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Advice on "Activities and Interests" Section of a Specific Application (Lacking)

AlessioMatteoAlessioMatteo Free Trial Member
edited June 2018 in Law School Admissions 42 karma

Hello all,

I had a brief question regarding the activities and interests section of a particular application (applying for the upcoming cycle). I'm not sure there's a definitive good answer.

It's a mandatory question that specifically asks for extracurricular/extra professional activities, and for a few specific reasons (would be happy to discuss) I was not able to venture into that area, although I know that's not an adequate excuse. Part of it was during undergrad I commuted to the university which totaled about 4 hours both ways every day to reduce the debt that would have been accumulated by living near my school, so I felt unable to take advantage of various extracurricular opportunities. Another aspect was familial issues among others in my family which I dedicated most of my free time to resolving, although I'm happy to say that has now been resolved.

Given that the section is mandatory, would it be appropriate to write an addendum to explain why this area of my application is lacking? I would and intend to engage in such activities in the future, but as far as the application for this school in the upcoming cycle is concerned, I know it's too late.

I have written a "Why X" for this school in an attempt to bolster my application, but I'm just unsure if not being able to fill in this mandatory "extracurricular/extra professional" section would effectively kill my application for such a competitive school.

Thanks for any assistance/advice,
Everyone in this community has been great.

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Comments

  • studyingandrestudyingstudyingandrestudying Core Member
    5254 karma

    Are you a "K-JD" or nontraditional student?

  • AlessioMatteoAlessioMatteo Free Trial Member
    edited June 2018 42 karma

    Non traditional, 2 years out of undergrad, have been employed since graduating. Have applied in past cycles, although I am set on going this upcoming cycle. (Was simply trying to bump my LSAT up, so I was sitting the exam in June/and this July).

    Although if it matters, I have not applied to this specific law school previously, so I'm not trying to counteract a previous wait list/rejection from this law school if that matters at all for analysis. Furthermore, I'm a reverse splitter.

  • _oshun1__oshun1_ Alum Member
    edited June 2018 3652 karma

    Why not just write interests: Spanish language (fluent), water aerobics, jui jitsu, star wars, cooking, childcare, folk music.
    Write like 5 of your hobbies/interests just to make you seem more human.
    I wouldnt write an addendum to explain the lacking extracurriculars. I personally didnt have any ECs bc I was working and in school and wanted to maintain my GPA but ultimately its not really an excuse as to why I didnt volunteer on weekends or school breaks.
    Maybe you could write a diversity statement about the situation that led you to not be able to afford to live closer to school and/or those family issues you mentioned.

  • AlessioMatteoAlessioMatteo Free Trial Member
    42 karma

    I appreciate your suggestions greatly. And that perhaps leads to a clarification I should have made. Within the same section of the application it separates the extracurricular/extra-professional section from the hobbies/interests section into different boxes to type in. In essence, it kind of prevents me from picking from the various activities listed as a whole, so in turn, I would just end up with one of the sections being empty.

    And thank you, I will definitely consider a diversity statement.

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