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I thought it would be fun (and motivating) for us soon-to-be 1Ls to share where we'll be attending for the next 3 years!
I'll start: I'm heading to William & Mary!
PT Questions
daninto535
- Joined
- Apr 2025
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daninto535
Thursday, Jul 15 2021
daninto535
Monday, Mar 29 2021
It depends. Where do you want to practice? What kind of law job do you envision upon graduation? Can you see yourself living in DC for three years or would you prefer central NY?
That said, I'd probably take the scholarship at Syracuse because American isn't so much better that its worth more than twice as much. You can have a successful career out of either school. Do tell us more! What are your thoughts on each?
daninto535
Wednesday, Feb 24 2021
Everyone gets stressed and anxious waiting for their decisions. Guess what? It's something you'll deal with throughout law school as well (e.g. waiting on grades after exams.)
Just know you are not alone! You will get through this! Best of luck :smile:
daninto535
Wednesday, Feb 24 2021
Where do you want to practice? Does one of the schools have a higher-ranked program you like? I'd honestly recommend the school with the lower cost if things are close otherwise.
Comparing the two schools' ABA 509s shows that a much higher percentage of SMU's graduates go on to law firms whereas FSU grads get more clerkships. Since you express and interest to work at a private firm go with SMU - especially if you're shooting for a big firm. It's not close.
daninto535
Wednesday, Jan 27 2021
This is called "yield protection" where a school rejects your application because they think there's no chance you'd actually attend.
daninto535
Thursday, Jan 21 2021
I am a 1L at a school I had a 20% chance of getting into. I even got a good scholarship. On the other hand, I was waitlisted at a school where the predictor gave me chances at around 70%.
You never really know. Go for it!
General
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Let's Have Fun... What do you think will be your Top 5 ABA classes based on what you know now
daninto535
Monday, Oct 05 2020
Being a current 1L, I would wager that nobody knows how to answer this question with a hint of accuracy before law school.
daninto535
Friday, Sep 18 2020
I found it to be fairly accurate. Of course, I was waitlisted at a 70% and am now attending a 20% so...
daninto535
Monday, Aug 17 2020
I got accepted at a top 20 with no legal experience so...I'm gonna go with "not so vital."
The key is a great LSAT and a solid overall application.
daninto535
Sunday, Aug 09 2020
@ I do think my GPA addendum helped. As long as your GPA addendum explained underperformance in a way that highlights how and why you'll be a better performer now, I think yours will help too.
And since you asked about SoCal schools, I did gain admission with a 60% scholarship to the University of San Diego.
daninto535
Thursday, Aug 06 2020
A strong LSAT and GPA addendum, along with a solid resume and graduate school success, can help mitigate the damage of a low uGPA by a considerable margin. I am 39, had a uGPA of 2.8 and an mid-160s LSAT and still got accepted at some great schools with some good scholarships.
Being a splitter yields some unpredictable results. I was rejected at Minnesota but accepted at similarly-ranked Iowa. Waitlisted at Northeastern but accepted at much higher-ranked William & Mary. Given a 50% scholarship at Wyoming but a full-ride at much higher-ranked Nebraska. It all depends on how holistically the school approaches the application process vs their attention to the numbers.
One thing I will tell you is to apply all over the place, including schools you may expect a rejection from. Good luck!
daninto535
Wednesday, Aug 05 2020
I think about them like this:
The correct answer choice in an NA will be something that must exist in order for the conclusion to be true.
The correct answer choice in a SA will be an additional premise that, when added to the premises already provided, will enable the conclusion.
For what it's worth, I went -2 per LR on the real LSAT and had a -1 section average at the end of my studies.
daninto535
Tuesday, Aug 04 2020
It's B.
Look at the logic of the biologist: if forests disappear at present rate -> koalas approach extinction FDPR->KAE
and the contrapositive of if not KAE-> not FDPR. This leaves lots of room open for other things to make the koala go extinct.
While answer choice B states that "deforestation stops and koalas still go extinct", this is still fine with the statement of the biologist because of those many other things that could still take out the koalas.
Now,looking at the politician's logic, she states: "So all that is needed to save the koala is to stop deforestation." This does not leave room for anything else to be the cause of the koalas' adorable doom. So, if deforestation ceases and the koalas still die out, the logic of the politician's statement is defeated.
If deforestation stops-> koalas not extinct DFS->K not E
so, by contrapositive, if KE->not DFS
B is the correct choice.
daninto535
Friday, Jul 31 2020
I'm 39 with three kids. I'll be starting at a top-tier school in August. I'm leaving a great salary after 14 years of active-duty military to do this. If I can do it, so can you.
daninto535
Wednesday, Jul 29 2020
When your prep test and BR scores are at that level, the logic is solid. What are your time-saving tactics? Do you skip the hardest LR questions? Do you complete all the IF questions before going back to the global questions in a logic game? Can you summarize the big picture of an RC paragraph in three to five words, then do the same for the passage?
When I was where you are, mastering my time gave me the boost into the mid-170s.
daninto535
Wednesday, Jul 29 2020
When I had been studying for 4 months I had only improved an average of 6 points as well. After 11 months, that had jumped to 20. Keep it up!
daninto535
Wednesday, Jul 29 2020
@ We're all going there!
daninto535
Wednesday, Jul 29 2020
@ Congrats! What a great school!
daninto535
Wednesday, Jul 29 2020
Yes! Anything that will strengthen your application should be used to the fullest advantage. Your circumstances in undergrad seem relevant to your GPA and your upward trend towards the end would support the claim. Best of luck to you!
General
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Anyone else taking the August LSAT who is waiting to study until they get July results back???
daninto535
Tuesday, Jul 28 2020
I see it the other way. Why in the world would I not study if there's a possibility of me retaking the exam? Perhaps that's just my take?
Admissions
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Taking the Nov 2020 LSAT but I want to apply ED (Nov 15th deadline) to my top school- HELP?!
daninto535
Monday, Jul 27 2020
Divide your studies between working on your problem areas un-timed and drilling question sets under time pressure. Really focus on picking up the "easy" points by fool-proofing LG. Hone your time-saving strategies and tactics (PM me and I'll happily give you what worked for me!) and work on mental endurance. If you are scoring at your target by the time the October LSAT registation deadline rolls around then register. Otherwise, hold off until you are ready.
I believe an LSAT in the 75th percentile with a regular decision application will get you better results than a median LSAT early decision app will.
daninto535
Monday, Jul 27 2020
I got into one school where the predictor gave me a 20% chance and another where it gave me 32%. I was waitlisted at a 25% and a 39%. I got in everywhere I applied that was over 50%.
I'd say it's a decent enough guideline but you never know if you don't apply. Shoot your shot!
daninto535
Saturday, Jul 25 2020
My best improvements came from practicing translation drills over and over. Besides that, learning to tactically skip questions was massively beneficial. For example, when you come across a parallel reasoning question or find yourself having a hard time understanding a difficult stimulus -select a random answer choice, flag the question, and move on. When I started skipping like this, I found I would always get done with a section with 7 - 10 minutes to spare. This left me plenty of time to go back and answer all of my flagged questions. By doing this, you won't waste time on hard questions that you could have spent on easier ones. And, it gives you a better chance at getting the hard ones right too.
daninto535
Thursday, Jul 23 2020
I never hit "high 170s" consistently but I did score a high of 177 and an average of 172 with several mid-170 scores after 9 months of studying 5 hours a day.
On the real test I only managed the mid-160s because I got test anxiety. If I had it all to do over, I'd focus a little more on handling anxiety.
This is a great post. If I could drive any point home for rising 1Ls it's that law school is a lot of work but it's possible for you. Outlining IS studying. Start outlining from day one using your class syllabus as a guide and set aside time every week to update and refine your outline. I don't recommend using other student's outlines because the work you put into writing yours will help you master the material.
Read and brief every assigned case. Quimbee is fine but do NOT rely on it instead of writing your own briefs. Learning to spot the court's reasoning, see details, and argue intelligently from the facts are the skills you're actually trying to gain as a 1L. You can't do that if you don't brief the cases.
Law school exams are timed and the pressure is worse than the LSAT (at least in my experience). You need to prep for exams using your professor's past exams and model answers. Importantly, don't be too hard on yourself if your grades aren't what you think they should be. Remember that you're a smart person competing against smart people on a brutal curve.
Take a little time every day to relax. Really. After a long day of studying, you need it. Best of luck!
Dan - a rising 2L at William & Mary