Hi! I was accepted at my top choice with ~75% tuition scholarship (tried negotiating, no change). I have accepted the $20,500 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan in order to cover the remaining tuition. To cover the remaining cost of attendance, the school has offered ~$40K in a Grad PLUS Loan (I am assuming I am eligible for the full amount because I have a good, long credit history, but the application doesn't actually open until June/July).

Here's where I'm running into trouble. I do not need the full $40K and did not plan to accept the whole thing. I have also applied for numerous outside scholarships, which have the potential to make a big dent in my COA need - but I haven't heard back yet. However, the school requested that I respond to their financial aid offer by the end of the month.

Will I be able to make changes to the Grad PLUS Loan amount later? I am really scared to take on all this debt and applied for scholarships to minimize it! Should I accept the whole thing? Accept the amount I anticipate needing? Thank you so much for your help!

Referencing the post on "What To Do After You Get Waitlisted," there is a section addressing students who have not heard back yet. While it says it is okay for a student with no decision to send a LOCI so long as one's application was submitted at least 2 or 3 months prior, I was wondering what the nature of follow-up LOCIs should be? On timing, the post's suggestion was to send follow-up LOCIs to schools on a monthly basis after the initial (and especially before the seat deposit deadline). I sent LOCIs to a number of schools I'd not yet heard back from at the very beginning of this month, writing the LOCI in a format similar to a personal statement, submitting a "Why X" essay in cases where I'd not already submitted one, and also writing a shorter LOCI in the body of the email.

That having been my initial LOCI blast, should my follow-up basically just be a cut-and-paste of my email statement? I don't want to make things unnecessarily strenuous by drafting a new statement with "new" interests, but not sure if a copy-and-paste of an email I already sent is that helpful. Any suggestions on how to approach this?

Hi,

I was admitted to NYU Law early decision. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I did not receive any institutional aid. I am now confronted with taking out 300k and am admittedly more nervous about this than I thought I would be.

On the bright side, I do not have any undergrad debt but I also have very limited savings (20k in bank and 20k in 401-k). My biggest fear is failing to excel in law school and struggling to make debt payments after graduating. From what I have read, 300k would be between 3-4k a month in loan payments. Even with biglaw pay, I think I would lose all my money to debt/rent (in NYC). I just need a listening ear and some advice from those who may have been in a similar situation.

Thanks for the help.

I'm planning on applying in the next cycle, and I'm hard at work on improving my LSAT in preparation, but knowing that my top choice school (Columbia) is a definite reach, do you think it would be worth it to apply ED?

While my GPA is easily in within range for Columbia, I'm worried about how I will end up performing on the LSAT, especially now since the LSAT-flex grading system isn't really clear to me.

My thought is that with a school like Columbia it'd be pretty difficult to get a substantial merit based scholarship anyway, so I might as well increase my odds of getting in at all by applying ED. Would it be better to roll the dice with regular admissions in hopes that I might be given some kind of financial help, even if that decreases my likelihood of getting in?

Hi guys. First, thanks to everyone here for building such a great and friendly community.

My undergrad degree is from Russia, CAS did evaluate it but didn't provide a GPA score. The only thing I see in their report is following:

Quality of academic record for this institution (according to AACRAO): Above Average

And they give a grade rating as B.

How do schools look at this? Do they convert it to a GPA score by themselves, like I would give it a score 3.0. Or they don't consider it and just look at LSAT. Is it an advantage or more disadvantage?

Thank you and may you all stay safe and healty!

Straight up, does the .04 matter? Didn't think ITAL 101 would be the class to kill perfection, but here we are. I plan on applying to a T14 law school. I am reaching for HYS, but if a fall short, I would be perfectly content. That said, would a small difference in GPA carry significant sway at a school like Harvard or Yale that likely see many 4.0 applicants? If my LSAT score is around their 25th percentile, would falling short of the golden "4.0" actually have any significance in their admittance decision (ceteris paribus)?

Not pulling my hair out over the issue, but I am curious about the implication small differences in GPA make in law school admissions.

I know it is early in the game, but I am curious anyone getting off waitlists and where? just want to celebrate those moving on up in admissions.

On an LSAC candidate webinar this afternoon, LSAC said the LSAT-Flex will be offered on May 18 and 19. Results will be available on Friday, June 5.

Candidates have until 11:59pm on Friday, April 17 to decide whether or not they want to take the May test.

Scratch paper will be allowed for the Flex test.

The questions will not be harder and the questions will be created in the same way as they have been in the past.

LSAC is available to answer your questions so feel free to contact LSAC directly at 215.968.1001

So I want to go to law school for environmental law.

I got accepted into Pace Law which has the #1 environmental law program, but the school overall is not ranked well. (I'm also not a huge fan of the East Coast, and don't want to work over there for long after law school.)

I got accepted into other law schools that are nationally ranked higher (T2 & high T3) and have better bar pass rates. These schools have environmental law programs, they just aren't top notch.

In summation, what is better to go by, the school's overall ranking & bar pass rate, or the specific program's reputation and ranking?

Thank you in advanced for the advice! :)

Dear all,

I am curious if any of you fellow users are students of or hav opinions about my waitlists to further shed light on my final decision if admitted to any of the three schools I have been waitlisted to. The schools are GW, BC, and Vanderbilt. I have an interest in international and comparative law. Any input would be helpful!

Thank you all!!

In a tale as old as time, I came into LSAT prep with the notion that this test would be something I could (relatively) painlessly learn and conquer. I studied haphazardly and obviously failed to get anywhere close to my target score. I decided to throw myself wholly into prep and immerse myself in the LSAT world. I am a working professional and people couldn't fail to notice I wasn't visiting happy hours as often. I felt good and slowly told people I was going to be attending law school in the fall of 2019. I work with incredibly smart folks who were blessed with the ability to take the LSAT once and score well enough to get into a top 10 school. They kindly believed that I would have no issues scoring well and thus reach my goal of attending a top 10 school.

Unfortunately, I did not hit my goal and had to retract my previously stated plan. It was incredibly humbling to admit I had not gotten the score I wanted. Luckily, my boss was happy to have me stay another year. I reemerged myself in the LSAT world, doubling down on my prep and taking a few days of PTO here and there to study. Fall of 2020 was the new plan.

Alas, I am here. I took the test and didn't make the progress I needed to get into top 15 schools. I hoped my softs would carry me a bit, but I have been rejected by every school so far. I am truly at a loss for what to do. I feel like my vision for the future has been ripped from me and I have boxed myself in completely. My partner has been patient with me during my prep and I cannot bear the thought of telling them that this year isn't going to work. I was so confident and would be absolutely crushed to tell my boss that once again, I will not be leaving in the fall to attend law school. Do I apply to lesser ranked schools and try to transfer? I don't think I can give up on law completely - it's been my goal for so long. A part of me wants to use this social distancing time to secretly prep and take the test again without telling anyone. But that still leaves me having to tell everyone it's one more year.

I'd love some advice! I really am at such a loss with how to move forward. I am happy to provide more details if needed.

Also - if you've stayed with me this long, I'd like to offer some advice: absolutely do not register for the test until you are consistently scoring at your targeted range. I had a false sense of bravado that I would magically score points better on the "real thing."

Thank you so much!

Hi! I was hoping if some of you could share your thoughts on a concern of mine. I am worried that if law schools decide to hold their classes online this fall that we may see a lot of admitted students deferring their admissions to the following year, making the applicant pool for anyone applying in this upcoming cycle of admissions harder. Worst case, if this is true, I’m thinking it could be worth waiting a year to apply. I know it is too early to tell, but I wanted to share this concern in hopes that someone might have some interesting thoughts or useful info on the matter! Thanks!

I took the January LSAT which is late for this cycle but I have heard from every school except one. The school I haven't heard from is one I am very interested in but I also have some good offers. I have been holding off on paying any deposits until I hear from this one school but most deposits are due on April 15. This school has my file completed on Feb 11, it is now April 13 and still nothing. I am considering contacting them, any advice on how to do it? Or maybe don't do it?

Hi All,

I have wanted to go to Law School for a long time. I currently live in NE Indiana and I can’t quit my job because I need it, obviously. I don’t really want to leave my family here in Indiana either, we are really close and leaving does not appeal to me. Dayton’s online program really intrigues me because of cost, proximity, etc. I want to practice in here in Indiana and live here. Would you all recommend going here for my long term goals? Want to be in public interest or patent law or become part of the counsel for the company I currently work for.

What were your numbers (LSAT Score and GPA) and to what schools were you:

Thanks for sharing!

Please lmk if you're willing to read my gpa addendum! Happy to return the favor for any other essays. TIA :-)

Hello 7 Sagers,

This is a shout out to all you folks who are stumbling along in the LSAT, maybe not getting as high a score as you want, and probably (like me) getting frustrated. After studying for 6 months, I took the LSAT for the second time last January, and I scored a point LOWER than a year prior.

I struggled with the LSAT, and although I scored in the 90th percentile on some practice tests, I was in the 150s for both my exams.

But I put together a very good application, and wrote a strong personal statement. There was only one law school in Canada that I wanted to attend, and that was here at the University of Alberta.

I was accepted today.

So for all you folks that are struggling and frustrated, keep fighting. And if you're planning on a law career because you have a strong sense of justice, and it's not about the money, then fight even harder.

I was waitlisted at Tulane, my top choice school in March. This was before the March LSAT was cancelled. I was wondering if given the cancelled March LSAT, the modified LSAT for April, and the uncertainty of future LSATs, schools will go to their waitlists earlier than they normally would have? It seems to me that waiting for April and June LSAT scores to round out their Fall 2020 classes bumps up against seat deposit deadlines and other logistical considerations. By contrast, I also wonder if applicants who have LSAT scores from February or earlier benefit at all by applying now to some schools that may have initially seemed out of reach? In essence, I am wondering if less competitive applicants who have LSAT scores from February or earlier will receive a boost to their chances for admission?

Hi,

This might be a stupid question to those who are familiar with law school application process. However I am a very confused international student, so here is my question.

I have a masters degree and currently pursuing PhD. While sending my transcripts to CAS or OLSAS for evaluation, do I need to send these transcripts as well as my undergrad transcripts ( if these push my law school a little bit)? Does these qualification help in application (given that my application won’t have any GPA but only LSAT) ?

Hi all,

I'm stumbling across 7sage's law school instruction videos. (Crim, civ pro, property, etc.) and was wondering a few things.

Thanks for your time, all!

Any intel on what’s going to happen next year? Do people think we will be doing our 1L (for students starting tomorrow this fall) year online?

Any suggestions on books to read to prepare for law school?

Hello!

I applied to law schools with a151 in my LSAT, 3.4 GPA, URM.

Obviously not the best but I decided to apply this cycle as it is the end of my gap year and because of other external factors.

I am interested in International Law which is why I applied to American as it's ranked #4 in IL.

I got into American with no money and I would have to move to D.C. Tuition itself would be $174,000 for 3 years.

American is my #1 because of the amazing international program but that cost...but I also would want to practice law in D.C.

I got into St. Thomas University and got $25,000 scholarship so it would come out around $65,000 for 3 years and live at home.

It is tempting only because I wouldn't have to take out as many loans.

My parents also wouldn't be able to help out with law school $ as they support my family + grandparents.

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts, input and/or what you would do in my position. Thank you and hope you're all staying safe!

Hi everyone, my dream (like many others) is to attend Harvard Law School. With this in mind, I'm struggling with LR questions. I went through all the modules for LR, but I am still having trouble. Timing is not an issue for me. For people who excel in logic reasoning sections: please give me some tips/tell me what you did to really improve your score. I want to try my best at making this dream come true and would really, really appreciate some feedback. Thank you & good luck everyone!

Hello all

So a month ago I got waitlisted at a pretty decent state school where I live. I immediately sent a LOCI and stated that I would definitely attend if granted admission.

But...

Today I got a waitlist offer at a much much better school that I was so convinced would reject me. This is a school that I would attend without thinking twice about it, but now I am conflicted because I am terrified that if I send that school a LOCI, they may contact the state school that I sent my first LOCI where I claimed that I would attend if taken off the waitlist and then I'd be in trouble.

What should I do?