Hi 7Sage Community!

Looking for some advice. I am reapplying to my top choice law school. I was waitlisted last cycle and then eventually rejected. I will be retaking the LSAT this coming Monday and have since entered a legal internship as well as started a new position with more responsibility at work. I had a pretty substantial personal statement that highlighted my leadership experience and work experience in undergrad, I'm now wondering how I can craft or update my personal statement for this cycle. Any advice is gladly welcome, thank you in advance!

I see that I was admitted to a school on the application status checker but a week later I am still waiting for some kind of an official word i.e a letter/call/email. Does anybody know how long it usually takes? What has been the experience thus far?

Hello, 7Sagers! Getting to the end of my checklist on these application materials and reached the dreaded résumé.

I pursued a graduate program after finishing my bachelor's. Did it for a year. Left afterwards. What language should I be using on my résumeé to reflect that I didn't complete the program? Right now I have "[Degree] candidate" as opposed to simply having the degree by itself. Will it be self-explanatory due to the fact that the date only spans one year? I want to make sure that I'm being clear, but don't want to create a negative impression in doing so.

I plan on taking the October and November LSAT's. I hope to hit my goal on these tests as I am PTing right around there. However, if I wanted to take it one more time in January (worst case scenario), how much of a disadvantage would I be at? I am not shooting for T-14's. The schools I talked to said they take the January LSAT and encourage you to apply by March 1st. If I have competitive numbers for the schools, would I still be at a disadvantage? For context the test is mid Jan and we wouldn't get our scores till like the 1st week in Feb.

In a poor lapse of judgement, I missed the November LSAT sign up by one day. I'm taking the October test, but my practice tests have given me the same score that I received in my June exam - a score I am not pleased with. Everything I read says I should apply early, which makes sense, but how devastating is it to apply in February? I'm hoping to get into a top 50 school. Ideally, something ranked in the 20 or 30's in a large city like BU or GW. Thanks for your thoughts!

I have a very odd question to ask! I'm about to start the application process for law school, and am getting ready to ask for letters of recommendation from people. One of the best sources I could ask for a LOR from would be my new brother in law. He's a practicing attorney that I have worked for over 5 years for as a paralegal (I've dated his brother for 7 years until we recently married). I'm concerned that the unusual, mildly nepotistic structure of the situation would be frowned upon by admissions advisers (especially considering the last names will be practically the same, as I've hyphenated).

So what does everyone think? Should I find someone else? Would you think it would negatively impact my chances or am I overthinking it?

I'm trying to apply as early as possible (aka within the next few days).

My unofficial cumulative GPA for my school was a 3.2. I look on the LSAC transcript review and it says it my GPA is a 2.8....

Basically I had retaken 2 classes that I previously failed and took them again to get an A and B.

But apparently the LSAT counts those two F's that were taken away for my undergrad GPA.

I want to go to cal western which has a 25% percentile GPA at a 2.91.

My LSAT score is at the 75% percentile at 152. If I sent in my application within the next couple days do I have a chance?

Can somebody explain what this means? I've gathered from some that it could just be yield protection and there may be nothing to worry about, but others seem to say it could spell trouble. I'm honestly just confused. Can somebody offer me insight as to what this means and whether I should be panicking?

Hi there,

I am four years out from undergrad and have had a few time intensive and demanding jobs since then. I do political campaign work and government work and am trying to highlight all of my positions in that field that in my resume. In turn, the resume is over a page. I have never had a ton of free time in general, let alone for volunteer activities but did assist in a letter writing campaign for planned parenthood last year and will be teaching a workshop for women interested in campaign work next month. Question: If my resume is already over a page, should I include those volunteer roles at the end of my resume? Important to include my personal interests (running, hiking etc)?

Thanks!

I am still planning on taking the November LSAT. I know that scores release about 3 weeks after the test. My fall semester officially ends on December 13. Will I have to submit my application with this year’s fall semester included or can I submit my application with the GPA that I currently have (not including my GPA post-fall semester)?

I know your personal statement is supposed to be about you, but the moment that changed my career trajectory (and made me decide to go to law school) is entirely centered around something someone else did. I mentored students and taught civics classes through a nonprofit organization, and one student who spoke to the school board made me realize law/being a voice for others is what I wanted. He did it, but I was there when it happened, worked with him all semester, helped write his speech, etc. I also can talk about how from there I did other things (president of the nonprofit college chapter, joined a volunteer group, advocate locally for communities), but it's still technically something he did that would be the introductory "story". Any advice on if this is okay to write about?

We have an exciting webinar coming up!

The webinars are free, but you’ll have to register in advance:

We’ll ask our guests about their admissions processes and law school admissions in general. In the second half of the webinar, you'll get a chance to ask your questions directly.

🍪One attendee of each webinar will get a free Edit Once.

What questions would you like us to pose in the first half? What issues would you like us to bring up? Please make your suggestions in the comments.

Past Webinars

~~On November 6, from 9–10 p.m. ET, we will host Sabrina Huffman and Anne Richard, the director of admissions and acting dean of enrollment management, respectively, of George Mason Law. Before coming to George Mason, Sabrina Huffman was an assistant director of admissions at USC Gould School of Law; Anne Richard was a dean of admissions at the University of Virginia School of Law.~~

~~On November 13, from 9–10 p.m. ET, we’ll host Mathiew Le, the assistant dean for admission and financial aid of The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.~~

~~On December 4, from 9–10 p.m. ET, we’ll host Matthew Dillard, the director of admissions of The George Washington University Law School, and Rob Schwartz, the assistant dean of admissions of UCLA Law. (Register.)~~

Hey y’all,

I really value the input of community of 7Sage, so just wanted to ask:

Anyone looking to go to UGA law? What do you guys think of the school??

I'm a little bit confused. I spent 4 months at an international institution which did not grant a certificate or a diploma. It was a language school, not an undergraduate school. There seems to be a disagreement regarding international transcripts between certain schools and the LSAC. Examples of a school's policy and the LSAC's policy are shown below.

Some school: "If you have received academic credit for coursework taken abroad while enrolled as a full-time student [check], and if grades for that period of study are not clearly indicated on your home transcript [check], you must send that foreign study transcript directly to LSAC."

However, LSAC says: "...you were directly enrolled at one or more institutions outside of the United States [check], its territories/associated states, or Canada and the total amount of work you completed at all of these institutions combined is the equivalent of more than one year of undergraduate study [no check]..."

The time at my international institution was full-time but less than 1 year of undergraduate study so according to LSAC I need not send transcripts from the international school. I am mentioning the international school on my resume.

What do I do?

removed

For the personal statement should one write

A- a certain factor/story that affected someone greatly and provided tools to help them succeed as a lawyer

or

B- have a personal statement that contains multiple stories of a persons life that shaped them instead of one factor/story

Would like to jump on the call and ask several questions. Thanks!

If someone is not admitted to law school because of a low LSAT score, can they use the same exact application for the next cycle with a higher retake score? Assuming they had a solid personal statement and LoRs. Thank you.

I have a pretty embarrassing situation from when I was younger.

Wondering how much detail I need to go into about the actual sequence of events.

I have an optional addendum document written out explaining this entire period of my life.

Thoughts?

Happy to give more details in private messages.

Thanks--

Kat

My stats are 165 LSAT and 3.94 LSAC GPA

I don't want to retake right now because I am leaning towards going to a school that would give me a scholarship; however, I was thinking to apply to NYU for more options.

One year out of undergrad, 4 different legal internships, strong LR

While it may not be feasible in the immediacy, in the future would 7Sage be able include in its School App Checklist whether or not the GRE is required to submit if you’ve taken it in the last 5 years even if you’ve taken the LSAT?

Harvard has required this since they started, and I’ve now been told Penn does as well. Someone else heard NYU too. I take it this is a hugely important detail for graduate student applicants like myself because it takes 10–15 business days for the ETS to send it to the school. That’s a fairly big difference in terms of submission timing! :)

Hey all,

I am looking for someone to read over my personal statement and offer feedback and in exchange I will read your personal statement and give feedback. I am applying to T-14 schools and have a GPA and LSAT around the medians. My personal statement topic is travel/anthropology/life story. Thank you.

Hi everyone, I am answering the following question on a Character and Fitness disclosure:

"Have you ever been a party to any noncriminal legal proceeding, such as a civil lawsuit, an arbitration, an administrative legal proceeding, or a family court or domestic abuse proceeding? Being a party to a legal proceeding means that you are one of the participants who has a legal interest in the outcome, such as if you sued or were sued by someone, and it includes having any type of order of protection issued against you. It does not include merely being a witness in a legal proceeding."

...I was part of a class action lawsuit, not because I elected to be, but because a former employer was taken to court regarding wages, and the employer ended up settling. I received a $600 payout as a result. Do I need to answer yes to this?

Hi everyone,

I am in a dilemma as I don't think I'll be able to get any academic letters of reference. I graduated with a 3-year Bachelor in 2014, went to paralegal school from 2014-2015, then went back part-time to finish my 4th year for the Honours program. I graduated with an Hons. B.Sc. in 2016. I got a job right after graduating and I've been working full-time every since. I'm looking to apply to Canadian law schools and most of them ask for academic LOR. I haven't kept in touch with any of my professors and I don't think they would remember me. I could probably get professional LOR from supervisors (manager and lawyer).

Is an academic LOR really important? Can anyone comment on my chances of getting into law school without any academic LOR?