URM 2016-2017 Cycle Results Forum

[20171lhopeful]

RESULTS SPREADSHEET: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0


Borrowing the format from last year. [/list]Feel free to post your current status, even if you've not made a final decision, and update it when you've made your mind up

Type of URM:

Attending:

GPA:

LSAT:

Undergrad:

Softs:

Advice:

Approx. Time of Application:

Other acceptances:

Rejections:

Waitlists:

[hammy393]

Type of URM: Latino (MA)

Attending: Stanford (120K in aid)

GPA: 3.7 (upward trend: 3.9 final 2 years)

LSAT: 164

Undergrad: Yale

Softs: helped run a sports media startup; DOJ paralegal; ACLU internship; Congressional office internship; litigation assistant at entertainment law firm; lots of mentoring/tutoring in undergrad

Advice: You want your app to be as cohesive as possible so that it all ties together in a neatly wrapped narrative. Every piece of your app should come together like pieces of a puzzle so that the admissions officers understand what you're passionate about (and why) and what you have to offer. A concrete example: I sent my letter of recommendation writers a short bio that my included info about my background, experiences, and goals. This way, the letters intimately supported the story I wanted to tell about myself. Also - blanket the T20 if you can. I applied to 18 schools because I had no idea how my cycle would turn out.

Approx. Time of Application: mid November

Other acceptances: Yale (90K, but same COA as SLS), Columbia, NYU (AnBryce finalist), Berkeley (30K), Michigan (0), Duke (90K), Northwestern, UCLA, USC (75K), Vanderbilt (75K), Wash U (full ride)

Rejections: Penn

Waitlists: UVA, Georgetown

[californiarose]

can we also add as a category "Undergrad" and people can put what type of undergrad they went to. i.e. top public, top private, top liberal arts, Ivy league, etc.

[20171lhopeful]

Type of URM: AA

Attending: NYU (full tuition)

GPA: 3.4

LSAT: 160

Undergrad: LAC

Softs: 6 years WE, strong PS/DS (at least I think so), first gen

Advice: Apply broadly and early! For those with low stats, the best advice I got on here was that if your stats aren't 1% make sure everything else is 1%. Essays,resume, recs. Write every "why X" essay. Although there is no consensus on if that works, I think low stat applicants cant take that risk. Triple check your essays for mistakes. Make sure that you really take your time to write them. I started writing mine 10+ months in advance, because I knew with my schedule that's what I needed to get to a point where I thought it was perfect. Starting early also allowed me to take a break from it for a couple of months and then come and edit it with fresh eyes. Also, WE was a major soft for me that gets discounted way too much on this site. Every single interviewer and some deans (NYU, Columbia, Duke, Berkeley, UChi, Mich) mentioned how impressed they were with my quality and length of WE. I think WE helps you distance yourself from your scores and I think everyone should take some time off regardless of scores. It gives you experience and something else to discuss during your app and interviews.

Approx. Time of Application: End of October/ Nov

Other acceptances:
Columbia $$$
NYU $$$$
Penn $$$
Berkeley $$$$
Mich
Duke $$$
UVA $$
UCLA $$$$
Georgetown $$
GW $
Fordham $$
Brooklyn $$$$

Rejections:
HLS
SLS

Waitlists:
UChi
Cornell
NU

How I define $:

$ = Total scholly < 30k
$$ = 30k < Total scholly < 100k
$$$ = Total scholly > 100k
$$$$= Full Tuition

[Dreadhead168]

Sorry for the noob question (if this is listed somewhere else), but what is the dollar sign convention for scholarship money on TLS?

Is it:

$ = Total scholly < 10k
$$ = 10k < Total scholly < 100k
$$$ = Total scholly > 100k

?

[20171lhopeful]

Sorry for the noob question (if this is listed somewhere else), but what is the dollar sign convention for scholarship money on TLS?

Is it:

$ = Total scholly < 10k
$$ = 10k < Total scholly < 100k
$$$ = Total scholly > 100k

?

actually I don't know, and was going to write about it. I view it more like this.

$ = Total scholly < 30k
$$ = 30k < Total scholly < 100k
$$$ = Total scholly > 100k
$$$$= Full Tuition

[PrezRand]

Sorry for the noob question (if this is listed somewhere else), but what is the dollar sign convention for scholarship money on TLS?

Is it:

$ = Total scholly < 10k
$$ = 10k < Total scholly < 100k
$$$ = Total scholly > 100k

?

I think each $ sign represents a quarter of the tuition

[20171lhopeful]

Sorry for the noob question (if this is listed somewhere else), but what is the dollar sign convention for scholarship money on TLS?

Is it:

$ = Total scholly < 10k
$$ = 10k < Total scholly < 100k
$$$ = Total scholly > 100k

?

I think each $ sign represents a quarter of the tuition

ugh that's a lot of math

[Stephylynette]

Sent in my seat deposit yesterday so my cycle is officially over!

Type of URM: AA female

Attending: Duke

GPA: 3.7

LSAT: 160

Undergrad: Top 50 public

Softs: 3 years undergrad, work for non-profit, average leadership positions

Advice: I outperformed my numbers and I think I owe a lot of it to my personal/diversity statements and LORs. Write a genuine personal statement and make as many deep connections w/ professors/supervisors as you can. Law school applications are largely a numbers game but w/ URMs(especially AA), your softs and statements can have a much bigger impact than others. Take advantage of that.

Approx. Time of Application: end of November before thanksgiving

Other Acceptances
UGA ($), GA State ($$$), Michigan (0), Duke ($$$), BU ($$$), Vandy ($$$), UT ($$), GWU ($$), GULC ($$$), American ($$$), UNC ($$$), NYU
Full Rides @ WUSTL, Penn State, Temple, Northeastern, Pitt, and Cardozo

WAITLISTED
Penn, Emory

DINGED
N/A

[crookedsmile]

Sent in my seat deposit yesterday so my cycle is officially over!

Type of URM: AA female

Attending: Duke

GPA: 3.7

LSAT: 160

Undergrad: Top 50 public

Softs: 3 years undergrad, work for non-profit, average leadership positions

Advice: I outperformed my numbers and I think I owe a lot of it to my personal/diversity statements and LORs. Write a genuine personal statement and make as many deep connections w/ professors/supervisors as you can. Law school applications are largely a numbers game but w/ URMs(especially AA), your softs and statements can have a much bigger impact than others. Take advantage of that.

Approx. Time of Application: end of November before thanksgiving

Other Acceptances
UGA ($), GA State ($$$), Michigan (0), Duke ($$$), BU ($$$), Vandy ($$$), UT ($$), GWU ($$), GULC ($$$), American ($$$), UNC ($$$)
Full Rides @ WUSTL, Penn State, Temple, Northeastern, Pitt, and Cardozo

WAITLISTED
Penn, Emory

DINGED
N/A

RADIO SILENCE
NYU

Congrats! Must feel great to call it a wrap and get excited for Durham

[Stephylynette]

Sent in my seat deposit yesterday so my cycle is officially over!

Type of URM: AA female

Attending: Duke

GPA: 3.7

LSAT: 160

Undergrad: Top 50 public

Softs: 3 years undergrad, work for non-profit, average leadership positions

Advice: I outperformed my numbers and I think I owe a lot of it to my personal/diversity statements and LORs. Write a genuine personal statement and make as many deep connections w/ professors/supervisors as you can. Law school applications are largely a numbers game but w/ URMs(especially AA), your softs and statements can have a much bigger impact than others. Take advantage of that.

Approx. Time of Application: end of November before thanksgiving

Other Acceptances
UGA ($), GA State ($$$), Michigan (0), Duke ($$$), BU ($$$), Vandy ($$$), UT ($$), GWU ($$), GULC ($$$), American ($$$), UNC ($$$)
Full Rides @ WUSTL, Penn State, Temple, Northeastern, Pitt, and Cardozo

WAITLISTED
Penn, Emory

DINGED
N/A

RADIO SILENCE
NYU

Congrats! Must feel great to call it a wrap and get excited for Durham

Thank you!! It really does. I got an apartment this week so I'm really feeling great. Haha and congrats on your awesome cycle! Can't wait to see where you end up

[Mr_Chukes]

Type of URM: AA Male. Sexy Chocolate

Attending: USC

GPA: 3.426

LSAT: 156

Undergrad: Cal State

Softs: Worked at a grocery store, worked as a fellow for the California Democratic party. 5-6 years of work experience, I worked all through undergrad.

Advice: Slay those essays. What got me into schools was my personal statement, diversity statements, and letters of rec. Being a URM they care about your narrative a lot. If you can express yourself in a way in which they think that you will add value to the school, they will take you. It is not just a numbers game. Your entire application matters. Don't be discouraged, apply to your dream schools. You never know, you may get lucky and get in like I did.

Approx. Time of Application: Applied early mostly end of November.

Other acceptances: In Notre Dame($), Pepperdine($$), Loyola(?), and Chapman($$$).

Rejections: Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, Michigan, Duke, Northwestern, Boston U, and Cornell.

Waitlists: UCLA, Penn, Columbia, and Chicago

[crookedsmile]

Type of URM: Sexy Chocolate

You will forever live on as one of my favorite TLS'ers haha.

[chasima]

Type of URM: AA female

Attending: Georgetown ($$$)

GPA: 2.9

LSAT: 164, 172 (mid-cycle February retake)

Undergrad: elite private school. non-Ivy

Softs: a lot. 4-5 years work experience, worked multiple jobs throughout college and was super involved. unique background both personally and professionally. STEM-ish degree

Advice: Softs matter. One LOR was from someone who knows me pretty well personally, and another was written by a professor I sat on the phone late at night with to help provide as much detail as possible. I actually sent out 2 different personal statements because I was dumb and didn't get enough feedback on the first one, and I have no doubt in my mind that the better one helped out in the end. Also my work experience was the main topic in every single interview (Northwestern, Cornell, Vandy, and Harvard), so I would encourage you, if you are a K-JD with low numbers like me to not be afraid of pursuing something you're genuinely interested in and applying later with more professional knowledge to speak on a better reason for applying. Also apply everywhere with confidence as if you have a shot at getting in.

Approx. Time of Application: September/October

Other acceptances: Cornell ($$), Fordham ($$$), GW ($), BU ($$$), USC ($$), Vandy ($$)
All acceptances except Cornell were with my 1st/lower LSAT score.

Rejections: Chicago, NYU, Berkley, UT, Yale, Stanford
All rejections except for NYU, Stanford, and Yale were with my 1st/lower LSAT score.

Waitlists: Columbia, Penn, UVA, Duke, Northwestern, UCLA, Harvard
All waitlists except for Harvard were with my 1st/lower LSAT score.

[Mjvance2]

Type of URM: AA Male

Attending: University of Texas (The T-14 Supplanter) ($)

GPA: 3.4

LSAT: 159

Undergrad: HBCU

Softs: About 9 years work experience, last 5 as a technical writer. Taught English in South Korea after undergrad. Volunteer middle school mentor for last few years. Various leadership and extracurricular activities in undergrad.

Advice: Apply broadly to the T-14 and apply early. I neglected to apply very broadly mainly because there were only a few schools I would actually attend. I didn't want to waste money on app fees so I was selective with my apps, but I didn't factor in the possible scholarship negotiation leverage I was giving up. Don't neglect applying to peer schools for leverage sake. After the T-14, the next ranked school I applied to was around 50. If you're gunning for T-14, apply to some T15-20 schools as well.

Approx. Time of Application: First week of December

Other acceptances: UVA, UH ($), Howard ($$$$)

Rejections: Duke, Northwestern

Waitlists: Michigan, Chicago

[azaleafire]

Type of URM: AA

Attending: University of Chicago

GPA: 3.6X

LSAT: 170

Undergrad: Top 5 LAC

Softs: Average to Above Average

Advice: 1) Prepare early - be ready to go by ~October with a personal statement, letters of rec writers lined up, etc.
2) Apply early - I think applying the first day is useless, especially if you don't have your app materials lined up and perfect, but definitely before Thanksgiving (November 1-15) is the sweet spot. No running into any holiday breaks, you will be complete well before 201X or whenever, and you will find out sooner for those slower schools.
3) Apply broadly - you never know what could happen. My cycle could have easily gone differently in terms of acceptances/waitlists, or in the amount of money I got. Give yourself options.

Approx. Time of Application: Late November - Early December

Other acceptances: Harvard ($), Columbia ($), NYU ($), Penn (?), Michigan ($$$$), UVA ($$$$), Duke ($$), Northwestern (?), BU ($$), BC ($$$$), University of Illinois (Withdrawal), Cornell (?), Vanderbilt (?), UCLA ($)

Rejections: N/A

Waitlists: N/A

[lilitiger99]

Posting even though my cycle is not over yet. These threads helped me a lot as an applicant, and hope to give back

Type of URM: PR

Attending: TBD

GPA: 3.9

LSAT: mid 160s (will update when cycle over)

Undergrad: Top 10 Public University

Softs: interesting internships, published academic papers/articles, international work service, BS + grad school degree in 4 years

Advice: Apply early. I applied late January, and I feel like I might have done better had I applied a few months earlier. Get letters super early, like the summer before. Professors can take forever. Use your softs to create a narrative in your application. I feel like I outperformed my numbers (getting a JS1 etc.) to a degree, and that's due to the "story" I told through my application. Also apply for SEO & outside scholarships!!

Other acceptances: Cornell ($$), Duke, Michigan (0), Chicago (0), Vanderbilt ($$$), BU ($$$), WUSTL ($$$), Fordham ($$), Indiana ($$$), BC ($$)

Rejections: Penn

Waitlists: UVA, Harvard

Silence: Stanford, Yale, NYU

[Torres1893]

Type of URM: Latino (MA)

Attending: Texas Law

GPA: 3.76

LSAT: 161

Undergrad: University of Houston

Softs: Nothing Much

Advice: Apply early and apply to schools in similar ranking to your target school so you have leverage to negotiate if you get accpeted (don't make the same mistake as me and not be able to negotiate properly).

Approx. Time of Application: Mid-November

Other acceptances: University of Houston ($$$), Indiana Univ. Maurer ($$$$), Notre Dame ($$), USC ($$)

Rejections: Michigan

Waitlists: None

[AJ1010]

Type of URM: AA female

Attending: Harvard

GPA: 3.69

LSAT: 164 (only took once)

Undergrad: Georgia Tech

Softs: student athlete for 1 year, a few internships, nothing crazy unique

Advice: Send in applications to schools that you feel are "out of your range". Apply early. Try to have one common theme throughout your application.

Time of Application: The day that September LSAT scores were released, so it was around the end of October. Yale application was sent right before the deadline.

Other Acceptances: Columbia, NYU, U Penn, U Chicago($), U Cal Berkeley ($$), Michigan, Duke
* I did not apply/declined to interview for scholarships to some of the schools because I had already been accepted to H.

Rejections: Yale

Waitlists: none

Withdrew before decision: Stanford

[OnlyHumean]

Type of URM: Black

Attending: Yale

GPA: 3.77

LSAT: 168

Undergrad: Top Canadain University

Softs: Average to below average for the HYS crowd, I think. Top departmental and university honors, Oxbridge masters, contract position developing and teaching curriculum to students with non-traditional backgrounds at my alma mater.

Advice: Craft an interesting personal narrative. I think I outperformed my numbers by a little bit, especially considering lackluster softs and late applications, and I think that was mostly due to crafting an interesting and cohesive personal narrative throughout my application.

Approx. Time of Application: After the December score release (early January) for most schools, on the last day for Yale.

Other acceptances: Harvard, Michigan (150k), Columbia (Butler Fellowship, 100k), NYU, University of Toronto

Rejections: None

Waitlists: None

[presidentspivey]

Type of URM: Latino (MA)

Attending: TBD

GPA: 3.7

LSAT: 164

Undergrad: Ivy

Softs:

Advice:

Approx. Time of Application: mid November

Other acceptances: Yale, Stanford, Columbia, NYU (AnBryce finalist), Berkeley ($), Michigan (0), Duke ($$), Northwestern, UCLA, USC ($$), Vanderbilt ($$), Wash U ($$$)

Rejections: Penn

Waitlists: UVA, Georgetown

Your Y & S acceptances are giving me a ton of hope here, as my GPA is just a hair lower and I'm PT'ing a bit higher than you (taking in Sept.). Can you talk more about your softs? Mine are meh.

[brinicolec]

Type of URM: AA (also white and Japanese)

Attending: Michigan (>$)

GPA: 3.42 (downward trend, smh)

LSAT: 164 (1st take), 167 (2nd take)

Undergrad: "Public Ivy" ???

Softs: Mediocre or average, I guess; less than one year between UG and LS

Advice: I'm honestly not even sure. I guess, expect to spend a fair amount of time crafting your PS. Try a few different topics until you find one that feels right. Regarding schollies: I didn't do A LOT of negotiating, but I was able to get GWU to increase their scholly $. Also, originally, Michigan didn't offer me any merit-based aid and I don't qualify for need-based, but they scholarship match and once I got all of my scholarships from other schools, I shot them an email with some of my more compelling offers, as well as a blurb about how much I like the school and wanted to be able to attend etc. etc. and they actually ended up giving me MORE money than I was offered by a higher-ranked school (that's also a T10) so don't be discouraged just because you aren't offered money the first time around. Be willing to ask for money. The worst they can say is no. Just make sure you have some leverage!

Approx. Time of Application: Late-November (for most).

Other acceptances: Georgetown ($$), UCLA (no $, which was weird to me), UT (in-state exemption + $), Northwestern (<$), George Washington ($$), Boston University (>$$), USC (<$$), Vandy (<$$), Emory (>$$) (and hella more because I'm neurotic)

Rejections: NYU, HLS, Cornell, Chicago

Waitlists: WUSTL, CLS, UVA, dook, Berkeley

*$ = ~ 1/3 tuition

Edit: added the $ signs to give a better idea of the scholly offers I received for future applicants

Also, a little note: I wrote a diversity statement about growing up mixed and having racial identity crises (for basically all schools), as well as a "Why X" essay for most schools that I could come up with a reason that wasn't just like, "UM, HELLLLO. RANKING???!!!???" including the school I will be attending.

[PrezRand]

Congrats on getting ur money from Mich^

[presidentspivey]

Type of URM: AA (also white and Japanese)

Attending: Michigan (with $)

GPA: 3.42 (downward trend, smh)

LSAT: 167

Undergrad: "Public Ivy" ???

Softs: Mediocre or average, I guess; less than one year between UG and LS

Advice: I'm honestly not even sure. I guess, expect to spend a fair amount of time crafting your PS. Try a few different topics until you find one that feels right. Regarding schollies: I didn't do A LOT of negotiating, but I was able to get GWU to increase their scholly $. Also, originally, Michigan didn't offer me any merit-based aid and I don't qualify for need-based, but they scholarship match and once I got all of my scholarships from other schools, I shot them an email with some of my more compelling offers, as well as a blurb about how much I like the school and wanted to be able to attend etc. etc. and they actually ended up giving me MORE money than I was offered by a higher-ranked school (that's also a T10) so don't be discouraged just because you aren't offered money the first time around. Be willing to ask for money. The worst they can say is no. Just make sure you have some leverage!

Approx. Time of Application: Late-November (for most).

Other acceptances: Georgetown (with $), UCLA (no $, which was weird to me), UT (with $), Northwestern (with $), George Washington (with $), Boston University (with $), USC (with $), Vandy (with $), Emory (with $) (and more because I'm neurotic)

Rejections: NYU, HLS, Cornell, Chicago

Waitlists: WUSTL, CLS, UVA, dook, Berkeley

Congrats man. Michigan with money is a great outcome.

[brinicolec]

Congrats on getting ur money from Mich^

Thanks! I wasn't sure what to expect since NU hit me with a low-ball offer but they still came through! Lol.