URM please post #'s Forum

[SuperCool23]

Post LSAT scores and GPA’s and the list of schools you applied to (accepted, declined or waitlisted)

[serdog]

159/3.2
Reject
Harvard
Penn
Duke
Georgetown
Waitlisted
Columbia
American withdrew
Accepted
Creighton named $$$
Charlotte $$$
MSU
and like everyone
Waiting on Cornell

Canada
Accepted
UBC
Mann $
Alberta
UVic(attending barring get off the Columbia reverse) with Dean's note and Phone call

[NoBox]

Suggested ground rules (taken from last year's cycle):

- Include: URM status, GPA, LSAT, topic of PS/DS, mention of any other essays or addendums included, description of softs, schools applied to and whether you were admitted/WL/rejected/pending, and tips/comments/thoughts on your cycle.
- Don’t just include your LSN profile, include the basics, then link to LSN.
- Be as specific as you are comfortable with. We’re not here to out anyone. However, a reasonably informative range for both LSAT and GPA should be included. Do not fudge, give a range if you aren’t comfortable with specifics.

AA Male
LSAT: 161, 164
GPA: 3.15
Undergrad: ranked between 30-40 by USNews


Accepted:
Berkeley - Initial offer: 75,000 + need...............Final Offer: ~120,000 + need
Penn - Initial offer: ~80,000.......................Final Offer: ~83,000
Cornell: Initial Offer: $45,000 - $90,000 (can't remember and can't find award letter) Did not negotiate.
Georgetown: Initial Offer: $90,000.......................Final Offer: $120,000
UTexas: Initial Offer: $45,000.......................Final Offer: $45,000 + in state (value ~ $96,000)
WUSTL: Initial Offer: $98,000.......................Final Offer: same (negotiation unsuccessful)
Wm & Mary:
Temple: Initial Offer: Full Tuition Scholarship


Wait-listed:
Harvard (initially held)
Columbia
NYU
Chicago
UVA
Michigan
Duke
USC

Rejected:
Stanford (mid-April)




*Apps submitted before November

*Did not submit any "Why X" essays and did not mention any of the schools by name in any of my statements. (I figured I was already taking a risk with the amount of information I was sending, thought they should make a decision on if they wanted an applicant such as myself and not because I really wanted their school, and thought I could write one to request or ask for additional scholarship $.) Also, I am not submitting any "Why X?" essays to get off any wait-lists.

*Softs: Believes in Christ, the bible, and the power of grace and mercy; Low socioeconomic background (lsac fee waiver, efc=0); D-1 athlete; Lots of academic, athletic, and leadership UG awards; have lived in NE, South, and Texas , not afraid to take risks or think for myself (touched on by LORs and prob is why some of them believe in me as much as they do); confidence (mentioned b/c I think this matters and is evaluated in URM apps/essays), Double Major - Poli Sci & African American studies (studying African American studies/race greatly improved my essays. I really do believe my race is a tangible benefit to an educational environment and the legal profession, and I articulated those beliefs.)

PS: 2 full pages; Not sure I can describe it in a few words. (I tried to intentionally write a multi-layered, somewhat complex essay, in order to combat my low GPA. From the theme to the structure of the essay, I tried to make sure they knew that they were reading my words, thoughts, story, etc.) Heavy focus on race (mine and others), disadvantaged upbringing, personal reflections that set the tone/theme/framework for the rest of my application. Some folks that read my essay believed it was too aggressive and would likely rub some adcomms the wrong way. I appreciated their thoughts (and made some adjustments off of them), but figured if I could get just one adcomm to love me/fight for me, I'd be alright. Putting together an authentic application (and one that reflects the voices of those that never will have the opportunity to go to law school) was - for better or worse - extremely important to me.

DS: 2 full pages; Focused on race, where I lived, and a few anecdotes illustrating my commitment to diversity and beliefs about diversity's importance/value.

Addenda: Full 1 Page explaining GPA (nothing related to mental or physical illness or anything that can be described as a tragedy), Full 1 Page explaining LSAT, Full 1 Page explaining employment gap, Full 1 Page explaining undergrad academic interruption

*I did not want to leave anything up to interpretation. I read TLS (and had ppl advise me not to submit a "heavy" application) so I know about length "requirements." However, most of those "requirements" do not appear in the schools' applications. And so, I simply disregarded such thinking and focused on writing statements they'd want to read. I chose to tell them what to think about my story and those parts of my applications that could be seen in a negative light. Each statement was written to emphasize characteristics and values that I believed should/could overshadow or mitigate what I was explaining.

Resume: 2 full pages

LOR: 3-4 (2 professors - one is also a Department Chair, Dean, University Assistant Director); Strong, personal relationships with all of my recommenders. They all volunteered to write letters for me and deserve a lot of credit for the success of my application.

Font: 11pt on the statements; 10 pt on the resume (mentioned to reiterate that I submitted a big ass application lol)



Won't say which school I'm going to (at least not yet). I hope this helps someone. Good luck fellow URMs.

ETA: I wrote my personal statement first. Based on the feedback that it was "aggressive/risky" I later labeled it as my diversity statement, and labeled my diversity statement as my personal statement so that the "softer" essay was the first essay read. The descriptions above for PS and DS describe how they were written/worded, but on my application the names of the statements are switched. Hope that makes sense.