I wasn't going to make one of these originally so my "complete" and "decision" days won't be accurate. I'm just going to estimate. Scholarship info won't be posted.
To anyone out there reading this, let it be known that softs can actually make a difference. Besides getting in to many schools where I had true splitter numbers, I got accepted to schools where I was at the median for LSAT and below the 25th for GPA. I got accepted at schools where LSP predicted a "deny" or "consider".
To me the softs that made the difference were the difficult course of study I took (I double majored in 2 sciences, and a minored in an 'Arts' subject, graduated in 4 years), the letters of recommendation I had, and my personal statement. I think the schools that actually looked at my transcript and saw that I took challenging coursework were able to look past my GPA. I feel that most schools are willing to look past a lower GPA if you have a higher LSAT (than their medians) because they get far more applicants with higher GPA/lower LSAT than vice versa. The key is to give them a reason to look past it. If you took challenging classes that most pre-law students don't take, then that's a good reason. If you were an English or Poli Sci major and spent the last 4 years partying, it might be a little harder to justify. Obviously getting a high GPA is the most important thing so don't choose a hard major you suck at, I'm just talking to people out there like me who may have started off college on one path and chose a difficult major they weren't really passionate about.
The letters of recommendation should not be overlooked. Everyone says get them from professors you know, but that's just part of it. Be very organized. I didn't apply until early January 2012, but I got my letters of rec done in July 2011. When I went to each professor, I gave them a manilla envelope that contained a stamped normal-sized envelope addressed to LSAC, a rough copy of my personal statement, a personal letter to them that included things I accomplished in their class that I felt would be relevant to law school study and extra information about me that they might have not known just from class/office hour interaction, and a checklist of what to do before mailing the letter out. I treated the meetings when I dropped these packets off as my "pitch", or my chance to sell them on me being a very bright and motivated potential law student and I think they were more likely to write a more thoughtful letter as a result.
My personal statement was pretty clever I thought. I recommend you get yours edited by smart friends of all different backgrounds. Try to figure out general themes to tie the whole thing together. If you've already started you probably know it's extremely difficult to write about yourself. The best advice is - especially if you're applying straight out of college or soon after college - make sure you give the admissions committee a sense that you understand where you've been, where you are now, and your confidence in your decision to study law. There is literally nothing on my resume that screams, "hey, this guy was born to be a lawyer". But in my personal statement I was able to convince them that I figured out this choice on my own and I am confident about it. Also, though I made some indication of the type of law I might want to focus on, I really tried to make the case that I am well-rounded enough to handle anything. I'm assuming you're doing your apps online, so make one general personal statement (maybe catered towards your top choice), and then create a folder with documents that are that personal statement modified for each school. I did a small amount of research on each school I applied to and each personal statement I sent was essentially the same thing except with 1-1.5 paragraphs about why I applied to that specific school and why I think it's a good one for me. This included location and the types of courses they offered.
Hopefully people applying next cycle can read this and see that it is possible to be accepted and get scholarships to schools that LSN and LSP might scare you away from. Even if you apply late in the cycle like me!
