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Hi everyone.

I graduated from my degree granting institution with latin honors (summa cum laude) but I was a transfer, and my cumulative GPA with my other institution is definitely not that. Summa cum laude is on my resume because it's written on my diploma, but since LSAC has calculated a different GPA, I feel weird putting that on my apps and law school resume, although they do ask for honors and awards... Any suggestions on what I should do?

I'm taking the LSAT on Saturday. My practice tests have been about 158 so I will be content to be within a point or 2 of that given how anxiety provoking this whole test has been. My UGPA is a 3.94, and I will have completed my masters in forensic psych by May. I know that my score falls well below the 25th percentile for Georgetown and a lot of top schools, but is it still worth applying? Or is it a waste of money? Thanks!

Hi, hope everyone is doing well! I could use some advice on whether to apply this cycle or work for a year then apply.

Here's the situation:

Academics:

I graduated last year from an Ivy League, with Summa Cum Laude honors. I was part of a Dual BA program so at the same time, I earned a degree from a top-ranked university in Europe. All in all, earning 2 degrees in 4 years, my cGPA is 3.9.

LSAT: 171 on the August LSAT-Flex.

Extra-Curriculars: I won't get into details but they are mostly volunteer/social work. I also co-authored a policy memo for UNICEF with one of my professors and worked as a reporter for a a non-profit while enrolled full time as a student.

Although I interned at a law office and did mock trial in high school, none of my college extra-curriculars were especially law-focused. So, after graduation, I got a job as a litigation paralegal at a solid firm in NYC.

However, I contracted a serious mosquito-borne virus while overseas that summer and had to give up the job. It took me almost half a year to recover mentally and physically, at which point I decided to just make it a gap year and become a yoga certified teacher, study meditation, and pursue other personal projects. When COVID hit, my dad unexpectedly lost his job and now my parents have to move cross-country. My mom is physically limited and they both need help doing research and reading documents (we are immigrants and my english is better than theirs), so I have stayed on to help them sell our house, find a new one, etc.

So although, in my mind, I have been busy since graduation, I don't know how to communicate any of this to a law school admissions committee. Right now there is just a year+ gap in my resume that may look sus. That's why I'm wondering if I should work in the law field for a year and apply next cycle with post-grad work experience to speak of? Or is there some kind of addendum I would be advised to write and just explain everything that happened since graduation? Has anyone been in/know of a similar case to mine?

Pardon the long read. Thank you for reading this far. I really appreciate your feedback.

Does anyone know if you can update your application with a new LSAT score after you have submitted it? I took the August LSAT and got a 168, but was averaging around 173-175. I plan on taking the November test. Should I apply now or wait?

So my UGPA ended at a 3.1, but I don't know how my CAS GPA will look like, and fear it could be significantly worse- around a 2.8 even. I re-took several failed classes, so replacing an F or D with a B or A on 3 occasions helped my GPA quite a bit on my school's transcript, but it seems CAS won't calculate it that way.

On the bright side, I'm scoring mid to high 160's currently on practices and feel confident that by my second LSAT take, likely November, I'll achieve the 170 I'm aiming for, or at least a 167+.

Using 7sage's law school predictor with these numbers (2.8, 170) has had me rather confident about my chances for the schools I'm hoping for 20-40 ranked, with UF my #1 choice. 7sage predictor puts me at 85% chance for UF.

I have two questions - one, is that law school predictor very reliable? Because I'm kind of shocked that good schools would really want me if my CAS GPA comes out that low, knowing how high most applicants' GPAs are. (I know LSAT is a big factor, but the GPA difference seems so big that, to me, a score just above L75 wouldn't reconcile that. I could well be wrong, though). And two, anyone else who applied with low GPA can speak from experience how their admissions went, or just anyone with the knowledge?

Any help or advice is very much appreciated.

Hi all,

Do I need to send in my study abroad transcript if 1) it was only for one semester and 2) I didn't receive credit for the grades I got from that semester?

Okay, I know this has been asked, but I'm still a little confused: do we need to provide parent info or not??

Some law school financial aid pages make it even more confusing by saying that we are considered financially independent from parents at this stage.

So, what's the deal? Any help would be much appreciated! (3(/p)

Hey all,

I am currently in a dilemma upon receiving a feedback from my old college professor on my personal statement.

My essay is concentrated on the timeframe between childhood and high school. It starts with an incident that happened when I was eleven. The impacts of the incident continues until high school and my essay covers what I've learned and how it sparked my interest in law. I am pretty confident that my story is unique, which is the reason why I wanted to focus on that experience. And I got the impression from 7Sage's curriculum about personal statement that it's better to focus on something specific rather than painting a broad picture.

But my college professor advised me to condense that story to half, and write the other half about my college experience. She recommended that I write about how I've worked to earn and advance the skills that will help me in law school and in a career as a lawyer. She told me to demonstrate that I am a good writer and researcher, but I am not sure how to show that as I have not written any thesis or did research outside class assignments. Some extracurriculars I've done and awards received could be indicative, but my resume already covers them and provide a good picture on how I spent my time in college. She also believes that I need to indicate why I chose my college in the US (I am Korean). Hmm.

I have so much love and respect for the professor that I feel like I need to follow her advice, but at the same time I am not sure if talking about my college experience will just dilute the impact of my story. What should I do?

Hey everyone! Michigan asks for "no more than two" optional essays. Does anyone have insight on whether it would put me at a disadvantage to only write one? Michigan is one of my top choices, so I don't want them to think I'm not willing to go the extra mile...

Hey! Random question, but do you need to update schools about employment changes after you've submitted your application? I know you have to update them on any character and fitness changes, but I am not sure about employment changes. Tbh I hate my job and want to quit, but I don't want to look bad to law schools by doing so (especially because it's at a law firm). TIA!

Hi everyone, thanks for clicking in this post.

I will take the LSAT in Jan (and it will be my first and only LSAT score) but some schools' application deadline is Feb 1st. I'm a little bit worried if I should force myself to have a try on Nov LSAT (I have already registered it but feel not very confident, consider to cancel it)

I wondered will I be able to submit the application without LSAT score?

Thanks.

Due to financial reasons during my undergrad career, there were points where I was working 25-35 hours a week while attending class full-time. I also had to finish my 4 year degree in 3.5 years for the same reasons. My GPA is slightly above the median GPA for the school that I am targeting, but I do think if I didn't have to deal with those financial situations that my GPA would be higher. Do you think it would be beneficial to have a GPA addendum for such a case? I don't want to seem that I'm making excuses either. My LSAT is at the median score for my first choice school by the way. Any thoughts/insight would be appreciated!

RESOLVED

hey guys

if anyone could help me out, i was just wondering does anyone know how important it is to admissions for us to have experience in the legal field? i dont really have anything except one short internship where i just helped out with some legal related things occasionally. i mostly just have retail experience and some positions in school clubs. do you think thats something that could cause a rejection or look bad?

i also read that if u dont have anything in ur application showcasing that u have helped people/spoken up for people, don't say that u want to do it and that its a reason for pursuing law in ur personal statement, but idk how accurate that is..i didnt think there was anything wrong with saying that something u went through or whatever makes u want to do that, regardless of what experiences you've had..any opinions??

THANK YOU!

How many withdrawn classes do you need to for it to become a problem? Should you write an addendum for more than 3 Ws? Do Ws matter that much?

Thanks to J.Y. I was able to get a 177 on the LSAT which is huge because I only have a 3.72 GPA. I was wondering if I realistically had a chance at any top 5 school? I attended an unranked state school so my GPA really shouldn’t be that bad. The “predictor” gives me a pretty good shot, but I guess I was mainly wondering if I would be hurt by the fact that my school lacks prestige. Thanks so much for your help.

Hey everyone, I was wondering if I could get some insights on writing an addendum for both LSAT and GPA. On the LSAT side, I took it three times and I had some decently-sized jumps: low 160's to low 170's to 180 (thanks 7sage!!!). I've heard that in general, you should write an addendum for jumps >7 (my first jump was ~10), but some of my friends have told me that I shouldn't write one to save the adcomms some time because of the 180. Any other opinions here? I don't really have a reason for the jumps besides "I spent a lot of time studying." For GPA, I have a GPA that's below the median but above the 25th percentile for my dream schools. My transcript is mostly good except for two classes whose grades are really weighing down on my GPA. One of the classes, I don't have a good reason for getting a bad grade in - I just accidentally slept through half the final. The other class, I had a medical reason for doing badly on the final. Is it worth explaining the latter bad grade, or should I just leave it be? Thanks in advance for the advice!

I currently work for a law firm that’s unaware I’m applying to law school this cycle (I’m scared I will lose my job if they know I’m leaving next fall). They are listed on my resume and my personal statement but my boss is not a recommender. Do law schools typically contact employers about the applicant?

Wondering this because I'm not sure where you would even appropriately put it. I had read it was possible to add it as the addendum (particularly if one of the optional essays is already written), but I'm inclined to believe this would not be well received. Any advice?

Hey friends! I am in the process of finishing my personal statement and I would really like to get a few opinions before the final send off with my applications. Besides the people that wrote me my LOR's, does anyone know of a resource that will help you with your personal statement revisions? Also, I don't want to spend thousands of dollars so I am not sure if anyone is in the same boat but let me know if you have any suggestions!! Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone!

I took a year off in undergrad as a medical leave of absence, during that time I was hospitalized and diagnosed with Bipolar 2 disorder. I was thinking about writing my personal statement about how learning to manage and cope with my bipolar disorder has made me a more compassionate and critical person. I know that the year gap in my undergrad degree requires an addendum/character and fitness essay, but if I write my personal statement about this part of my life, do I need to also write an addendum? Am I better off writing my personal statement on something else and leaving this story to just be told in my addendum/character and fitness essay?

Thank you!

3.04 GPA, 163 LSAT (July2020), nonURM, strong softs, Florida resident

I have applied to

Reach: The University of Florida, Arizona State University (Denied; it was free to apply), Boston College

Target: Florida State University, Cardozo Law, University of Illinois, SMU Dedman, Penn State

Safety: University of Miami, Florida International University, (should I apply to another safety?)

I am retaking the LSAT in November, and my PTs have been in the mid 160s. I am hoping to bring it up to the high 160s by the November test.

Right now, the University of Florida is my top choice. I am worried that I should have waited to apply there until I took my November LSAT. I have read conflicting information about what schools do if a future LSAT is scheduled - some wait, others don't. Should I write a letter to UF asking them to wait to evaluate my file until my November LSAT comes back?

Schools I would like to apply to depending on my Nov LSAT score: Fordham University, Emory University, University of Georgia.

Is it advantageous to apply now and ask the schools to wait until my November LSAT comes back to evaluate my file? Or is that the same as just waiting until Nov to apply?

Goals: I want a decent shot at big law; although, I am okay if I don't end up in big law. I am young, single and kid-less so I don't have a lot of ties to any particular area; I'll go wherever the best opportunity is. (although Florida in-state tuition would be nice).

Thank you in advance to anyone who offers a fresh perspective! I have been turning this over in my head quite a lot lately.

I've been getting a lot of law school emails that say they have found me through CAS and encourage me to apply due to my credentials (also include a app fee waiver). Should I take these emails seriously or are they kind of generic? I got an email from Cornell saying I should apply but my LSAT/GPA are below their median lol. Anyone have some insight?

I have a 169 from the August flex and i’m registered to take the November test. I’m confused if I should take it again. I’m applying to T 14 schools with a low GPA(3.33 in Economics). I’m not sure if I should submit my applications early to have a higher chance or wait until I take the November test and apply then.