Law School Consultants

arabprodigy30

I don't know much about this , but someone told me it would be nice to look at. So apparently there are many law school consultants that would review your personal statement etc.. and help prepare your application. After some research, I realized most charge for a "package". Like you need to pay $750 , ( it is required) for the first 3 hours etc... There are many many of them out there...

Has anyone here worked with a law school consultant? Do you recommended them ? I know there are several of them out there. But I personally feel like the prices they charge students are ridiculous ! Does anyone know where one can seek help with personal statements ? I am first person in my family to attend college, so don't really have many people to look at my essay.

Thanks

Nilesh S

@arabprodigy30 Honestly, I would not work with a law school consultant AT ALL... except in one scenario... if you REALLY want to go to a particular school AND your numbers are borderline for that school... the fact is that law school is an extremely numbers driven game (I know they all say they look at diverse factors but come on... the only school that lends credence to that process is UC Berkeley with your GPA, LSAT and experiences weighed equally - even at Northwestern, where work ex does play a role, you have to be up to par on at least one of the other two metrics). The 'winning' personal statement only comes into play if you are a realistic borderline contender... if your numbers are up to scratch, your own personal statement, looked at by a number of people no doubt, will suffice.

arabprodigy30

@nilesh S thank you for your comment. I agree, I just feel like if I have the right LSAT numbers I should be okay. I suppose personal statement wise , I could just ask classmates or coworkers to look at it .

nicole.hopkins

I think @"Nilesh S" advice is spot-on.

I anticipate hiring a consultant for around $1,500 (those of you who know me know that I am ultra frugal and financially independent—I don't throw down like that lightly; that's 3 months rent!!). That's because I'm (well hopefully) a "super-splitter" with a UGPA of 2.7 due to some events/circumstances that occurred in the summer of 2006. I have to be circumspect in addressing my experience for reasons I will not detail.

Obviously, mine is somewhat of an extreme situation. To my mind, this is one of the few cases in which consulting makes sense. I got myself into a college with a <8% admit rate (this year's was 6.99%! Yowza!) without counseling—and I only wanted to go to one school—but due to events beyond my control, I am now in a position where I need someone with inside knowledge to guide me.

blah170blah

@"Nilesh S" ON. POINT. I agree that, unless you're like Nicole where you have to elaborate on special circumstances and you're aiming to get to certain schools, your numbers are/will have to be sufficient.

pseudonymous

Re: personal statements, there's also the personal statement bundle for $0.59 here on 7Sage. I was so ridiculously happy when the same extension rules applied, pretty sure I nearly cried with joy. Plus the materials in that section seem pretty solid... of course, at this point JY & co. could show me the alphabet or draw a triangle or something and I'd probably bow down to their wisdom / light incense at their altar.

arabprodigy30

Thanks for the feedback guys, I probably out hire a consultant . I need to just work on my LSAT numbers.

@pseudonymous where is the bundle? i can't find it link please

Nilesh S

@arabprodigy30 here is the link to the add on page... the bundle pack is for .59 cents at the bottom: https://7sage.com/addons/

VegMeg55

Totally agree with the amazing mentors on here! @arabprodigy30 Aheb ismak/ek fii 7sage (English translation: I love your name on 7sage! : p)
My advice on the personal statement is to a) write it yourself (you'd be surprised how many people don't do this, or let other people sway their own voice) and b) get it reviewed by 12+ people. Even if you do get the consultant, make sure friends, family, random kind strangers (ok maybe not this one) read it before you submit it to your prospective schools. There is nothing that kills a good personal statement like an accidental 'your'/'you're' swap or a misplaced comma (this one gets me every time). This might seem like an excessive number but it will pay off when your personal statement is as vetted as humanly possible.

blah170blah

The advice that I've heard from friends too is, in situations where a consultant could make the greatest impact, the onus is even more on you to tell a personal story. I know that this is very true for Berkeley.

justrandom

I am not a consultant nor a professional writer but I am fairly good at helping others shape their personal narratives. (Also first in my family and I've had to help friends, cousins, etc.) If you want to message me, I can give you my e-mail and I can at least read over the draft and provide some commentary. (Of course, no charge whatsoever.) I honestly don't think you should pay so much money for a consultant. Try to get a professor, mentor or perhaps boss to read it. It is going to require a lot of edits but I think if you work hard enough, you can tailor the personal statement how you want it to be without dishing a bunch of money. Even with special circumstances, I would be extremely hesitant to hire a consultant. Also schools like Yale Law require that you disclose that information in your application, ( not that it would be detrimental to put that you got help from a consultant but they do take it into account.)

kraft.phillip

Honestly, with all of the available info online, consultants only would be worth the money to me if they are doing something really sketchy, such as paying an admissions dean to let in an applicant. What could they possibly know that isn't freely available info online?

Money like that is much better spent on something less vague and more functional than "consulting," whatever in the world that might mean. LSAT textbooks are a way better investment since reading them provides a specific and causally clear inroad toward getting accepted to a better law school. You know that increasing your LSAT score directly impacts your admission. Spending money on consultants not only trades off with money you could be spending on study materials, but also psychologically with the effort and time you are spending toward getting into law school.

If you want to talk to someone and give them money, I would recommend just hiring an LSAT tutor. They almost certainly have gone through the law school application process, and they can help you increase your LSAT score, which will certainly improve your chances of admission.

Jengibre

I agree with most of what's been said here. For personal statements, what might be a helpful, free alternative, could be getting together a group on 7sage to read each other's personal statements and provide feedback. Once the LSAT is behind us, I'd love to set up a system of reading a few and making suggestions and having others read mine in exchange. I certainly don't have the several hundred dollars to spend on a consultant, but I think outside comment from people apart from family and friends could be highly beneficial.

Nilesh S

@Jengibre That's a great idea. I'd be down to read some PS's whenever I could as I'm sure some of the other members would too. Starting an FB group or something like that would not be bad at all... or even just a shout out here on the message board like a continuous running thread.

nicole.hopkins

I can certainly help with this—I have extensive professional editing experience (read: I make grammars more good-er) and am a published op-ed author; I specialize in emotive prose that maintains (ideally, augments) credibility. I also used to be a college counsellor and helped kids write their college essays.

Jonathan Wang

I would be cautious about dismissing consultants out of hand (and yes, in the interest of full disclosure, I have done consulting work for 7Sagers as well as private clients, so I speak at least a little bit from personal interest). Still, I promise you I'm speaking from a position of no-bullshit, because that's how I roll.

It is absolutely true that the information is all out there on the internet, and that with enough time, effort, and thoroughness you can scrape everything you need together. But that's a huge condition. Often, it is the case that people are blind to the deficiencies in their own writing, or that they end up with incomplete information due to incomplete research, or any of a number of other things that can turn 'readily available' information into a hodgepodge of good/useful stuff mixed with straight up bad advice.

You don't pay consultants for their line-by-line editing skills, although you certainly can if you want. You pay consultants for their experience and knowledge about the law school admissions process *in particular*. A good consultant will look at your application and tell you what you need to do, answer any questions that come up thoroughly and with an eye toward your exact situation, and still have you out the door in time for Sunday brunch with plenty of assignments and to-dos in hand.

While you may not want to have every single round of personal statement edits done by this person (depending on their hourly rate or how they charge you), it's often a good idea to have them do a quick once-over when you have something you're happy with composition-wise. It's good to have someone to talk to so you can know that you shouldn't go in a certain direction before you spend three weeks refining a personal statement on that topic. You might also want to have your "Why X" statements, LSAT score/GPA/whatever else addendums, and other law school-specific materials looked at too, because good luck getting proper feedback on that stuff from people (no matter how good their editing skills are) who are even less clued in (or even equivalently clued-in) about the admissions process than you are.

It's really just a cost-benefit analysis. I think the vast majority of people could benefit from chatting with an advisor, even if none of the line-by-line work goes through them - the question is whether you're willing to pay the price to do so. If you're willing to do the work to save the hourly rate (and I did this myself, so believe me when I say it's possible), then go nuts - good for you, I say.

Jonathan Wang

Put another way - LSAT information is out there and readily available. There are several sources of free LR explanations, and 7Sage's free LG explanations. Why would you ever need a tutor? It's the exact same thing - sometimes, you simply don't know what you don't know.

arabprodigy30

justrandom thank you, I will inbox you :-)

kraft.phillip I agree I may hire a tutor later if I still need help. But Sage and our discussions thread has been my best tutor

Jengibre I agree! we should start some kinda group, I would help so much to have extra set of eyes to look at them.

nicole.hopkins I will also inbox you later when I have my statement finished up

@jonathan wang , that is true. I do feel like the consultant would have a perspective from admissions point of view that I may lack, or might not find online. I will think about it in near future

LSATman1

If you are looking for advice from a law school consultant but you don't want to pay for one, there are several books written by consultants that may be helpful.

I've started reading "How to Get into the Top Law Schools" by Richard Montauk. The book is very detailed and gives advice on all aspects of the admissions process. A new paperback copy costs about $20 on Amazon. Montauk interviewed admissions officers from all T14 schools and quotes them extensively throughout the book. This (referential phrase! lol) is very helpful and tells you what admissions officers look for and also what you should not do in your applications. Montauk has a JD and created a law and business school consulting company. He gives good advice on marketing yourself to schools.

"The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions" by Anna Ivey (about $16) and "The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert" by Anne Levine (about $15) are other options. I haven't read these books, but they both have a lot of positive reviews on Amazon. Both Ivey and Levine are former law school admissions officers.

Nilesh S

Yep those books are great resources!!! Plus... with Levine, you can actually set up a free phone consultation... which is kind of neat!!! And she is really good but EXORBITANT !!!

arabprodigy30

@"Nilesh S she is ! they all are expensive