Geen (2022-2023)

I worked a lot when I was in school and I was primarily engaged on other fronts. Since graduation, I have run my own small business, worked two different 3 year jobs, and lived in a variety of places. Despite the dismal GPA (albeit from a strong school and a formidable schedule), three very strong LORs and what appears to be an effective personal statement provided me with a pleasantly surprising cycle.

In short, a weak undergraduate record need not consign you to failure.

Do something interesting with your life, be a decent and responsible person, and weave it into an interesting and articulate narrative, oh, and study for the LSAT. Let's not forget applying smart: early, conscientiously, and strategically.

Early -- get your LORs, PS, and resume started early. Take the LSAT early. It's easier to get in and they're a lot more likely to give you money. I really didn't think that anyone would give me money.

Conscientiously -- treat it like a job, execute carefully, and remember that impressions do matter. Your application and all of your communications with the school should project your best image (again, decent and responsible works well here) -- it's a professional school so making a professional impression is a swell idea.

Strategically -- you'd probably not be at this site if you weren't interested in finding anecdotal evidence to support your application strategy -- it's a great site. I applied broadly but not haphazardly. For reaches, I looked at splitter friendly schools. I dug pretty deep for the safety schools (my GPA is not exactly auto-admit material). For me, the 'maybe' pile was the biggest because I didn't know how effectively my message would resonate. I didn't know exactly where I wanted to be for law school or life thereafter so I started looking for schools that I would be pleased to attend -- 'willing to attend', 'pleased to attend', and 'delighted to attend' was how I put it -- once I knew the options, I could make the call. All the schools to which I applied were truly attractive to me for one reason or another. LSAC makes this process easy and fee waviers make it cheap. Follow their rules -- they don't want us to color outside the lines -- if they want 500 words, 3 pages, 600 words, 2 pages, do it. If they want an extra essay, do it and do it well (it can only help). What constitutes a good application is defined by each law school. A great application is simply doing a slightly better job than everybody else.

If I had to do it over again, I would have applied to my reaches even earlier and may have reached higher (I'm frankly surprised that I didn't get more rejects). I would have also applied more scarcely -- I put a lot of time into it but I wasn't concerned about the marginal cost. That said, there is a great deal of uncertainty in this process so perhaps it's better to play it safe.

This last bit worked really well for me, but may not be your style. Find someone you trust who is bright and willing to be a sounding board (some people call them friends). Applying to law school is a big process and it's nice to talk strategy with someone who knows your situation. Don't try this with everyone. Most people couldn't care less. Having one person who could take the brunt of the obsession was great for me -- and I think she wound up enjoying it too. Again, remember, this is a topic of conversation with a short shelf-life, talk about too much at your own peril...

To follow how most are reported on this site, all scholarship amounts are for three years.