced a similar situation? Is writing an addendum to explain the lack of LOR's an option? Again, any ideas or thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

I plan to submit a diversity statement and LSAT addendum.

Should we submit a short adversity addendum like around a page as well?

In my short adversity addendum, I briefly listed examples of inequities and microaggressions experienced during my pre-collegiate education that have furthered my resilience and determination towards advocacy.

However, I have briefly noted some experiences of linguistic and social barriers in my personal statement and believe the experiences overlap with my short adversity addendum?

Thanks for your time and help.

Hi guys! If there’s any UVA law alums or current students who would be willing to talk to me about the school then please PM me!

I am wondering how to format my double major. I majored in criminal justice and psychology and ideally want to list both individual major GPAs along with my overall GPA, but am not sure how to format it. Criminal justice (3.97), psych (4.00), overall (3.86).

Hi all!

1

For LSAT addendum,

I want to say at the end (in 3-4 sentences) that I will grow and discuss how I'd prepare in the 6-10 months leading up to the first day of law school. Is this unnecessary, bad idea? Do you think it'll hurt? The addendum is about 2/3 of a page without this language.

2

I have many schools on my list for which I'll be below median for both GPA and Addendum.

GPA by .1 to .3 points. LSAT by 8 to 12 points.

Would it seem too desperate to apply very very early? I have a friend who went to HLS who recommends that I apply asap.

He believes that I have a decent shot due to my unique story.

I can take LSAT once or twice more time but I dont think the score will improve by much. I'm about in the middle of my PT averages. If anything I'm going to try to take the LSAT really late in the cycle if I'm on the waitlist. Otherwise I'll reapply next cycle with, hopefully, a better LSAT.

I appreciate all your thoughts and input.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond.

Here goes...

I took the LSAT, got a 156, waited a year and retook and got a 156. In that time my average went up, average before was a 156 and average a year later was a 164. I hit 162, 164, 165, 166, 168, 169, and 172 (once) the second time around. I had decided to just move forward and not retake for a third time but now that I am looking at how little money I will probably get, if any, I am worried.

For those wondering, I did practice in simulated sessions, didn't stop my tests, and reviewed each test I took about 3 - 4 times. I think the issue was that I took a lot of PT's in the late 40's - 60's range and not enough new prep tests. And honestly, I feel like the old PT's were easier. The 2 real tests I have taken felt considerably harder than the PT's and I choked both times on LG.

I say all of that to ask what should the plan of attack be moving forward? This time around I would focus solely on the new PT's and redo those I took in the past. But more than that, how do I prevent choking on logic games and improving my RC/LR sections?

Lastly, I had decided to not retake because I am burnout and frankly tired of this entire process. I am not sure that realistically I actually would do better on a real test. I almost submitted a score appeal but even LSAC say's "any differences in scores earned on practice tests versus actual tests are highly unlikely to indicate a scoring error" and I've read that people only marginally do better when they retake. So, I am also wondering if I should even do it.

For reference, I have a 3.9 and graduated with Latin Honors, and other honors.

The top 3 school's I want to get into LSAT medians.

160, 162, 168.

25th percentile.

157, 156, 164

The 164/168 is obviously a dream school. But I am thinking of applying ED, and I am a state resident.

I am debt adverse but honestly also LSAT for a third time adverse.

Should we apply to a target or reach school for early decision? Does anyone know what is considered as a target and reach schools according to 7 Sage Admissions Predictor?

Hi everyone! I am applying to law school this upcoming cycle and have some concerns regarding what to include on my resume. I've done a lot of work on social media [YouTube] to promote my experience at my current undergrad institution [I essentially post weekly vlogs and advice videos geared mainly towards out of state students like myself who may not know much about my college prior to applying/enrolling]. It's something that I'm really proud of, but I'm worried that talking about social media roles may come across as unprofessional to admissions. Any advice? I have other relevant and more professional experience that I'm including, but I feel like I would be missing something if I didn't mention my social media experiences at all.

Thanks for the help!

Hi all!

I recently took the June LSAT, and I scored a 158 - right in my PT range (155-161), so I was happy with the score. I currently work as an engineer, and we are back in the office now that most in the company are vaccinated, so I do not think I will have as much study time to improve my score as I did for the June LSAT. I graduated undergrad in 2020 with a 3.64 in civil / environmental engineering. Are my odds good enough for a scholarship to law school? Any advice would be much appreciated. You guys rock!

Hello Everyone!

I graduated grad school in 2018 and I have not been in touch with any of my professors in either undergrad or grad schools.

Most law schools I’m looking into require at least 2 letters. I have one mentor from my previous workplace who is happy to write a letter for me.

Should I get my second letter from my grad school professor or management at my current workplace? My concern for both is the ‘lukewarm’ recommendation letter from

Any advice on this or how to reconnect with professors in school would be appreciated!!

When do they usually open up on LSAC, so we can start working on our Fall 2022 applications?

help, what do I do if I do not have good teachers to ask for letters of rec for my application ?

#help

I recently realized that LSAC takes into account your grades from all institutions when calculating your GPA.

A little about me... I took several dual credit classes in high school and transferred to a different school after my freshman year. Although I did not do poorly in the dual credits or my freshman year, I did not get a 4.0. I graduated from my degree issuing institution with a 4.0. My LSAC GPA is predicted to be around a 3.78.

All that being said, I understand that I cannot omit my grades from high school and my transfer school. Would it be worthwhile to write an addendum with my application showing that I graduated with a 4.0 from my degree issuing school?