Hey all,

took the October lsat and waiting on baited breath.

I'm having some transcript confusion and was wondering what you all thought.

I spent the first 3 years of undergrad at an unaccredited institution with a 4.0 GPA

I then transferred to an Accredited college (who accepted those credits but without GPA) and will be granted a bachelors by the end of this year. The issue is I just started at the accredited place and don't have any transcripts from them yet.

Basically I'm wondering if I just send LSAC the credits from my first college (the unaccredited one) will they count that as a real GPA.

Thanks 🙏

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?

As I am submitting applications, I've been reading and re-reading my essays. I read somewhere about a text to speech app that will read aloud your essays. It has helped me enormously. What my eye reads and what my ear hears is different. I use an app called SpeakLine. It has caught minor but significant errors (eg. statue vs. statute). Just letting you guys know!

Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone knows if law schools actually take 6-8 weeks to get back to you with decisions? I've been waiting a total of 48 hours and I'm already going crazy lol

Hello! I'm working on my applications, and have a couple of questions I'd like answered.

I received some advice regarding my personal statement from an admissions officer at a lower ranked law school. He suggested writing in the present tense, even though the story I'm telling occurred in the past. However, everything I'm reading online says to keep the past in the past. Whose advice should I follow?

I was adopted at birth, and homeschooled from 1st-8th grade. Does this warrant a diversity statement?

Thanks for any advice/suggestions!

Will the LSAC know what all institutions I attended before I even submit my transcripts? I bounced around a few community colleges in my late teens - early twenties before I finally got serious in my early 30's and graduated from a state university. My GPA is high (3.9), but I know it won't be after they factor in all the others classes I failed out of from 10+ years ago. Seems so unfair...

Hi all!

This might be a silly question, but the applications online aren't that clear and the admission offices haven't replied my emails. Does anyone know if we have to order transcripts (from our post-secondary schools) and have them mailed to the desired law schools directly? Or do we have to pick them up/have them mailed to us first, then mail it out to the schools ourselves?

These applications exclude the schools in Ontario. I'm aware they go through their own application system.

Thanks so much and any help is appreciated!

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?

I applied to HLS (totally not getting in, it was on a dare) and I sent in my LSAC application and report on the 22nd. LSAC is reporting the HLS application as "complete" and saying online that the academic report was sent over on the 22nd. I checked my status today on the HLS tracker, and it says it hasn't gotten my LSAC report OR my application fee (paid through LSAC). What gives? Should I just call LSAC and tell them?

Wow! Thank you 7Sage! I used their unlimited personal statement editing (the second most expensive one) and was blown away. Shamala was my editor and she was extremely helpful. She sent intense outlines and critics and helped guide and perfect my paper. When she thought my paper was going more in the direction of a diversity statement, she helped me start from scratch and was patient and understanding. I felt supported every step of the way. I would definitely recommend their services! I considered myself a pretty strong essay writer but this exceeded my expectations and made me confident in my applications. I had to save up for the service but it was 100% worth it! I would say if you can afford it even go for the most expensive option! I’d be willing to answer any questions anybody has to the best of my ability :)

I am applying to the Unversity of Michigan and would like to know more about your experiences at the school. Was is the school culture/atmosphere like? How are the classes and the clinics?

Would anyone be interested in swapping personal statements? I finished my first draft and am too close to my essay at this point to move forward on it.

"Are you in the first generation of your family to graduate from college?"

This is a complicated questions for me because my dad earned a bachelors degree over the course of his 20+ years in the military by taking classes online. He finished his degree after I had already started undergrad. I was the first person in my family to go to college in the traditional sense. My undergrad recognized me as first gen but I realize some institutions may have much stricter definitions. While my dad never "attended college" he did technically beat me to the degree. Should I just answer "no" to avoid the confusion?

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?

I just took my LSAT writing online, but I would like to go ahead and start applying for law schools. Can I submit my applications and then send my LSAT writing separately at a later time (like in a week or so?)

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?

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 in at UVA.

Waiting to hear back from other T-14 schools. Curious to hear the community’s thoughts about UVA vs Columbia vs UPENN — but mostly UVA vs Columbia.

I love UVA — it’s oft discussed collegiality, clerk and big law placement, lack of class rankings, opportunity to graduate with a well-rounded education, proximity to D.C legal market with advantage of national name recognition. Nevertheless, Columbia seems to carry stronger name recognition (sorry to be so focused on rankings and prestige), perhaps, as does UPENN.

But what do you all think. Just very curious.

Does graduating early from undergrad hurt your law school admission chances? Ive heard it both ways. the obvious being that graduating early means less experience. Could it also help by showing academic rigor?

Would anyone advise on writing an addendum for quitting a job and then not working for 6 months?

For context, I took time off after college to work but due to some unexpected health complications I quit my job. It wasn't cancer or anything like that but everything combined became pretty tough to handle.

I have a 6 month gap on my resume from the time I left my previous job to the job I currently have now. Don't want to draw attention to it if I don't need to and I also don't want to sound like I'm making excuses or come off like I can't handle pressure.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

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!

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.

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 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.

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?