Chance me for scholarships Forum

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tofu-tofu-tofu

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Chance me for scholarships

Post by tofu-tofu-tofu » Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:41 am

I'm a Mexican-American with a 3.9 (lower-tier state school) and a 175. I know already that I have really great odds, but I'm more concerned with named scholarships and the impact of softs.

I'm a KJD, so no real work experience. How bad would my LORs and essays have to be to prevent me from getting scholarships? Is something like the Ruby guaranteed, or will it depend quite a bit on softs?

The Lsat Airbender

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Re: Chance me for scholarships

Post by The Lsat Airbender » Sat Jul 11, 2020 7:27 pm

Nothing is guaranteed. There are very few slots available for the Ruby, Knight-Hennessy, etc. type opportunities. But you're right that your stats put you in an amazing position.

Instead of asking how badly you can screw up your apps, I'd just focus on making them as good as possible. A tepid rec or an immature personal statement could certainly take you out of the running, but avoiding that problem is fairly straightforward. Lack of work experience is likewise an easy problem to fix (and it's positive for many more reasons than just making your law-school apps stronger).

Necho2

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Re: Chance me for scholarships

Post by Necho2 » Sat Jul 11, 2020 8:58 pm

Yeah I completely agree with the above- you have a lot of time to perfect them, but really emphasize your PS and Why X for the schools w/ scholarships you want. I had similar stats to you but a lower LSAT and I wrote Why X essays for most of the top schools, and wound up doing pretty darn well on the scholarship front. You're absolutely competitive stats-wise for a Ruby and presumably a Knight-Hennessey, but you do need to tell a fairly compelling story as well in most cases.

This is mostly a hunch based on personal experience, but folding a reference to the quality of an LRAP program and your appreciation for the practical realities of not worrying about debt is also probably helpful. I did that in my Why Chicago essay (it was true! they have an excellent LRAP!) and wound up with a Ruby, and think it sent a solid signal that a named scholarship mattered to me...

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