URM 2015-2016 Cycle Results Forum

[Another1]

Once accepted, visit as many campuses as you can for their ASWs and talk with the admitted students that blow up your phone and inbox.
.

damnn i feel super unwanted now

[condensation]

Once accepted, visit as many campuses as you can for their ASWs and talk with the admitted students that blow up your phone and inbox.
.

damnn i feel super unwanted now

Haha- I meant current students. I got a lot of generic welcomes from members of affinity groups that I wish I would have followed up on.

[lawschoolj1218]

Harvard seems to be rejecting a lot of splitters this year. I wonder if it's the application timing or just a change in the splitter tides.

[jnwa]

Harvard seems to be rejecting a lot of splitters this year. I wonder if it's the application timing or just a change in the splitter tides.

It seems like they were really hard on low GPAs and k-jds. Im both so my result makes sense. People on TLS made me a lot more optimistic about my chances when i was discussing apps so I'm guessing the splitter harshness is new. I applied pretty early as well.

[bellanoche2019]

Type of URM: AA woman

Attending: UVA ($$$)

GPA: 3.4-3.6

LSAT: 165

Softs: First Gen, worked approximately 2 years in a small law firm as a legal assistant after graduation, time spent as a member of mentorship and social justice organizations.

Advice: Study for and take the LSAT early so that you can apply early. I took the October LSAT, and I started studying for it basically in April. Studying early helped me because my initial practice tests were trash due to rust, along with anxiety initially crippling the mess out of me. I took a ton of practice tests and used Powerscore and got more comfortable with the format and pattern of the test. I did not want to put myself under the gun with me being out of school for a few years, and studying and taking the LSAT early helped. I ended up appling to the majority of my schools by the end of December 2015. Howeverrrr if you have some applications going into January, it isn't bad.

Also: SAVE MONEY FOR YOUR ENTIRE APP CYCLE. I received fee waivers, but even with them I still spent hundreds of dollars. Also, once you get into your top five law school of choice (because you will get into the school of your choice, starting the positive affirmations immediately), you will want to visit them and while many schools will reimburse your expenses, you still want to have those funds at your disposal (as there are many others that do not reimburse). I already had a good opinion of UVA prior to their ASW, but their weekend basically solidified my attendance. Without attending the ASW, I wouldn't have seen how great of a school UVA is in person, and my decision could have been affected because of it. Also, ASW's allow you to see and get somewhat comfortable with the school prior to attending. Bottom line you definitely want to try and take time to visit the schools you're looking at. Oh and save money for the inevitable deposit. Oh, and factor in what is most important to you in picking a law school. Money (which should be of the utmost importance), comfort, school-life balance, job opportunities, clerkship opportunities, etc.

If you feel like you have decent numbers, I echo the sentiment of blanketing the T-14. I did for the most part and received pretty good results. Honestly, with the time I had off and my initial practice tests I was expecting to go to a local law school to save money. T-50 was my goal and if I gotten into a school in the twenties I would've been excited. However my cycle ended up being great and I am forever grateful for the advice I've received on here via lurking and eventually participating. Use LSN. Yes URMs get a bit of a boost bit aim for 170+ nonetheless.

Approx. Time of Application: Apps submitted Nov-January

Other acceptances:
Columbia
Duke ($$$)
Cornell
Georgetown ($$$)
Vandy ($$$)
UCLA ($$)
WUSTL (Full)
Emory ($$$)
IU - Maurer Law ($$$)
BC ($$)
UGA ($$$)
UNC ($ -weird)

Rejections:
None

Waitlists:
Berkeley
Harvard
Northwestern/NYU since they never sent me an actual response. I ended up withdrawing from NYU (this reminds me to withdraw from NW) lol

Good luck to all those reading this.

[GreekOmega12]

Good luck to all those reading this.

You're going to harvard lol

[YCDAACH]

Type of URM: AA female

Attending: Very Undecided

GPA: 3.67

LSAT: 164

Softs: About avg. Worked a lot in undergrad full-time during most summers and multiple jobs during the academic year, honors societies, president of a few clubs and organizations, and volunteered weekly all throughout undergrad.

Advice: Study hard for the LSAT, apply early and take your time writing all the materials, and ask for fee waivers (Might edit later to be more substantial, but I agree with a lot of the previous posters)

Approx. Time of Application: February through March

Other acceptances:
Columbia (aid unknown)
NYU (aid unknown)
Berkeley $$
Duke $$
Georgetown $$
USC $$

Rejections:
UCLA

Waitlists:
Harvard
Penn

[bellanoche2019]

Good luck to all those reading this.

You're going to harvard lol

LOL I am really going to UVA though. Made my deposit and everything.

[dreamerchic19]

Congrats as necessary

[HYSplease]

LOL Mich waitlisted everyone on this thread(including people with better numbers than me) except me. I like the school, their admissions decisions are confusing.

Lol. I applied to Mich with the sole purpose of using it as a bargaining chip (unless of course it ended up being by far my best offer). Wrote a God awful why Mich. I think they just saw right through my shit.

Exactly this

I wrote essentially the same why X for every school from 7-14

The only schools I got waitlisted at were the schools I wrote why Xs for (they were pretty much carbon copies tbf)

Are Why Xs only helpful when they're genuine and you actually have something to write about?

[Budfox55]

LOL Mich waitlisted everyone on this thread(including people with better numbers than me) except me. I like the school, their admissions decisions are confusing.

Lol. I applied to Mich with the sole purpose of using it as a bargaining chip (unless of course it ended up being by far my best offer). Wrote a God awful why Mich. I think they just saw right through my shit.

Exactly this

I wrote essentially the same why X for every school from 7-14

The only schools I got waitlisted at were the schools I wrote why Xs for (they were pretty much carbon copies tbf)

Are Why Xs only helpful when they're genuine and you actually have something to write about?

Can't tell if you're trolling lol.

[MixtapeFellThrough]

I think the real question is whether / the degree to which "Why X"s can be hurtful if they're not done right.

[cdotson2]

Type of URM: PR

Attending: Harvard

GPA: 3.75

LSAT: 170

Softs: significant health problems during childhood and I have done community service that directly relates to children going through similar situations.
other extracurriculars that probably don't matter top positions in Student Government, Mock Trial and Model UN.
significant upward GPA trend first semester was below 3.0

Advice: Don't be super neurotic. Your cycle will turn out the way it will, after you turn in your apps as perfected as possible there is nothing more you can do but wait. Don't let your expectations ruin the act fact that you will most likely have great options. Celebrate when you get into good schools.

Approx. Time of Application: Nov.

Other acceptances:
Duke $$
Chapel Hill $$$
Cornell $$$
Georgetown
Stanford

Rejections:
Michigan

Waitlists:
UVA
Columbia
NYU
Chicago
Yale

[gamerish]

LOL Mich waitlisted everyone on this thread(including people with better numbers than me) except me. I like the school, their admissions decisions are confusing.

Lol. I applied to Mich with the sole purpose of using it as a bargaining chip (unless of course it ended up being by far my best offer). Wrote a God awful why Mich. I think they just saw right through my shit.

Exactly this

I wrote essentially the same why X for every school from 7-14

The only schools I got waitlisted at were the schools I wrote why Xs for (they were pretty much carbon copies tbf)

Are Why Xs only helpful when they're genuine and you actually have something to write about?

Yes. They read so many of these things they can detect the bullshit with ease. My advice is don't write one unless you really do have a particular interest in the school. A bad one is more likely to hurt you than not doing one at all.

[Budfox55]

Have any URMs been rejected or waitlisted at Stanford yet?

[jnwa]

LOL Mich waitlisted everyone on this thread(including people with better numbers than me) except me. I like the school, their admissions decisions are confusing.

Lol. I applied to Mich with the sole purpose of using it as a bargaining chip (unless of course it ended up being by far my best offer). Wrote a God awful why Mich. I think they just saw right through my shit.

Exactly this

I wrote essentially the same why X for every school from 7-14

The only schools I got waitlisted at were the schools I wrote why Xs for (they were pretty much carbon copies tbf)

Are Why Xs only helpful when they're genuine and you actually have something to write about?

Yes. They read so many of these things they can detect the bullshit with ease. My advice is don't write one unless you really do have a particular interest in the school. A bad one is more likely to hurt you than not doing one at all.

I actually disagree with this. Even if it's bullshit, at least you care enough to write one. It gives them at a signal that you wouldn't be totally okay with getting waitlisted.

[jnwa]

Have any URMs been rejected or waitlisted at Stanford yet?

Yuuuuup caught a ding a couple of weeks ago

[Budfox55]

Have any URMs been rejected or waitlisted at Stanford yet?

Yuuuuup caught a ding a couple of weeks ago

This cycle makes no sense. I could have sworn from looking at last years that it was way more predictable.

[yaliehopeful]

Type of URM: African Canadian male

Attending: Yale

GPA: 3.96/4

LSAT: 174

Softs: Graduate degree from a prestigious university in the UK, academic awards during UG, several leadership roles.

Advice: Take the LSAT seriously, don't fuck around and get complacent during prep because of the URM boost, forget about it and study as if you weren't going to receive it. I didn't even know the AA boost applied to me as a black Canadian until I had submitted my apps, consequently, I busted my ass studying for the LSAT which paid dividends. Also, get your apps in as early as you can.


Other acceptances:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia $$$
NYU $$
University of Chicago (no ruby for me.. :/)
UPenn
UVA $$
Michigan $$
Duke
NW
Georgetown
Cornell $$
Berkley $$$
University of Toronto

Rejections: 0

Waitlists: 0

Overall, I'm ecstatic at how well my cycle turned out, if any of you have any questions, don't hesitate to hit me up.

[Lthelion]

Type of URM: AA Male

Attending: ???

GPA: 3.52

LSAT: 161, 165.

Softs: Lots of internships in college related to my 2 years of high level work experience afterward. Basic honor society and greek leadership stuff in ug. Unique personal narrative. Top 25 UG.

Advice:

1. Really put some time and thought into personal statement. Mine was pretty personal and really tough to write but I think it carried the day for me.

2. Give yourself a chance for a third retake on LSAT I was scoring over 170 consistently and just had two unfortunate test days. I would've loved a third shot at it but am usually a good test taker and didn't think I'd need it.

3. This should be self evident but write a diversity statement.

4. Keep your head up. I was feeling pretty low after my second score came in but somehow it's all worked out ok.

5. Don't tell people your stats unless your up for a never-ending debate on the merits of affirmative action.


Approx. Time of Application: Right after December LSAT score came out in January.

Other acceptances:

USC - 135ish
UCLA - no $$
wash u - full ride
vandy - 130ish
cornell - full ride
gulc - nothing
northwestern - 90k
duke - 150k
berkeley - 120k
nyu - nothing
columbia - nothing


Rejections:

stanford (i assume haven't heard back)
uva


Waitlists:

michigan
penn
uchi (after interview)
harvard

[Nlawsing]

Type of URM: African- American Woman

GPA: 3.72

LSAT: 158,162

Attending: Very Undecided

Softs: Still in undergraduate. Pretty normal internships . NYC City Council, NY Supreme Court and some PR/Marketing internships. Also lots of campus leadership activities. I think my essays were really strong and my application really came full circle. I also hired an admissions consultant by the hour to edit my essays.

Advice:APPLY EARLY, RETAKE RETAKE RETAKE . I would say what resulted in me being pretty waitilisted across the board is the timeline in my application and not taking the LSAT a third time. I applied early January but retook with the February LSAT so updated majority of my applications in March. I think the best time to apply is before thanksgiving but definetly before New Years. Study for the LSAT make it your up most priority. My life revolved around the LSAT for almost a year and i still didn't max out my score on test day the way I expected. Was practicing around a 164-166 but scored a 158 and a 162 on test day. I might retake and apply in September but right now I'm going to ride out the waitlist at Harvard Chicago and Columbia and see what happens. Also considering Georgetown because of the generous financial aid packet they offered.

Approx Time of Application : January

Accepted :
Cornell-$
Georgetown$$$
University of Illinois-full ride
Fordham $$
StJohns- full ride
Georgewashington : $$
NYU (Waitlist- Accepted)

Waitlist:
Harvard
Columbia
Chicago
Michigan

Deny:
Yale

[wunderwoman]

Type of URM: AA Female

Attending: Columbia ($$)

GPA: 3.6

LSAT: 161, 167

Softs: Standard leadership softs, 2 years of work experience

Advice: Don't wait until October to take the LSAT, apply as early as possible.

Approx. Time of Application: December, early January.

Other acceptances: NYU ($$), Penn ($$), Michigan ($$$), Duke, Georgetown, Cornell, WUSTL (Full), Vanderbilt ($$$)

Rejections: Yale, UVA

Waitlists: Harvard

[Navrim]

Type of URM:
Mixed AA
Attending:
Duke (105k)
GPA:
3.8
LSAT:
168
Softs:
Campus leadership, Honor Societies, Managerial Experience, Charity

Advice:
Apply early. I have no idea why my cycle turned out the way it did. My only guess is that I wasn't early enough.

Approx. Time of Application:
Early January

Other acceptances:
Michigan
Emory
WashU
Georgetown

Rejections:
No one had the heart to reject me lol

Waitlists:
Penn
Columbia
Chicago
Harvard
Yale
UVA
Cornell
Northwestern
NYU
Stanford


Riding out some waitlists...hoping my odds are better due to the vast amount of waitlists I have landed on.

[texcellence]

Advice:
Apply early. I have no idea why my cycle turned out the way it did. My only guess is that I wasn't early enough.

are you K-JD? maybe that's why. seems like K-JD crowd got hit harder this cycle than previous ones.

[Navrim]

Advice:
Apply early. I have no idea why my cycle turned out the way it did. My only guess is that I wasn't early enough.

are you K-JD? maybe that's why. seems like K-JD crowd got hit harder this cycle than previous ones.

I'm kind of a k-JD. I took a gap year. But I had some substantial work experience.