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Dean's Certification Letter

LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐
edited January 2018 in Law School Admissions 13286 karma

So I'm pretty confused on this. I had to check the "yes" for academic probation because when I attended community college in 2008 I was put on probation for bad grades. Some schools seem to require Dean cert letters, but I'm not sure which do? I know Cornell and Duke do, Stanford was mentioned as needing one, but I can't find that anywhere.

I'm now really worried. I also called my community college and they said I wont need one. I applied to like 15 schools so now it is a huge mess. Does anyone have any clarity on this?

So this is the list I have so far;

Columbia: Yes
Stanford: No
USC: No
Duke: Yes
UVA: No
Cornell: Yes

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Comments

  • 1000001910000019 Alum Member
    3279 karma

    I don't have any clarification, but thanks for the reminder. I forgot about that.

  • LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐
    13286 karma

    @10000019 said:
    I don't have any clarification, but thanks for the reminder. I forgot about that.

    Lol it's really confusing. Plus it was like 10 years ago for me...the Dean is probably not the same dean as when I attended...

  • 1000001910000019 Alum Member
    3279 karma

    @LSATcantwin said:

    @10000019 said:
    I don't have any clarification, but thanks for the reminder. I forgot about that.

    Lol it's really confusing. Plus it was like 10 years ago for me...the Dean is probably not the same dean as when I attended...

    It's annoying having to do it, but at least with Cornell if you plan to go there you have to send one anyways. You don't have to give it to the same Dean or even the current Dean. You just need to process the request through someone at the school that has access to your records.

  • LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐
    13286 karma

    @10000019 said:

    @LSATcantwin said:

    @10000019 said:
    I don't have any clarification, but thanks for the reminder. I forgot about that.

    Lol it's really confusing. Plus it was like 10 years ago for me...the Dean is probably not the same dean as when I attended...

    It's annoying having to do it, but at least with Cornell if you plan to go there you have to send one anyways. You don't have to give it to the same Dean or even the current Dean. You just need to process the request through someone at the school that has access to your records.

    Yeah, I just called Columbia and Stanford. Columbia requires it, Stanford does not.

    So now I'm going to have to go down the entire list of schools I applied to and figure out which ones do, and which ones don't.

  • Leah M BLeah M B Alum Member ⭐
    8392 karma

    I don't have any info to help but GOSH could this whole process be any more tedious? It is incredible the number of hoops you have to jump through.

  • LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐
    13286 karma

    @"Leah M B" said:
    I don't have any info to help but GOSH could this whole process be any more tedious? It is incredible the number of hoops you have to jump through.

    It's actually starting to get under my skin a bit. This was 10 years ago...literally a decade ago. You can google what my probation meant, AND I even quoted it on my applications.

    So not only am I a splitter, applying late, straddled with past baggage, but now after all that hard work my applications are still not done. The LSAT took a year and a half alone to master....

    ^ pure frustration...

  • OlamHafuchOlamHafuch Alum Member
    2326 karma

    There is a marked difference between schools in the ease of filling out applications. I wonder if some of the more red-tapey schools like Cornell and UVA are negatively incentivizing applicants on purpose.

  • Leah M BLeah M B Alum Member ⭐
    8392 karma

    @LSATcantwin said:

    @"Leah M B" said:
    I don't have any info to help but GOSH could this whole process be any more tedious? It is incredible the number of hoops you have to jump through.

    It's actually starting to get under my skin a bit. This was 10 years ago...literally a decade ago. You can google what my probation meant, AND I even quoted it on my applications.

    So not only am I a splitter, applying late, straddled with past baggage, but now after all that hard work my applications are still not done. The LSAT took a year and a half alone to master....

    ^ pure frustration...

    Ugh, I hear you. I have a couple of speeding tickets from roughly 15 years ago. I know at least 1 of my schools requires disclosure of everything, including minor traffic infractions. I saw the advice to pull your driving record to get correct details. Of course, Oregon's DMV doesn't let you do that online, you have to mail an application with a check for $1.50 (not even kidding! I had to find my check book just to write a $1.50 check) and wait for it to be mailed back. I got my record back and it was empty - I think those tickets are so old they've been purged, or I requested the wrong type of record. Something dumb. I forgot about it until just recently, and so now I have to do that again.

    Also, seriously? Schools really care about a speeding ticket from 15 years ago? Yes, when I was 18 years old, I was caught going 80 on the freeway. This is the dumbest that I have to go digging for that info. I may end up having to just guess because seriously, who keeps info on paid speeding tickets for 15 years? Ugh.

  • LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐
    13286 karma

    @uhinberg said:
    There is a marked difference between schools in the ease of filling out applications. I wonder if some of the more red-tapey schools like Cornell and UVA are negatively incentivizing applicants on purpose.

    I'm not sure, but after I get through this process, I want to work to change it. It is absolutely ridiculous.

    I made mistakes in my past; I got bad grades, I was immature.

    Since then;

    I've earned a 4.0
    I served in the military
    I spent a year and a half to break into 170 range
    I have relevant work experience
    I volunteered - multiple places

    I mean common, what else do I have to do in order to prove that I've over come those grades?

    Submit an addendum, submit an explanation, submit a deans cert, sacrifice your soul to some evil being....

    Enough is enough, I've proven I am a capable and matured individual.

    /rant

  • TabbyG123TabbyG123 Member
    711 karma

    Oh I know! I have a criminal record and had to pull up (for the Florida and Texas schools that I applied to because of their bar requirements) both a formal opinion of the court and the police record for the incident. In addition to writing a statement about it.

    That $1.50 check and mailing process is ridiculous. I had to do something similar with my high school in order to get my class rank and GPA for applications.

  • LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐
    13286 karma

    @PublicInterested said:
    Oh I know! I have a criminal record and had to pull up (for the Florida and Texas schools that I applied to because of their bar requirements) both a formal opinion of the court and the police record for the incident. In addition to writing a statement about it.

    That $1.50 check and mailing process is ridiculous. I had to do something similar with my high school in order to get my class rank and GPA for applications.

    I don’t think I’d even mind as much, if it were universal. Having each school be slightly different is such a pain. Lol

  • tylerdschreur10tylerdschreur10 Alum Member
    1465 karma

    I believe NYU requires a letter, iirc

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