What Be Good 7Sage!

Wanted to give y'all a heads up with how my application cycle went and where I will going...spoiler alert, going to the University of Georgia!

To preface, I want to put some info out regarding my demographics: Hispanic/ Latino (Checked the Mexican Box), Graduated Undergrad in December 2016 so been working a while, married, living in the Florida Panhandle, and am a first gen college student.

With my score being a 154, I understood that I would be below the majority of my choice schools' 25th percentile. Thus, I made it a point to follow the 7Sage admission course guide and have at least 3 safety, 3 target, and 3 reach schools.

I applied to the following schools: Seton Hall (Accepted w/ 10k scholarship offer, withdrew application), Miami (Was on hold, withdrew application), American (Accepted, withdrew application), Florida State (Rejected), Florida (Rejected), Washington and Lee (Was on hold, withdrew application), Cornell (Was on reserve, withdrew application), Emory (Never heard back, withdrew application), Alabama (Waitlisted), Virginia (Rejected), Vanderbilt (Rejected), and UPenn (Rejected).

I went into the application cycle knowing that my wife and I wanted to live in the Atlanta area after graduation, thus UGA made the most sense for us for law school. Knowing that I would have to over shoot my numbers, I made it a point to visit UGA prior to applying. I was able to meet with an assistant director of admissions, dean of the law school, and a first gen law school student coordinator on my visit. I applied regular decision the first day applications opened as I knew I would want to negotiate more scholarship money (if I got any) later in the cycle.

In December, after being told my application was on hold by the committee, I made it a point to send a school specific LOCI explaining why I wanted to go to UGA. I like to think that they liked the letter, as not even a few days after this I was notified of my acceptancemwith a 5k merit scholarship offer.

As I received other acceptances and another merit scholarship offer, I knew my time for negotiation would be coming soon. I received an email a few days ago stating that I would need to let them know if I was going to accept my merit scholarship or not by April 1. Thus, I called the admissions office and notified them I wanted to negotiate. I was able to get my merit scholarship up to $7,500 annually ($22,500 3 years) as well as have all my seat deposit fees waived. I understand that there is a possibility that I can negotiate for more as the cycle goes on, but for the time being this is where I am at.

All in all, I like to think that 7Sage really helped me overshoot my numbers and allowed me to go to the law school of my dreams. I write this in hopes of allowing others to see my thoughts in addition to be able to reach out to someone in the midst of the process. While not all of us can be 170+ LSAT takers, this does not mean that you cannot go to a T30 school! Keep your heads up and do the work.

Feel free to direct message me for any questions you may have. Thank y'all for the amazing journey. Not sure how much I will be on here after this with school starting in August, thus if you do not hear back from me on here in a few days shoot me an email at jonah.griego@gmail.com!

Faithfully 7Sager,

Jonah Chadwick Griego

Hey 7sagers,

I need some advice. I've been working in corporate america for the last two years. I have an amazing relationship with my boss, but the job gives me so much anxiety and is so demanding. Some events happened that allowed my boss to ask me to think about if I want to stay another year or not. She wants the best for me. We are good friends, but I cant work with her much anymore because she is the cause of a lot of my anxiety lol.

I'm thinking about quiting in June versus staying until I wear out my welcome lol. I'm sure she will give me a letter of recommendation but I'm concerned about how that may look to law schools. I'm planning to apply by october 1at this year. Quiting will allow me more time to craft my essays and take the lsat in August.

I feel like after all of the work I put into the company it's time for me to step out and believe in myself. After all I've been putting off law school for three years now.

I have family support and will live off my savings until I find something I love to do until law school starts. Any advice ? Will the gap from june to October look bad?

Hi everyone,

I'm curious what you think. I want to practice law in the midwest or south, and I'm looking at schools like WUSTL, Vandy, and UT-Austin. I might send an app to GULC/Cornell just for the hell of it– I'm leaning a little toward NY BigLaw; not sure at this point, but if I get in at a t15 northeastern school, I'd heavily consider it. In addition to my gpa/lsat, I have cookie-cutter softs for a law school applicant, and assume average LORs and personal statement. I have some part-time work experience from undergrad and I'm taking a gap year to work as a court clerk before going to law school.

What do you guys think about my chances at the schools listed? I tried MyLSN and 7sage's predictor, but they're giving conflicting reports. 7sage says that I'd have ~80% chance at WUSTL, but the MyLSN graph shows a lot of people with my stats getting waitlisted/rejected. Also, are the 2019 ABA 509 reports for schools the official stats/medians for next cycle (fall 2020), or will schools come out with Class of 2023 stats later this year as the new application window opens?

Thank you all. I owe my improvement to 7sage!

Hi,

I am a PhD student of Genetics in India. I am interested to work in IP law. However, I have no idea if there is any special requisite to apply for law colleges in Canada or if any special fellowships available (cause I won't be able to study law without fellowship). Also if it is ok to go from PhD in Genetics to law (I know many go from engineering field, but not sure if students come from biology field as well ). I have converted my undergraduate score (First division) to GPA, it is coming 4 but not sure if Canada schools convert the score for international student or they disregard it. Is Credential Assembly Service Authentication and Evaluation (CAS A&E) compulsory for international students? Will they convert my undergraduate scoring to GPA?

I will highly appreciate and grateful, if someone has answer these queries.

I have two questions. On the SLS website it says "Please be aware of the high value Stanford places on school-specific letters of recommendation." I take it this is their subtle way of saying "If you don't write an SLS specific LOR we may just throw your app in the trash." Does anyone have experience with this or an alternate explanation?

Second, on the SLS application process page there is no mention of a "Why X" essay at all. Does this mean we should not write a Why X essay for Stanford? On other schools' pages there is mention of a Why X essay but not here. Would it be inappropriate to send a Why X essay? Thanks!!

First - thank you 7sage! I ended up getting a 172 on the LSAT, and I know it wouldn't have been possible without the amazing materials on the site. I've been blessed to get into Columbia, BYU, Cornell and Vanderbilt. I'm really torn between Columbia, (because I love NYC and all of the programs at Columbia) and BYU, where I have a full tuition scholarship + $2500 stipend. I've visited both (I did undergrad at BYU actually), and enjoyed both...I just can't decide if I should go for the prestige, or the debt free degree. Advice?

Hi 7Sage,

We’re offering six free admissions packages to low-income or under-represented applicants. We’ll give away two packages each of Admissions Consulting, Unlimited Editing for One Essay, and Edit Once. (See the descriptions of those packages here.)

To apply, please fill out this form.

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Hi! I am about to graduate college and I have a great job lined up afterwards. I have always known I want to go to law school so I am studying for my LSAT now and hope to take it the summer before I start working. With that being said, there will likely be a 2 year gap in between my LSAT and when I apply to law schools. Will admissions care about that gap? Thanks

I am about to register for the April LSAT (my first one) and realized the LSAC website says I need to order a package for reporting to 6 law schools. It also says this is "special pricing" and I need to order it before I register for this discounted price ($650) wtf. Is this new or did I miss this earlier?

Update: I understand now. I thought it did not include the LSAT fee but it does. Carry on!

When I was 14, I got caught stealing a pair of shorts from Sears in Texas (EXTREMELY STUPID, I know). I paid my fine and I did my time in community service. It took me a long time to move past this and I thought I had. Now, I am incredibly disheartened that some of my law school apps SPECIFICALLY state that I must disclose expunged juvenile records. I would hate for something I did 10 years ago to bar me from attending law school. I know people say that as long as I am honest, it should not affect my admittance, but I find that hard to believe. Why wouldn't a school look at my record and reject it when there are so many other applicants?

I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this? If an application DOESN'T specifically ask to disclose juvenile records should I still disclose or no? Would it be bad to disclose to schools who ask specifically and not others? I am fully aware this will come up in the bar I just feel very disheartened by this. Any advice would be appreciated.

As the 2019-2020 cycle draws to an end, I thought I should share a recap of my admissions results and say a big thank you to JY and the 7Sage Community.

I started studying for the LSAT in 2018, with a diagnostic score of 153. After a year of intense studying with 7Sage, I was able to boost that score up to a 169. And I'm beyond thrilled to share with you that I was accepted to Berkeley and Cornell, among other very prestigious law schools.

I had basically zero knowledge of the test itself in the beginning, let alone the law school admissions process in general. Signing up for a 7Sage LSAT Course was possibly the wisest decision I've made in the past couple years, as I've benefited tremendously from the curriculum that I thought was very insightful, easy-to-follow, and beginner-friendly. The Discussion Forum served its purpose as an indispensable source of information; I was able to get all the help I needed from the Sages and users who were more than eager to share their experiences. What I found most amazing was that all of it came at an extremely generous price.

All in all, I am grateful that I found 7Sage and that it offered me an opportunity to excel at one of the most challenging tests there are. I'd like to express my utmost gratitude again for the 7Sagers for their advice and support - without them, I doubt that I would have made it this far.

Thank you!

For example, would it be detrimental in my law school application if I were to graduate in five years as opposed to the expected four years? I essentially had to skip my Junior year of undergrad because I was dealing with chronic seizures. Therefore, the doctor prohibited me from going to school as I needed to be medically monitored for the following months.

I applied in November to my top choice law school and they rejected me two weeks later. I retake the LSAT Saturday. Last night, they sent me an email wishing me good luck and inviting me to apply and visit the school. I applied and was rejected before I signed up to retake the test. Is this just really a bad job of filtering out the email addresses of rejects on the part of my top choice school, or should I really investigate asking them to reconsider my application if my score improves?

So I recently got into a law school with the Dean's Merit Scholarship, which would cover about 60% of the tuition (not sure if I'll be getting need-based from them or not). I am above their 75% LSAT, below the GPA median. Beforehand, I'd gotten into a law school ranked about 20 places higher and one I really want to go to, but they didn't offer any merit scholarships, just a little need-based $. For this school, I'm above their LSAT median but below the GPA median. Could I leverage my scholarship from the lower-ranked school to ask for more money from the higher-ranked one?

Thanks in advance!

Hello all!!

After receiving a 169 on the January LSAT (thank you 7sage!) I am now in the position where I may need to decide between the 5 law schools I applied to in Ontario (U of T, Osgoode, Queen's, Western and U of Ottawa). I am wondering if any fellow Canadian 7sagers have come across any good resources for comparing the programs at these schools.

My interest lies more in the realm of public interest law and I am worried about ending up at a school that focuses too much on corporate law (I have heard this is the case with Western and U of T). I am also worried about writing these options off before really understanding the programs.

Posting on the off chance any fellow Canadians have heard first hand or have experienced themselves the realities of a law degree at any of these institutions.

Thank you!!

I received an email from an assistant dean at a school to which I've applied. He asked to set up a phone call to discuss my application. The school does not do interviews. Has this happened to anyone? I'm confused.

Hi folks:

Does anyone here have experience with the Harvard video interview?

Would like to know what type of questions to expect and perhaps some tips on what they are looking for.

I signed up for an official tour of a school to which I've applied. Does anyone have attire advice? I'm wondering if I should wear business casual or if street clothes are OK. I'll be traveling and with my one year old son, so casual is preferred but of course will wear what's appropriate/expected.

Also, I got an interview request from what I considered a safety school. I'm a little freaked out, because I'm under the impression that interviews are offered to candidates in the discretionary group. Can anyone offer insight on the interview process?

Thanks!

There's a GPA on my transcript which I had put on my application (I haven't submitted yet), but I just opened my education report on the LSAC website and my cumulative GPA on the report is different (0.1 higher). Which one is correct? Obviously I want to put the higher one even though they'll see all of this information, but don't want to do anything that is incorrect or seems dishonest. Thanks!

When we are admitted/rejected at a school, does the online status check usually reflect the decision, or just that a decision has been made?

Hi everyone,

I just received my LSAT score from the January 2020 administration and am feeling quite disappointed. I was hoping to apply for Fall 2020 admission, but I don't think I will get into many mid-tiered schools, let alone receive scholarships to go. It's also near the end of the cycle so I am aware that there are fewer seats left to fill.

Here is a breakdown of the scores I've received so far:

Jan 2020 - 153

Dec 2019 - 152

Jul 2018 - 150

Dec 2017 - 147

Jun 2017 - 146

My first 2 times taking the LSAT were "just to see how I would do". For the first test, I went in cold turkey with no preparation. For the second one, I had watched lesson videos through Blueprint's online course but didn't take any practice tests. Upon reflection now, I should have canceled those scores, but now they are on my score report and there's nothing I can do. I took the next 3 exams with about 12-15 hours/week of drilling questions. To date, I have taken no more than 10 practice exams. I have completely underestimated the amount of preparation, namely taking practice exams, that it would take to score at least in the low 160s (although my goal is at least 165). My fear is that I've seen too many LSAT questions and don't have much new study material to take practice tests with. Not sure how to effectively study from this point to get a significant score increase. I also don't know if the strategies or logic skills I've learned are wrong and need correcting. It's just frustrating that the score bump-ups I've gotten are no more than 1-2 points. I guess it's good that I haven't done worse?

I received a 3.7 undergraduate GPA from a #2 public U.S. university and I have a strong resume with a few years of relevant work experience and community involvement. However, knowing that the LSAT score is the most significant factor for getting into a T20 school, I'm thinking about applying for the Fall 2021 cycle instead.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you :)

Hello everyone,

So I applied Early Decision Round 2 to UPenn and was put on the waitlist. In the email response from the university they say that they recommend submitting any additional information such as an updated resume, an additional 2 page essay on a topic of your choice, and any additional letters of rec. My question is regarding the additional essay, are they looking for a LOCI? Or are they looking for an additional essay, something similar to a personal statement, in addition to a LOCI? If so, what are some good ideas for the extra essay? Any topics I should try and focus on or some that I should stray away from?

Any suggestions or comments are much appreciated!

Is it worth it to apply to a regional school in Mid March or just wait 7 more months to apply with the same scores/gpa and application at the beginning of the cycle? For the regional schools I want to apply to I am 1-3 points under the LSAT 25th percentile and right at the GPA 25th percentile for the schools.

At the moment I want to apply at as many schools as possible to have a lot of options but I feel rushed with the incoming deadlines and I am worried that I am doing my self a disservice with my app numbers (LSAT and GPA) by applying this late and I realistically might only have the chance to apply to max 3 schools this cycle as opposed to the planned 6. Regardless, I have my LOR's ready, resume ready, I am currently on my second draft of my PS and still crafting my diversity statement/adenda/optional essays.

Is it realistic to think that if i apply as early as possible I might get a better shot at $$$ and a chance a getting into schools that would probably reject me If i applied late mid march?

What should I do?

.