explaining four takes in two years

lolwhatawasteofspace

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MissChanandler

I'm definitely not an admissions expert by any means, but I don't think you need to write an addendum. With the difference between your lowest score and your highest being four points, they're not going to think anything crazy about it. Four takes is a lot, but most schools won't care too much. I think you have a decent shot at a top 20 school (check out WUSTL's stats in particular). I would think a lot about where you see yourself living after law school. If you want to live in the midwest, then WUSTL would probably be better than UT even though it's ranked a few spots lower. You also have good enough numbers to get into some strong regional schools. I think it would be better to go to a slightly lower ranked school in a place that you would enjoy living vs. going somewhere because it is higher ranked but in a region where you don't want to live/work long term.

This is going to sound harsh, but I'm not sure if writing a personal statement about depression is the best idea. It's not that it's not important enough or significant enough; I know from personal experience how much of an influence it can have in your life's course. I just think that if you say that you've struggled with school/motivation because of depression and it hasn't gotten better, then it might come across like you aren't up for the task of law school, which is incredibly demanding (I'm sure you are up for it, you just want to be careful about how personal statements could potentially be misunderstood or interpreted).

lolwhatawasteofspace

@MissChanandler

Hey thanks for the response. Yeah the midwest sounds pretty appealing to me, or at least being able to move to a city/region with kinda sane rent. I can't see myself living in Texas for work and apparently it seems like people who go to UT generally stay in Texas so

Your concerns about depression are definitely not harsh — I share them too. It's tricky because I don't want admissions to look at my grades or whatever and just think that I was off partying or not giving a shit more generally. And as you have alluded to, it had a substantial role in shaping my personal identity, my beliefs and values. So like, it would just feel really weird if I wrote a personal statement that didn't draw upon anything that I feel like I've gained or learned from dealing with depression. I definitely would try real hard to be subtle or positive about it.

And just to clarify it has gotten better, i.e., I don't have suicidal thoughts, but I don't feel comfortable saying that I'm like cured or anything. I just feel better equipped to deal with them if they were to come up, more than willing to get help, etc.

MissChanandler

I understand your apprehension towards "cure" type stories; I take medication for anxiety and while it has helped me enormously I don't think I'll ever be "cured" in the way that people think of it. I think that if you can find a way to work it in without making it the main point/focus, then that would be ideal!