Hey Everyone,

I am getting ready to request my letters of rec for law school. I am going on my second year out of being out of college, and I have a really strong work and volunteer (community) recs in mind. However, I am not sure how to get ask my one of my professors for a letter of rec. I have two that I knew well because I was in office hours a lot, and one of them wrote me a letter for a program before..but I forgot to keep in touch. Anyone have any examples of how they would approach a professor that has helped them before but they haven't kept it touch with?

I am asking because I feel its weird after two years just to pop up in email asking for something.

Hi everyone,

We just updated our blog post "Should You Take the GRE Instead of the LSAT in 2019–2020?" with new admissions data and advice from current admissions deans. The post also includes a table of every school that accepts the GRE and the number of students who actually got into the first-year 2018 class without an LSAT score. Check it out!

https://classic.7sage.com/should-you-take-the-gre-instead-of-the-lsat

My specific question surrounding LSAC GPA is: I am enrolled in a Spanish class next semester to boost my GPA. However, I already earned the language credits required by my undergrad back in high school (IB Classes). Even though this course will count towards my GPA and I am certainly getting credit, it is not technically towards my degree, since I do not need it; I already earned the credits before undergrad. Will the LSAC not count this class? There is nothing on my transcript that will indicate it was an unneeded class.

How important is the written portion of the LSAT? Considering admissions boards will have a personal statement, essays you've written, and so forth, how much do they really consider the written part of the LSAT? I did the written part in March, but with the June administration (which I took), it's online and optional I believe. I'm considering doing the June LSAT written portion as well since I could probably do a better job on it than the March one, but I'm wondering whether it's worth the time, since I've heard the written part of the LSAT is nearly ignored.

Should I write seperate Why X essays for each law school I'm applying to or should I make one template essay and go back and make necessary changes depending on the law school I'm applying to.

Hi I'm considering applying for early decision asap (so october or earliest possible). My numbers aren't spectacular: 166 LSAT with 3.78 GPA, but the LSAT predictor says ill have about a 50% chance at NYU Law and like 23% Columbia. Now, my dream school is Columbia Law, but I would be happy with NYU Law as well. Which one should I apply for? Any advice?

So ive been out of school for 5 years. I feel like my current employer would be in the best position to write my recommendation letter, however, my current employer doesnt know about my law school yet. Does anyone have tips on asking your current employer for a recommendation?

Hi everyone, this is my first post here.

Some background: I previously applied to law school two years ago, I was accepted, but did not attend. I did not include a C&F addendum on my previous application and I do not plan on applying to the same school during this cycle. I am a pretty anxious person and I tend to overthink everything, of course law school applicants are no exception.

When I was around 10 - 12 I was out with a friend when he was caught shoplifting. I knew he was doing it, but did not take anything myself. We were taken to the back by loss prevention and they did call the police. My friend was older than me and he was charged with shoplifting. I am 25 now and I honestly do not remember many details from the event. I cannot decide if I should include a short addendum about the event since I was involved. Would it be silly to include? I did not include it on my previous application two years ago, if I include it now would that be an issue? (Not the same school)

The addendum would be something similar to this:

"In the interested of full disclosure I am writing this addendum to detail an event that occurred while I was a juvenile. While shopping with a friend at a Walmart, I was present when he shoplifted but did not shoplift from the store myself. The police were called but I was not charged with any crime."

As I said, I am an anxious person. My fear is that it might cause an issue in the future, maybe with the bar C&F.

Thanks for any feedback! :)

Hey guys, wanted to get your take on my situation. I am a Canadian student who graduated from the University of Toronto this year with an Honours BA. I finished with a UGPA of 3.54 and I am PT-ing in the 163-165 range right now. UCLA is my first choice for American schools and if I get in I will 100% accept the offer. I am wondering if it is worth it for me to apply early binding. I am not dead set on the US and will potentially go to U of T law if I am admitted but UCLA has always been a dream and I plan to practice in California. Would love to hear your thoughts!

What is the significance of a non-binding early decision that some schools offer? does that mean that if i am accepted early that i am not stuck going to that school? and if so does that mean i can apply to more than one non-binding early decision school?

LSAC has posted its fall 2019 recruitment forums at https://www.lsac.org/lawschoolforums. Put on your best business casual and attend one or two.

• Forums are an opportunity for candidates to meet with admissions officers and school representatives (sometimes current students, alumni, or faculty) from a variety of law schools in one place.

• It is a chance to ask questions that might not be answerable on a law school’s website.

• Candidates can ask specific questions about their particular situation (“how would School X react to 6 LSAT scores??”)

• It is a chance to collect business cards, establish a connection with an admissions officer, and show enthusiasm for a school.

• It is a chance to get on the school’s radar and mailing list as an interested prospective student. You can look forward to receiving fee waivers and invitations to other prospective student events in the fall.

Referencing specific conversations and connections from forums in personal statements or future LOCIs may strengthen an application. Be prepared to ask a few smart questions and make a strong impression. This is prime recruitment season for admissions officers and they are on the lookout for good future students.

Suggestions:

https://classic.7sage.com/admissions/lesson/what-questions-should-you-ask-a-law-school-admissions-officer/ and https://classic.7sage.com/admissions/lesson/what-should-you-ask-current-law-students-or-alumni-about-their-law-school/.

From conversations with LSAC representatives at the recent NAPLA conference--

About the Digital LSAT test:

• Test takers will have a little time to practice using the provided LSAC tablet and stylus/pen on test day before the start of the actual test on test day.

• Test takers have the option to bring pencils. They will be given scratch paper to work through problems.

• The digital LSAT has a spellcheck function but it will not provide suggestions for correct spelling like a typical spellchecker.

About the typed LSAT essay:

• The retake limit for the LSAT essay section is same as the LSAT multiple choice section but law schools will only receive the last three (3) essay exams. Candidates cannot choose which essays go to the law schools.

• The LSAT essay section is not scored. Law schools receive it assess the candidate’s analytical and persuasive writing skills in a timed controlled environment. Typed essay submissions will likely receive more scrutiny from admissions committees as compared to handwritten essays in the past.

• LSAC will consider an LSAT exam "complete" when it has results from both the multiple choice and essay sections, and the results will be sent to the law schools. If, at that point, the candidate intends to retake either section of the test and wants the law school to delay their review of his file, the candidate has to inform the school directly.

• If a candidate has taken the multiple choice section of the test but not the essay section, LSAC will not send any results information to the law school.

Anyone knows law schools use cumulative or degree GPA (from LSAC) for their 509 report?

Also, which GPA is more important for law schools when they review students’ application ?

Thank you!!

Just like title, I can't find a better way to word this. What I'm trying to ask is, how long would it take after I take the LSAT to get everything ready for admissions and application. Or, when is the average cut off for fall semester application for law schools.

Sorry if this is a common question I looked around a bit and can't find a satisfying answer.

so,

If I take the lsat on 3/30, 2020, would it be in time for the fall semester?

Thank yall in advance!

Anyone meet their SO in law school? Looking for inspiration/law school romance stories.

I have a question regarding transcripts that I am hoping to get some clarity on. I emailed LSAC about this but wanted to see if others have had a similar experience.

During one of my undergraduate semesters, I attended a study abroad program through the School for International Training (SIT). While I was abroad in South America for the semester, all components of the program were organized by SIT, a US based program with organized, semester long study abroad programs all over the world.

I received transfer credits for the 5 courses I took while studying abroad, and while the course titles and grades I received for the courses appear on my official undergraduate transcript (for the school from which I received my Bachelors degree), the grades were not included in my undergraduate GPA.

Does anyone know if it is necessary to request a formal transcript from SIT for this semester, or if the fact that these 5 courses do appear on my official undergraduate transcript would be sufficient?

Some of the information I read on the LSAC website led me to believe it was not necessary to ask SIT for a transcript, but I wanted to check as I did not read anything that described my exact study abroad situation. I also did not see a section for adding an institution such as SIT, as it does not seem to fall under any of the existing categories. I was also not entirely sure if you could request a transcript from an institution if the institution is not listed in CAS.

Thanks!

Quick resume question: I am 3 years out of college, so I currently have my Experience section listed first, but I also had multiple internships while I was in college. As a result, I was planning to organize my resume sections as follows : [Post-Graduate Experience, Education, Undergraduate Experience, Undergraduate Leadership and Activities, Awards, and Skills].

I am wondering what others think of this organization strategy, or if it would be better to condense my experience and undergraduate experience in to one section: [Experience, Education, Undergraduate Leadership and Activities, Awards, and Skills?]

The latter felt strange to me, to have all experience, including internships I held during college, listed prior to my education section (and as a result pushing my education section to the second page of my resume), but would love input.

To provide some context: I'll be applying for this upcoming cycle (October 2019). I am currently working full time (medical research) at a job that would allow me to work flexible hours and attend law school part time. For this reason, I'm interested in one school in particular in my city that has a part time, evening program. I would love to continue to work while attending law school, and would be interested in transferring into a legal position at my current company or a similar institution.

Would it be beneficial to indicate my preference for this particular program? The school does not have an additional, 'Why Us?' essay.

From LSAC's website (https://www.lsac.org/lsat/taking-lsat/lsat-faqs):

LSAC is updating their test-taking limit policy later this summer, and it will go into effect with the September 2019 LSAT administration.

Starting with the September 2019 test administration, test takers will be permitted to take the LSAT:

Three times in a single testing year (the testing year goes from June 1 to May 31).

Five times within the current and five past testing years (the period in which LSAC reports scores to law schools).

A total of seven times over a lifetime.

This policy is forward-looking, not retroactive. Tests taken prior to September 2019 will not count against these numerical limits.

In addition, test takers will not be permitted to retake the LSAT if they have already scored a 180 (perfect score) within the current and five past testing years, the period in which LSAC reports scores to law schools. This aspect of the policy will be applied retroactively.

There will be an appeals process for test takers who have special circumstances and want to request an exception to this policy.

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I will be taking the November LSAT. Can I apply to schools before this once the applications are out? Or do I have to wait until I actually sit for the exam? Thanks!

I've always assumed that the actual application process itself isn't all that bad. But for time management purposes I need to know what I should expect. I already have LORs, my transcript, and my personal statement finished. How long does the rest of it all take? If you're blanketing the t-14 for example, wouldn't most of the applications be roughly the similar other than why X essays?

For those of you preparing to apply during the upcoming application cycle, you might be wondering about LSAC and the services they provide. This post will explain the difference between the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS) and the LSAC Candidate Referral Service (CRS).

Information about the CAS can be found at https://www.lsac.org/applying-law-school/jd-application-process/credential-assembly-service-cas. The CAS Report is an electronic file with the candidate’s academic summary (GPAs, LSAT scores), LSAT essays, LORs, and any other application documents. Once you as the candidate provide one set of application documents to LSAC, they will assemble the information in the CAS Report and distribute them to your selected law schools. The CAS Report is sent electronically to the law schools you select and appears in their admissions database as a single PDF file. Candidates must purchase this service. You pay for each report that is sent to a law school.

The CRS is the way for law schools to find the prospective students they want: https://www.lsac.org/choosing-law-school/candidate-referral-service. The most common use of the CRS is for the school to get a list of registered candidates with attractive LSAT scores and send them fee waivers. Fee waivers waive the school’s application fee (the school’s administrative cost of processing an electronic application, often $50-100). This doesn’t however waive the cost of sending a CAS report to the law school. Schools may also do geographic searches to invite prospective candidates in the local area to prospective student open houses and programming events at the school. If a school wants to promote specific programming in, say, corporate law, they could do a search for candidates who indicate in the CRS that they are interested in corporate law. Candidates have a choice in opting in or out of this service. Opt in and you might get hit by waves of emails. This might be annoying. However, each point of outreach by a law school is a great opportunity for you the candidate to respond by connecting to someone in their admissions office (by email or phone or in person) and showing yourself to be a strong candidate: https://classic.7sage.com/admissions/lesson/what-questions-should-you-ask-a-law-school-admissions-officer/.

Hi all!

I am wondering when do you start sending transcript to LSAC and get to know your LSAC GPA?

Thank you!

I've been wait listed at two schools. One of them being a month now and the other two weeks now. I visited both schools and sent thank you letters shortly after. I also sent continued letter of interested to both schools. I am tired of waiting and feeling very anxious. What else can I do to speed this process up? :(