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I'm feeling a little discouraged. I've been wanting to be an attorney for a few years now and didn't truly realize how difficult the application process was until I really started the process. I just am frustrated with how many bumps in the road I have had. I try hard not to, but I correlate my self-worth with my failures and accomplishments.
My path to law school has been untraditional. I will be in my late 20s when I start law school (hopefully) next year. My academic path was a little rough, but I've been working full time in the legal field for the last four years.
Until a few months ago, I didn't realize my GPA was going to be calculated based off of every class I've ever had - even the classes that I failed and have since retaken. My graduating GPA was a 3.73, but my LSAC GPA dropped all the way down to a 3.04.
The school I want to go to had a median LSAT of 156. I received that score on the Sep LSAT. I wanted to get a few points higher to feel better about my application, so I took the Oct LSAT. I learned a few days ago that my school's median LSAT score just went up by two points. I'm not sure how I did on the Oct LSAT, but even if I did better than Sep, I don't know if having the median LSAT score is enough to counter my low GPA. I do think I have probably T-2 softs and I think the topic of my PS is decently good.
I guess I'm just at the point where I can't stop thinking about what my next move will be. If I did not get my school's new median on the Oct LSAT, I definitely won't be applying when my score releases. My plan was that if my Oct score isn't at least the new median, I will retake in Jan and apply in Feb, when I get that score.
However, I have heard a lot of people say not to do that and just wait until the following year. I am a planner and I am less than enthused to have to wait another year to apply. I know the admissions predictor isn't 100% factual, but it says I have a lot better odds of being accepted if I get a 160 or above LSAT and apply in Feb versus applying with the school's median LSAT in Nov. Again, that just worries me because all I've been hearing recently is don't apply in Feb. Does anyone have any thoughts?
I would 100% write an addenda. It would fill in the gap and explain why your grade dropped during this time. Doing an addenda in general doesn't make you look like you are a poor planner/making excuses. I think it is definitely HOW you write it that matters. 7Sage has some lessons on how to write a good addenda. You could also look online for some other examples.
For the record - I think working multiple jobs can be extremely difficult in and of itself. The fact that you were even going to school during that time is amazing! I know getting into law school is competitive, but admissions professionals also understand that we are human. I think the fact that you went to school and had multiple jobs speaks to your work ethic and drive.
Like Samuel said, I think these are a great start! Your first draft doesn't have to be fantastic. The best way to start is just to get some ideas on paper and do revisions and re-writes from there.
For your first idea, think about the reaction you had when you watched the trial. Were you shaking? Crying? Did you talk to an adult about it? How did it shape you as you grew into adulthood?
For your second idea, is there anything you can add that is a little more specific to you? How did you formulate your opinion? Did a certain professor leave a lasting impact? Did you learn about a specific corporation, who was a victim of fraud, that suffered dire consequences?
For both ideas, I would want to know more about why YOU are interested and how YOU formed your opinion. I think the Netflix documentary and having the accounting degree are both great starts to answering that, but I still want to know more!
Can you think of an instance that might have led to you feeling a protectiveness over families? Or a specific moment during your degree that made you want to combine it with law? I'm definitely not an expert in writing personal statements, but my main takeaway has been to start with a moment or scene that led you to your decision to go to law school or that was a very defining moment in your life.
Like you said, it doesn't have to be a sob story or dramatic. It just needs to be something unique and attention grabbing.
For example, maybe as a kid, you experienced a time where you were vulnerable and you didn't have anyone standing up for you. Or during your business degree, you learned of a rule or regulation that you didn't think was fair for corporations and would like to pursue law to change it. Whichever idea you go with, I recommend opening your personal statement with that exact moment. I would also recommend only writing about one of the ideas. I think it's worth expanding as much as possible on one idea and how it's your motivation for law school instead of using up page space to talk about both. It is YOUR essay though and if you want to write about both, then do exactly that!!
You might have already done this, but I highly recommend reading as many examples of personal statements as you can. 7Sage has a large essay bank. They have curriculum for personal statements as well. There are also a ton of personal statement examples you can find online.
Please let me know if you would like to discuss further!
@Him I review my WAJ about once a week and pick 2-3 mistakes I keep making to drill/pay extra attention to. For example, if I notice that I've added several flaw questions to my WAJ, I would first go back and review the types of flaws, and then do a drill or two that week, just focusing on flaw questions. And in any other drills I do, if a flaw question comes up, I will be extra sure to review it carefully.
I think the goal of the WAJ is just to be able to flag certain mistakes you keep making. If after reviewing your WAJ you notice that you have picked wrong answers because you misread an answer choice, you should have it in your head to slow down a little when reading answer choices.
It's also important to figure HOW you are going to correct this in the future. I have a column on my WAJ dedicated to what I will do to fix this error in the future. You can review wrong answers all day long and still keep making those same mistakes if you aren't figuring out how to fix them.
I don't do all questions because I find that can be tedious and makes me want to give up on the WAJ in general. PTs for sure. Drills sometimes. If I feel like a mistake on a drill was a one off thing that I don't typically do, I won't log it. If I make the mistake frequently, I will log it.
Hope this helps!
Wrong answer journals are game changers for reviewing. If you don't already use one, I highly recommend. There are a lot of Templates or tips out there. I was struggling with review at first because I wasn't really thinking about why I was getting questions wrong. I was more looking at the types I got wrong, reading the explanation, and letting that go in one ear and out the other. With the WAJ, I'm forced to actually put into words why I got something incorrect and how I will correct it in the future. It turns surface level reviewing into deep, methodical thoughts.
I think my biggest weakness on the LSAT is timing. Are there any general tips and tricks to timing that could help me close the gap between my timed PT and the blind review? I know practicing and building my intuition is a huge part of it, but I wanted to see if there is anything else that could help. Thanks!
I struggle with this too. I use my brain all day at work and it can be hard to come home to study and use my brain even more. The biggest thing that helps me is knowing that I don't have to practice perfectly. If my plan is to study 2 hours that night and I only study 30 minutes, I try to remind myself that 30 minutes is better than nothing. Having that mindset stops a shame spiral that completely derails studying.
Hi All, I am feeling some anxiety and panic about being admitted to law school. I did not have a linear path to obtaining my degree. I made quite a few mistakes along the way and I'm very afraid that those mistakes are going to make it difficult to get into law school. Here's my story:
I went to my state's university right out of high school in 2018. I grew up in a small town (I was very sheltered and moving to a big city) and had a lot of pressure weighing on me. I had severe depression (I have a diagnosis letter from my therapist) and I stopped showing up to classes in my first semester. Unfortunately, I was there long enough that I couldn't withdraw from my classes, so I ended up with F's in all of my first semester classes.
About a year later, I tried again. I was only able to take two classes (it's a very long story as to why only 2 classes), but I ended up having a medical issue that affected me physically and emotionally. I ended up withdrawing from one of the classes and getting a C in the other class.
I took a little time off to find out what was important to me. I worked on my mental health and overall living situation. Eventually, I started going to school online in 2020. This turned out to be the best decision because I was on the Dean's list numerous times and didn't get a grade below an A- for quite some time. However, I was working part time and ended up moving to an apartment and had to get a full time job. I was able to hold on to my grades for a little bit, but they started slipping and I began to get some Bs and Cs here and there. I ended up falling behind in some of my classes. The classes were only 5.5 weeks, so if you fall behind, it's almost impossible to catch up. I ended up failing a handful of classes. That wasn't the end though, because I was determined to graduate. I retook every class I had failed and graduated with a 3.72 GPA.
During all of this, I had undiagnosed ADHD. I am currently on a medication that has been life changing.
I have been working in the legal industry since May of 2022. I started at a boutique law firm, moved on to a medium firm, and now I'm at one of the biggest firms in my city as a legal assistant. I'm not planning to go to a T14 school or anything like that. I really just want to try to go to UMKC (Preferred) or even Washburn.
I did not realize that the GPA on LSAC would be determined by all grades I've ever gotten, so my GPA went from a 3.72 to a 3.16. I know this means I now have to get a higher score on my lsat than I originally thought.
Question:
Does my academic path seriously hinder my application or does it show growth? I would be confident that it would show growth if it weren't for the period of bad grades after starting a full time job.
I plan to take the Sept LSAT. I'm aiming to be in the low 160s. I just had a PT of 156, but this is before I even started the RC curriculum. Regardless, I'm pretty sure that I will have to take the LSAT again. Should I shoot for the October or November LSAT? I feel confident I can raise my score to the low 160s in Oct, but I'm not sure if I should be aiming for an even higher score due to my academic path?
Any thoughts or advice would be welcome. Thanks in advance for reading this novel!
https://scharprelaw.gmu.edu/the-law-school-personal-statement-a-collection/