katfishie27 (2022-2023)

Studied, volunteered, and worked in 5 different Spanish-speaking countries.
Fluent in Spanish
Interned at non-profit law firm
In second year of post undergraduate work experience
Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society
Highest Distinction Graduate
Undergraduate thesis about Hispanic representation in Nebraska media
English tutor volunteer for immigrants and refugees
Treasurer of two student organizations sophomore year of undergrad

LSAT Scores:
February 2010: 158
October 2010: 159
December 2011: 169 !!!

*All apps have LSAT score addendum and prior misdemeanor conviction addendum as well. Before applying, I was very nervous about the effect of a 10-point jump on my third LSAT and a misdemeanor on my application. I think the addenda in my case were important and showed that I understand my mistakes, have accepted responsibility and took action to correct them and prevent them from occurring again.

*Personal statement is about experiences that have shaped my desire to become a non-profit attorney working with Hispanics and immigration issues.

***Advice for others (based on my experience so far):
APPLY EARLY. SERIOUSLY. Especially if your numbers are below the school's median. I think my outcomes at some schools could have been different had I submitted all of my apps in November or later, and would definitely have been different had I waited until after the first of the year to apply. Even if you have numbers above the medians, if you apply late, many schools have already made many offers of admission and seem to be more selective.

WRITE A "WHY X" law school optional essay if the school allows it. But don't write a generic essay that could be sent to any school if you swapped the name on the heading.

Stay away from Lawschoolnumbers and Top Law Schools for the sake of your sanity. Or restrict how often you check them. Seeing other people get accepted/rejected isn't going to change your outcome, and it is going to cause unneeded anxiety and doubt.

HOW I IMPROVED MY SCORE: This seems to be a question I get a lot, so I'll just include it here. Basically, I took the LSAT the first two times while I was an undergraduate. I was super busy with everything and didn't take the time I needed to study. After applying to law schools with my first two LSAT scores and being disappointed, I decided to take a job offer overseas and delay law school. That was a hard decision. Everyone said that if I didn't increase my score the second time, I probably wasn't going to increase my score much a third time. While I was overseas, I had free time, unlike in college. I spent about two months studying, as in almost daily studying, and took the LSAT the last time while abroad. I bought the Powerscore Bibles for Reading Comprehension, Logical Reasoning and Logic Games, which helped a lot with Logic Games and strategies because those were killing my score. I also used a book called Grouped by Game Type, giving me practice on each type of game until I mastered them. But I think what helped the most was buying about 20 of the most recent full LSAT tests (since the format changed in 2007 (?), the older ones aren't the best to use) and taking them under TIMED conditions like on test day. That got me used to pacing myself, and on test day it felt almost like any other practice test I had taken.

LSAT SCORE ADDENDUM: I wrote about how while I know being busy isn't an excuse for not doing as well as I expected the first two times, I thought my last score represented my true ability as a scholar when I put my all of my effort and focus into my academic endeavors. I didn't blame everyone else - I accepted that I made a mistake in not preparing the first time, how I prepared for the last time I took the LSAT, and said how I learned the importance of balance and prioritizing.

Message me with any questions and I'd be happy to help!

2012-2013 cycle

-App submitted to Cornell 8/18 through Early Action w/ merit based fee waiver.
-App submitted to Chicago 8/22 through Regular Decision. Received fee waiver 9/5 and the associate dean said they would refund the fee already paid. As of 12/13 still waiting for the refund...The website says they won't refund it.
-App submitted to Duke 9/1 via priority track w/ merit fee waiver and Why Duke? essay
-App submitted to Virigina 9/1 w/ merit fee waiver and Why Virigina? essay
-App submitted to Michigan 9/2 w/ merit fee waiver and Why Michigan? essay
-App submitted to New York 9/5 with Latino scholarship program essay.
-9/6 - IN AT DUKE!! SO EXCITED!! GREAT WAY TO START OFF THE CYCLE!!! via email
- App submitted to Penn Law 9/7 with Why Penn Dean Essay.
- App submitted to UCLA 9/13
- Apps submitted to Stanford, Berkeley and Harvard 9/15.
- App submitted to Georgetown 9/18 with optional essay.
-10/4 - Stanford app complete and submitted for review!
-10/08 - IN AT CORNELL!! With invitation to apply for the Dean's Scholarship.
-10/22 - IN AT GEORGETOWN! The small letter that arrived in the mail had me worried - thought it was a rejection until I opened it!
-11/6 - IN AT MICHIGAN! Saw via status checker with information to arrive by snail mail soon.
-11/20 - IN AT VIRGINIA! With $30,000 a year scholarship! Via phone message from the dean and follow-up email.
-11/20 - IN AT BERKELEY! Totally didn't expect this! Via phone call from dean. Said information packet would arrive in 2-3 weeks.
-11/28 - Received an interview from U of Chicago inviting me to do a Skype interview.
-12/17 - IN AT PENNSYLVANIA! Via phone call. I can't believe the cycle I've had so far. I feel so grateful.
-12/24 - Received a letter from Michigan saying that I've received a $22,500 a year scholarship (Dean's scholarship).
-1/2 - WAITLISTED at UCLA. Confused about this one considering my numbers are well above their medians and my personal statement is public interest focused. Then again, I didn't submit any additional essays or anything that detailed my interest in UCLA. Perhaps it was yield protection? Though a little disappointed, I can't say I'm too sad - I've already been accepted to awesome schools (T-14!!) with money, and realistically I probably wouldn't have gone to UCLA anyway. Sending my withdrawl this week.
- 1/4 - Starting to get restless and pessimistic. I keep obsessively checking TLS forums, which just fuels the feelings. I need to just relax considering no matter what happens from here, I already have some great offers to consider, for which I am truly thankful.
- 1/18 - HELD at Harvard. I'm not surprised based on my LSAT score. I'm honored that they liked me enough to not flat-out reject me, but at the same time having the peace of mind of a final decision, though negative, would have been somewhat of a bittersweet relief. I'm not getting my hopes up too high for a later acceptance because though they accept some people that are held, in general the chances are rather slim.
- 1/23 - IN AT CHICAGO! Via email.
- 1/28 - Sent emails withdrawing from Cornell and Georgetown. At this point I know I am not going to go there, so I might as well open up a spot for someone who truly wants it.
- 2/2 - Still no word from NYU and I went complete in September and have been UR2 since 10/16. Pretty sure at this point the best I can hope for is a waitlist. But if I am later accepted I wouldn't be considered for the scholarship I applied for, so I don't know how realistic NYU is for me. Kind of a bummer. I know NYU puts a lot of weight on LSAT scores, but considering that they have a strong public interest focus, I thought they might look by my LSAT being a point off the 25th percentile. Oh well. Plenty of other great schools still want me :-)
- 3/13 - Received an email from Chicago with a scholarship of $15,000 per year for a total of $45,000! Super suprised because I didn't expect anything.
- 3/13 - Received financial aid package from Penn - no scholarships and not even a need-based grant. I'm shocked by the $20,000 expected family contribution. My parents filed for bankruptcy two years ago and don't even own a home. I made so little last year that I was still in the lowest tax bracket. Ridiculous. Sent the withdrawl email.
- 3/21 - Received a letter with $24,000 a year in scholarships from Duke for a total of $72,000!
- 3/26 IN AT NYU!!! Totally shocked. Just got the call from the dean. Considering I submitted my application in September and still hadn't heard anything, I figured that I would be getting waitlisted at best. Guess that shows you shouldn't give up hope until the official decision letter arrives!!
- 4/2 - Logged into my Berkeley financial aid website and for the 2013-2014 school year I have been given a need grant of $21,000. Unfortunately, it isn't automatically renewable and need aid is determined yearly, so I can't really depend on getting it for the following two years. I'm going to submit the matching scholarship form this week and hope to get a scholarship offer closer to UVA's. Berkeley hasn't really awarded many scholarships yet, so maybe I'll get lucky.
- 4/4 - Deposited at Virginia because of the scholarship deadline.
- 4/5 - WAITLISTED AT HARVARD!!! Beyond excited. Honestly, I never thought I would make it this far. Looks like this is going to be a long summer.
- 4/5 - Withdrew from Michigan.
- 4/9 - JS1!!!! Super excited! But also confused. Usually the first JS1s on the wait list don't go out until late May after accepted students have submitted their seat deposits. I don't want to get my hopes up, but it is hard to not be excited.
- 4/16 - JS1 completed. I don't feel amazing about it, but I don't feel like I blew it either. She said not to expect any response before May 1, so I guess I have a lot more waiting to do still. *Fingers crossed*
- 4/18 - Withdrew from Duke and Chicago. These were hard to let go.
- 4/22 - DLS (Decision Letter Sent) on status checker at Stanford. Called to find out and WAITLISTED AT STANFORD!!! Super excited. Looks like my cycle is still long from over.
- 4/25 - Received financial aid notifcation from NYU - $30,000 per year scholarship for the first and second years and then $15,000-30,000 the third year, depending on my earnings the summer prior. I have to respond my May 3. Totally don't know what to do know considering I deposited at UVA and have had a JS1 at Harvard (though this cycle it looks like they have already interviewed a lot of the waitlist, so I don't know what to think about my chance of acceptance).
- 5/1 - Withdrew from Berkeley. This was really hard considering it has always been somewhat of a dream of mine. Even with a $20,000 need-based grant for the first year (calculated each year so not automatically renewable), it would be too expensive given my other options. I never heard back about the matching scholarship, and yesterday I received an email saying that all offers had been made but that Dean Scholarships would continue to be given until the middle of the month. While maybe I'd get a Dean's scholarship, I decided given my other offers, it would be best to just withdraw.
- 5/3 - Withdrew from UVA and sent in my seat deposit to NYU. Super excited and sad. UVA is a great school, and I had been happy with my previous decision to attend, but after NYU's scholarship offer and given my career goals and the opportunities NYU would offer, ultimately I chose NYU. So NYU it is, unless Harvard or Stanford happens to come through for me later.
- 5/21 - JS1b. Phone call with a few questions asking if I was still interested in Harvard, if I would attend if accepted, and where I had already deposited at. About had a heart attack at work when I saw Cambridge show up on the caller id of my phone.
- 5/22 - JS2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG. IN AT HARVARD!!!!!! I can't believe it. I almost didn't apply back in the fall because I didn't think I had a chance, and now I will be part of the Harvard Law School Class of 2016!!
- 5/23 - Withdrew from Stanford wait list
- 5/28 - Harvard admissions packet arrived.
- 5/29 - Withdrew from NYU.
- 5/30 - Sent in Harvard seat deposit!!

Wow, my cycle has been a rollercoaster, and I can't believe the amazing outcome that I have had. I guess it shows that while having a high LSAT and GPA is important, having a little lower numbers than the typical applicant for a school doesn't automatically mean rejection and that schools really do care about softs.