I would go where the money goes, assuming that law is the end goal and not the bachecors.

I applied the first week that applications OPENED and have not heard anything

This is amazing, I love meeting (sometimes virtually) people wishing to pursue this area of law. First thing: Do not do JAG unless you truly want to practice military law. Rarely will you do what you want (wills, administrative tadks, etc.). That being said, doing JAG is a good segway into the Civil Service, where I suggest you go for this area of law. Its doing a specific area of law that you want without being ordered around. These civil service positions are the true players in advising. Butttt its hard to just jump into that without experience (where JAG may come into play).

Look up “attorney” periodically on USAJOBS and you’ll see positions that will blow your mind with AFRICOM, NORTHCOM, and basically all the Commands. Read the requirements for these positions and taylor your path now (if the advising senior military officials is what you want to do). But many of these require security clearances (secret or top secret), which being tied to another sovereign state might hinder.

For those positions i suggest attending UVA (thats where JAG officers study) and pursuing the national security emphasis where you can study military law, LOAC, admiralty, laws of the sea, human rights in the age of terrorism, etc. Its amazing.

Be positive, dont start with “ugh RC” when you opem that section, thats a death sentence.

Read to learn rather than to answer questions. The topics are stupid but you can actually learn some interesting things!

I want to do International Law with a focus on armed conflict and refugee law so I like to read about stories of human strength in those conditions so I read:

The Last Girl

(About the Yazidi Genocide, made me cry so many times, I was affected for weeks)

I, Who Did Not Die

(Incredible firsthand account of both sides of the Iran-Iraq war and how war changes individuals and countries)

A Dream From Damascus

(About an Iraqi refugee helping journalists and refugees in Syria prior to the civil war)

I also like reading about Latin America’s narcotic insurgency, so any of Ioan Grillo’s books (El Narco, Gangster Warlords)

I did, was awful, worst interview I ever had (because of me, not them). But in reality, it was very straightforward: Why law? Why Harvard? If you didnt go to law school for a year, what would you do? What are the strengths of my application? What are the weaknesses?

I got in to schools that I shouldn't have been accepted to by doing a few things.

1.) Writing a unique personal statement, and reviewing it hundreds of times. It took 3 months for me to write my essays. I had a trusted professional review my personal statement and I re-wrote it until nobody could pinpoint a grammatical/spelling mistake. I re-wrote sentences multiple times in different styles and structure just to make sure that it flowed perfectly, I obsessed. My obsession led to miracles happening, with offers of admission referencing my personal statement. I can not stress this enough: Put your entire being into your essay, get everybody/anybody to read it, no matter how personal the information in it is.

2.) I got the idea from UCLA and added this essay to every school: Programmatic Contribution essay. This mainly applies to people with experience but it doesn't have to. This is a combination of "Why school X," "Diversity Statement, "Why you should accept me."

EXAMPLE: I want to work with immigrants/refugees. I wrote about the specific program I would like to enter (If there is a specific program, emphasis, or class) and how I would make a meaningful contribution to the program. I described my work experience, academic knowledge, extracurricular study (books on the topic), and any other aspect that shows that I have knowledge or a history of action in learning about the field I want to enter. I mentioned that I can bring an experienced mind to class discussions, offer advice, or ask real-world questions with actual problems I have encountered. Schools want diversity and "Poppin'" class discussions. Showing that you are experienced or willing to provide that energy went a long way with me.

3.) Be passionate about yourself and your ability to succeed if given the opportunity.

When I first started working on applications I got an email from Virginia with a fee waiver and decided to apply even though I was below their medians. After reading all the posts on here saying that its a trick to boost their numbers, I almost didnt apply. But I did, got an interview and got accepted at the end of the skype call with a 54k scholarship, being just barely over 25th percentile. When you apply they truly look at your file. The process, in my experience, is not as black and white and mechanical as many people on the forum say that it is.

Total downer:

I interned at a domestic violence shelter when I was wanting to do social work. The shelter often took asylum-seekers from Central America after they were released by ICE (I live on the southern border). One day we got a family and we interviewed them for their intake and it felt as if my soul had died listening to their story and how they were so numb from the pain that they didnt even cry as they mentioned their rape(s) and the murders that they saw. When we were done we took them to their room and the woman started to cry uncontrollably and we asked why and she said that she had never had walls around her to protect her. Another day I was talking with a Guatemalan teenager as he mentioned his dreams of playing soccer and being an engineer now that he was in the states. When he told me that, I hoped and prayed with all my being that he would achieve it, more than I wanted to achieve my dreams. That was the first time I ever felt pure love, the kind that changes you forever.

This makes me so happy! I was admitted earlier in the season, although I will probably not attend. ASU is so beautiful (brand new building in downtown Tempe) and the people were the nicest that I ever encountered, I truly appreciated their kindness and generosity. You can definitely get into ASU with those softs and by dedicating yourself to studying. I got a 164 and was offered a nearly full tuition scholarship. Just work and you can achieve great things. Good luck!

And I did this for only about 10 passages in total during my studies

What I did is a little different: I read passages slowly and carefully untimed and did not read the questions until welllllll after. I read sentence by sentence and would do an insane amount of writing and highlighting to the point that it was almost unreadable but I made sure that I knew every words role, every tone change, every perspective change, every paragraph change, the role of each paragraph, how the sentences built to the conclusions, etc. Only after an intense review did I look at the questions. I went through them slowly and immediately after choosing my answer I would look at the right answer and learn what I missed or how I got it right. I probably spent more than 30 minutes on each passage I did this way.

Doing this helped me identify key changes in tone and perspective or identify the parts of the passage and how they interacted with other parts faster and with more accuracy during drills and PTs. Practicing made it possible to write less on the passage and map it in my mind; I was also able to guess possible questions and correct answers better.

I would not do the intense review during a PT or during drills, I would also not write an insane amount on actual passages. This just helped me train. It worked for me (consistently got -0 or -1 on the entire RC section for weeks after until my actual LSAT where I got -1). It might not work for many people or you but if you think it might I would suggest giving it a try.

Yeah you're getting in

I personally believe, like everyone in this forum, that if you keep working and studying that you can increase your LSAT score to put yourself in a better position to attend your desired schools with the possibility of scholarships.

But I completely understand where you're at. I too am not an elite 170+ scorer radiating with wisdom on all things law school. I gave my absolute all for 6 months while studying and took the June LSAT with every ounce of who I was and scored a 164. Me and my parents jumped around almost crying because of my score. But among the 7sage forum this score is average and sometimes seen as bad, depending on the person. But I know my abilities and after I left the testing facility I knew that whatever score I got I earned 100% and realistically would be unable to score better no matter how much money, time, and effort I threw at it. I have NEVER been more proud of myself and so thankful for 7sage and the community. But deciding not to take the LSAT again knowing that my abilities realistically do not warrant a retake is wise. You shouldnt have to "rethink the profession of law." Like what in the hell? I actually read that? And there are "very few" law schools worth attending with a 156 LSAT? What criteria make a school "worth attending?" I often notice a tone of elitism in these forums, and one would expect such in a community based solely on the LSAT and even more so amongst individuals striving for their best, often scoring above 170. Its a noble goal for an individual to be their best, and we all are striving to help ouselves and one another. But some comments in here are rude, coming not from a heart of kindness but rather a mindset of elitism, which isnt bad I suppose considering the profession we are trying to enter, but thats not how I choose to interact with people.

There are plenty of good law schools that you can attend, and with your softs, I would bet on you. Goodluck! Sorry that my comment did not, in any way, attempt to answer your questions.

I reached my goal and then some using 7sage. Amazing course but im not sure you need to buy the ultimate. I bought the starter and every preptest I could buy online. After getting through the cc on 7sage I took my preptests and used lsathacks.com for free explanations on my preptests and using 7sage for free logic games explanations. It worked for me at a fraction of the cost. Main advice is to take as many PTs as you can and follow 7sages blind review process

Im not all that sure how an admissions committee will view it but as a person seeing it I would be glad to see the determination to be better as a good sign of an individuals ability to thrive in law school

I could only purchase the starter program when I was studying but invested heavily in every PT i could buy. I took the test and would go to lsathacks.com where I could see explanations for every PT for free. They may not have been the best explanations but I learned alot for free. If you didnt take every PT in existence this may be a possibility? Or id say reuse old ones.

But dont base decisions off sunk costs. If you believe you can do better then I think you should retake it, NOT because you spent so much time and energy in the past but because you can see yourself doing better in the future. If you dont see yourself doing better than maybe contemplate accepting your score? Its all about attitude too. If you pessimistically retake because you spent so much money i dont see your scores going up. But if you retake it with confidence and excitement then you will probably reach your potential. Maybe watch "the mind - motivational video" on youtube. That video gets me all jacked up. But in essence, my advice is to only retake it if you see yourself doing so with determination and drive. Doing so just to do so may be worse than accepting it as is.

As for the actual test when/if you retake: try meditation. I sat down with my eyes closed and didnt move a single muscle and tried to stop thinking about anything for 5 minutes. After it was over I walked to the test center with a focused mind, talked with those in line, and took it in a good mindset.

I jumped up 7 points from my highest ever PT and got my dream score, amazing

@avetyans588 said:

Finally going to know if I got a 180 or a 181. It all comes down to if I got the bonus question right.

This is the funniest thing I have seen all day!