Cycle Recap/Reflections

AlexAlex Alum Member
edited June 2019 in Law School Admissions 23929 karma

Hello All!

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, I think my cycle is finally over!

A JD/MBA is my goal, and I’ve been admitted to both NYU Law and Stern School of Business, so that’s where I’ll be headed this fall.

I’m so grateful because I live in SoHo and my apartment is about a 5 minute walk to the law school. It will also be nice to not have to move and be close to my network of friends. It’s made my anxiety much more manageable to say the least.

Here were my other options/results:

-Harvard (waitlisted)

-Stanford (waitlisted; applied late*)

-Columbia (no merit aid)

-NYU $$

-Penn (no aid yet; applied late*)

-Cornell $$$

Thoughts:

If you’re applying in the future, get your apps in early.

-I crafted my personal statement to create a cohesive narrative that tied in aspects of my background, résumé and work experience, as well as how they related to my future goals. I think this is an important piece of advice that is sometimes overlooked. Make your application tell a cohesive narrative about yourself. This is really the time to talk yourself and your accomplishments up. This is your time to shine!

-LORs: Get them early and have your PS and résumé ready to give to your professors. This way they can write a letter that’s better tailored to your application.

-7Sage LSAT and the community on here is amazing. Literally couldn’t have done any of this without J.Y. and the rest of the lifelong friends I’ve made on here. Truly.

-Utilize the free admissions webinars and articles on the site. The advice was literally invaluable for my application.

-If you’re studying for the LSAT currently, just trust the process. You are in good hands with 7Sage.

For reasons of anonymity, I don’t want to post my stats. If you PM me, though, I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Best of luck to everyone & hope to see some of you this fall!

Comments

  • KeepCalmKeepCalm Alum Member
    807 karma

    This is awesome! Congrats! Thank you for sharing your insightful thoughts :smile:

  • CantStopWontStopCantStopWontStop Alum Member
    1270 karma

    Wow! Very impressive. Much deserved. Congrats!

  • LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage
    13286 karma

    Sweet. Sweet. Victory! It is well earned my dude. Now you get to enjoy the loveliness of 1L (it’s not THAT bad haha)

    Seriously happy for you and NYU is lucky to have you. Although I’m also kinda hoping Harvard wakes up and realizes they should take you.

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @KeepCalm said:
    This is awesome! Congrats! Thank you for sharing your insightful thoughts :smile:

    Thank you! :)

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @CantStopWontStop said:
    Wow! Very impressive. Much deserved. Congrats!

    I appreciate the kind words, friend.☺️

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    edited April 2019 23929 karma

    @LSATcantwin said:
    Sweet. Sweet. Victory! It is well earned my dude. Now you get to enjoy the loveliness of 1L (it’s not THAT bad haha)

    Seriously happy for you and NYU is lucky to have you. Although I’m also kinda hoping Harvard wakes up and realizes they should take you.

    LSATCantWin - a damn 7Sage celeb and personal hero of mine!

    Thank you so much brother! You were a major source of motivation when I needed it most.

    Haha. I got rejected from HBS so I’m assuming HLS will be a dong as well. I’ll keep my fingers crossed though.

  • jkjohnson1991jkjohnson1991 Alum Member
    766 karma

    Great stuff man and congrats on all of your acceptances.

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @jkjohnson1991 said:
    Great stuff man and congrats on all of your acceptances.

    Thank you very much!!

  • lsatplaylistlsatplaylist Member
    5249 karma

    Very happy to hear this. Excellent work!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @lsatplaylist said:
    Very happy to hear this. Excellent work!

    Thank you so much!

  • Waffle23Waffle23 Alum Member
    603 karma

    Congrats!! That's awesome!

  • john1234-1john1234-1 Alum Member
    426 karma

    @Alex Congratulations man. Well deserved. Great things are in store for you. You have added a tremendous value to the 7sage community with your informative posts and thoughtful responses. Thank you for not only helping me but also the many other 7sagers out there. Good luck!

  • Hopeful9812Hopeful9812 Member
    872 karma

    Congratulations!!!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @"Always Be Closing" said:
    @Alex Congratulations man. Well deserved. Great things are in store for you. You have added a tremendous value to the 7sage community with your informative posts and thoughtful responses. Thank you for not only helping me but also the many other 7sagers out there. Good luck!

    Dude, thank you so much! Means a lot coming from a solid Sager like yourself. Glad to have helped in any way, my friend. Just paying forward all the incredible guidance and love I’ve recieved from this forum.

    Good luck on your journey as well :)

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @skhan012018 said:
    Congrats!! That's awesome!

    Thank you, bru. I feel incredibly lucky and blessed. Good luck to you!

  • BumblebeeBumblebee Member
    640 karma

    Congratulations, Alex!
    It's been super inspiring to see you achieve your goals. Best of luck in your future endeavors!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @Bumblebee said:
    Congratulations, Alex!
    It's been super inspiring to see you achieve your goals. Best of luck in your future endeavors!

    Appreciate it @Bumblebee ! You too my friend. :)

  • jmarmaduke96jmarmaduke96 Member Sage
    edited April 2019 2891 karma

    Congratulations! Those are some really exceptional schools, best of luck with going forward! You are a braver man than I for doing 1L and business school at the same time lol. Do you mind if I ask how long you studied for the LSAT to get such a competitive score?

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    edited April 2019 23929 karma

    @jmarmaduke96 said:
    Congratulations! Those are some really exceptional schools, best of luck with going forward! You are a braver man than I for doing 1L and business school at the same time lol. Do you mind if I ask how long you studied for the LSAT to get such a competitive score?

    Thank you, bru! Haha it’s actually not at the same time, thankfully. Don’t think I could do both at the same time either. The first 2 years are just law school. The 3rd is at Stern. 4th is divided between both.

    I studied on and off for 2 years for the LSAT. Studied for the GMAT during that time for about 5 months.

  • hawaiihihawaiihi Free Trial Member
    973 karma

    Congratulations! You had an incredible cycle, and should be so proud. (Also, I interviewed HLS in Feb and got waitlisted, so you're doing better than me by hanging in there!) Good luck in 1L. Maybe one day all of our lawyer paths will cross!

  • lsatplaylistlsatplaylist Member
    5249 karma

    Sounds like a good plan to complete your first two years of LS before starting on the MBA. Is an AMA, webinar, and/or podcast interview coming up?

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @hawaiihi said:
    Congratulations! You had an incredible cycle, and should be so proud. (Also, I interviewed HLS in Feb and got waitlisted, so you're doing better than me by hanging in there!) Good luck in 1L. Maybe one day all of our lawyer paths will cross!

    Thank you @hawaiihi :) I feel so fortunate. Ahh! I will be rooting for you to get off of the WL. There’s surprisingly supposed to be a good deal of movement this spring/summer.

    Unfortunately NYU’s deposit makes you withdraw all other outstanding apps I think. So, Harvard, if you're reading this ... please love me.

    I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

    Good luck, and yes, I can only hope that they do!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @lsatplaylist said:
    Sounds like a good plan to complete your first two years of LS before starting on the MBA. Is an AMA, webinar, and/or podcast interview coming up?

    Yes. I like how they set it up to not be unmanageable.

    Nothing planned, but maybe in the future! But to be honest, I’m not sure my story is all that interesting lol.

  • hawaiihihawaiihi Free Trial Member
    973 karma

    @Alex said:

    @hawaiihi said:
    Congratulations! You had an incredible cycle, and should be so proud. (Also, I interviewed HLS in Feb and got waitlisted, so you're doing better than me by hanging in there!) Good luck in 1L. Maybe one day all of our lawyer paths will cross!

    Thank you @hawaiihi :) I feel so fortunate. Ahh! I will be rooting for you to get off of the WL. There’s surprisingly supposed to be a good deal of movement this spring/summer.

    Unfortunately NYU’s deposit makes you withdraw all other outstanding apps I think. So, Harvard, if you're reading this ... please love me.

    I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

    Good luck, and yes, I can only hope that they do!

    Haha, I actually gave up on HLS and am going elsewhere. Hanging around on the waitlist wasn't worth it for me! But I am rooting for you!

  • michael_theodoremichael_theodore Alum Member
    253 karma

    This is so amazing! Congrats!!!!!

  • 1025 karma

    I see you everywhere on the forms helping others out. I'm glad to see such big accomplishments from you. CONGRATS!!!

  • BinghamtonDaveBinghamtonDave Alum Member 🍌🍌
    8689 karma

    Congrats Alex!

  • Mike_RossMike_Ross Alum Member Sage
    3106 karma

    awesome, Alex! best of luck, man!!!

  • 615 karma

    Wow... congratulations!! that’s just amazing! Great schools... and law and MBA?
    I took a peek at my brother’s gmat book and was so happy LSAT didn’t ask me to do math.

  • Linda1205Linda1205 Member
    215 karma

    Congrats Alex!! Wondering what your major is? Does that influence your chance to get into the law schools you think? (Some people say some law schools prefer students with STEM background.) Thank you!!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @michael_theodore said:
    This is so amazing! Congrats!!!!!

    Thank you!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @TheDeterminedC said:
    I see you everywhere on the forms helping others out. I'm glad to see such big accomplishments from you. CONGRATS!!!

    Thank you for the kind words, it is much appreciated!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @BinghamtonDave said:
    Congrats Alex!

    Thank you, Dave. And an especially big thanks for helping me with LG, which was always my weakest section.

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @Mike_Ross said:
    awesome, Alex! best of luck, man!!!

    Thank you, bru! If anyone is going to kill it next cycle, I know it is going to be you.

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    edited April 2019 23929 karma

    @Lemongrab said:
    Wow... congratulations!! that’s just amazing! Great schools... and law and MBA?
    I took a peek at my brother’s gmat book and was so happy LSAT didn’t ask me to do math.

    :) Thank you. I have a strong love for the finance/business world and hope to eventually end up in a non-legal role, so I guess it made the most sense.

    Haha. I actually really like math and found it to be much easier than the LSAT. Beyond reviewing the basics, the quant section was like LG if you never had to worry about a weird game.

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    edited April 2019 23929 karma

    @Linda1205 said:
    Congrats Alex!! Wondering what your major is? Does that influence your chance to get into the law schools you think? (Some people say some law schools prefer students with STEM background.) Thank you!!

    I majored in Economics &History.

    There likely is some boost from being a STEM major because those majors tend to be more rigorous and STEM majors are underrepresented in law school. From what I’ve seen on several forums, though, is that most people seem to perform as well as their numbers would suggest. So I don’t tend to think it’s that big of an advantage. At least nothing that I’d change my major over.

    Ultimately, I think if you’re still in undergrad it will be to your advantage to major in whatever is going to give you the highest GPA. A 3.9 in dance theater from Podunk University is likely going to have a better cycle than a 3.2 in engineering from uMich, all else being equal.

  • Linda1205Linda1205 Member
    215 karma

    @Alex said:

    @Linda1205 said:
    Congrats Alex!! Wondering what your major is? Does that influence your chance to get into the law schools you think? (Some people say some law schools prefer students with STEM background.) Thank you!!

    I majored in Economics &History.

    There likely is some boost from being a STEM major because those majors tend to be more rigorous and STEM majors are underrepresented in law school. From what I’ve seen on several forum though, most people seem to preform as well as their numbers would suggest. So I don’t tend to think it’s that big of an advantage. At least nothing that I’d change my major over.

    Ultimately, I think if you’re still in undergrad it will be to your advantage to major in whatever is going to give you the highest GPA. A 3.9 in dance theater from Podunk University is likely going to have a better cycle than a 3.2 in engineering from uMich, all else being equal.

    Thanks so much ALex! I graduated in 2017 also majoring History and International Relations :) Thanks so much for your explanation!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    edited April 2019 23929 karma

    @Linda1205 said:

    @Alex said:

    @Linda1205 said:
    Congrats Alex!! Wondering what your major is? Does that influence your chance to get into the law schools you think? (Some people say some law schools prefer students with STEM background.) Thank you!!

    I majored in Economics &History.

    There likely is some boost from being a STEM major because those majors tend to be more rigorous and STEM majors are underrepresented in law school. From what I’ve seen on several forum though, most people seem to preform as well as their numbers would suggest. So I don’t tend to think it’s that big of an advantage. At least nothing that I’d change my major over.

    Ultimately, I think if you’re still in undergrad it will be to your advantage to major in whatever is going to give you the highest GPA. A 3.9 in dance theater from Podunk University is likely going to have a better cycle than a 3.2 in engineering from uMich, all else being equal.

    Thanks so much ALex! I graduated in 2017 also majoring History and International Relations :) Thanks so much for your explanation!

    You got it! Those sound like awesome majors for law school as well. Best of luck to you :)

  • Aristotle JonesAristotle Jones Alum Member
    166 karma

    Congrats, man!

    My girl friend wants to go to Business school, so I’m eager to learn how and what you used to study for the GMAT?

  • a1ex_682a1ex_682 Alum Member
    307 karma

    Congrats, Alex! Thank you for the encouragement and advice. When you say get your applications in "early," can you specify a good month to work towards? Thx

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    edited April 2019 23929 karma

    @"Aristotle Jones" said:
    Congrats, man!

    My girl friend wants to go to Business school, so I’m eager to learn how and what you used to study for the GMAT?

    Thanks dude!

    I did maybe 50% of my studying just by watching free videos on YouTube. There’s a bunch for the quant section, and if she has taken college math should be completely fine there without too difficulty. I was definitely rusty on a lot of it, but it comes back quick! So tell her not to worry if the math you haven’t seen in years looks intimidating at first, it will all come back to you.

    The other 50% of my studying was just going through a book of 300 GMAT questions. I don’t remember the brand but I think it was Kaplan IIRC.

    After that, I took about 6 full tests and BR’d them like an LSAT.

    I felt like studying for the LSAT helped me a lot with IR/and VR. I didn’t have to do much work for the verbal sections because of that. If your girlfriend does, I might recommend an in person or full online course. I’ve heard good things from co-workers about Manhattan GMAT.

    Good luck to her &Hope this helps!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    edited April 2019 23929 karma

    @a1ex_682 said:
    Congrats, Alex! Thank you for the encouragement and advice. When you say get your applications in "early," can you specify a good month to work towards? Thx

    Thank you dude!

    I’d aim for the earliest time possible. I really think applying late hurt me big time. With scholarship money and acceptances. With that in mind, I would aim to have them in before Halloween. It still might take a while to hear back, but you’re more likely to hear back before the people who applied late like me.

    The whole thing made me super anxious for months. I didn’t have a single acceptance until the end of March, and I was seriously starting to consider if I should just withdraw and try applying next cycle. By the grace of God it all worked out, but what a scary wait lol. Don’t be me!

  • eRetakereRetaker Free Trial Member
    2038 karma

    Big congrats! Can't imagine balancing bschool and lawschool apps !

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @eRetaker said:
    Big congrats! Can't imagine balancing bschool and lawschool apps !

    Thank you @eRetaker! It certainly wasn’t a fun time haha.

  • brigettemore1brigettemore1 Free Trial Member
    2 karma

    Congrats! Don't mean to rain on your parade but would you be willing to retake the LSAT? It seems that you scored a 167 so I would think a 170+ may make a difference.

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @brigettemore1 said:
    Congrats! Don't mean to rain on your parade but would you be willing to retake the LSAT? It seems that you scored a 167 so I would think a 170+ may make a difference.

    Thank you :) Don’t worry, it’s been rainy here in NY for the last couple days. No parades for me lol.

    Before my acceptances started rolling in I was signed up for a March retake! But I’m not too sure how much a retake would move the needle at this point. I was rejected from HBS, so I wouldn’t be willing to go to H over NYU, even if a retake got me off the waitlist. However, if I had the time and energy for a retake, I definitely would! But after 2+ years of this stuff, I’m ready to put my LSAT materials away in moth balls and move on haha.

  • sagp015sagp015 Free Trial Member
    edited April 2019 20 karma

    Hey brother, congrats! So, I’m leaning towards JD/MBA but not too sure if Darden would be worthwhile for my PE or hedge fund goals. What made you want to do a dual program? Also, do you see yourself in BL or finance related position after?

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    edited April 2019 23929 karma

    @sagp015 said:
    Hey brother, congrats! So, I’m leaning towards JD/MBA but not too sure if Darden would be worthwhile for my PE or hedge fund goals. What made you want to do a dual program? Also, do you see yourself in BL or finance related position after?

    Thanks bru!

    I think whether it will be worth it or not will depend on your past work experience. It’s nearly impossible to go straight from MBA to PE/HF without a solid pedigree and background. If that’s your end goal, you’d probably want to work for a few years and build up your experience and brand. If, however, you do have the experience, then I think Darden is a solid choice!

    My background is in finance, and I thought it made the most sense for my future goals. Years down the line, my goal is to start a business, and both degrees would help with that. Also, the time value of getting both degrees concurrently appealed to me.

    I’m not too sure at the moment, and to a large extent it will come down to what options are available to me. Increasingly, I see myself leaning toward returning to a purely finance related position. But, if it comes down to returning to an IB and doing more of the same, I’d probably take BL and run with it. Conversely, if I were able to break into an MBB* consulting position or something more interesting (start up/VC/PE/HF) I would choose that and wouldn’t even sit for the bar haha.

    Best of luck to you with whatever you decide!

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