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General · Need to go from 148 to 153/154 (50thpercentile) in 7 weeks, doable?
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markcollins208394
Saturday, Dec 15 2018

@ said:

Quick follow up..........Apparently my 148 was close enough to garner a meeting with the Dean,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it went well. Leaving the LSAT in my rear view window. Thanks everyone for the support and help! NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!

That's F'ing awesome! To hell with hanging out here for months (or years) practicing your ass off to be a professional test-taker. If you can plow forward, do it and get on with it. I'm really happy for you. Best of luck!

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Admissions · Second-career law-school hopefuls: academic recs?
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markcollins208394
Tuesday, May 11 2021

I will echo Sara's sentiments. She and I are nearly the same age. I hadn't been to a proper classroom in 22.5 years when I decided to go to law school. No idea if my professors from undergrad are even living these days. I had 4 recommendation letters (pretty much the max for most schools, no?) and none of them were from undergrad professors. I had 2 from past supervisors and 2 from colleagues who are lawyers. I applied to only one school and was accepted right away. Still waiting on grades for this semester that just ended, but I should graduate after next semester.

I wouldn't go digging for old recommendations from professors I have not known for many years. There is something about that that seems just.... I dunno.... Weird. You are a totally different person now than you were then. More than 10+ years? No. Most people wouldn't even have that option--but as you mentioned, you have the prior LORs for grad school. Still, put yourself in their position. How comfortable would you be writing a LOR and staking your reputation on the performance of someone you haven't been in contact with for 10 years? If I were the professor, that would put me in a moral dilemma and I would feel very uncomfortable--either way. Either I am taking a risk that you're still the same person, or I have to risk disappointing you and telling you I can no longer stand by this recommendation I once made and hurt your feelings. It's not fair.

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Admissions · Return of in-person campus visits?
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markcollins208394
Monday, May 10 2021

My school "intends" to be back fully in-person after the Summer session. Of course, whatever that means, no one really knows and all emails regarding the subject desperately reek of vagueness. Lots of "we hope's" and "our plan is" and "we think we's." It's all incredibly boring in a rather important life or death kind of way.

I like that they will say, "It's safe to come back to school. We will operate under the following restrictions: blah, blah, blah, etc." But, you just said it was safe. So, why these restrictions? "Because there is still a chance....blah, blah, etc." Okay, if there is a chance and online has ben working for 3 semesters now, why would we take that "chance" as an institution? Is it perhaps, you wanna keep charging us full tuition and can't justify that when a professor can do this from her bedroom instead of 62 people driving downtown to all meet in a room and stand 6' apart with masks on, then fight traffic home? Pretty sure I am onto something here.

The whole thing makes no sense.

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General · 20 Point Increase. Target LS Admitted. Enjoy the struggle.
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markcollins208394
Monday, May 10 2021

I haven't been on this site for YEARS, but am still a member of the community and randomly check JY's weekly forum updates and browse when I see something interesting. I haven't posted in ages, but this post spoke to me, as I was in a very (eerily, almost) similar situation.

I just finished up my Spring semester as a 2.5L, awaiting grades which (hopefully) will place me in a comfortable position to graduate next May. I was initially a Spring start, had to do Summer school, then Fall, so that's from where the 2.5L comes.

This post by OP so badly needed to be written. I am retired military, mid-40's, and hadn't been in a proper classroom in 22.5 years when I decided to try to go to law school. Obviously the LSAT was going to be a big hurdle. I am a mediocre student, but an extremely hard worker. Like OP, I don't have natural test-taking talent, I just work harder than most people I know and I absolutely refuse to quit at anything. When I retired, I moved back to my home city, bought a home, and was convinced I was going to stay here. There is a small law school in the city, not a great one, but it will get me to the bar exam. For you older girls and guys out there, if you have an awesome résumé, you own a home or have significant anchors to a particular location, you can get caught up in the competition/challenge/achievement mentality of that 170 LSAT. It is fantastic if you can do it! It will pay big dividends in scholarships, even if you don't go to a T14. If you have a robust background, your law degree should be something that opens different doors for you or is just icing on the cake. Not everyone with a law degree practices law--the degree is still an incredible achievement.

Now, I shall sing praises to 7Sage. When I retired, I sat on my arse for about a month (original plan was to take a year off to find my bearings, but I was goin nuts not having a way forward), then decided I'd go to LS. Took my first PT and got a 139. I thought, surely that was a fluke, so I did another, got another 139. I decided, I'd pull the trigger and register for the summer LSAT, just as an accountability measure for myself to keep me focused and working. As the year went by, I was using all the "free" sites and advice, then I started another commercial product I will not name because that's not cool, and my score remained flat other than +/- 1-5 pts. here and there. So, it's 3 months before my test date and I find this place. Got the Ultimate plan, loved it from the beginning, regretted I didn't start with it, who knows what would have happened. I took my first LSAT, scored a 159 (+20 from my original in 3 months), applied for 1 school, was accepted, and off I went. The score was high enough to put me in some really good scholarship shape, but alas the school already offers 50% reduction for prior military service members, so that was gracious enough. Other classmates with similar scores got almost that much in scholarship money.

I understand the need to be competitive when you're fresh out of undergrad, I mean, it's everything, but you will find a lot of people in LS seeking second (third/fourth) careers. You think if you have run a successful business with 20-30 employees for 10 years, that is not gonna speak volumes about you as a person? Those employees depended on you for their livelihood and you created that position and were responsible for them and their families! Or you did 10-20 years in the military leading men and women in combat, that you won't get into a great school, for your purposes, with less than a 170? If I pass the bar, with my background, no one will care about to which school I went. No one will care about my GPA.

Finally, as I realize, that many of you are still young and will be coming straight from undergrad, you don't carry the credentials most the older people have, so you are quite dependent on your LSAT score and GPA's to make you stand out. I will just say this, and this may seem an alien concept: I really enjoyed studying for the LSAT after I found this course. It became fun. There's a cool community. I met friends here I still chat/text with to this day. The staff is responsive. As soon as I got my 159, I was disappointed and wanted to take the test again; I had scored mid-160's on many PT's just before... Then I started thinking--for what? Why? I'm in a school located in my city. I'm gonna pass the same bar as everyone else. I've no desire to move to Boston or New Haven. Pretentiousness has never been my style. I'm perfectly happy right here for now. After school, we'll see. But, have fun with the studies. Put the work in. Don't get discouraged. Do the 7Sage program AS IT IS PRESCRIBED. Don't just try and fail, look up the answer and say this sucks and I am no good. Do it the hard way, the way they tell you to do it, and you will see gains. I found it fascinating when I was doing all this, and people in the forum would start complaining about their scores not improving. My first question, "Did you follow the instructions exactly? Did you go back and re-work the problem, try to see why you got it wrong? Did you re-do the ones you got right, because you could have guessed correctly and that does not help you one bit, did you do that?" Inevitably, the answer was "no, I just looked at the videos or just looked at the explanation." That's not the way this thing works. Don't be lazy. It wastes more time trying to claw your way out of that disaster than to just do it correctly in the first place.

Good luck everyone!

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General · Nov Retake missed target score :( In need of help
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markcollins208394
Sunday, Dec 09 2018

+1 on @, retake it in Jan., for sure. It'd be different if your PT's were lower. Maybe you didn't eat the right breakfast or get enough sleep. Maybe the questions on this particular test were just more demanding on you than usual. Could be anything. Put your head down and drive on!

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General · No score yet?
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markcollins208394
Sunday, Dec 09 2018

Hmmm.. That's weird. Maybe they're taking Sunday off and you'll get it Monday... Who knows? Sucks you're going through this, though. Try to stay positive and go do something fun today to take your mind off it. Mandatory fun is seldom "fun," but what the hell. Not gonna help sitting around being miserable 2 days in a row, eh?

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General · Need to go from 148 to 153/154 (50thpercentile) in 7 weeks, doable?
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markcollins208394
Sunday, Dec 09 2018

Definitely doable. Why don't you use 7Sage? I improved more than that in less time and I didn't even complete the course's core curriculum (I found this place too late in my studies and had to take the Nov. LSAT). I wish I had found 7Sage sooner.

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General · 165 score in June ;165 score in November: What to Do? Another Retake?
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markcollins208394
Sunday, Dec 09 2018

I'd apply now. Totally agree with @.

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General · No score yet?
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markcollins208394
Sunday, Dec 09 2018

Any news?

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General · See score then cancel
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markcollins208394
Sunday, Dec 09 2018

Wow.😳. What would that be like?

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General · Another 7sage thank you (141-->162)
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markcollins208394
Sunday, Dec 09 2018

Great job! 💪

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LSAT · 159 Sep ---> 169 November!
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markcollins208394
Sunday, Dec 09 2018

Well done. 💪

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LSAT · 2L + First Time Parent = Crazy?
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markcollins208394
Sunday, Dec 09 2018

Just my $0.02, but I'd say this is a horrible plan... But, it could be a very delightful and fulfilling challenge that is certainly doable if it comes to that. As others here with experience have rightly pointed out, nothing guarantees you're not going to have a problematic pregnancy, nor that the child may require special needs (God forbid). As far as a plan goes, I would think you'd want to be more risk averse, but if there are other issues involved and you need to expedite the pregnancy, then maybe you could put off law school. Or, maybe you're just strong AF, have a good support network, and will hit it head on with a winning attitude.

So, as a plan, not so good, in my opinion. But, if it happens and it's a pleasant surprise, then embrace it and power on!

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General · Potential Retake After Full time Study
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markcollins208394
Saturday, Dec 08 2018

I think you'll be okay with a that small, easily explainable, gap in employment. I would suspect it would be a major concern if you took 2 years off work to study for the LSAT, but a couple months should be insignificant to your application.

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Admissions · PS Swap?
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markcollins208394
Friday, Dec 07 2018

@ said:

@ Maute-Gibson, @, @ and @ I would love to swap with everyone too. Want to send me a direct message and I can send you my email?

I'm happy to help all of you. 💪

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Admissions · PS/DS Swap?
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markcollins208394
Friday, Dec 07 2018

I'd be happy to look at both and give you feedback.

That goes for you, too, @ .

😊

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General · Potential Retake After Full time Study
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markcollins208394
Friday, Dec 07 2018

You've started fretting about this a little prematurely... In 24 short hours or so, you should have one key bit of information that will affect this scenario. Once the scores have posted and you know for sure, we can go from there without the wild card speculation.

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Admissions · Submit with no LORs?
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markcollins208394
Friday, Dec 07 2018

I applied to a school last month before my LSAT scores were released and what @ describes is exactly what happened to my file. The law school received my application which had my PS and biographical data, but it did not get my CAS report (including LOR's) and that code appears on my CAS which says why the CAS was not sent: "No reportable score." The school contacted me and said my CAS had not been received so I sent them an email just to follow up and they said yes, don't worry it was just a courtesy email (form letter) and that as soon as my scores were released they would be automatically updated with the complete package and that they had added me to their database.

LSAC did go ahead and charge me for it and accept my payment, though. So, there's that.

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Admissions · Criminal record/law application
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markcollins208394
Friday, Dec 07 2018

@ said:

I personally know 2 accepted law students who have records. 1- has a felony and the other has 3 felonies.

Don't worry about it. I also have a few drunk in disorderly conducts.

...and that's when I decided, "I wanna party with this girl.

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Admissions · Got my score, just hit submit on all apps, now what?
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markcollins208394
Thursday, Dec 06 2018

Poor guy... You'll be okay.

If it helps, just know that you bumping this 2 month old thread sent me flying to LSAC to see if I, too, "got my score" thinking you were referring to the Nov LSAT without opening and reading the thread. Meh. That was a good one. You got me.

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Admissions · What does it mean when your LSAC GPA is listed as a range?
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markcollins208394
Friday, May 06 2022

@

All your transfer credits were validated by the degree-granting institution? Unlike us unruly military vets whose credits were either graciously accepted by our law schools or viciously discarded for whatever reason, I suppose. Didn't matter in the end... As a veteran, my school offered "The Yellow Ribbon" program which pays whatever leftover tuition your GI Bill doesn't pay, so they were really sketch on giving scholarship money on top of that, in spite of GPA or LSAT scores. I could have pressed the issue until admissions pointed out, "if you take that money, you will deprive another student of it, and you're already not going to pay a dime for your law school education." Made me feel a little selfish, and there is, of course, an argument of semantics like: "No, Dude. I paid for it for 22.5 half years already, but I get your point. Let someone else have it."

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Admissions · Reporting Other Applications
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markcollins208394
Wednesday, Dec 05 2018

They are digging for intel on you. It's like "talking to the cops;" you don't have to do it, but if they ask and you tell them, then that's all fine and usually not to your benefit. hehe

There's a podcast on here where David interviews a former admissions chick and she addresses this directly--it's them wanting information on you AND other schools. You can use other schools as a bargaining chip when applying, especially if they've made you an offer. Think of it as "leverage," if used properly. Somewhere, there's a strategy here. Just gotta find out exactly what it is, but you guys are on the right track. It seems like the application version of "Paper/Rock/Scissors." You know the other person is gonna do Rock, so you should do Paper, but if they know that you know that they are gonna do Rock and anticipating that you do Paper, then they're going to do Scissors... But if that's a foregone conclusion, what if you decide just to do Scissors, but, of course, they're clever so, they could know that you know that they know that you know.... Blech.

Just answer their question with a question: "Have you applied to any other law schools?"

"I dunno... Have I?" Muahahaha! 🙅😎

The interview was pretty cool and worth a listen.

You can find it here: https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/18596/7sage-podcast-episode-9-admissions-behind-the-scenes-david-busis-and-selene-steelman

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Admissions · What does it mean when your LSAC GPA is listed as a range?
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markcollins208394
Tuesday, Dec 04 2018

@ said:

So what I took from the complicated LSAC response (viewing the world through my glass half-empty lens) is that when the school you matriculate reports to USNWR, they will report you as a 3.49 student. However, when you and that school are negotiating scholarships, they are going to say, "Well, your uGPA is a 3.0, so we can only give you this amount."

Thanks LSAC.

Dude, I totally had that exact same thought. I also thought if I apply to several schools the ones that accept me will accept me for the 3.49 and the ones that decline me will reject me for the 3.0. LOL!

I was the one who was confused, though. It is in my ASR as 3.36 if you can manage to scroll all the way down to the bottom of my laundry list of transcripts. When I called and the lady told me "the school will decide," I thought "then why did I send you guys all the transcripts and go through all this?" Whatever. I'm new to this. I blame my inexperience instead of just admitting I'm stupid.

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General · Rejected from my first preference and unsure of my next move
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markcollins208394
Tuesday, Dec 04 2018

You're 24 and concerned about taking a year? Pffffft! Dude, come on. I could've held my breath for a year at 24.

I think you'll be okay either way; it's gonna be what you make of it in the end, but if it's going to cause you regrets or "what if's" later down the road if you don't go to your first choice--and the fact that you are not far off the mark, I'd go that route. It would be different if you were far from your target LSAT score, but you're right there. If you go to your second choice, you'll never go to your first... If you take some time and try to go to your first, but still don't get accepted, you can always fall back on your second. A one year wait may seem like a big deal to you now, but later on when you're old as hell like me, you'll see that one year really is no big deal.

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Admissions · What does it mean when your LSAC GPA is listed as a range?
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markcollins208394
Tuesday, Dec 04 2018

@ said:

Are you sure they dont list a more specific GPA eslewhere? My GPA, for example, is listed as: "GPA:

3.75 and up/almost all As"

on the cover sheet,

But then in the body of the academic summary report, it has an actual number.

Yes, it was just confusing because I had 5 different transcripts. The 3.36 seems to be the "final answer" and where I will land in the pile. I think when I called, the nice lady I spoke to tried to explain their entire process to me very rapidly while looking at all my transcripts and those credits which were and those which were not converted--then my brain went into full thermonuclear meltdown mode. 😳

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I've searched all over the forum and couldn't find anything on this topic. I'm prior military and I went to several institutions before and during my service to complete my undergrad degree. The LSAC has my GPA listed as "3.0 - 3.49". Why is that? What does that mean (other than I was a very mediocre student 😁)? It never really stood out to me because I thought perhaps everyone's was listed in a similar way, but having searched the forum, I can't find another example of anyone with an LSAC GPA listed as a range... I'm a bit confused because my actual degree GPA is within that range, so why not just use that GPA?

Can someone explain this sorcery?

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