How does the LSAC determine undergraduate GPA? I had attended multiple schools from the same system during my undergraduate and have varying GPAs from each. If the LSAC deferred to the GPA of our graduating institution that would be great ?

Where are good places in the Northeast for someone with a 175 LSAT and 3.8 undergrad GPA to apply if they're hoping for full or close to full ride merit scholarships? Thanks for your thoughts!

Also,

I have a very atypical background and many personal reasons for studying law. From junior high school through getting my undergraduate degree my family struggled a lot: immigrant parent, lower middle class, police involvement, parents divorced etc. I ended up taking 3 courses per semester, getting mostly As but a couple Cs and have several withdrawals on record, ending with a GPA just over 3.5 (cumulative GPA over 3.6). My recent LSAT score was 160, my PT average after about five months of part time study.

I'm working on my PS and addendum for my target school where my scores are in the lower quarter percentile. My current draft is almost two single spaced pages. Does that seem too long? I think I sound pretty objective, just describing the events that distracted me from school, but I'm afraid of being a drama queen. I wouldn't tell anyone about these things if I didn't have to, but I know my transcripts would otherwise be a poor reflection of my abilities and spark all kinds of questions. I'm also afraid of sounding like I'm just blaming poor choices on the drama in my family.

Any suggestions from other people with ghetto backgrounds?

**Question: ** should I retake the LSAT?

**Background: ** I took the Dec. LSAT (first time) and scored a 173. I know that’s a good score, but it’s below my PT average (last three PTs: 179, 180, 180). I had an unexpectedly busy week leading up to the LSAT and felt a bit burned out during the test. I am an international applicant, with a degree from Oxford law (GPA assessed ‘superior’ by LSAC) and a few prestigious national scholarships in the UK. I plan to apply next cycle and would ideally like Harvard or Yale, but will apply across the T14. Although I’m a UK citizen, I currently work in the US, providing post-closing legal analysis on large M&A transactions.

**Concerns: ** My concerns are twofold: (i) I don’t think I’ve scored at my potential; (ii) I’m worried my score is inadequate for a run at Harvard and Yale, particularly considering the weight accorded to the LSAT scores of international applicants without a reportable GPA.

**Potential retake strategy: ** I would aim to part-time tutor the LSAT between now and June, teaching 2-3 classes a week after work. This would effectively fund any retake as my time preping / delivering lessons would double as personal study time. I would then address my remaining weaknesses in the weeks leading up to the test.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

does lsac need to get all 3 of my transcript before they calculate my gpa? I ask because I am having trouble getting one of my transcript at the moment.

Hello,

I'm probably taking the LSAT again in June. I did a lot better than last time (13 point increase thanks to 7sage) but my score still sucks. Anyway, I still have much faith in the process, and I think I just need to give it more time. I was thinking about doing what @kimmy_m66 did. However, I think I am going to need a personal study partner in order to actually do all the work I need to do to actually do well on this test. I spent 6 months or so studying for the Dec. Test and I am drained because the way I studied was a double edged sword. 6 months, full time, in my room, every day, except Sunday. I cant work and do this at the same time, so I simply studied. Don't do coffee shops because music distracts me. So I disciplined my self and went through the CC but only managed to get a tiny bit of foolproofing in and like just PT 136 in addition to the diagnostic before Dec. Yes I am for real. I didn't postpone because I was desperate, as 6 months alone in my room was starting to take its toll on me emotionally and I figured another 6 months would kill me (metaphorically speaking). Most of my friends live in the States and the few friends I have here in the Bahamas all work so I never see them. Parents work all day to support my brother and I, and my brother is always busy so I don't see much of him. I basically spent 6 months alone and I just wanted it to end so I took the test hoping I would somehow get 143-146 and get into law somewhere not horrible move on with my life, by being a hard working and SOCIAL human being. I ironically got a 136 on the December test so I probably wont get in anywhere decent unless its some kind of conditional acceptance deal. We all know I need to retake it. My mother is against it because she saw what being alone for 6 months did to me. So she made me apply to some schools I still kind of have a shot at so I obeyed. But part of me does not want to be the guy who scraped his way into law school with a 136. Most of us know that the process works. We just need to have the passion to pursue our goals. I believe I CAN DO THIS, but I need help. As I said, I want to try what @kimmy_m66 did by spending a month to Foolproof 1-35 and then resume PTing in February doing at least one a week. Is there anyone who is also about do that or something similar? I need a study partner to go through it with me, because If I go through with this retake, I have to spend another 5 months in my room, but I can't do it alone, not anymore.

Hi! Would anyone be willing to look over my character and fitness addendum? If you can do so, I would greatly appreciate if you would PM me and I will let you take a look. Thank you!

Hi all; I am hoping to write the test in June 2018 but if I am not PTing where I want by May, I was going to wait until September. How quickly do testing centers fill up? Should I go ahead and book my seat now just in case or can I wait until closer to my tentative testing date to see if I am anywhere near PTing at my goal?

Note: I am just finishing up the CC and am going to move on to phase 2 but am afraid I won't be ready by June because I work full time and can only dedicate around 12 hours a week to studying. A part of me feels like I should book it so I can have more motivation to try and put in more study hours to make it to June but the other part of me doesn't want to rush the process.

I'm debating whether to submit an LSAT addendum,particularly to my safety schools. I am taking the February LSAT, so should I just wait for that first?

For one of my safety schools, my LSAT is two points below the median, and 1 point above their 25th, but my GPA is at their 75th.

I am below the median in my target schools, so I was planning to submit an LSAT addendum for sure to those schools

I want to submit my apps for three of my safety schools already, but I am not sure how to go about writing an addendum if I am registered for the Feb LSAT?

What do you guys think? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you guys in advance!

Hey guys! Anyone want to swap personal statements/ diversity statements?

I'd like some feedback from people that don't know me.

I don't remember the source, but I vaguely recall hearing that out of the top schools, UChicago especially loves high-GPA applicants (=as in they put more emphasis on that more than other top schools do even if it means foregoing some high LSAT ppl) Has anyone heard this as well? Can someone validate or invalidate this rumor?

Quick question - I have the beginners (basic) subscription to 7sage and was wondering if people Go through The CC in order. Is there a reason this subjects are ordered this way? Should I study in a different order?

Since my last post, I got quite a few messages regarding specific questions, thought it'd be nice to just share it here with anyone who's interested, or if any of you have any follow up questions.

Timing

I started at the end of July, and took the December test, so the prep time for me is roughly 4 months. To be honest I think it's a bit tight, but because I was already 3 months pregnant and would definitely want to finish the test before my January due date, so I was left no choice. If possible, I think I'd budget for at least 6 months.

Core Curriculum

I started out using the LSAT study schedule generated by 7Sage and used that as a guideline. I finished core curriculum in 1 month and started timed PTs in September.

During the CC, I followed every single course and exercises in the LR and LG session, but only selected about 50% of the RC part. As I said, my timing was pretty tight, and honestly I think to improve RC, just following the courses won't be enough any way. So I moved into timed PTs after getting myself familiar with the types of questions that appears often in RC.

For LR, something I find extremely useful is to collect all the questions I did wrong, or those I believe contained important implication for future reference, making a scrapbook out of them with detailed analysis. When writing the analysis, it's like I'm re-doing it. And also, as the test date got closer, it'd be great last-minute reading materials.

PTs and Follow-up Exercises

So based on my course package, I started with PT 36 and I do 3-4 PTs per week, depending on if I have weekend plans :) Doing timed PT is pretty standard I think, and of course BR is very important. I usually do the BR right after, so 1 PT would take up my full day schedule.

On the days I'm not PTing, I do the following things:

Score Trend and The Last Month

My first timed PT was PT36 and I scored 165; and I didn't really get my first breakthrough till PT51 when I got my first 170. I think my repetitive exercise between PTs was making a difference because my performance in LG has been stable, and RC has always been hit or miss depending on if there's any topics that I'm extremely uncomfortable with lol, but as soon as I started to get less than -3 in LR, my score showed major improvement.

That's why moving into the last month, I decided to make sure I can have stable LRs during the actual test. I started to re-do LRs from PT 36 to PT 50, in which I was having -4 to -8 in those sections.

In retrospect, I think this practice, plus my scrapbook, definitely contributed a lot to my proficiency with LR. In the actual December test, I scored -0 and -1 respectively in the 2 LR sections.

The last week and What If....

The last week was pretty rough for me as I did the last 3 PTs, and got both very high and very low score. I scored a 166 that almost wrecked my confidence, but thankfully got a 176 in the September PT, which gave me a bit last minute comfort.

I had major nerve issue the night before, and was literally up all night. I think part of the 3rd trimester pregnancy was also a negative factor for me as the baby started moving and kicking real hard during these late days. But I think my adrenalin and New York's chilling winter was high enough to keep me awake.

I'm generally pretty happy with how it turned out, but as I said, if I could have more time, I'd definitely work harder on RC. I got lucky this time because I did just ok with RC in the test (-4), which was average for me. My RC performance has always been unstable, I sometimes can make -1, but sometimes can go as high as -7; Improving RC was really difficult, and I don't think I have much to say in this area, but if you have enough time, definitely spend more energy on it.

Ok, I think I've been rambling a lot. I don't know if these things would be helpful for anyone. But feel free to leave any questions in the comment and I'll make sure to try my best to give some input.

Thanks again 7Sage and JY, this journey wouldn't turn out so great without you guys!

So I am currently debating whether or not to use the 7sage one time editing package for an edit of my personal statement. My dilemma is coming from the questions on the Yale app regarding whether or not you've used an admissions service for help on anything. Dean Asha's post about this on her blog seems to indicate that using a service could negatively impact your application. Given that I'm a splitter for Yale (178, 3.67 cum GPA) and that Yale is such a blackbox anyways, I'm pretty conflicted on what to do. I was pretty set on it before I read that part of the application. On the one hand, I know I'm an extreme long shot at Yale to begin with. Everyone is no matter what their scores/gpa are, so the edit might not help there but it could on other applications. Making a decision about an integral part of my application because a concern about just Yale seems a little ridiculous. On the other hand, I'm worried that what chance I do have at Yale will be hurt by using such a service. And Yale is just the dream for so many reasons. Anyone have any advice on this? It's a needy question, so my apologies in advance.

Hi Guys,

I found 7sage late in my studies, only after I read the powerscore bibles, and after I had enrolled in the Testmasters course. During my Testmasters course I found myself referring to JY's explanations for the logic games over the method that Testmasters used.

I was scoring in the mid 150's with my diagnostics. Since getting my December score I've decided to take a look at the CC as see if I can help my score.

I am very discouraged, and my confidence is totally shaken.

SO! I feel like I am the king of needing addenda. I need an addenda for my GPA, I need an addenda for my LSAT jump, I need an addenda to explain my ugly face...oh wait..

I am having an issue with balance on my applications. My PS talks about the change that took place during the Marine Corps. It starts to draw a clear line of me before the Marines, (1.7gpa) and me after the Marines (4.0 gpa). I don't mention my exact GPA but I do show them that I was a loser playing WoW before the Marines, and now I'm just a loser with a 4.0.

I also want to write an addenda that goes into more detail about this change because it's really drastic.

I also went from a 157 to a 163 to a 171. So I need to explain that in an addenda.

Where's the balance? How far into detail should I go on the LSAT? GPA? I don't want to overwhelm the schools and beat a dead horse, but I also want it to be very clear that I AM NOT the kid with a 1.7 gpa but I am the kid with the 171 and 4.0...

Any suggestions on how to strike this balance?

Hi,

I cant seem to print the Most strongly supported problem set.

Hi guys, I'm an international student from a foreign undergrad that took the Dec Lsat.

Basic information about myself

LSAT: 174 (First try)

GPA: It's 3.9 on a 4.0 scale, but I think foreign undergrads are classified as Superior (with this level of GPA)

Softs: Some moot court competition wins, about a year of intern experience at a domestic law firm

LOR: 2 from professors, 1 from the lawyer I worked under (All strong)

I have two main questions!

I understand that Yale and Stanford don't admit too many foreign undergrads and that out of HYS, I have the best chances with Harvard. I think the earliest I'll get my applications in is by mid-January. Would that be too late in the cycle? I might be able to intern at another law firm starting from late January. Should I maybe just wait for the next cycle?

If I applied and was accepted to Columbia but rejected by Harvard, could I defer the Columbia offer and apply to Harvard the next cycle? This is pretty common in my country, but I get the feeling it wouldn't be acceptable in the States.

Some people might wonder why I seem obsessed with Harvard, but it's because I plan to return to my country later on. All the domestic lawyers I've met tell me that name-value is everything if I want to enter a big firm here D:

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I'm in the process of firming up my personal statement with the goal of having it submitted at the beginning of Jan. I've gone through a few drafts, but have settled on something that I like. I've had a number of friends and family review it, but would love to get some feedback from someone who doesn't know me personally.

Is there anyone that would be interested in a statement swap or providing me some feedback on my statement?

Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, I wrote my LSAT in December and will be re-writing in February. My goal is to achieve a 160, and right now I'm typically scoring 151-155 range. I've tried the Kaplan and LSAT Trainer books but am thinking about using 7sage for my crunch time of 6 weeks. Does anyone have any recommendations on which study guide to use? My schedule is flexible and my wallet is kind of tight, but don't want that to stop me from utilizing a guide that would really help me. What do you suggest? Starter? Premium? Thanks!!! These forums are very helpful and encouraging!

I've written a very personal (ha) personal statement I would like someone to review - with an eye to whether it dreams into the overly sentimental/illogical.

Would someone - preferably someone who has been active on this site (for my own paranoia reasons) - be willing to take a look?

Hello everyone, so I usually get 155 on my PT but unfortunately I got 150 on the December test. Since I already applied for law schools, I want to try again and write the Feb test. I usually do perfect on the game section and need to improve my LR and RC skills. Do you guys have any suggestions on how to improve in a month? I would truly appreciate any suggestions.

Sorry. Might have missed this. What is this foolproofing everyone is talking about? Or where can I find the explanation?

So I scored a 135 on my LSAT and I am shocked. I printed out the test from LSAC and retook it under test conditions as a practice. I scored a 165 and I'm confused. Maybe I did not eat a good breakfast or I was completely nervous about the whole thing. Someone help me understand where I did wrong. I had to rush my last passage off my RC and I did completely fine on LG on test day.