Throughout my undergrad years, I started taking (non-transferable) community college courses through my local CC for purely recreational purposes. My UG didn’t offer much in the way of law-related or criminal justice-related courses, so it wasn’t hard to take two or three per semester through the CC. Now that I’m looking at applying to law schools, I’ve just found out that these courses will count towards my LSAC GPA. This is good, it seems, because they bring up my 3.7 UG GPA to about a 3.9. However, I’m also worried it may look like an attempt to game the LSAC GPA system. Should I write an addendum explaining that or will it not be a significant issue? My LSAT is a 176 so I’m hoping to apply to schools that I assume will look pretty carefully at my full transcript. Thanks so much!

Hi everyone,

I just put together an FAQ about LSAT related questions. Let me know if I left out any big ones!

Full lesson: https://classic.7sage.com/admissions/lesson/lsat-faq/

Contents:

I don't know where to start. Most of the schools I am applying to state that the PS is optional but I obviously plan to write one. That being said, these schools do not have topics or anything to write said statement on and I was wondering if anyone could give me a guideline for this?

Hi all! So I'm starting to organize all the paperwork I will need to ask professors for letters of rec from my undergrad. I graduated in December 2016... which was a while ago.

I want to ask three professors. One professor who I took two courses with in Fall of 2015, and two others, one in 2015 and one in 2016. How do I go about starting an e-mail to professors I haven't seen or spoken to in a while? All advice is appreciated! thank you so much!

Hi guys,

So this has been an ongoing conversation I've been having with family, mentors, professors, experts, etc. I just graduated from college and am starting work in a couple of months. After many discussions about whether to go straight to law school or take a gap year, I decided to take a gap year and work for a year before going to law school.

However, now I'm also thinking about whether 2 years is better than one. I've gone to many top law school visits at my college and spoken to the admissions deans and it seems that all of them encourage students to wait as long as they can before starting law school in order to gain work and life experience. I know this is a very subjective and personal decision, but I want to be as prepared for law school as possible and I'm not sure if taking one more year is worth it - will the benefits from the work and life experience I gain outweigh the costs of losing a whole year? I just don't know.

Would love to hear any thoughts on this! Happy to provide more specific information about my background or anything else, if needed. Thanks!

Help me decide which school to put a second deposit down to.

My background: I’m almost 15 years out of undergrad. Worked a little over half that time as an electrical engineer and international project manager for a global company on oil & gas projects. Travelled / ran a few businesses including a physical location business for the remainder. Now have a wife and almost 2-year-old toddler and live in Houston. Have a house with a mortgage here. Applied to 15 schools, didn’t get into the 3 ivys I applied to, but got in to remainder (including a couple of top 20s) and waitlisted at a couple of top 15s. Have narrowed it down to 4 options, mostly based on practical considerations. Most of my immediate family lives around Texas (Austin, Houston, and Dallas). Am contemplating IP law, but am not 100% sure if that’s what I’ll end up in. Wife is a school teacher.

In alphabetical order:

• Emory with $36k/yr scholly with ’19-20 tuition ~$59.5k/yr full-time. Requires relocation to Atlanta.

• Houston with $11.5k/yr scholly with ’19-20 tuition ~33.2k/yr full-time. I live about 15 minutes drive from the school.

• Seton Hall with full-tuition scholly for their weekend part-time program (requires 8 alternative weekends of classes and 1 weekend for finals per fall & spring semester over 4 years). Will have some travel costs associated with it such as flights and 2 nights of hotels 9 times per semester, but will allow me to make a living while I go to school. (Night part-time programs don’t work as well for me for other reasons, so I didn’t consider them).

• Texas …. Currently wait-listed with ’19-20 tuition ~$36.8k/yr full-time. I believe my chances of getting in are decent. For this exercise, give me an opinion assuming I did AND didn’t get in. I’m assuming that there would also be some minimal scholarship provided even if being accepted off of waitlists based on various online sources. I grew up in Austin and my parents and sister’s family still live there – so Austin is also another ‘home’ for me.

Struggling with this decision and could really use some opinions / insights. Thank you!

The T-14.

It seems like no one talks about anything else. But where did this term come from and what does it actually measure?

https://classic.7sage.com/about-those-rankings/

Hi everyone! I have consistently read that the recommenders should be academic but can be work related if you have been out of school for some time. I graduated undergrad in the year of 2015. Now that I have been out of school for 4 years, I have been working, starting as a barista and am now the General Manager to one of the top stores in the company. I am planning to have two of my previous professors write letters of recommendations, however some people have mentioned that I should have the CEO of my company write a letter, considering he hand picked me to run the store that I am currently working at. I am unsure if asking him is the right thing to do. I am not one to name drop (not that his name is huge) but that is how I feel it would be if I asked him for a LOR. I am convinced the two professors I have chosen will be able to write about my strong academia and talent that I presented through the classes I took. Any thoughts? Am I too far out from college to be focusing more on finding a work reference?

I think I am FINALY done with my essay! Its taken me so long to finish it. I've reworked it so many times and had so many things to write about but I think I'm finally done. So far I have a good friend and a lawyer friend reading it. I will also probably have someone from David Busis' team read it. Is that enough? Should I ask more people for more comments and critiques? What have you guys done? I just need it to be perfect. Thanks.

I was put on the waitlist at colorado and they told me they would probably not give me feedback until july. I was told 2 weeks later that their class is full and I am not longer on waitlist. Do they put applicants on the waitlist before reviewing applications? also, does a rejection off the waitlist mean I could have a better chance of admission next year if I apply early? I applied april 20th. Will my chances be better or the same if I reapply early next cycle?

I am meeting with a professor on short notice who offered me a rec letter. He wants me to come in with 3-4 points I'd like him to touch on in the letter. Any ideas for what should be included?

I currently have a 3.9 GPA at FSU with hopes in getting into a T14 law school. My only concern in regards to my transcript is that I have a relatively light course load.

In my third year--I'm entering my fourth year in the fall--I experienced multiple and erratic seizures which forced me to be on medical watch and prevented me from driving or using electronics for some time. Later on in the year, my girlfriend became pregnant with my little baby daughter (:D) and I had to travel and stay in Colombia to accompany her since she lives alone. These impediments forced me to drop the majority of my classes which consequently led me to complete a mere total of 9 credit hours in my Junior year. I explained all of this to my university and they were lenient and cleared me from any heavy academic obligations.

In regards to my credits and graduation pace, I am not off-track since I have taken multiple Summer courses over the years. I am just a bit worried that my lackluster course load, specifically in my third year, may dissuade the T14 law schools from taking my application seriously.

Could my case deter T14 law schools from considering me? I know I should mention this through an addendum but to what extent would that help with their considerations?

Hello! I know there are a TON OF posts about this topic but I just wanted to see if anyone has any opinions/gotten into law school with the similar circumstances.

I have a dual degree in Cell biology and Women’s studies and ended up with a 2.8 cumulative gpa. If I removed all of my science classes, my gpa would be about aBout a 3.8 (not sure if this matters at all). Since graduating, I have been working for a large medical device company in quality on a large project. By the time I apply, I would have been in the industry for 2 years. I eventually want to get into patent/intellectual property law. I am retaking the lsat again this fall and am aiming for ~165 + .

Has anyone else gotten into a good school with a low gpa, a better than average lsat and work experience?

Are there certain schools that really value work experience?

All opinions are appreciated! Thank you!

I went on their website the other day and doesn't really tell you anything. Anyone know someone who has gotten in or anything? like what marks and scores they had?

Now that the first deposit date has passed, you may find yourself sitting on a waitlist. How long do you have to wait? How long does a school maintain its waitlist? This will depend on the school. Some schools will notify and release candidates from their waitlist after a certain point. This would provide some closure for you as an applicant. Other schools may maintain their waitlist up through orientation in case of any “melt” throughout the summer. If deposited candidates withdraw because they get admitted off waitlists elsewhere, the school will turn to their waitlist to maintain their class size or their medians. A school may turn to the waitlist all the way up through orientation in some cases.

So how long should you stay on a waitlist? This depends on how badly you want to attend the target school. Preparing to attend law school, perhaps in a new city or state, can be a complicated process. Students have ended up sleeping on a couch or living out of a hotel room for a few weeks having accepted a last minute offer of admission from a school. They might start the beginning of law school orientation at one school and finish orientation at another school. If it’s August 1st, you probably will have deposited elsewhere, and you may decide it is better just to prepare for school with the concrete offer you have. At that point, if you haven't been released from the waitlist yet, you may decide to withdraw from the waitlist. Or, you may decide that you are only as committed as your options. If so, you should be aware of and be ready to meet these potential challenges of relocating in a hurry.

If no obstacle is too great between you and your target school, then what should you do right now as you sit on the waitlist? Well, you shouldn’t just “wait” quietly. There is no way to know what a target school is going to do with their waitlist, how big or small it is, or if they will pull 5 or 50 people from it. Nevertheless, if a school turns to the waitlist, and your application meet their requirements, you want your file to be one of the notable ones with current activity. Keep your file up to date by letting the school know that you are ready, willing, and able to commit to the school immediately should you be selected. Connect with the admissions office periodically by phone or by email (once every 3 weeks or as directed by the admissions officer) and say, “I know I am on the waitlist but I wanted to let you know that School X is still my top choice and if admitted, I would definitely enroll.” Be aware of the tone of your conversations, be professional, and take direction from the admissions officer with whom you are communicating.

I was waitlisted at American and plan to attend a waitlist information session and sit in on a few classes. I was wondering should i notify my admissions counselor that i will be visiting? I don't want to be annoying. This would be my second visit (i visited last summer before applications). I was waitlisted in March and so far have sent 2 letters of continued interest (1 each month).

I made a new free tool that you might find useful.

It’s an admissions checklist:

And a great way to build a school list:

And a great way to track your results:

You can play with it here: Coda Checklist.

You'll have to sign up for Coda (it's free) and make a copy of my document to use it on your own.

I'd love to know if you find this useful, or if it's just arcane. Leave a comment if you check it out!

Hi All! I've heard back from all my schools except for NYU. I'm pretty sure which school I'll be committing to, but wondering if I should check in with NYU or just wait it out? I wasn't expecting to still be waiting in May! Applied early January.

If anyone has any insights, I'd love to hear them :) Thanks!

So, I am applying for a seasonal job outside the US for the Fall and/or Spring. My plan was to use the Summer to have my essays and letters of rec ready to go. Then, I would send out my application ASAP once my school's apps were ready for submission. I am deciding when to put my availability for work based around when I may need to be back in the states to interview (is that a thing? I don't know)/be present generally in case I need to visit a school in regards to scholarship or any other circumstance. Can I get some thoughts on my plan or situation?

So I recently got waitlisted at my top choice. I guess it is better than a no!

I just had a quick question, will the schools ever tell you that you are rejected, or is it just assumed when the first day starts?

I am fine with going to my second choice, I just feel nervous about signing a lease and trying to figure out everything about moving to a new city with the potential of being taken off the waitlist for my first choice.

Thanks,

Alyssa

Hi everyone,

Would anyone mind helping me out by proof reading, criticizing, and editing an already proof read and edited personal statement?

I would like as much feedback as possible! Don't be afraid to really get into it!

removed

Hi 7sagers,

With deposit deadlines looming, I could use your thoughts on law school choices. I am stuck between Georgetown and Washington University in St. Louis. I was offered almost half tuition $$ from WashU and nothing from Georgetown, which isn’t all that surprising given WashU’s tendency to lure student with $$ and Georgetown’s lack of generous scholarship offers. I want to do public interest immigration law in Chicago (or possibly D.C.) after graduation. I have already tried negotiating with Georgetown (though maybe I’m doing that wrong since it doesn’t seem to be working). Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks!!

Hi friends, do I need to give LSAT for LLM admissions?

Hi all,

I was just curious about the significance of Phi Beta Kappa on your resume when applying to law schools. Obviously, I'm aware that GPA and LSAT are the most important, and then the other factors are considered to a lesser degree but certain honors or awards (like if you get a national scholarship, for example) of course weigh more than others. I go to a top 10 school and will graduate with a 3.85 GPA (weighted LSAC GPA will be about a 3.91) but due to the competitiveness of my school, I did not make Phi Beta Kappa.

Thanks,

Nicole