Hello! Apologies if this has already been asked before but I could only find this (https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/12545) discussion and I was hoping for some clarification from someone else who's done this.

I had plans to apply last cycle, but I decided to wait a year. I informed my professors who wrote and submitted LORs that I'd be waiting a year and one even said he'd be happy to update the letter closer to when I apply (and I'm sure the 2nd will when I ask). I've heard it both ways about whether to reuse a year-old letter, but I'd rather not take any chances.

I was wondering what steps I need to take to get updated letters when I already have letters from said professors in my LSAC account? (aside from reaching back out to my profs, ofc) Do I need to delete the letters in my account and request them again from each professor? Is there anything I need to do differently this time? Is there anything I need to instruct my professors to do, or will the email from LSAC provide the same instructions as last time? Am I just overthinking things? :D

Thanks in advance!

Hey, guys. I just finished my interview with Wash U. I saw in earlier posts that the interview invitation is a good-sign for acceptance and some people were given a specific time on when they'll be hearing back with the decision. But my interviewer said that this year application pool has risen significantly, and that the decision might take a little while. Is this a bad sign?? I'm worried people!

Hey everyone,

I'm an older student with lots of job experience. For the law school resumes, do they have to be extensive? Would UCLA care that I worked at Ticketmaster in the 90's?

I will have several school visits coming up. What type of attire is considered proper when touring a school and talking to the admission committee? Any advice?

The title says it all. Let me know as I'd like to have someone who doesn't know me well read it and give honest feedback!

Anyone been through on of these? Mine is schedule for the end of this month. What is the dress code and what sort of questions did they ask? Any tips for preparation?

Any and all info much appreciated.

Hello fellow 7sagers!

I have a PS question that falls into a general admissions question. Apologies in advance for the length.

The majority of schools I am applying to have a general "tell us about an experience that shaped you" PS prompt. With the help of the $10 admissions add on, I crafted a story about my time as a collegiate athlete and how that experience shaped me into the person I am. I do not talk about law at all, nor does that experience contribute to my desire to study law. However, a couple of schools I am applying to have a specific "tell us about an experience that has contributed to your decision to study law" prompt. I am all but certain I want to study environmental law. I have a few years of experience working in the environmental field and have experiences that I can write about which lead me to my decision to pursue law school.

That being said, I am leery of focusing too much on the specific type of law I would like to study, which is environmental. Although I am almost certain that is what I want to do, I understand that you must take all types of classes in law school and who knows, I could take a class and love it and decide to go a different route (but probably not).

My resume including my undergraduate degree is environmental heavy. So, my question is, do you think that it could be detrimental to my application to focus on a specific type of law in my personal statement? Or do admissions committees view that as a positive factor, seeing I do have a few years work experience in that particular field?

Any advice is much appreciated! Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone,

I took the LSAT twice this year, in June and September. I got a 161 in June after fudging up my pacing and guessing on too many questions, so I thought this was a good sign going forward if my minimum goal was mid to high 160s. All I needed to do was work on my pacing, right? In the following two months, I felt my understanding of the test got even stronger, and in isolation, I was very good at answering all question types. However even with more conscious timing, I was getting low 160s on PTs, with the rare 169 and 170 on older tests. I was confident that at least I could not do worse in September, but to my horror I did: 159. I am still in shock. I feel discouraged and burnt out, and know it would not be wise to take it again this year.

I am aiming at top 25 schools, which makes these scores all the more upsetting. Fortunately I have a very high undergrad GPA, a strong personal statement and good recs, but I know the LSAT score is key. My question is this: should I apply for 2019 with my application as is, knowing that I will likely not get into my top choice schools, and theoretical try to transfer in my second year? Or should I wait and take the LSAT again next year and apply for 2020? Besides my own personal urgency to apply now, I also have exhausted all recent PTs (save for future tests), and honestly do not think I will get much better at undertanding the test or how to answer questions. I feel like the problem is just the physical taking of the timed test, for whatever reason. In other words, I don’t know how much my official score will improve.

Any and all thoughts/advice welcome.

Thank you!!

I have read about Northwestern accepting students with one or more years of work experience. Does anyone know what kind of work experience? I have had two 4 month internships relating to accounting/law and have also served as a tutor for over a year. However, I was wondering whether the work experience they look for has to be all law related.

What is the score difference that would notnall rate an addendum? Is it by tens (“I jumped from 160 to 170 and this is why”) or a certain number of points jump (“I jumped from 152 to 167 and this is why”).

I know that I eventually need to pay for the CAS ($195) for law schools to see my application, but when is the best time to purchase it? I am registered for the November 2018 LSAT and wish to apply for the Fall 2019 cycle. Taking the Jan 2019 LSAT will be my last resort if I don't do too well on the November test (many schools I wish to apply to accept the Jan 2019 test). I have been focused on just studying for the LSAT and haven't been keeping track on the process of applying. Do I need to have CAS first before I contact my undergrad schools for transcripts as well as letters of recommendation from professors?

As many law schools have already starting accepting applications, I am getting anxious. I just want to make sure I don't mess up on anything on my law school applications and everything goes well!

So I got bored this morning, checked my Gmail Spam and voila, there's like 10 fee waiver emails in there, automatically filtered cos "it's similar to emails that have been identified as spam before". The star, of course, is Duke's invitation for me to apply Priority Track. I have been longing to receive it and who know it's been in my spam while I waited anxiously?

For those who don't listen to such advice like old me, check your spam.

Food for thought:

I am at a crossroad in which schools I should apply to. I have an LSAT score of 158 and a GPA of 3.7. My softs qualification would be that I am an engineering graduate with honors. For me, Intellectual Property Law, mainly patent prosecution, is something that really interests me.

I have read this blog post: https://medium.com/@andybrink/10-variables-more-important-than-prestige-real-factors-to-help-you-pick-a-law-school-bd8e38b023c8

It's worth reading since it includes variables other than law school rankings to consider. BUT I feel like ranking still matters with job prospects. I am planning on applying to UCI (#21) or Loyola (#65). Both are reachable schools with my numbers. I will apply to other schools, like USC etc. but that seems like a practice in futility.

To make matters simple let's just assume $0 for scholarships. I plan to be based and practice in LA. Loyola has a good program. I am considering doing a double concentration in IP and Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Law. Loyola both offer these programs. I also read that their Data Privacy Law have well known faculties. I think Cyber-anything law would become a big field in the future due to where out society is heading. I dont mind doing the extra-leg work that lower ranked schools entails. I have talked to lawyers who went from unknown-unranked law schools and are doing VERY well. They all sing the same hymn, "it's not where you get your degree, but what you do with it."

However, UCI's ranking is pushing me to highly consider them. They are really trying to be the next highly ranked school in CA. Although their alumni network is not as vast as Loyola, I heard nothing but good things from UCI. Their faculties are also top-notched and student accomodations are well praised. Their ranking, although at its infancy stage, I think would end up competing with USC and UCLA.

SO I was wondering if the community can give me any feedback on how to approach this issue. Should ranking be the top thing to consider? How about subjective issues like concentrations and future growth be considered as well?

Because I’m 34 and have gone to three colleges over my lifetime (including one that has since shut down) my LSAC GPA is a full .5 grade pints below my current GPA from my degree-granting institution. someone help me. I’m having a small freak out.

A couple of my applications have a character rather than a word length requirement. Microsoft Word gives two character counts: with and without spaces. It actually makes a pretty huge difference. Which should we use?

I know this is a pretty specific question but any input would be great.

Hi all,

I got kicked out of my high school in my sophomore year. I was caught with marijuana. That part of my life is a blur. My mom had recently passed away and I was feeling very lost. This was also, like, more than 10 years ago. I am 26 now. I do not remember how I left it with the other school aside from knowing they asked me to leave. I don't know if its part of my "record" or anything like that.

Do I need to include this in my application? One application asked a question along the lines of "have I ever got into any trouble in a educational institution," or something like that.

Thanks in advance for any info!

Hi all!

Navigating CAS/ making sure I've actually done things right is giving me anxiety. Can someone shed light on either one of these things:

Thank you!!!

Hi everyone,

I apologize I have been submitting a lot of questions regarding admissions. Am I supposed to enter my LSAC GPA or my real GPA in the applications? Or does LSAC submit that in the transcripts?

Hey guys,

I had a quick question. I am applying to all the Law Schools in Ontario. I was wondering that do I apply through LSAC or OLSAS ?

I would appreciate if someone would let me know :)

Thanks

Hi everybody - I am hoping to get some opinions on whether or not the following topic could be a solid Personal Statement idea or if it might make my law school motivations appear misguided.

I would like to write my essay on how my parents are what initially made me want to pursue a career in law. They founded a small PI law firm about 25 years ago - my dad is an attorney at the firm and my mom is the director of the firm's business and marketing. Seeing my dad in the courtroom as a child and witnessing the difference he made for so many of his clients was very inspirational to me. Additionally, the fact that my parents founded and have since expanded the firm and that they both put have put so much of themselves into the firm over the years means a lot to me. I would like to work for the firm as an attorney one day and eventually continue our family business.

But I am just worried that this could make me sound like I only want to become a lawyer in order to be like my dad and have a family business handed to me someday (which, for the avoidance of doubt, is not the case).

See my post on 17 Dec below for update:

After submitting my apps to schools that I am seriously considering, I opened up my data to the LSAC CRS program, thereby eliciting the typical volume of fee waivers and marketing emails one gets from this service. Based on school solicitations, I have done a deep dive on a few, including Boston College. Up front, I don't feel that I would be a competitive applicant for Boston College, either for admission or for any significant amount of scholarship. However, one part of their application's fine print made a statement, to wit: Any scholarship offer will be reduced based on any veteran's benefits you receive so that the two combined will not exceed the cost of tuition.

As a veteran, I took serious offense at this statement. What I earned as a benefit in my 25 years of military service has absolutely zero to do with and should be totally independent of any scholarship consideration a school should give me.

No other school that I've applied to or looked at has made any statement remotely similar to this one. Has anyone else seen anything like it?

I unfortunately made a minor mistake in all my statements for one of the law schools. In the header, I included my name, what type of document (personal statement, etc.), and my LSAC ID. I messed up my LSAC ID. I somehow did not add the last number of my ID, so it is noticeable that it is not a complete ID number.

Should I contact the admissions and ask to submit the revised documents? It is my top law school but I made this stupid mistake in an otherwise flawless application. I only submitted the application 2 days ago.

Bit of a specific request. My GPA/LSAT are 3.46/169. I graduated in 2011 and have pretty solid work experience and strong extracurriculars. So far I've gotten waivers from Penn and Michigan. Looking at LSN it looks like people with my numbers have been admitted to both at decent rates.

Here's the issue - the latter half of my college years were sort of marred by mental health issues related to a side-effects, dependency, and withdrawal symptoms for a medication I was prescribed but in hindsight should have never been taking. I went from straight A's my first two years to a basket of B's and C's my later two years.

I plan to write an addendum for this for top 5 schools - because I figure my chances there are slim anyway, my gpa (and probably LSAT) will absolutely be an issue for them and explaining the circumstances can only help

For schools like Penn and Michigan where I have a waiver, should I bother explaining anything? Or will the explanation just hurt my already okay chances? The worst on my transcript are a few C's Junior/Senior year, and then a withdrawal (non-punitive) from 3 courses my last semester.

What about other T-14 schools where I don't have a waiver. Addendum or no?

Thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

Hello everyone!

There are two schools I am seriously considering going to next fall, first choice being the University of Utah and second being the University of Montana. My GPA is 3.92, so above the 75th percentile for both schools, but my LSAT is 159, which is above the 75th percentile for Montana but at the median for Utah.

In order for me to financially justify going to Utah (would have to pay all 3 years of out of state tuition, their new policy) I would need a substantial scholarship. With the LSAT score I have, I don't think I will be offered enough in scholarships to justify going there. However, I just recently found out the Utah just implemented an ED program. In general, I think applying ED is a bad idea in most instances, but for out of state students that are accepted ED at Utah receive a $75,000 scholarship (roughly 65% of base tuition for 3 years). The only conditions to keep the scholarship are to 1). maintain a 2.5 GPA and 2). don't violate any student conduct rules.

While it would be great to receive a scholarship of that size to a school I want to go to, I am uncertain of how difficult it is to attain a 2.5 GPA in 1L. While I take pride in my academic performance and don't think I would have an issue keeping that GPA, I have no clue what types of grades are generally given out in 1L and how the grading curve would factor into that? I am just trying to be as cautious as possible since it would be very unfortunate to lose out on that amount of money and end up paying sticker price after the first year.

Montana is far more affordable, and I can be reclassified as an in-state student after the first year. I suppose my question is how do you guys feel about receiving scholarships with GPA conditions? And from your perspective, would it be worth the risk to apply ED to Utah? Thanks in advance for the help!

I’m thinking of hiring a law school admission consultant, and I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations. I’m interested in Ann Levine, but I heard there are somw other options out there. Any experience or thoughts ?