So I've been working on my personal statement, and part of the story I'm telling in that statement is something that I wrote about in an article for my college newspaper/magazine, which is published online. I'm not worried about the general topic being similar since here it has a different purpose (explaining why this experience motivated me to go to law school) but there is one particular scene/vignette that I'd really like to include in the essay, which I wrote about in the article that's online.

I'm obviously not going to copy any exact phrases or sentences, but I'm a little worried about it somehow coming up as plagiarism or something? How should I avoid this/should I just take the vignette out?

On this note, should I avoid using any dialogue, or would a sentence or two be okay? If you can't tell, I was an English major, so trying to figure out where the line between creativity and professionalism lies!

Another thing I was thinking about is that I want to reference the general idea behind this one monologue in this one (old, like 1940s era) movie. It's not like an incredibly unique idea, but I've really connected with the movie and I feel like mentioning it briefly would be helpful in the essay. Would that be a no-go, or would it be okay?

Thanks!!! Any advice is very appreciated

I entered all my information. I reviewed my application twice. And only now, when beginning a new application did I notice I accidentally put my college start month as September when it was actually August. Is this going to mess up my chances? Do I email admissions to try and correct my mistake?

Hi, I'm currently enrolled in university in Spain and am planning to take the LSAT in January. In admissions terms, I'd guess with my current Spanish uni GPA I would be considered a splitter, given I get my goal LSAT score. But I've read that my Spanish GPA won't necessarily be considered? I'm pretty confused on how much my GPA will be worth in regards to my application, if anyone has any insight about this it would be very much appreciated! Thanks

Hey guys, I just started studying for LSAT again (I studied all of last summer but chickend out of taking last cycle LSAT) and I plan to take the January LSAT. Feels like Im at square one again. Do you guys think it is even worth it to try to apply for the 2027 Fall admissions after taking the January LSAT?

Hello All!

I have written a personal statement that is 4 pages long, which I am extremely proud of but most schools only accept 2 pages. I have no idea how to cut it down. Any thoughts or advice trying to get it down? Is anyone available to possibly review mine for me?

Thank you!

Hey all happy Friday just a friendly reminder to send your transcripts to LSAC so that doesn't delay your application! I am unsure of how long it takes, but I'm reading online that it can take ~2 weeks.

Hi! I am probably not alone when I say I don't exactly know what field of law I want to practice yet. I have a ton of different interests--and am certain law is for me--but I don't have a singular path I can point to in my personal statement to say, "This is without a doubt where I see myself." Is that a bad thing when writing my personal statement? How acceptable is it to admit you aren't entirely sure which direction your legal education will take you (so long as it's clear that it will take you somewhere in the law space).

Hi all!

I am in the process of applying for the 2026-2027 application cycle and had a question about rec letters.

I have two professors of mine, both of whom I had my final year of college. One was my thesis advisor, and the other is a professor for a class I took (and loved) as well as oversaw research I did for about 6 months following graduation. I definitely think they can both speak to my strengths, but I am a little bit concerned about the fact that they are both from my final year of college. Does it look bad that I don't have a rec letter from someone whose course I took earlier on in my undergrad career?

When should I start asking for letters of reccomendation and how does the process work? how long do they take to be uploaded? and i never got very close with any of my undergrad professors as I was always in big lecture halls, I have been employed at the law firm the past 2 years would the attorney's be good people to ask for letter of rec?

So... I'm filling out my law school applications right now, and I'm noticing a trend. A bunch of schools are asking if I'm applying to any other law schools (the answer is so obviously yes) and if so, which schools. I'm not sure how to approach this question. Should I fill it out, or choose to ignore it? Any advice would be appreciated here...

i saw that Ethan's advice on the columbia page says to add a couple sentences on why Columbia. i would need to go on to the third page to do this. i'm seeing some conflicting advice on other sites on whether or not columbia wants this, so i wanted to clarify here whether this is necessary/important to include.

I have cerebral palsy with severe muscle spasticity and chronic pain, and during my undergraduate studies I did not always have the accommodations I needed. My condition significantly affected my concentration, stamina, and exam performance, and there were only about two semesters when my GPA better reflected my academic ability. My pain and muscle spasms also affected my LSAT preparation and performance, particularly my ability to concentrate, sustain focus, and work efficiently under timed conditions.

I want to be clear that I’m not saying this because I didn’t study hard enough. The pain and muscle spasms can be extremely distracting and physically exhausting, especially during exams and other timed assessments. I believe that even a very strong test-taker could struggle to perform at their normal level while experiencing that degree of pain. If my LSAT score does not fully reflect my abilities, I would want admissions committees to understand that my medical condition affected both my undergraduate GPA and my test performance.

At the same time, I have a strong personal story, meaningful professional and life experience, and a serious interest in practicing disability law. I also intend to demonstrate my abilities through my application materials, recommendations, work experience, and, if appropriate, an LSAT score earned with accommodations or a later improved score.

Would an explanation like this, supported by appropriate documentation, give the admissions committee enough context to understand how my pain and cerebral palsy affected both my academic record and LSAT performance, and allow them to evaluate my application more holistically?

If you have multiple items to disclose, should it all be on separate pages, but one document? Or is okay to put multiple on one page?

Hi guys! Would love to hear any thoughts on this. How damaging or bad would it be to write a personal statement about a family member's experience that influenced my "why law"?

I know a lot of people generally advise against it, but it is a core reason why I want to be a lawyer and I feel like I could write a really strong statement about how seeing a certain experience as a child impacted a lot of the work I chose to do and what I hope to do in the future.

I understand that I generally shouldn't spend more than a paragraph discussing the story and that I shouldn't overshare because at the end of the day, it is not my story. But would it be a really big problem or dealbreaker for schools if I wrote about it? Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks!

The title is a bit misleading, but basically, I’m wondering how much my PS has to really reckon with law. I was told by a 7Sage writing consultant (you guys are amazing by the way) that my narrative arc, from beginning to why law, is very clear and well-executed. I’m just noticing some particularly lauded examples of personal statements seem to reckon more with legal frameworks and court cases. I just feel like if I did that in mine, it would be clunky and I’d probably end up looking foolish. Thoughts?

I have a friend who is currently a 2L, he's helping me out with what to do. He told me to add a paragraph to my personal statement about why I specifically chose this law school to apply to, and to show I researched and actually care about this specific law school. He told me to do this for every law school I'm applying to.

Now my question is, should I heed his advice? Or not?

My own logic says to not include this in my personal statement because I have a very powerful + long story that led me to pursue a law degree. And I just want my statement to have that experience, the ways it affected and changed me, and then end with wanting to become a lawyer to prevent anyone else from going through my experiences (not in a "I wanna save the world" cliche type of way, it's more authentic)

Would love to hear y'alls opinions! Thanks.

Hi everyone. I have been racking my brain for months trying to come up with a topic for my PS and I keep hitting a wall. I don't have a "x happened that changed my mind and thats why I want to go to law school/by a lawyer".

If anyone has any tips for coming up with their PS that would be very helpful. I've used AI for brainstorming, I've written down boatloads of ideas and I don't think any of them are strong enough for a whole essay.

Thanks guys!

On September 1st, over a hundred law schools announced updated application requirements. No need to rush to LSAC -- we have them all for you here!

https://7sage.com/admissions/application-requirements

Some initial takes:

• Lots of schools are adding Why X essays

• Lots of schools are adding what we're calling the "agreeable disagreement" essay that Stanford, Yale, and Columbia were trying out in the last few cycles.

Check them out! If something still looks like it's from last year, that's because that school is waiting until either September 15th, 30th, or October 1st or 15th to announce their new requirements.

Happy applying! And if you want to dive deeper on any of this, come visit us at 7Sage Admissions.

I've been drafting personal statement after personal statement (not always to completion) over the past month or so, and once my LSAT take next Saturday is over I am 100% in "admissions mode," but I still haven't found a PS topic that feels convincing. I have quite a few good anecdotes, and those read well, but when it comes to drawing connections to law, and almost giving it that "juice" that many of the examples I read have, I find my attempts lacking. Does anyone have any advice or resources they've used thad has helped them with this sort of issue? I want to have all my applications in by November (hoping that is early enough) so need to make a bit of a breakthrough soon so I can start working on Perspective and optional essays.

Hi! I graduated undergrad in December 2021. I have some professors I've spoken to about law school, but only one that really remembers me / can speak to my work. There are others that I had classes with, but I assume I would get rather cookie cutter letters from them, because it's been so long since I was their student. I have positive work relationships with my manager, director, and the CEO of the nonprofit I work at. If I am submitting three letters of recommendation for a school, how many should be professional vs academic?

Bonus question: for my professional letters what do you think would hold more weight for a school: letter from a manager who knows me very well or letter from a CEO who knows me but can't speak to the exact day-to-day of my work?

Apologies for the long post! Thanks for your thoughts.

Hi guys! I have a genuine question/concern! the only organization/club that i’ve been involved in since starting college is ydsa(young democratic. socialists of america)… which I know isn’t the most fancied among the public 🌚 but I also don’t want to discredit the only org that i’ve been apart of on campus! my question is, should I include it in my extracurriculars, or is there a way I can include it that maybe doesn’t state the specific org ? I’ve been involved through tabling,canvassing, helping with poli ed, helping w a clothing drive etc and i don’t want to NOT include it, as it’s my only club involvement! Any advice/thoughts is greatly appreciated!

Maybe a long shot for a strong answer, but I'm wondering if it's worth applying with essentially the same application (same GPA and LSAT score) but much earlier in the cycle. I applied in January last year to my top school, and I'm wondering if applying again when the app opens on 10/1/26 is worth it. I'm studying to retake the LSAT again next year to apply 10/1/27, but am worried that a third application would be seen as a negative rather than a positive (i.e., the applicant wasn't strong enough two times, why say yes the third time). Thanks for any insight!

Hello,

I was thinking of emailing some student groups - particularly affinity groups - at some of my top choices. Nothing crazy; just asking about offerings and opportunities in areas of law related to the group that I might not see on the website, and asking what they particularly enjoy about the school.

I know quite a people who did this for undergrad, and it seemed to go well. Just making sure it’s not considered rude in the world of law school.

One of my applications offers an optional supplemental statement to highlight a trait, strength, or lived experience not immediately visible elsewhere in my application.

Most of my significant experiences are already reflected in my resume, but my experience with learning disabilities is not. I am considering writing about how overcoming them shaped my self-advocacy and perspective, but I worry it may sound too similar to an addendum. Do you think this would be a worthwhile topic? Also, what types of experiences do applicants typically discuss in statements like these? Thanks!

A while ago I got accused of using ai during an online course. Obviously a very stupid mistake that I will regret forever. I ended up getting a warning that is apparently not on my record. However, I am unsure if I need to disclose it on my applications and write an addendum. When I asked my case manager, she said

"A Conduct Warning is considered a non-reportable sanction, meaning it does not become part of your educational record and you are not required to disclose it. While many law schools ask applicants to sign a release authorizing the University to provide information regarding their disciplinary history, a Conduct Warning would not be included in that report."

Since it is not on my record, and I am not required to report it, do I need to? I feel like ethically I should, and I do not want to get in trouble with the bar character and fitness test in a few years if I was actually supposed to report it and I didn't. But it sounds like I don't need to?

I would love some clarification on this if anybody has some insight! Thank you!