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I know a few people have asked versions of these question, but I was looking for some more insight into optional essays.
I know “it depends” on the school, but I’m having trouble distinguishing when optional essays would be useful for my application vs when it’s not worth it to include one vs. when it would be a bad look not to submit it. Would someone who submits a (good) optional statement be at an advantage compared to my application if I didn’t submit one?
And how do we format these essays if the schools don’t specify?
Some specific examples:
BU has a diversity statement that would be a mediocre essay from me at best. If I don’t submit a response, would they interpret that as “I’m not diverse”?
GW has an open-ended optional statement. I have some other essays I could recycle, but is that even necessary? They’re not bad, but it’s nothing overly convincing.
Thanks everyone!
Hi guys!
I've been studying since February. I started with a 156 diagnostic and have a goal score of 172+, and I just took the June test (planning on taking it again in August).
I am just so stuck on these practice tests. I got a 170 in late April, so I thought I was on an upward trend, but the six PTs I've taken since have all been between 166-168 (175+ on the BR). I know it's good that I'm consistently in that range, but I can't seem to break the 170s and I'm starting to wonder if I've hit my limit for the August test.
I've been studying for about an hour a day with drills focused on my weakest question types and fixing my timing. I felt SO good this past week about my progress, was consistently getting perfect scores on untimed and timed drills, and it didn't translate at all to my PT. There's not really a consistent pattern to what I'm getting wrong.
Has anyone experienced this and been able to improve? Is there any change in study technique I should consider?
The LSAT is all mental--take your fluctuations with a grain of salt! There are SO many factors that can affect your studying (sleep, question types, brain fog, external stress, etc). The best advice I've gotten on here is to study like a robot and try to take the emotions out of your day to day; looking at the overall trend of your studying (your breakthrough and increase in LR scores) is much more helpful than looking at one or two data points. If you think you won't perform your best on test day, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It's easier said than done, but trust your studying and your ability to score in the -3 to -5 range. You've done it consistently and can do it again. Good luck on Saturday!