Anyone applying to this cycle but has not submitted? :(

Elle Koods

Hi Folks,

If you are in the same shoes as mine, let's just pat on our shoulders and encourage each other.
I am in a few weeks throwing my cast to a wider net of law school ocean, and 7page predictor rates are just a painful slap in the face. I cannot sleep with nightmares that I will receive 0 acceptance letters.

My NOV Lsat score did not move a budge from the disappointing Aug score after months of studying. I am taking my final shot in Jan but not hopeful..

I have finalized my PS (finally) and Resume, and biting my nails off to finish my DS, which I have underestimated how difficult it is to succinctly convince that I can bring any kind of diversity to the community. I wish I had started sooner.

I already feel so behind the cycle and every minute a spot I dont even have a high chance is being taken.
I am just suffering from low confidence that my package is just not competitive enough, which makes me hold on to it, but only to waste precious time.

Anyone experiencing the same anxiety at this point of time, how do you cope?

Ashley2018-1

I think all you can really do is find a way to improve your score. Everything else will fall into place once you do so. I tried posting on this forum for help regarding anxiety but it hasn't done anything. Success stories get tons of feedback and comments but I guess nobody wants to listen to downer stories even if they're the most realistic ones. Says a lot about the society we live in.

Brenda V-1

Hi Elle, I am also feeling the same anxiety. The November LSAT was the first time I took the exam. Unfortunately, I did not score high enough for my target schools. I was set on applying this cycle but after thinking it through I decided to continue studying and apply next cycle instead of taking the January LSAT.

Taking my dog on long walks helps me relax a bit. I will also be joining a gym soon because in undergrad exercise helped me destress. Just wanted to drop this comment to show my support. Manifesting that you will get accepted into law school!

azakunne

I think all this talk of disappointment about scores is annoying. If you want to go to law school then pick a school and just start your journey. You can always transfer into your "Top School" after your first year. Or you can do 3years at a law school and come back and do an LLM. You guys are literally stressing yourself out because you can't get into a certain school. Just GO. The road of your journey is beautiful and unique and only you can determine how far you're going to go in life. Not every "famous/high-paid" lawyer went to a top school. In parting, run your own race! There are some people (some not all) who went to a top law school and they don't even use their degrees. Just think about.

Ashley2018-1

@azakunne said:
I think all this talk of disappointment about scores is annoying. If you want to go to law school then pick a school and just start your journey. You can always transfer into your "Top School" after your first year. Or you can do 3years at a law school and come back and do an LLM. You guys are literally stressing yourself out because you can't get into a certain school. Just GO. The road of your journey is beautiful and unique and only you can determine how far you're going to go in life. Not every "famous/high-paid" lawyer went to a top school. In parting, run your own race! There are some people (some not all) who went to a top law school and they don't even use their degrees. Just think about.

Law school is a very expensive commitment. It's not smart to just go to any law school just to go to law school. You need to make sure you actually are a good fit for the school you will be going to. It's a time-consuming, painstaking decision. Your answer sounds incredibly dismissive. You could have just clicked away from this post or not click on it at all instead of leaving a comment like this.

jennnnnnn

Hi Elle.
I am also taking the LSAT (for the first time) in January and applying with that score. Most of my application material is ready and I just have to put the finishing touches on my personal and diversity statement. I have been PTing between 160-168 this past month so I hope to get a good enough score in January, but I will be applying with that score regardless if its a 155 or a 175.
I know this process is stressful, but once I came to accept that no matter what, I will be going to law school even if its my top choice or my last choice, I have felt a lot more calm. My goal is to send in my apps the day scores come out, and counter to what a lot of people said, it is not too late in the cycle. Good luck and if you need anyone to read over your PS or DS, let me know!

Elle Koods

@azakunne I am sorry if my post annoyed you, it is not my intention to sound annoying, but I understand your point. As @Ashley2018 correctly pointed out, to some (not all, some) law school journey is not just a "pack your backpack and just go" kind of thing. It is a huge(r) time commitment depending on personal circumstances, big(ger) financial investment, and not everyone gets into the process with 100% certainty that this indeed is THE path. On which end of spectrum one is at, it is perfectly fine and natural to feel insecure, unsure, and lost.
To some, the root of anxiety comes from not getting into one's top choices or dismal prospect of not becoming a "hot shot" lawyer.
To some, there are other personal concerns and fears totally unrelated to material prospect the profession will reward.

As much as the field of law is broad, I believe the pool of applicants (us in the journey) are diverse, and without jumping to conclusion that one is anxious because of X reason, and X reason is not an absolute fact thus being anxious is groundless, we could all use each other in this community to give a pat on the shoulder It costs nothing!

etorr146

hey. im in the same boat. ur not alone i dont have any advice bc im going through the same but I just wanted to let u know there's a bunch of people going through the same predicament even if they aren't posting about it

Lizardking-1

I think all this talk of disappointment about scores is annoying. If you want to go to law school then pick a school and just start your journey. You can always transfer into your "Top School" after your first year. Or you can do 3years at a law school and come back and do an LLM. You guys are literally stressing yourself out because you can't get into a certain school. Just GO. The road of your journey is beautiful and unique and only you can determine how far you're going to go in life. Not every "famous/high-paid" lawyer went to a top school. In parting, run your own race! There are some people (some not all) who went to a top law school and they don't even use their degrees. Just think about.>

This is not good advice. First off, transferring to substantially better programs (i.e. programs that make a transfer worth the effort) requires that you score within the top 10-25% of your class. Mileage may very, but the current consensus among LS consulting groups and transferees seems to be that a leap from a T30 to high T14 requires performance in the top 10-15%, and t2 to t1 necessitates the same leap.

Also, an LLM is not something you complete haphazardly because you're unhappy with your career prospects. I'm not overly familiar with the degree but I my understanding is that your interests need to be aligned with a fairly esoteric part of the law (tax comes to mind).

I understand what the user is getting at though, and I think there is merit in their overall message. I'm applying late this cycle. I take the LSAT again in January. I used to stress about applications until I sought out ways of re-contextualizing my situation and seeing it for what it is. This whole process really isn't that big of a deal if you recognize that what is important is the process and not the outcome. There are very successful lawyers who did not perform well on the LSAT, and were not top students. Test taking ability is not the only effective metric for competency. But focusing on the actual process; setting up LG the right way, making the inferences, executing your systematized LR method, summarizing RC as you read, etc.. In other words, performing what you've practiced instead of putting the pressure on yourself to score "x" is really liberating. Put the work in and forget the score. I think this is vital for life in general because if whenever you have something lofty to achieve, you trip out about the outcome and psyche yourself out, reaching your potential is not likely.
Stress and speculation only widens the divide between you and your goals.

Hopefully this is helpful. Best of luck!

sarakimmel

@Lizardking-1 Well said!