Admissions Webinar + Editing Giveaway! Wednesday Jan 16 @ 9 p.m. ET

Comments

• Danielle C Member

  January 2019 32 karma

  Okay, I will try to not be too long with my question. The basic question is how to make recommendation letters from a previous boss or other professional stand out, to make up for not having an academic recommendation. I have been out of school for a few years and I am not in contact with any old professors. However, I have been a volunteer teacher for the deaf and deaf/blind in the Dominican Republic for 5 years now (6 by the time I apply in the fall) so will that help to overcome a lack of an academic recommendation? I also had 10 years in the military before that. My gpa is 3.9 and I am scoring in the 161 to 163 range on the LSAT with a test date of June. I am looking to attend UNC or Miami because I really like their PI programs among other things.

  And if you have time, is it a good idea to tell a school that you are only applying to two schools? I have done my research and know where I want to go. I want to convey that to the schools to show how I am truly interested, and I am not just applying to a bunch of schools, but I also do not want to put myself in a position to be offered less scholarship money either. In deciding between the two schools it will most likely come down to cost in the end, so I want to make sure I am not doing more harm than good.
• 1 Like

  David Busis Member Moderator

  January 2019 7355 karma

  @drcopeland Great question! Don't worry about posting too long of a question here, by the way.
• TheRach3 Alum Member

  January 2019 35 karma

  You said don't worry about posting too long of a question here... Does that mean we can post a personal statement draft and get a live lightning critique?
• Mrs. Shark Alum Member

  January 2019 56 karma

  Thank you for doing this, David!

  https://media.giphy.com/media/1Z02vuppxP1Pa/giphy.gif

  I'd love to be considered for a lightning round to discuss my personal statement topic. I have been brainstorming for a few months now, and keep coming back to the same topic. However, I'm not sure what to emphasize as the learning/growing moment. I'm not dead set on this topic, but it is the only one I've been able to come up with an essay draft for so far.

  Topic I keep coming back to: Scuba Diving

  What happened? I went diving for the first time when I was 16 and gained a new perspective of the world and a new passion to pursue.

  What I learned: Overcoming a fear opens up a world of opportunities? (not sure what to emphasize here)

  Why I love diving:
  -I’m an observer of a whole new ecosystem every time. Even if you do the same dive it's always different.
  -the realization that we need the world but the world doesn’t need us

  Thank you for your consideration!
  -Aley
• 1 Like

  David Busis Member Moderator

  January 2019 7355 karma

  @TheRach3 yes, but I probably won’t have time to read it beforehand, so I’m afraid we’ll be looking at it live.
• historyteacher Alum Member

  January 2019 16 karma

  For my personal statement I plan to write about my experience as a first year teacher in a low-income middle school in Durham. I am thinking about focusing on how I when I started teaching I came in with an idealistic and unrealistic perspective about the amount of change I could affect in the students lives to eventually a more realistic yet still hopeful perspective. I also want to include how I realized that what makes teaching so hard in urban and low-income schools is the structural things that affect a student's performance in school that a teacher has no to little power to change. Ultimately, this experience has motived me to pursue a career in law for social justice reasons. I am especially interested in government/public interest work. Do you think this is a good idea?

  What structure do you suggest for the diversity statement?

  Are there advantages to submitting applications early in the cycle, like in September?

  How can I make my application stand out to admission officers?

  What are the most important components of the application? And why?

  Some schools have students do video interviews, do you have any tips for those?
• Maryam.A Member

  January 2019 5 karma

  Hi David! Can you please tell me when is the next webinar that I can register for? Unfortunately, tonight I cannot attend the webinar.
• GeeVee03 Member

  January 2019 28 karma

  Hard to make this short without going into too many details... but here goes!

  I applied previously for the last application cycle and got into a few school, but they really weren’t my top choices so I decided against going last Fall. I’m applying for this cycle but I’m concerned that with it being this late in the cycle, it’ll make it much more difficult to get accepted or get scholarships. I’m taking the LSAT in two weeks and while I’m close to my target score, I’m still not hitting it.

  On the subject of reapplying - I’m also unsure of how much I need to modify my last personal statement, since I’ll be applying to some of the same schools. In my statement, I have basically three things I touch on that helped lead me to wanting to attend law school (one is a hobby and the other two are personal experiences). The story behind why I want to go to law school hadn’t changed, so I’m not sure where to begin modifying it. I might be able to remove one of the ideas of my personal statement and make it into an addendum, or diversity statement, but I’m still not sure

  I’m almost considering putting off this app cycle (again), and would be really disappointed if I had to. I’ve been out of school and working full-time for several years, so time is really of the essence for me.

  Any help is greatly appreciated, and thanks for hosting this David!
• 1 Like

  TheRach3 Alum Member

  January 2019 35 karma

  @"David.Busis" said:
  @TheRach3 yes, but I probably won’t have time to read it beforehand, so I’m afraid we’ll be looking at it live.

  Fabulous, thank you! Here's a link to a Google doc with comment / suggestion access in case that makes it easier. Others' suggestions are welcome also.

  https://docs.google.com/document/d/18IP_ooGOZThA2BLM5U-ztXHwV695WNalkKGEqjvPdDg/edit?usp=sharing

  I'm interested to know:
  1. General thoughts on content / flow
  2. How do I cut it? (It's too long, right?)
  3. How can I communicate the ending more powerfully?
• kpj744___ Alum Member

  January 2019 edited January 2019 231 karma

  Hi, David et al., Thank you so much for this speed assistance! I have a couple random questions rather than one big one for the four minutes, if you have time.

  1. I'm the one with the huge CV that I know needs to be dropped to 2 or fewer pages. I'm wondering what to actually include, in terms of how far back to go. For example, do I mention my honor societies that I was in back in high school and college (I graduated my UG back in 2001), or does that fall under the "what to cut" in the admissions course? Do I mention volunteer things I do through my church, even if not directly related to legal? I know not to list every job I've ever had (and save that for applying via LSAC), so I'm not as concerned about listing that section. (and forgive me if this is in the relevant admissions course section and I just didn't get there yet -- just refer me there, and I'll be happy!)

  2. If my personal statement relates to my diversity (i.e., my older status and my professionally-related life experience / why law), I'm guessing I wouldn't focus on that in a diversity statement (but could reference the latter), correct? Continuing on - - I do have all these places I have lived & worked (e.g., nationally and internationally), so would the that count for diversity if I can bring those experiences/knowledge to school? What about the fact I worked basically all the way from high school until now (through all my schooling)? I don't want to be disjointed by mentioning all this, but can see a way to write it so they're all connected (because, they are),but I don't know if that's a waste of their time. This may relate back to the resume and that Q, and how much they can infer from that.
• vrendonvasquez Alum Member

  January 2019 276 karma

  @"David.Busis"

  I’m taking the January LSAT. I haven’t directly addressed this test with all schools. I intend to take the test and believe I can improve at least 3 or more points. Should I wait to see how I feel after the test to send an update about the LSAT even though it’s already late in the process?
• Flygod100 Alum Member

  January 2019 3 karma

  Hello,

  My personal statement deals with my struggles with alcoholism, and some of the legal troubles I endured because of that. I dropped out of school, but came back and graduated with a 3.5 gpa and a 164 lsat score. I was wondering if my story seems too cheesy?
  Thank you
• 1 Like

  Danielle C Member

  January 2019 32 karma

  I just wanted to say thank you to David and Selene! Sometimes hearing advice from people who know the process so well helps to calm nerves and check to make sure we aren't projecting our ideas of how things work in the admissions process on to admissions officers. I will be calling tomorrow to see about a consulting package, the advice is far too important to not take advantage of it if I can. Thanks again!