sachem05 (2022-2023)

My advice for future applicants, now new, improved, and with a more positive spin because.....

HOLY CRAP, I AM GOING TO MICHIGAN!!!!

a) apply early. Seriously. Get off your lazy bum. If you have your heart set on a school for which your numbers are borderline, you have a much better shot if you apply before 12/1. And waitlists (though occasionally fruitful- thank goodness) are stressful.

b) The LSAT counts A LOT, so study A LOT. I can not emphasize this enough. And people who claim that the difference between 166 and 169, or 169 and 172, is a statistical insignificance is full of crap (just search people with those three LSAT scores, keeping GPA constant- the difference in application outcome is amazing). Skip the difficult major if you KNOW you want to go to law school. Get good grades, stay interested, and be interesting. I was a science major and it was NOT worth it (unless of course, you want IP law-- then use your analytical skills to rock the LSAT).

c) apply to lots of reaches-- it could happen! you don't know unless you try. Only apply to safeties that you would actually go to if all else fails. But act interested- with 'yield protection' on the rise, always aim your application at the individual school. Be kind to your fellow applicants: your safeties are someone's reaches. Don't take their spot if you don't want it.

d) stay off of this (and similar) websites as much as possible. use them as references ONLY. don't forget that you are a person somewhere underneath those two numbers. If you are already applying and didn't follow steps a and b, don't waste too much time regretting your poor choice of major(s), your junior year drinking binge, or your anxiety attack during section one of the LSAT. go to the school that accepts you and makes you happy the first time you set foot in it. Every school has a unique personality (that can't be measured by USNWR); find the one that fits you. If you start out miserable, it can only get (exponentially) worse. You will be there for three whole years, you deserve to have happy surroundings. And finally, now that you have decided-- go in and OWN that place. You earned a spot there, and you have a fresh start! Do your best and stay optimistic. You can do wonderful things with a JD. Wherever you are, you are luckier than most of your global peers, NEVER forget that.

GOOD LUCK!