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[Webinar] Live Lightning Consultations—Thurs @ 9 pm EST
David Busis
Member Moderator
Update: We’ve moved this webinar from Wednesday to Thursday, October 13.
7Sagers,
On Thursday, October 13, at 9 pm EST, I’ll do another round of live lightning consultations.
What’s a lightning consultation? Basically, I’ll try to be as helpful as I can in five minutes. We might brainstorm personal statement topics, strategize about addenda, or discuss LORs.
If you want a free five-minute consultation about your law school application, I’ll need you to post a few things in the comments section:
- Your three-sentence biography.
- Your biggest worry about your application.
- Two ideas for your personal statement.
- Did you attend last time? Did I get to you?
I’ll get through as many people as I can in one hour, working in a mostly random order. Please don’t post to this thread if you can’t show up for the consultation. If you do show up, test your microphone beforehand. Make sure you have a strong connection to the internet, and that you can speak and be heard on GoToMeeting. If your microphone isn’t working, I’ll have to skip you.
1. Please join my meeting, Oct 13, 2016 at 9:00 PM EDT.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/144445485
2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.
Dial +1 (571) 317-3122
Access Code: 144-445-485
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
Meeting ID: 144-445-485
Comments
I am a 20 year college student. I am finishing my BA in 3 years and hope to go to law school in NYC. I took both the June and September LSAT and plan on applying as soon as I get the September score.
Your biggest worry about your application.
I think I have good "softs" but I am worried about my LSAT and GPA being competitive enough at my top schools.
Two ideas for your personal statement.
I would like to write about my summer internship in a court.
Did you attend last time? Did I get to you? No
My biggest worry about my application is my LSAT score. My GPA is very high, but LSAT has always been a concern.
I have so many different ideas for my personal statement but don't know which to go with. For one thing I immigrated to the US. Another thing involves all the work experience I've had since high school related specifically to pursuing a career in the law.
I attended this event last time and have been following for some time but never posted anything until now.
2) My biggest worry at this point is my personal statement - it certainly needs some work. I'm also wondering if I've already missed my best chance at getting into a great school since I haven't applied as early as possible. Is getting my application in during early November or before Thanksgiving still going to give me a good chance?
3) My first idea is to talk about how pursuing writing has prepared me to be a successful lawyer/legal student. Growing up wanting to write books, and going to school for it, is one of the most unique things about me, and so exploring how that perspective and the successes and failures of that have led me to law and prepared me for law is my main idea for a personal statement. Obviously I need to be a bit more specific and have more of a specific "story" to convey those ideas, though, but if I can pinpoint the moment when I really changed my goals from being a writer to being a lawyer, that would be a strong personal statement.
My second idea is to talk about my current AmeriCorps job at a homeless shelter. I don't want to have a cliche essay about seeing injustice or poverty and going to law to school to fix it, but instead to talk about how overwhelmed I was when I first started. I was managing projects and volunteers and had a lot more authority than I expected, and so there was a significant learning curve. Gaining experience, keeping my head above water, and getting to the point now where I'm managing lots of projects at once and using that to help people could make a good essay. Structure-wise, it could almost resemble the "Tourne" essay (specify a problem I faced, talk about my plan to overcome it, discuss overcoming it, and show how the skills I developed/demonstrated would make me a good law student/lawyer).
4) I did not attend last time, but I attended about a month ago (Sept 19 I believe) and you did not get to me.
Your biggest worry about your application.
Although my cumulative GPA is above a 3.0, I still displayed a downward trend in the middle of my college career and then slightly upward towards the very end.
Two ideas for your personal statement.
-How I used overcame my anxiety/depression by rekindling some of my lost goals, for example attending law school.
-How a college discussion with a professor bolstered my interest offsetting the discrepancies within our judicial system.
Did you attend last time? Did I get to you?
Yes. No.
Your biggest worry about your application.
My LSAT score, at least as of now before finishing the CC, is not competitive enough for the schools I am looking at.
Two ideas for your personal statement.
-An experience that I had while working a domestic violence case as an investigator for the public defender's office and how that contributed to my interest in law.
-My father's struggles with mental illness/substance abuse and how that has affected me and made me want to become a lawyer.
Did you attend last time? Did I get to you?
No.
Your three-sentence biography.
I graduated in 2010 and have four years of work experience in economic/policy consulting. Since graduating UG, I have also earned a Master's degree (was in a PhD program, but decided that I would be more interested in academic law/becoming a lawyer and left in good standing). I'm waiting for my September LSAT score (which was my third and last take).
Your biggest worry about your application.
My undergrad (Wellesley College) had/has a grade deflation policy, so my UGPA (~3.5) is below the 25th at every school I'm currently considering.
Two ideas for your personal statement.
1) My work experience and how I want to get on the other side of things (many of my clients are lawyers), 2) My personal history and identity (Asian/immigrant/moved around a lot as a kid/LGBT/female) and how I've come to see the powerful role that legal institutions play in our society. Which might relate to how my original passion was economics (hence, grad school), but now I realize my interests are more related to law and economics.
Did you attend last time?
No
I graduated George Washington University in 2011 and did a Fulbright for a year in Tajikistan. After returning to the U.S. I did Teach for America in Baltimore city (ESL to newcomer refugees) and got my masters degree from Johns Hopkins. I taught ESL for two years after in a Title 1 school in Phoenix. I'm the daughter of an immigrant and grew up in an artist and architectural community with people from around the world.
WorryMy biggest worry is my GPA (3.3). Russian class kicked my butt. I also had some personal circumstances with my mother's health sophomore year, so if there is a place to expound on that in my app I will.
Ideas for Personal Statement:
I want to do a joint JD/Masters of Foreign Service at Georgetown so probably hit up my international experience. I can talk at lengths about the work I did in Central Asia.
Maybe write about the power of education? Girls in the rural village I lived in were locked in their homes and not allowed to go to school. Educating girls and changing the dialogue around women was something I focused on with my Fulbright. I even got some cool opportunities from the embassy to set up schools in rural mountain villages. I can see a common thread with TFA. Social justice, identity, education are some themes I can springboard off of.
Did I Attend?
Didn't attend last time. Thank you for offering this. Even if you don't get to me, I definitely see value in this session.
I am 21, recently graduated from Texas A&M University this past May with an AgriBusiness Management degree and my GPA was 3.6. I took the Sept test which was my first time and plan on taking the Dec one. Most of my interest schools are out of state but I am also applying to some in state school.
Biggest worry:
I am worried about my LSAT not being competitive enough at my top schools. I honestly only want to apply and get in to top 50 law schools.
Two ideas for your personal statement.
1. My upbringing, I was born and raised in Sudan, Africa came to the states when I was 12 years old and spoke no English until then. My family has been through some tough situations that thankfully landed us here.
2. My experience in 7th and 8th grade shaped a lot of me. Being bullied and overcoming the cultural shock and language barrier.
Did you attend last time? Did I get to you? No
Biggest worry: LSAT score. I'm taking the test in December after having postponed it from September due to inconsistent test scores. Also, funding law school!
Personal Statement: I've already started working on mine and am trying to fine tune it now. I have a history of working in International Human Rights and I want to take my experiences and what I've learned from them to highlight my skills and desire to continue in the field of human rights. I think my specific focus (hopefully) makes me an interesting candidate, especially given that I've worked in several different countries with refugees, human trafficking survivors, and other vulnerable communities.
Have I attended before: No, this is my first time. Thank you so much for your time!
My biggest worry is fear of the "soft requirements", I worked a lot during school, but really did not volunteer as much. Many schools I am applying to are "holistic." I am terrified of writing my personal statement, and am struggling with figuring out how to tell my story. I am scared about LSAT, and underperforming. But, I have a 100 percent faith that with hardwork its achievable. My gpa over the past two years is a 3.4, also concerned about that.
I've started to work on my personal statement, and brainstorm what I will talk about. Throughout my undergrad I experienced a lot of personal issues. It makes my story diverse and interesting. I put a lot of heart and dedication in everything I do and the adversity I faced was a struggle, but I really want qualities of perseverance and my story to come through in my writing.
No this is my first time!
Idea for personal statement #1+ Biggest worry: I wanted to use my background as a health science student as the foundation for my personal statement. In particular, I wanted to emphasize how I was able to develop a greater sense of self-awareness over the past three years through a particular project. However, I've been struggling to transform a "journey of personal development" into a narrative, and I was afraid that my PS would end up promoting the program rather than displaying my strengths and uniqueness as an individual.
Idea #2 + Biggest worry : I'm leaning towards this idea. I wanted to discuss my first call as a volunteer on a crisis line and how it relates to my perspective on health law. However, all of the personal statements for Ontario law schools are highly academic-focused, with specific topics such as academic strengths, time-management, how one's academic program has helped prepare for the study of law, etc. As such, I was worried that a narrative-driven framework might not be able to fulfill the PS requirements, and I'm trying to find a way to incorporate my academic strengths into the PS.
This consultation will be my first.
Ideas for my personal statement: Diversity. Law school needs that. But obviously I want them to need me too.
Biggest worry: Not having a competitive enough application, and learning the skill of talking about my accomplishments without sounding like I'm bragging. I want to showcase who I am as a person in my statement...but do they care?
I didn't attend last time. I'm pretty new here!
Ideas for my personal statement: I focused my personal statement on linking my passion for environmental protection and human rights to my undergraduate studies, graduate school research, and also my work experience in federal and provincial environmental agencies. I also speak to how my personal travels in southeast Asia have inspired me to work for human rights and protecting the environment.
Biggest worry: GPA + LSAT combo not being high enough - I was in a major that was not my strength in first two years, and my grades in first and second year are not as strong as my upper years. The schools that I'm focusing on don't take Masters grades into the calculation, although will consider it in the "discretionary/mature student category".
This is my first time participating in a session!
I've finished writing my personal statement and am in the process of editing it. My personal statement is about how I designed and taught a music curriculum for autistic children in China to help them overcome challenges with communication.
Other than worrying about the LSAT itself, I'm starting to brainstorm ideas for my diversity statement and am hoping to get some feedback on some ideas.
This will be my first time attending.
My Biggest worry and question is, my Gpa in my undergraduate studies literally sucks, I am sitting at 70%. I have decent amount of community work. If i ace my LSAT, for example get over 160, what are the chances of me getting into law school? without having to repeat or upgrade my grades in undergrad. A lot of people are advising me to go back to school and repeat another semester and bring my grades a little higher, but repeating one or two semesters at the university again won't being my GPA in 80%. Plus I don't want to wait till i am 30 to go to law school.
did not attend last time, I am pretty new here ...
Please advice me on what i can do.
Thank You
I am 26, graduated with a BA in History and Classical Studies in 2012 and a MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies in December 2015. Prior to graduate study, I spent a year in Israel teaching English to elementary school students. During my MA, I specialized in Cuban history and have held many academic odd-jobs including a 3 year stint as a researcher for a major national law firm. I was accepted to doctoral programs last application cycle, but opted to take a break from academia.
Your biggest worry about your application.
I fear that my June 2011 LSAT score (abysmal) combined with anything less than a 168+ will negatively impact my chances of funding. Planning to test in December 2016, but fear that I will not be adequately prepared (working full time), and am considering taking the test in February instead.
Two ideas for your personal statement.
1. Making my MA and personal passion for Cuba relevant by centering the personal statement around the recent opening of relations and my desire to bridge the gap by legal means.
2. Another career I'd like to pursue is a law librarian, so I would like to somehow build the personal statement around my intellectual curiosity, love of research and teaching and making legal knowledge accessible to students and others.
I feel these two could be weak topics (the second more than the first) but my experiences and a large part of my identity is centered around my time in academia, so I feel it has to be addressed.
Did you attend last time? Did I get to you?
No/No
Thank you for holding this webinar!
2) LSAT and PS
3a) My experience growing up in Bahrain as an immigrant and the discrimination I faced being a non-Arab, what I learnt from it..
3b) The cultural limitation and barriers I faced as a Muslim/Pakistani female in pursuit of education.
4) Yes/No
I hold an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies (3.7) and will be completing a Master's degree from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service (3.9) in May of this year. I have lived/worked in rural western China and Mumbai, held positions organizing for Senate campaigns, and currently intern at the US Dept. of State. I plan on applying this application cycle and hope to begin at a T20 school in the fall of 2017.
Your biggest worry about your application.
Personal Statement--- I have a tendency to communicate in one of two ways: (1) emphatically and emotively (2) very academically and dryly. My Personal Statement needs to frustratingly blend those two communication styles.
Two ideas for your personal statement.
1. Illustrating how a certain professor/course during my final year of undergrad propelled me to explore/question the world and my place in it-- resulted in a major shift of political and religious orientation. This process has enabled me to understand and respect the views of those who are different than my own while also creating a passion to play a role in the process of self-discovery for others, as my professor did for me.
2. A lesson from my time in Mumbai-- first time I'd ever seen someone die as well as the first time I'd ever witness a child born, both in slums--- which I have yet to fully figure out how to articulate or how to relate towards the application but definitely a set of Life Changing Moments
Did you attend last time? Did I get to you?
No.
I graduated with a summa cum laude in May 2016 from University of Texas Dallas in International Political Economy with a focus on Middle East. I have also served in the United States Navy from January 2001-2014. I am also an immigrant and came to United States when I was 13.
Your biggest worry about your application:
My personal statement. I feel like I don't have an engaging story. It's all just facts.
Two ideas for your personal statement:
1. My military experience: My experience in the US Navy as a female as well as an immigrant who comes from a Muslim family. My experience there taught me hard work, discipline, and key leadership skills. I was able to make rank very quickly to an E-5 and headed a group of 55 people. I am also a recipient of the Navy Achievement Medal.
2. I had an internship in 2014 with Texas Senator Jane Nelson/ I also currently work at a Law firm and I love the aspect of the service we provide for people and I hope I can continue doing that with a law degree.
Did you attend last time? Did I get to you?
I did not attend last time.
2.Your biggest worry about your application. My undergraduate GPA is really low (3.09) and I'm not sure if I have any academic references worth including. I'm taking the LSAT in December and am aiming to score 170+, but do not know what schools would be realistic with such a weak undergrad record.
3. Two ideas for your personal statement:
a. How my thoughts on the police have changed over the years, through my personal experiences with them.
b. Why I decided to stop working in electoral politics and go to law school through my changing thoughts on what's necessary to create political change (in particular surveillance reform).
4. Did you attend last time? No.
My Degree was in electrical engineering, and then I did my MBA. I currently work at Google, and want to pursue law for the purposes of going into Patent Law.
Your biggest worry about your application.
My biggest worry about my application, is that my undergraduate grades are not the best.
Two ideas for your personal statement.
So I have very interesting question. my personal statement would actually involve how i went to court with a big multinational company on my own. And there are new stories about it. There are links on the internet that lead directly to the story. So my question is what is the best way to include public links to the news stories in my application?
Did you attend last time? Did I get to you?
I did not attend last time
1) Your three-sentence biography.
Bio: I graduated college in 2012 with a major in Political Science and a minor in International Studies. I also have a Masters in Public Policy. I am currently finishing my LSAT prep for the December LSAT and plan to apply to a law school of my choice for 2017.
2) Your biggest worry about your application.
Besides my LSAT score and personal statement, I am really worried about my Undergraduate GPA not being competitive enough to get me into the school of my choice
3) Two ideas for your personal statement.
1) Mentorship
2) My Upbringing
4) Did you attend last time? Did I get to you?
No, I didnt.
Thank You
2. GPA, I have good LSAT score of 168 from June and awaiting my Sept score. Not very hopeful that my degree will be accounted for in a low GPA
3. One idea is what has inspired me to get into patent law. My father left a big accounting firm to start his own business developing software for corporate tax application. A coworker/fellow developer stole the idea and tried to sell it to a competing firm. I saw first hand how critical IP laws can be and how devastating their consequences are.
Second idea is talking about being diagnosed with a learning disability late in my college career. Not sure if any admissions officer wants to hear my sob story.
4. Yes this is my 3rd and never been lucky enough to get picked