Hello,

I graduated in Fall of 2020 and been working at a law firm as a legal assistant. I already got one letter from the attorney that I work for personally, and I've also written a request to a professor. I haven't heard back yet from the professor and getting a bit nervy since I plan to finish applying by Dec 1.

I'm considering backup options -- either my second attorney who I've worked with for the past year with less workload, or a former paralegal that trained me and worked very closely with me daily (we could make the case that she was supervisory if needed) for 3 years before she moved to a different firm.

I'm confident that both people would be more than willing to write the letter, but I'm wondering which would be the better option. My feeling is that the paralegal knows me much better both professionally and personally than the second attorney.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I have extensive work experience that I’d like to feature in my resume for my applications. However, I understand that the ideal resume format for a fellowship or job might differ from the one used for a law school application. What are the key differences, and what should be included for applications?

Does anyone have any insight or advice on whether or not its a good idea to cancel your score? My previous undergrad advisor said not to cancel your score unless you absolutely flopped the test. I took the October LSAT and had some personal matters come up unexpectedly the day before. I don't think I realized how much it would subconsciously affect me and my score went down two points from my previous score last fall cycle. Is that a reason to cancel my score or maybe just write about my circumstances in an addendum?

I'm taking the November LSAT and plan to do better on that one.

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Tajira McCoy and her crew of law school admissions deans return for their most recent monthly discussion. This time, they dive into all things related to the written aspects of an application.

In your personal statement, do you have to write about why you want to be a lawyer?

Should you tailor your personal statement for every school?

When the instructions say “two pages max,” what happens if you go just a bit long?

How do you stand out on your statements (or is it even advisable to try and “stand out”)?

All that—and more!—in this month’s discussion.

Hey everyone,

I’m heading to the LSAC Law School Admissions Forum in San Francisco next week and wanted to ask for some advice. For those who’ve attended before, what’s the typical dress code like? I’m aiming to make a strong, professional impression without being overdressed.

Also, any tips on how to stand out when speaking with admissions representatives? Are there particular kinds of questions that tend to spark a good conversation?

Thanks in advance! I’d love to hear what worked well (or didn’t!) for you.

I am having trouble finding sample essays for their 250 word essay. Can anyone find a link to a site?

Hello!

I'm studying for the LSAT right now, but to give myself some understanding on the importance of my LSAT score, I thought I would ask this question: How Important is my LSAT Score?

For context, I did my 4 year undergraduate degree in the UK. I took some summer classes at US universities, but those grade outcomes did not impact my 4 year undergraduate degree. I graduated my university with a First Class Honours.

Obviously, I don't expect LSAC or law schools to understand what "First Class Honours" means or why I don't have a GPA. But, if I read correctly, LSAC does rank me in the general GPA scale somewhere between "Superior" and "Above Average".

Now, given these circumstances, how important is my LSAT score then? If I want to increase my chances at T25, does that mean I need to really go high to achieve a high score? Will law schools emphasise the LSAT score over my near-inexistent GPA?

If anyone has any experience with this or knows something, it would be greatly appreciated! I'd like to use this knowledge as another motivation for me to work even harder in LSAT prep.

Thank you!!

I'm wrestling with the idea of applying to Yale by Feb 28. I just took the LSAT 2 days ago. I think I did okay (my gut says it was between 13-15 misses or a 167, best case scenario maybe a 172). I had only recently committed myself to wanting to go to law school, which is why I missed the December LSAT and a number of the application cycles for schools that express concerns against testing in February. Fortunately Yale is not one of those schools; they accept Feb test scores without a stated penalty to the applicant's admission chances. Yale is the only top 5 law school to which this applies, and I also have legacy at Yale which I think may help my chances.

I'm 28 now, waiting a year and applying next winter would mean I start Law School when I'm 30. I also don't know what I would do with the extra year besides work and save. I'm currently in a career field somewhat unrelated to law (corporate finance), so I don't think an extra year of work experience would particularly bolster my application (I've already worked for 6 years since graduating college). So applying this year and starting in the fall (if I get in) makes a lot of sense...though there are some things I'm unsure of:

The deadline to apply for financial aid in March 15, though I imagine many students have already applied. does applying for aid this late reduce chances of receiving grants/scholarships?

Does an LSAT score of 170 realistically even qualify me for any aid at a school like Yale? Is the criteria for aid need based or merit based? Socioeconomically my family is UMC and I personally have non-liquid assets (homeowner's equity)

As mentioned Yale doesn't actually communicate a "penalty" for Feb LSAT test takers, does anyone have information to suggest this may not truly be the case?

Question about re-application...I obviously don't know my LSAT score yet, so in that sense I'm sort of applying "blind". It's entirely possible I screwed up more than I thought and my score is more like a 160, which would obviously seriously hurt my chances. Does re-applying to the same law school a year later put you at a disadvantage against students who are applying for the first time?

Any thoughts/insights are appreciated. If it makes sense to wait or if I should just go for it.

Thanks!

Hari

Hello guys! I am planning to apply by the end of November for this law school cycle and I am feeling very stressed about my personal statement. I think I have done at least 5 drafts and I still don't think its good enough. Is there any life changing advice you all were given that you think would help me?

For some context, my most recent draft discusses about my reason why through some experiences. I start off with the concept of what it means to be the "best" and use that throughout my essay. I use some experiences, being diagnoised with ADHD as well to show my reslience and self critisim. I make sure to connect these experiences throughout my life to larger systematic structures Ive started to notice in society. I also mentioned my internship in New Zealand, and some orgs at my college I was involved in which reflected on how I began to see how systems in law reflect and reinforce those social hierarchies. My essay focuses on how these realizations inspired me to study law to deepen my understanding of how societal systems function and how they can be changed as well.

I feel like this is too much or that I need to change something. I would greatly appreciate any support and help!

Hi! I was planning on taking the November LSAT and applying for law schools next cycle. I honestly was thinking of the November one as more of a preliminary/trial run to see how I do. My goal is above a 173 long term, so I was thinking of taking it again in the spring.

BUT my cousin recently told me that some schools, specifically T14 schools, will average out your LSAT scores or at least take them into consideration. I am averaging out at a 164 on practice exams right now. Is this true that they average/care about ALL your scores??? If so, should I just withdraw from November LSAT and/or reschedule for January so I can possibly get a better score the first time around?

Other info: 3.87 GPA from Penn, class of 2023, looking at T14 schools

Hi all! Just got my October LSAT results and am super displease - I've been PTing 173 and up across 7Sage and LawHub (for the test platform experience) and got a 164 on the exam. This isn't my first time taking the exam and though my scores have consistently gone up, I know I have the ability to get a better score and am thinking of retesting in January.

My question is whether or not I should apply for the 2026 cycle. I have a couple T14s on my school list and the rest are Tier 1s, so almost every school on my app list is now a reach. I have a very strong GPA (3.98/4.00) and diverse experiences reflected in my statements and resume, so I'm trying to figure out what the odds are of me getting in. I know any point increase on another test would increase scholarship but I'm worried that delaying my application from November to end of January will lower my chances of acceptance and merit aid. Thoughts??

I am wondering if anyone knows how Columbia views ED applicants, more specifically how it may impact one's chance of giving in I will applying with my 170, and a 3.93 GPA. Columbia's medians are 173 and 3.92.

Also, I am wondering if I do choose to ED-- whether I should write my essays differently/ explain why I chose to ED Columbia specifically

Hi All - I'm sure there's already been posts about this but I wasn't able to find any discussions. I'm in the process of getting out my applications had a question on how admissions officers are treating the use of AI with personal statements and optional essays.

I'm asking because I just wrote out a quick draft of an optional essay and put it into Grammerly to see if it would be flagged as AI generated. Grammerly said it was 83% AI generated even though it was 0%. I then put in a paragraph that I had ChatGPT write and it said it was only 70% AI generated.

My concern is that schools are going to throw out my application because they use one of these tools that erroneously says my essay is AI. Does anyone have any insight into this? Obviously it's a very new problem.

Hi! Today has been a bit of a gut punch. I've been full-time studying since May, PT’d a 169, 170, 176 and 171 leading into October, but got a 167 on the October exam. My GPA is a 3.93 and my dream school is Georgetown. I ideally would like to be competitive for the T-14s even though I’m open to T-30 schools. I know law school applications are at a high and applying at the end of November vs end of October can be detrimental.

Do I drop everything, hunker down, and take the November exam (I scheduled it for backup) or take my chances with what I have now to be able to apply earlier?

I appreciate any advice! ❤️

I am looking to begin the application process, but I am waiting on my LSAT score from October to come back. I currently have an LSAT score from August. If I pay for a CAS report, will it automatically use my August score because I have not received this new score? If so, will it update automatically with my October score if it is better?

Also, do I need to submit letters of recommendations before I order CAS? I feel like I am missing information about the "right order" for all of this.

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The leaves are turning, decorative gourds are everywhere, and the law school admissions cycle is in full swing. We break it all down, from the statistics regarding enrolling 1L classes (up), to LSAT numbers (up!), to a look ahead at what this likely means for application numbers (UP!).

Also see if you can spot the error regarding the year in which Cecil Fielder hit over 50 home runs for the Detroit Tigers!

Hello folks! So, I was supposed to take the LSAT this week, but I forgot to bring an acceptable form of ID (due to my travel circumstances, it was impossible to go and get an ID), so I basically just had to take the L and go home without taking the LSAT.

What I'm wondering: How will this show up on my LSAT record? Should I include this test date in my law school applications? Is this a big enough deal that I should write a small addendum explaining the circumstances?

Any advice would be awesome, thank you!

Hi everyone, I am feeling a little worried right now because only some of the schools, I am applying to require academic references (I'm Canadian) but i honestly do not have any super strong connections with profs. I am worried a prof will reject my request for a letter of reference as they do not know we well enough even if i did well in their course. Any Advice?

Hi! I've seen a lot of conflicting info on Reddit and want to know at what point do W's raise red flags for admissions to mid tier schools? I'm applying to my alma mater, LSU Law, with currently 3, very spaced out W's that are not from my major courses. My issue is that I might need to drop one more course (senior) because I am working so many hours. How much of a negative decision is this for my application? 3.75 GPA, 160 LSAT

Hello,

What is the best philosophy on optional addendum to give context to test scores? I sat the LSAT 4 times (over the course of about 7 months) and obtained the following scores (in order): 168, 169, 168, 169. This was frustrating for me because my practice scores were consistently in the 170s. Is it worth a sentence or two to explain why I sat the LSAT so many times (because my practice tests suggested I could do better?) 

Hi! Just a shower thought I had but, do some URMs get a higher boost in admission chances than other URMs? For example, would a Native American get a higher boost than someone who's Hispanic, or are all URM groups given the same boost?

Hi. I know I am late to the game, but I just started studying for LSAT (5 weeks ago). Studying 4 hoursish.

I am thinking about taking the LSATs in January! and most schools i am looking into (Chicago), their early application deadline is mid Feb (Reg deadline range is March-April).

My question is, would i be too late for Fall 2025 cycle?

Most of my application work is complete about 60-70% (I have my LOR, transcripts etc). Though, I need to work on Personal statements.

I just need reassurance lol.

Any advice.

What are the thoughts on grade addendums for non-traditional students? I have a resume with 20 years of experience that I think will show a strong work ethic and stand out, and if my LSAT scores are in the ballpark of where my PTs have been, they'll be above the 50% scores for the schools I'm looking at. My college grades were horrible though. I just don't know what I would write on an addendum that would be anything much better than, that was a really really long time ago and doesn't reflect who I am at this point in my life, which I think the resume and number of years (decades, yikes) since graduation will show. My gut instinct is that it just draws more attention to it. Is it important to get out in front of it and spell it out - those grades are not who I am - or better just to let the strong parts of the application speak for themselves, and hope for the best with the grades? Thanks!

Hello everyone.

Long story short. Life happened and it took me 6 years to graduate. I had multiple semesters I had to withdraw from which resulted in 36 hours of W's.

The LSAC has calculated these W's as F's and my 3.5 gpa is now a 2.62.

On this page https://www.lsac.org/aboutlsac/policies/transcript-summarization#excluded under the heading Grades Excluded from Conversion, the very first point on the list is "Withdraw, Withdraw/Pass—only if the issuing school considers the grade nonpunitive"

So my question is, if my final transcript shows a 3.5 wouldn't these withdrawals be non-punitive? I am understanding the word punitive as my school would use these W's in my GPA calculation as zero.

I have also looked at the site https://www.lsac.org/transcriptkeys/igugs-search.aspx

My school has this listed:

Excluded From Both LSAC and School☼ Calculation

☼Passing grades from systems with fewer than three passing grades (e.g., High Pass/Pass/Fail) are not necessarily excluded from the school's GPA calculation.

Unconverted: CR,P

Omitted: AU,GNR,I,IP,NG,NGR,NR,W,WN

Nonpunitive: (This section is BLANK)

So the Nonpunitive section is blank but W's are listed under Omitted. Maybe I am answering my own question here but do I have a shot at challenging the LSAC's GPA calculation?

Thank you in advance and good luck to everyone here.

PS. I'm kind of starting here to feel the situation out and will contact my registrar soon.

Greetings 7Sagers!

On Tuesday, October 21 at 8pm ET, join 7Sage admissions consultants Taj McCoy and Dr. Sam Riley for another panel discussion with law school admissions deans from across the country. For this conversation, hear from representatives of Boston College, Catholic University, Howard University, Loyola University Chicago, Loyola Los Angeles, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as they weigh in on the state of admissions and answer questions specific to evaluating personal statements from an admissions perspective. The audience will be able to submit additional questions on this topic throughout the session via the Q&A widget.

*Note: The session will be recorded and will be posted to our podcast after it's edited for sound quality.

Register now: https://7sage.zoom.us/meeting/register/EkG3kKCcTdiU5gZPEP5BiQ