I emailed admissions. I think that'll work.

I've found Getting to Maybe to be a good enough read so far. It also makes me impressed with my future self who will understand the issues that are being discussed.

I got Law School Insider on some other rec and so far I am annoyed; he's kind of a dudely boy with annoying asides and not a lot of useful, generalizable info. Maybe useful if you're going to Cornell or really looking for an overview of his experience but he doesn't present a very broad vision. He keeps talking about how he wrote it on vacation and you can tell. The font on the edition I have is also weirdly tiny and hard to read.

My friend gave me 1L for my birthday and it was kiiiiiind of hilarious and I felt bad for his wife but I enjoyed it more than Law School Insider.

I'm continuing reading my way through what the library has and I will happily provide reviews!

Google has tons of ideas, including cheap ways to DIY. (Student budget life!)

One of my key plans is bike commuting at least one way in all but the worst weather/when I need to be particularly pulled together. a) lots of exercise; b) so much more pleasant than the subway (and possibly faster); c) at least one hour a day when I cannot think about much more than what's directly in front of me (while also providing time to percolate on things and let them settle). I know myself and know I'll never go to the gym, especially when stressed, but I'll still have to, you know, go to school. Next stop: figuring out how to eat well when I am too stressed to think about eating at all.

@stormhur181 said:

@marine4life6798246 said:

@nicholasthomas127 said:

@marine4life6798246, Really glad to hear you've committed and are happy, plus NYC is a great place to learn about law. Do you know if there's a list of schools offering fellowships?

I don't know! I applied to CUNY as a safety/CUNY is pretty well regarded in the NYC PI sphere. They offered me the fellowship, I didn't apply knowing it was there.

I have some worries about going somewhere so low-ranked but/and the people I talk to make it seem that this is going to be a good experience...and I am going to graduate almost 100% debt free thanks to my savings and the money they are giving me, a huge boon when it comes to PI.

My best best friend is in her 3L at CUNY right now. She got the pro bono scholars award and took the bar in Feb this year and is interning full-time at the ACLU nationwide right now.

She did her first summer at the Hague in The Netherlands and has done other amazing work.

Everyone I know from CUNY (granted they are all people she hangs/studies with) are brilliant. They are all extremely radical in their politics. So, if you would likely be made uncomfortable by studying law at a school that would love to abolish prisons, be mindful of what you're getting yourself into. If you're into it radical stuff, then come hang with us after you start there! Haha.

Keep in mind you won't be learning corporate law. So, big law will not be in your future (but if you got into CUNY then I assume you know that already).

I actually know the 2 3L's this year who have that fellowship and it has really helped them. They're both Pro Bono scholars like my friend; 1 is in South Africa for her final semester and the other is at a trans* rights organization.

They set you up to do very well in the NYC PI area, especially in the public defender space. But, it will definitely be a bit of a battle since those jobs are still super competitive. Go there, do well and I'm sure you'll flourish (and be debt free).

I appreciate this SO MUCH. I feel excited about CUNY. The many people I know who are CUNY lawyers are doing awesome things. But ever since I started spending more time in the internet prelaw world in my LSAT prep I've been worrying somehow I'm shooting myself in the foot. It aligns very much with my goals and I am very much aware of the radical stuff. I got protested not that long ago at the admitted students day! (I mean, not me personally, but still.) It was a ride but it feels very familiar. Thank you so much and I'm psyched to become a...whatever CUNY's mascot is (the flaming antifa's?)

A reader for what accommodation? Visual disability or other? If the former, lmk; I work with a blind attorney right now and I'm happy to hook y'all up.

@nicholasthomas127 said:

@marine4life6798246, Really glad to hear you've committed and are happy, plus NYC is a great place to learn about law. Do you know if there's a list of schools offering fellowships?

I don't know! I applied to CUNY as a safety/CUNY is pretty well regarded in the NYC PI sphere. They offered me the fellowship, I didn't apply knowing it was there.

I have some worries about going somewhere so low-ranked but/and the people I talk to make it seem that this is going to be a good experience...and I am going to graduate almost 100% debt free thanks to my savings and the money they are giving me, a huge boon when it comes to PI.

@leahbeuk911 said:

Of course. I only took the test once in December (wasn't ready until then) and while I was super happy with my score (it was right in my PT average), I didn't feel like I maxed out yet. I was still improving up until test day. And then because of taking December LSAT and life things, I ended up not applying until the very end of January and some in February. This cycle was extra competitive and I think the late apps really hurt my chances at several schools. So I'm planning on going back to studying, taking again in June and/or September, and then re-applying in October so I can beat the crowd, and possibly even apply ED somewhere.

Basically, I feel like I didn't totally put my best foot forward this year - I actually sent in most of my apps while I was sick in bed with the flu lol. Literally 101 degree fever and sending out apps because I was up against the deadlines haha. I was crossing my fingers there weren't massive typos. So I felt like I slightly underperformed this year. And if I raise my LSAT score just a bit and apply early, I could be in the running for much more significant acceptances and scholarships. So that's my goal!

Yeah! You decided! I think this is great. Especially given how late you applied, you're smart to reposition. I approve!

@sm537 said:

Great post! I appreciate the insight and information. I too am in my 40's, single/no children, and agree with @leahbeuk911. #1 is good advice to consider law school like a job. However, unlike others, I will have to work FT and attend law school PT/evenings. The dynamics will be a lot different I'm sure. Any advice on how to manage a FT job and law school PT?

My coworker is doing this right now. My impression is it's just really hard, but you do it. Scheduling to the nth degree. Saving your vacation days at work and not being afraid to use them around exam time. Our job is supportive of her school; I think it would be even harder at a job that wasn't. Get good at figuring out what you need to survive/thrive vis a vis food, exercise, rest, et cetera - you still will be a person who needs renewal. You will just have to be very efficient as to how.

Thanks y'all! I got it taken care of in the end. You all are the best.

I thought this meant you had decided! Can't wait to hear from you! I am all CUNY all the way in the end. That fellowship is no joke and I feel good about my choices.

I think the general wisdom that scholarship stipulations are bad and you know your odds: 66% of keeping your scholarship. I think negotiating to remove the stip is a great idea.

I ended up making a price decision, which is counter to the internet's wisdom but felt good to me. Here's how I sorted it out:

I want to do public interest. I can count on a salary between $50k and $60k given where I live and the jobs I see grads from my school getting/their reported salaries.

The offer I accepted was a full ride + a stipend that'll be ~40% of my living expenses, hopefully a little more if I'm frugal. Given my savings, that means that I'll end up with debt in the vicinity of $20k for all of law school, vs. a minimum of $60k even on a full ride. I could pay $20k off a lot easier than $60k on a salary in that range, and it means that if I need dental work or something I have room to wiggle vs. being maxed out. If I have an opportunity for a fellowship after school that pays less, I can still at least make progress with IBR rather than getting further underwater.

I talked to PI attorneys in the area. To a one, they all said they wished they had just gone where I am going and saved themselves all the debt. There are people working all over the city who came from my school, doing jobs I would like to do.

Even more: if I come out of law school and hate the idea of practicing law, with a debt load in that vicinity I can guarantee I'll be able to pay it off doing something else. If I get a job and I hate it, I can find another job that will still allow me to service my debt.

I'm not looking for BigLaw. I might like to teach someday, but I don't want to be an academic; I'm a practitioner at heart, and clinical faculty jobs hire more diversely. Would I like to work at the ACLU someday? Yes, maybe, but later in my career. Do I want to be a Supreme Court justice? Yeah, abstractly, but mostly so I can hang out with Justice Sotomayor. People at my school do still get federal clerkships and prestigious PI fellowships, which indicates I would have a chance if I decide that's what I want.

Does it eat me a little that I'm not going to be able to drop a big name? Yeah, it totally does. This is a prestige-driven career and I'm not getting a brand name degree. But if I look at where grads of the school I'll be going actually are, I can see it is still going to get me where I want to go, and with a financial risk that matches my goals. I'm doing a lot of thinking right now about ego and its role in my choices.

My stats, FWIW: 3.63/167. I didn't retake - I was planning to last year but a project went viral and I decided I'd rather see it out than study. This is a mistake according to the internet but if I actually push on why, a lot of it comes down to concerns about debt servicing that I just won't have. I didn't apply that many places, and so far ended up WL at Georgetown and Cornell, decline at Harvard, no answer yet from Berkeley and UCLA. I don't live a life where I can pick up and move in July if Georgetown or Cornell came calling late. Cornell does give money off the waitlist; even if I got the top of what LSN says, I would be looking at $80k debt or more. If somehow I did get in there it would be hard to walk away - see #6 - but it also wouldn't make any kind of financial sense. I still wonder what might happen in that regard but I will cross that bridge if I come to it.

Hope this helps. Happy to talk more.

I hear that. As I am finally done with this madness, I am realizing that I need a new hobby. Reading all this stuff just makes me second-guess myself! I see now why people start wanting to read ahead. After all this time - 2 years! - spent moving towards school, I am really at an end for what to do.

I did my top 10 poems but got waitlisted. Maybe it was too weird! I have wondered about that.

I have one offer that says I must remain a student in good standing, which is a 2.3. If I can't do that, I probably shouldn't be in law school after all. That is probably the only string attached I'd feel comfortable with. The same offer says it "may" (read: will, I'm sure) convert to a loan if I transfer or do not finish my degree, which gives me pause, although I understand the reasoning behind it!

What's up! Checking in here. I am in my mid-30s, just hearing back, career changing from performing/theater arts. This is a harrowing process and even more so when I am not sure where I will end up...we will see! Fingers crossed to everyone here and even more to those of you studying with kids, etc. It's such hard work but it will pay off in the end.

My thoughts:

Parent occupation is an important marker of class experience - it is meaningful to know if you are dealing with someone whose parents are both lawyers, for example, vs. someone whose parents are cashiers vs. etc, etc. It's indicative (in part!) of a lot of things.

I think that's correct. If the question was highest level completed, then it's high school. If it's highest level attended, the questions should have had non-degree options (ie, high school, undergraduate level, graduate level.) So I think you're fine. You can always call to confirm.

I agree with what other people have said, but one other thing: this is way too much stuff for a year and a half if you are also in school full time. If I looked at that list of activities in that time period on a resume, I would assume that you were BSing a lot of it and it wasn't actually meaningful. I'm no law school admissions person, but I have hired, and it isn't just about the experience, it's about the quality of the experience. 3-4 internships in the next 6 months? That means you're only doing each one for 2 months at most, and unless you're clocking serious hours or it's part of a program that puts you through different rotations, you're just not going to get that much from an internship. Maybe you'd get something that would help you understand the field better, which is nothing to sneeze at, but my gut is that you are zooming through way too much way too fast.

What will you want to do? What will you love to do? Pick one, maybe two clubs. Do well at them and actually dive in. I would be skeptical of anyone who started 5 clubs in one year, or maybe I'd just assume they didn't do much with them. Find something that will let you actually learn about where you want to go, not just that will give you empty titles for your resume.

Depending on the calf tattoo, you could always just layer your hose (not necessarily as uncomfortable as it sounds) or even use a little stage makeup. It would be hard for everyday but foundation + powder would cover most tattoos under hose for the situations in which you really needed to wear a skirt suit. Dermablend is the gold standard and comes in a medium-wide variety of shades (you'll have trouble if you're super dark but most other ppl should be ok), but any good waterproof full-coverage foundation should be good enough to go under stockings. Obviously, the bigger the tattoo, the harder this will be, but it isn't impossible.

send it over!

I have limited myself to checking the websites 1x/week. So far this is working medium but mostly because my job doesn't have me in front of a computer all the time.

Cleaning my room. Doing a new year daily challenge. Trying to imagine what it would be like to actually be in law school and see if really, really, really, REALLY I am ready to do this.

Also finally selling all my prep tests. COME ON BIG MONEY.

I want to echo what other people have said about cutting yourself some slack! Working full time and doing anything can be hard, depending on your job. Working full time and having enough brain power left to do something very, very difficult? Even harder. You're great for even pushing this hard!

I think it is good advice to let yourself take a week off or at least a few days. Explicitly. Let your brain rest, do something you enjoy, and let all this info settle in. If you're studying and in a spiral, it's going to be that much harder to absorb anything. Reflect on the things you want to do. Go to law school websites and imagine yourself there. Do something indulgent at whatever price point you can afford.

You can do this! You absolutely can, and the fortitude it requires to do it while working is only going to serve you well as you continue. Take a deep breath and let yourself take a break. It will only help in the long run.

100% yes. I have been a grantwriter for a while now and that involves a lot of terrifying submissions. I am here to tell you the feeling never goes away no matter how often you do it. Go slowly, check that final copy no matter how many times you've filled out that form, and there it is.

That LSAC application structure is no joke though - the fact they autofill is nice but it makes it so easy to zoom through quickly. I found myself getting really paranoid, ie, "did I make a typo in a job 10 years ago that means I am A LIAR A THOUSAND TIMES??" It saved me typing but no worry whatsoever.