I suppose I conducted some sort of law school admissions experiment.
I applied to most of these schools (not CA Western) last year with a 156/3.78 and wound up with waitlists and nothing else. I withdrew from all but one waitlist in June and decided to work in the legal field for a year. The one waitlist that I did not withdraw from was UNLV - I'm pretty sure I kept myself on that one for shits and giggles/just to see what would happen. Nothing did.
I applied again this year with the same exact numbers. The only differences in my application were my personal statement and my resume, both of which were much, much better than those with which I applied last year. I thought that the schools would forgive my low LSAT because of these factors.
I was wrong - the only school that accepted me was CA Western (and, after visiting, I decided that was not happening). As the waitlist notification letters kept rolling in, I made the decision to take the June LSAT. I ended up with a 159 - three points higher than my previous score of 156. Still not a great score, but I'll take it.
However, two days before I received my June LSAT score, I was accepted to UNLV off of the waitlist. From what the Dean was saying, it sounded like they had accepted me on the basis of my letters of continued interest - I had sent two. I accepted their offer. A month later, they offered me a scholarship! :D
Anywho, because of the similar results of last year's cycle and this year's cycle, I thought I would highlight some points for future applicants:
-Do not underestimate the power of your GPA and LSAT. Mostly your LSAT. I believe this year's cycle would have gone a lot better had I started out with the 159 (or, of course, if I had actually gotten a decent score).
-Letters of continued interest really do work! The fact that UNLV didn't take me last year had nothing to do with my numbers - it had to do with me not showing my interest. Say hello, update your schools on what you're up to, be aggressive (in a friendly way).
-If things don't work out for you in one cycle, don't be afraid to apply next cycle. I thought I was the only person to have done this - I am definitely not.
Aaaand thanks for reading my novel.
