What gives?

ktvarda1

I got into a school whose median LSAT and GPA are higher than mine, but got rejected from a school whose median LSAT was the same as mine? Acceptance rate was higher at the school that rejected me. It was also out of state, if that makes any difference at all. Super excited that I GOT INTO FUCKING LAW SCHOOL!!!!!!!! But what gives?

Alex

@ktvarda1 said:
I got into a school whose median LSAT and GPA are higher than mine, but got rejected from a school whose median LSAT was the same as mine? Acceptance rate was higher at the school that rejected me. It was also out of state, if that makes any difference at all. Super excited that I GOT INTO FUCKING LAW SCHOOL!!!!!!!! But what gives?

It's not actually terribly uncommon from my understanding.

There is more to your app than numbers!

Did you write any additional essays for the school that accepted you showing your interest? Being in state also likely gave you a bit of a bump.

Congrats on getting in though

ktvarda1

Hi @Alex ! Thanks for your response. I did write additional essays. I used and abused every application and opportunity I was given in regard to submitting optional essays or providing addendums where I saw fit. I was told by someone to only submit optional essays to the schools I’m most interested in, but it’s a dog eat dog world out here, so I wrote optional essays for every application. Do you think that will help me for other schools that have higher stats than mine? I’ve only heard back from three schools so far and have gotten accepted to two.

goingfor99th

It should help but who can say how much? It will have more weight with some adcomms than others. If your writing/story is strong, I'd expect that to lift you up more at higher ranked schools.

westcoastbestcoast

This happened to me as well. I recently got rejected from a school where my numbers were median. But I was able to get into a school where my lsat was at the 25 percentile. My best guess is that my Why X essay was particularly compelling.

_oshun1_

I think the out of state part holds some relevance especially for regional schools (since you’ll likely end up working in the area of the school and schools are taking a gamble accepting students who don’t necessarily show an interest in living out of state indefinitely). I was accepted into UCI but waitlisted at Fordham. Congrats on your acceptance! Do you think you’ll go to that school?

ktvarda1

@"surfy surf" thank you!! that makes sense. I live in California and I have every intention to practice in California, so the out of state schools probably sense that I’m sure. I just got an email today offering me a full ride scholarship, so unless I get some sort of scholarship at a much higher ranked school, then I will most likely go to the one that gave me the full ride. I’m not about being in $150,000 debt haha. What are your thoughts on that?

ktvarda1

@goingfor99th thanks! I’m definitely convinced that I wrote my way in haha my numbers aren’t that strong. My writing is stronger than my standardized testing capabilities for sure. I actually can’t tell you how excited I was to trash all of my lsat material last night lol.

_oshun1_

Hell yeah full scholly! If you're comfortable with the employment and salary prospects, sounds like a good plan.
You never know what will happen tho, you might end up being able to use this scholarship to negotiate for a slightly higher scholly at a higher ranked school and then use that to negotiate at an even higher ranked school. Don't commit anywhere until you get all your acceptances/rejections back and you feel like you've juiced all schools for the max scholly.
I highly recommend writing a sort of Why X email to the law school that accepted you with a full ride -- like thank you for the acceptance I would love to attend because of all these great factors in your school BUT even with the full scholarship, I will be struggling to pay for living expenses. Really take your time in writing something sweet to them and (if applicable) mention higher cost of living around the campus vs. where you live now. Some schools really will throw living expense $ your way if you ask nicely. They obviously want you to attend since they gave you a full ride, can't hurt to ask for more.

ktvarda1

@"surfy surf" awesome advice, thank you!!!! It’s in San Francisco so I can definitely pull the living expense card on them hahah