Hello! I am just looking for some advice, reassurance, or a reality check about my chances of getting into law school. In early June I took a diagnostic with 0 lsat prep and scored a 152. I have been studying for roughly one month now and had a plan to test in September and October, to get applications in prior to thanksgiving. My study plan has been going well and I am up to date. My goal score is 165+ and my cumulative undergrad GPA is a measly 2.51! Since college I have been working as a contract analyst in a national finance firm for 2 years. Working in a law related setting and working directly with lawyers and legal analysts had really driven my interest in studying law. My undergrad degree is from Drake and I would love to continue my education there.

With my stats, how realistic is this goal?

Does it help in law admissions when applying to a law school from which you graduated in their undergrad program?

Is the "Thanksgiving cutoff" a real thing or should I focus on getting the highest score possible, even if that is a later test date?

Thank you for any input you may provide!

Hi,

So for context, I'm in my 30s, I graduated in 2014 with a not so stellar GPA because of a lot of family and mental health issues. Later on in life I did get my paralegal certificate and I've been a paralegal ever since so I have a ton of legal and work experience. I tried applying to law school before but it seems like some of the top schools really wanted some academic references which I obviously don't have like 10 years after graduating. So I kind of rehauled my education. I got a second bachelors and I am getting a masters degree right now.

My second bachelors GPA is amazing, close to 4.0. Will law schools care about this? Will it get reported in CAS/LSAC?

Will they care about my masters if I do well?

I am hoping to get strong professor LORs AND one from my law firm.

I am aiming to prove that I AM GOOD at academics now, and when I was 18-22 I had a lot going on and it's representative of who I am NOW. What's the best way to flash these neon lights to law schools to make them notice without just filtering me out based on the number in CAS/LSAC?

Also, obviously aiming for whatever highest score the LSAT Goddess is going to bestow upon me!

My Bachelors undergrad GPA is a 3.81, with my final semester being a 4.0, but my cumulative is much lower because when I first started college (to get my associates degree) it was at the outbreak of COVID + my living situation was not the best and my grades suffered. Should I be worried about this as it was now 6 years ago and since then I have been constantly getting presidential's list, etc.? Is this something I should write an addendum for? I feel since I have consistently gotten dean's and presidential lists since, then those alone show that I am a good student, but is it still important to write an addendum to explain the difficult situation I was in? SHOULD I RETAKE SOME OF THE COURSES I HAVE LOWER GRADES IN FROM 6 YEARS AGO?

I had the opportunity through an internship to draft a legal memo that roughly follows an IRAC structure. Would it be a good idea to link this to my resume as I am applying? For context, I am applying with a 3.95, have a 166 on my record, but I am retaking in August; my recent PTs (and individual sections) have been in the high 170s. I would assume it's unusual, which would be a good thing, but I am also somewhat afraid that if it's "not T14 quality," it would hurt my chances. Opinions?

Can’t recommend Jen highly enough. She is very experienced and knowledgeable about the admissions process and is helpful, responsive and very helpful. 5/5 stars!

I probably already know the answer here, but looking for more insight. I'm planning to take the Sept LSAT and even though my BR is exactly where I want, I'm still struggling getting that on an actual timed section or PT. I wanted to apply as soon as possible, so planned to by early Oct as soon as I had my score.

But how much does applying early in the cycle actually give you a boost? Obviously it's better to have your best LSAT score possible, but if that takes me until even December, January etc to apply - how will that impact admissions outcomes?

I am retaking the LSAT in October, and figured I would just apply in october/november once my score was released. My question is should I apply when apps open in September with my old score and then have CAS automatically update it, or do future test date and have the score updated once it is in.

I went through a different test prep company to assist with my personal statement, all other relevant essays, and my resume. I want to make sure I am putting my best foot forward when I apply to law schools for the 2027 term and need to have a second set of eyes to review my completed essays.

Does 7Sage offer this service?

I am submitting applications for the second time this fall, with the plan to attend law school in the Fall of 2027. I have two letters of rec that I used last cycle from my college professor and college debate coach. I have been working for almost a year now as a legal assistant, and I am trying to decide if adding a third letter of recommendation would help for my applications (for places where three are accepted). If I do include one, I would also need to decide if I ask someone I work with now or a professor from college. Does anyone have advice on how to decide the number of letters and who to ask?

Hi, I’m wondering if I should write an addendum to address my LSAT score, I’ve taken it 3 times, jumping from a 156, 160, and finally 165. I might even take it one more time in September to improve even more. I took the first test 2 years ago and didn’t really take it seriously. My most recent I was able to get while working full time! Should I address this on my applications?

A lot of schools I'd like to apply to have optional perspective/diversity statements. I'm a D1 athlete applying KJD. I'd like to focus this part of my application on how college athletics made me a strong collaborator who can work to achieve a goal with people from various backgrounds, made me a strong leader etc. but I see tons of stuff online about not writing about playing college sports. I don't know what else I'd write about that I don't discuss heavily in my resume/PS. Is there any way to do this...correctly I guess?

Hi! I am a prospective applicant who just graduated with an undergrad degree at the end of May. I was planning to take a gap year before law school and have been applying to jobs while I study for the LSAT (which I am taking in August). But so far, I have struck out in the job market. Does anyone know how long is too long before a gap off work is a red flag? And does anyone have any advice on how to land a job that could help my application?

I have a few quick questions about the LSAC GPA. Hopefully someone can help :)

I ended up undergrad with a 3.84 from my institution. My school only did A, B, or C, etc without the + or -.

I had 33 straight up A's and then 7 B's. The only other differences are some summer classes that I took from a different institution that come just as credits, not grades. Will that hurt my LSAC GPA?

I have one class that I dropped a week into the semester and it just has a "W" next to it. I didn't fail it or spend any time in it. My academic counselor just thought I needed to take it but I did not.

Hopefully this makes sense! Already struggling on the GPA side so I am hoping that LSAC does not destroy me.

UPDATE - I calculated my LSAC GPA and it's a 3.85.

Every time that I updated a grade to an A+, it made my GPA go up. You're telling me that if you just went to a school that offered A+ that it would boost your GPA that much? What a scam...

I'm an American who went to university in the UK and am now going back to the US for law school. I am wondering if anyone has experience with how law schools see this/how grades are converted to GPAs? Is anyone going through the same process?

Hi everyone,

I applied for the 2026 admissions cycle and did not get into the schools I wanted. Because of that fact I decided retake the LSAT and reapply for fall 2027. I am almost certain my LSAT score was the defining factor in those decisions, but was curious about my personal statement. I felt my personal statement was strong, but when it comes to reapplying to schools I applied to this year, is it smart to change it up? Or the better question I suppose is, does it look bad if I resubmit the same personal statements from the previous year?

hello, i am going to apply to a lot of schools for fall 2027 admission and would love to start writing essays this summer. i have personal and diversity statement drafts, which i know stay the same each year. however, i worry that if i work on school-specific prompts from previous years, they might change. are the 7sage prompts accurate? also they dont really list response length which is also a problem for me. should i just work with that, or what do you recommend? i have a busy fall and want to take advantage of my summer

if you have any tips on how to organize my time with what components of my apps i should work on, please also lmk, thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to apply to law school this cycle while also preparing for the LSAT. I have cerebral palsy with severe muscle spasms, so balancing my health with studying and the application process has been challenging.

Has anyone here applied to law school while managing a physical disability or chronic medical condition? I'd love to hear any advice about staying on track, managing the application process, or anything you wish you had known before applying.

Thank you!

Hi everyone — I'm in the process of finalizing my law school resume and have two questions I'd love input on.

Community College: I completed a pathway program at a community college where I earned both an Associate's in General Studies and an Associate's in Science before transferring to my undergraduate institution. I've seen conflicting advice on whether to include it — some say it shows your full academic journey while others say it's unnecessary once you've completed a bachelor's degree. Do law schools expect to see it, or is it safe to leave off? I'm also wondering if the pathway program context changes anything.

MPH Practicum: I completed an MPH and my resume currently includes my practicum experience. Since the practicum was a required component of the degree rather than independent work, I'm inclined to remove it to keep the resume focused. Has anyone navigated this — does removing it look like a gap, or does the MPH degree itself speak for the experience?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has faced similar decisions or has insight from the admissions side. Thanks in advance!

Hey 7Sage Community! Apologies for not posting this earlier today but just FYI that we're doing our weekly admissions AMA class on Zoom right now, until 1:15PM Eastern! If you like this message board but like it in VERBAL form, please feel free to come on over here: https://7sage.com/classes/evt_033OEJeaAeikw5wcHyCGSx

Hey guys I'm spiraling slightly lol. I'm 27 (which by no means is old i know). Studying to take the LSAT in September but am planning to be flexible because I am aiming for a pretty high score given my lower-than-median GPA in college. I've also been working for 4 years since I graduated college. I feel like I'm feeling some pressure to apply to law school sooner rather than later because of the age factor (I know this might be irrational). Is that something law schools will take into account? For additional context, I'd definitely like to go to a T20 school but I know I need the test score to get there so I want to give the LSAT my best shot and not rush the process (even if that means going past September). Any thoughts would be appreciated, I just feel like I don't have anyone to talk to about this who fully understands what goes into taking the LSAT and then putting together a good law school application.

Has anyone used Spivey Consulting?

I can’t seem to find anything about them that isn’t 6 years old.

I would like to try them out but have no idea if it’s worth it.

Maybe even Anne Ivey Consulting?

Let me know, thanks! :)

I was curious if it was a smart idea to ask schools where my application could be improved. I got denied from the schools I wanted to attend, and wanted to know if it would be a bad look to ask those schools what I could do to improve. Obvious one for me is my LSAT, but more to find out what was good and bad about my application.

Hi. I wasted my first two LSAT attempts in 2024. was pting high 170s before my 3rd attempt, and got a 172. I decided to retake to see if I could hit the median of my dream school. I took 3 more pts before the next exam, and once again saw 170s, maybe just a bit lower than it had been before attempt #3 (but still above 172). when I retook for a 4th time I got the exact same score (172). I'm getting some conflicting information about whether to retake, if it's worth it admissions-wise. My GPA is at the median of the school. I havent been studying since I sat for the most recent exam, June 5th. Thank you for your thoughts!

Quick question: are LOR required to be connected to your undergrad instructors? I am able to get LOR, but from attorneys and managing partners in my Law Firm. If I need to get these from my previous instructors however, this may prove slightly challenging.

I'm drafting my email to a professor I have a very good relationship with, and I'm planning to include my resume, transcript, and a "brag" sheet just reiterating some experiences I remember in my classes with her and TA-ing with her that I want to highlight. Do you recommend also including a "why law" bullet point or two? And, do you recommend highlighting specific things from my resume that I think are particularly important, or is that redundant/misleading in case the bullet points I include are all she focuses on? I wouldn't want to include too much in the "brag" sheet that she only focuses on what I selected, instead of writing honestly about what she appreciated about me. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

*I haven't started my personal statement so I won't be able to include that. But if there's anything else I'm missing, let me know!