I am getting my bachelors degree from a fully accredited online school (Excelsior college)

How much (if at all) will this hurt my application?

Sorry if this has been discussed before - I tried searching 7Sage and Reddit to no avail.

All else equal, do AdComs favor applicants who are undergrad alumni of the university to which they are applying? For example if someone went to Northwestern for undergrad and is right in the 50% for LSAT and GPA at Pritzker (or slightly lower), are their chances better than an applicant with equal marks who did not attend Northwestern for undergrad?

If a school, especially a top choice school, doesn't have a "Why Us" essay, does it make sense to add it on to the end of your personal statement?

Hi all,

After high school, I spent two years at one college before transferring to a different institution, where I started more or less started over as a freshman (I was able to transfer credits from one course). My GPA before the transfer was pretty abysmal (2.7). I graduated with a 3.5 and went on to get a grad degree from an Ivy, finishing that with a 3.6. This was almost 10 years ago.

My question is, should I even list the first school on my application? The downside risk to sharing is that the low GPA will spook admissions, but there could be some upside in the narrative of personal and academic growth. However, I imagine there is also the risk of outright rejection for withholding that information.

Has anyone faced a similar situation, or have any advice? Thank you in advance!

I bought mine last year October 2018 and didn't end up applying -- can I still use it this year, or do I need to pay another $195? Please advise!

THANK YOU!

Hello,

Just looking for a little guidance from my fellow 7sagers! I was wait listed at my dream school and then denied. I have decided to not matriculate an institution this fall due to many other factors, and am determined to use the time I have waiting for the next cycle to polish my application. I am very certain where I was eventually denied is where I want to pursue my higher education and am wondering if it is an appropriate action to reach out to the admissions office there? Of course all in a professional manner- I just wanted to express my interest and in some way ask for advice as to what would make me a more attractive candidate- I do plan on taking the LSAT again, rewriting my personal statement and getting a new LOR. Thanks in advance for any advice!

My supervisor at work has offered to write me a letter of recommendation. It was a temporary internship, so I no longer work there. I have a few questions regarding a reference for law school. First off, would a letter of recommendation from my boss even be appropriate? I know its almost always better from a professor, but this job was prestigious- worked as an intern at the U.S. State Department Humanitarian Unit in East Africa. My work did not involve lawyers, but a lot of it was legal related. Second, I won't even be attending law school until fall of 2021, so would the admissions look down on this recommendation at all if it was written a year and a half before applying? I'm just worried that if I ask my boss later, she will be less inclined to write an outstanding letter since it was so long since we had worked together. And finally, my boss said to tell her what I want from the letter of recommendation, so what are the vital elements of a good recommendation letter for law school?

Hi All,

After researching and looking through previous discussions, I still have a question about requesting that a transcript be sent to LSAC. My undergrad institution uses National Student Clearinghouse. I selected LSAC as the recipient with electronic delivery. The next page asks for the recipient delivery information, specifically an email address. I've looked all over the LSAC website and cannot find anything about providing an email address for National Student Clearinghouse. Any insight?? Thanks!

I can't decide whether to apply for the binding UVa early decision... I have a 168 LSAT and 3.95 GPA so I am just under the LSAT median and just over the GPA median. I think it is my top choice, but also it is so hard to know when you haven't visited, which I won't be able to.... My main concern is the financial aspect because since it is binding, you are going regardless of whether they decide to offer any scholarship. Does anyone have thoughts or advice? I don't know anything about early decision

I took a semester abroad in undergrad. The classes were pass/no pass for credit, but grades were given (C- or better was pass) My transcript marks the p/np but does not have the letters. For my application to law school, should I get a transcript from the program itself to get those letters or is my undergrad sufficient?

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I'm available for more application reviews. I've done a few so far, and they went really well.

-Selene

What is Application Review?

Our goal is to tell you what an admissions officer might think after reading your file. I will review your application (a PDF preview) along with other materials that an admissions committee will see (LSAT history, academic summary, etc.). I will give you feedback in a conversation via the phone or Skype and send you notes after the call.

Who am I?

I worked in law school admissions for fourteen years before coming to 7Sage. You can read more about me (and all of us) here: https://classic.7sage.com/admissions/about-us/

What’s the difference between Admissions Consulting and Application Review?

Admissions Consulting comes with unlimited help on all aspects of your application, including strategy, editorial guidance on every essay, and after-app follow-up (for interviews, letters of continuing interest, etc.). Application Review is a review of a single application.

What do you Get in an Application Review?

I will review each element of your application (essays, resume, addenda, transcripts, letters of recommendation) and give you feedback about how an admissions officer might interpret the information. I will offer recommendations on how to revise your current materials to strengthen your overall application. If you have a proposed school list, we can talk about that as well. I will take notes pinpointing strengths and weaknesses and my recommendations. We will walk through each application piece together in our phone/Skype conversation, and I will email you my review notes afterwards.

How much does it cost?

$499.

What do you need to do before you use this service?

You need to write all of your essays, have PDFs of all your academic credentials, fill out an application via LSAC, and upload all of your attachments. You should be ready to hit “submit” before you buy this.

If you’ve already applied, I can give you a post-mortem.

Who should NOT use this service?

Don’t purchase this if you plan to submit your application tomorrow. I may advise you to revise or rewrite large portions of your application.

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Email editors@7sage.com with the subject line “Application Review” for a reservation. We’ll give you a start date. If that date works for you, you can hold the spot by purchasing the service through a link that we’ll pass along.

Hi all! My CAS GPA is a 3.49. I just finished my degree this summer, and I'm applying this fall (planning to have apps submitted by late October/early November). I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but I've been consistently score in the mid/high 170s on all practice tests (highest score 177). If I do get around a 175 in September, what are my chances for admission at a T14 school realistically? Most of the splitter info I've seen was regarding numbers closer to 3.0-3.3 GPA and 170-172 LSAT, and nothing closer to my numbers. Also, another question, what is considered a safe school for a splitter? At schools where my GPA is the median, my LSAT is usually far above the 75th percentile, so I'm not sure where I should be aiming for safe schools. Thanks in advance!

Additional info about my low GPA (some will be included on apps in an addendum):

Other application materials I'll be including:

I'm soliciting advice regarding whether I should get a letter from my employer. In case it matters, I work at a big and well-known law firm and a managing partner would be writing me that letter.

I'm now about a year out of school, so will be two years out by the time I matriculate. However, I have 2 professors I'm very close with who have written many letters for me and know me very well (we text and catch up on the phone regularly and they know me both academically and personally) who are happy to write letters for me. Additionally, I have a third potential letter writer who heads a research center housed at Michigan's law and public policy schools; I recently had the chance to read the letter she wrote for my Master's application and it was strong, as well.

My question is whether, given that I have strong academic and kind-of professional letter writers, will it raise a red flag if I've been out of school 2 years by the time I start law school and don't have any employer letters, especially from a law firm? For schools that accept 4 letters, would it be worth using my 3 academic letters and also add an employer letter? I think they're all strong enough that they would enhance my application in a unique way. Thanks in advance!

If my bachelor degree is not from a US institution, is that a disadvantage for me? Will law schools look at my undergraduate GPA or they only care about my LSAT? Thank you!

I would love to exchange both and see how they work in tandem. Let me know if you'd like some eyes on yours!

I've been out of school for 3 years. Going to law school only became a goal of mine my last semester of college. I ended up getting 5 academic recommendations the summer after graduating just so I'd have them on file when I was 100% secure in the decision to go to law school and likely rack up debt. Since I've heard academic letters are preferred to non-academic, I never really thought about getting one from work because I already have more than I can submit to any single school. Should I be getting one from an employer?

For some context on the letters I have, two are by STEM professors (I double majored in STEM & non-STEM), one is from a non-STEM professor, and two are from non-STEM professors who were also my thesis advisors and law professors at my undergrad's law school.

Since graduating I've worked at two law firms and am about to switch to a third firm. The areas of law I've worked in are pretty relevant because they all combine my interest in law, technology, and science in different ways: my first job was as a legal assistant/paralegal at a boutique firm representing start ups and individuals in IP (mostly trade secret) litigation, my second job has been at a boutique criminal defense firm representing clients facing computer crime charges, and my third job will be as a patent litigation paralegal in big law.

Even if I get rec letters from employers which letters should I submit given that most schools accept 2-4?

I feel like my STEM LORs help me stand out, especially because one is from a professor whose lab I worked in and co-authored a peer-reviewed scientific article with. My thesis advisors have a really great picture of why I want to go to law school because my honors thesis empirically studied an area of patent law I'm pretty passionate about (and about to work in w/my third job).

Hi everyone,

We've updated our law school admissions predictor with data from the 2018–2019 cycle.

You should interpret these predictions with a grain of salt. If law schools admitted students by algorithm, they wouldn't be paying admissions officers to read files. Our predictor is best used to ballpark your chances so that you can apply to a spread of reach, target, and safety schools.

https://classic.7sage.com/predictor/

I am having difficulty choosing whom to ask for a letter of recommendation. I know that letters of recommendation should focus on academics, however I have been out of school for a little over three years. Also, the professor that I developed a close relationship with is head of the theater directing department, a feild in which I am no longer pursuing a career. Alternatively, while in undergrad I was part of the student government and spent 20+ hours a week working closely with the staff advisor of the student government on school policy, writing bids, financial matters, ect. (areas more closely related to law). I am still in contact with this advisor. Unfortunately this person was never one of my professors. Should I ask both for a letter of recommendation from both or should I pick one over the other? If so, which one?

I also currently work in a law office and plan to ask one or two of the attorneys that I work with closely for a letter of recommendation.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to apply this cycle, but only if I achieve my goal score on the Sept/Oct exam. I feel like waiting until I get my scores to ask for recommendation letters from my professors will be too late, but also am concerned that after asking, I may end up needing to postpone my application until next year.

tl;dr - Can I ask for recommendation letters even if I might not end up applying this year? If so, when should I ask?

Thanks!

Hi,

The LSAC CAS instructions are incredibly confusing. I'm wondering if anyone has an answer to this.

I began grad school at Imperial College London in Sept. 2018. I have finished the program, although I won't have my final marks or technically receive a degree until November. In one month, I am beginning a second MA degree at University of Edinburgh. Do I need to request/upload either of these transcripts (even if they are partially complete)? Both are graduate degree programs at international institutions.

Thank you!

Hi everyone. I'm kind of in a predicament, and was wondering if I can have your insights/inputs. I'm in the process of asking for LOR from individuals, one of these individuals was a teaching assistant I had for one of my lab classes. Of all my years in undergrad, she was one of the only individuals who I can safely say really understood who I was as a student. If asked for, I'm sure she will write me a recommendation letter that has an honest testimonial of my capability as a student and everything that a typical law school LOR is looking for. The thing though is, because she is a teaching assistant she's afraid that her recommendation of me will not hold much weight in comparison to faculty members. What is your guys' opinion on this? Because, I went to a large undergrad institute, and most of my classes had 100+ plus students. If I were to ask a professor for recommendations, it's very unlikely I will receive a LOR as genuine and insightful as the one from the TA. Do you think it's ok for a TA to write a LOR as long as the LOR is a strong recommendation? Some sources I've seen online say 'yes', other's say 'no'.

Thank you!

Hi all,

While the majority of the schools I will be applying to this fall allow a résumé between 1-3 pages, or have no limit at all, there are a few which have a strict 1 page, 12 pt font requirement. Any tips or suggestions on how to pare down the finalized 2 page résumé I have in to a 1page one for those few schools? I would appreciate any input on what should be cut and what should be highlighted with such limited space.

Thanks!

How much would it affect my chances if I were to apply in November/December as opposed to October/November?

I’m asking more specifically towards the T14 schools.

I just revised this old chestnut and thought I would share it. Here's the gist: you don't have to go for a knockout on your first sentence. It's okay to take it slow. No one will stop reading.

I posted a question but have now edited it to this as I don't know how to delete it.