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[WatchClosely]

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[personofinterest]

Taking an extra gap year makes a lot of sense in general, but it may not be the best thing for you. I haven't paid super close attention to the past couple cycles, but I think it is unlikely to get a stipend from Wash U as a super splitter. They started handing out full rides like candy for the class of 2016 applicants. I don't know when it will end, but it can't go on forever. I think it's more likely you don't get a full ride from them next year than them upgrading your scholarship to give you a stipend. If you're willing to take the risk and wait a year (not necessarily a bad thing to take your time), your options are more likely to get worse than better. I wouldn't think too much of the waitlists you got on as an indicator for getting in at those schools next year. Next year will probably be the usual suspects of UVA and NU possibly taking you and Wash U probably giving a full ride (though maybe not if they stop giving out as much free candy). Another year in China sounds like a great experience though. tough choice.

[WatchClosely]

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[seashell.economy]

I don't agree with the other posters that your writing sounds awkward, but my initial impression was that this PS seemed risky because you have issues with anxiety and social interactions. You've done a great job overcoming much of that, and that communicates strength and maturity, but the unconventional way you went about it seems very odd. Scrap this essay. Write about something completely different and strongly connect any story you write about to why you want to practice law.

[Olliedemars]

Wanted to throw in one other idea: I'd consider how male & female readers might perceive this piece differently. Most women have stories of being harassed, to varying degrees, in public spaces. In my experience, that harassment starts with a stranger asking an odd but innocuous question, and the situation escalating from there. (I was once a guy's 'let's ask out a stranger' experiment, and after 4 minutes, he was standing over me saying, 'What, do you have a boyfriend or something? Huh? You think you're too good for me?'' on a crowded bus. It was both miserable and pretty scary. Most women have stories like this.)

So realize some female readers may have a reaction of, 'This guy is writing about approaching people in public spaces and acting in ways that doesn't fit the norm. When strangers do that to me, I become instantly wary/on edge.' And that may color their reading of your PS.

So, not saying what you're doing was harassment in the least--just wanted to offer a perspective you may not have considered about the baggage readers may bring to the table.

[Tls2016]

I sank into the dark leather of the police cruiser interior

ya i stopped reading there

Me too. Not a good start for convincing ad coms to admit you.

Edit: ok I went back and skimmed. Don't start off with what sounds like you have been arrested. Ad coms are going to skim just like us. You sound like a risk and a little weird.
Write something very positive about your self instead of highlighting your issues. You must have great stuff to write about after living in China.

[Tls2016]

I think it is unlikely to get a stipend from Wash U as a super splitter. They started handing out full rides like candy for the class of 2016 applicants. I don't know when it will end, but it can't go on forever. I think it's more likely you don't get a full ride from them next year than them upgrading your scholarship to give you a stipend. If you're willing to take the risk and wait a year (not necessarily a bad thing to take your time), your options are more likely to get worse than better.

An interesting perspective, and not one I had considered before. I'd presumed that being offered a scholarship one cycle generally would mean that you would most likely receive that same scholarship the following cycle.

Have there been any signs I've missed of WashU slowing down their $$$ offers to applicants high LSAT scores? And is it possible to defer both an acceptance and the attached scholarship?

Wash U has been buying their ranking. I can't see why that is changing necessarily.
Edit: they had one year a few years ago where they used a donors massive grant of money for a one time cash grab for students. I think the recent scholarships are funded differently.

Your numbers are unusual though and you can't assume you will get the same scholarship. You could get waitlists after you have already been accepted at full scholarships and didn't attend, just because you have already shown that you won't matriculate. They have nothing more to offer you to convince you to attend.

I don't know about deferring scholarships. I do know some schools require you to sign a binding commitment to attend if you do defer.

[Tls2016]

Besides the WashU full ride, I got UVA at sticker, and good money at Vandy and Emory and W&M.

Those results seems pretty normal for super splitters: NU is the most likely of the T14 to take you, then UVA. I don't think you are likely to do any better next year. Do you have a reason to think you will get a scholarship from a T14?

If I were you, I would pick between wash U, UVA, and never going to law school. Personal circumstances and goals can help you make that decision. I wouldn't worry about your PS. Also, try asking UVA for money if you haven't yet.

I like my life in Beijing and am in no hurry to rush into law school. If my single-year gap from college to law school turns into a two-year gap-year, that's okay with me.

I am not crazy enough to think I could secure a T14 scholarship with my sub-3 gpa, but I was disappointed when WashU declined to offer me a partial stipend. I had thought that a modest stipend might be attainable for me on the basis of my LSAT, considering how frequently CoL stipends at WashU seem to be mentioned on these forums.

For me, it's not a choice of WashU vs UVA vs never law school, but rather a choice of WashU now vs WashU next year (hopefully with a stipend, but if not that, I guess just the same full-ride they offered me this cycle?).

Wait, is all this effort to try to get a stipend at Wash U? Has anyone with your numbers gotten a stipend?

[WatchClosely]

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[WatchClosely]

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[Tls2016]

Your numbers are unusual though and you can't assume you will get the same scholarship. You could get waitlists after you have already been accepted at full scholarships and didn't attend, just because you have already shown that you won't matriculate. They have nothing more to offer you to convince you to attend.

WashU has a binding ED program I could apply for that has full tuition guaranteed anyway. I hadn't really considered that I might not be offered the same scholarship if I reapplied RD next cycle. Perhaps I could think about the ED path.

Why would you do this? I'm missing something. See if you can defer and keep the scholarship you have if you want to go there. Reapplying to get a stipend seems like backwards thinking. People reapply because their numbers change or if they applied very late. You are looking to attend the same school with the same numbers.
I have not see anyone reapply just by changing their PS and hoping to get more money from the same school when they have a full scholarship.

[RZ5646]

I sank into the dark leather of the police cruiser interior

ya i stopped reading there

New PS.

I agree that some parts of this are overwrought. It also fails to address the "why law?" question, and it focuses on OP's weaknesses instead of his strengths. Lastly, the only other time I've ever heard about "rejection therapy," it was in association with pickup artists, so maybe the adcoms thought he was a thrill-seeking creep trying to get laid. (No offense OP.)

[WatchClosely]

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[WatchClosely]

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[crumpetsandtea]

How late did you apply? It seems odd that you wouldn't get any better offers with that high of a score, unless your sub 3.0 was closer to a 2.0. All the above comments are correct, you need to write more concisely, you want to be a lawyer not a novelist. I would also consider changing your topic to something that better highlights why schools should look less at your GPA. While you should definitely write an addendum, your personal statement is also a great place for it since that is obviously the black mark on your application.

Mid-November. Besides the WashU full ride, I got UVA at sticker, and good money at Vandy and Emory and W&M. My application was weak, though, since I did zero supplemental essays and did not include an addendum for my GPA.

By the way, conventional wisdom holds that the PS should be used to highlight positive aspects of your application, not to try and justify or excuse the negative aspects.. So I would probably caution you against advising people to use their personal statements to address the 'obvious black marks' in their applications. Unless I'm misunderstanding your suggestion.

You absolutely NEED to do these things (sup essays & GPA addendum).

I was a super splitter when I applied for LS back in 2011 (2.81/176). I got into NU with money (which is where I ended up going). Applications are down now, so it should be EASIER for you to get into schools this year than it was for me in the early 2010s.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions, but you ABSOLUTELY need to do all the extra stuff. Apply the day that apps open. Do every supplemental essay out there. Write a solid (short, but good) GPA addendum. Your PS, from what I read of it, is way too flowery and doesn't at all reflect anything that would counteract your GPA. In my PS, I wrote about my involvement in a grassroots activist campaign during school to demonstrate that I had the ability to apply myself to something, that I had a good work ethic, and that I had passion for SOMETHING (I tied it into my interest in going to law school). While your PS might be a truthful depiction of your personal growth, it's not what's going to make adcomms interested in you as a super splitter applicant. If I were you, I would take this:

my current life as an expatriate in Beijing [and] my undergraduate experiences in China

And try to write a PS about those experiences that showcases some of the traits that splitters are commonly considered to not have - strong work ethic, dedication, passion, interest in the nitty gritty of academic learning. Remember, your application is supposed to be a package in which everything you submit has a function and contributes to the whole. Your PS, as it is, does nothing to contribute to your LS application. It might as well be nothing but a creative writing exercise.

[Alive97]

I can see the argument that social anxiety may be a risk topic. It may well be that ad comms get feedback from firms doing OCI that too many people in our generation are socially awkward. Someone who had to overcome social anxiety may not have the same social competence and ease as someone with a lifetime of experience. It may not be ideal to tell ad comms about this.

[Lexaholik]

You absolutely NEED to do these things (sup essays & GPA addendum).

I was a super splitter when I applied for LS back in 2011 (2.81/176). I got into NU with money (which is where I ended up going). Applications are down now, so it should be EASIER for you to get into schools this year than it was for me in the early 2010s.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions, but you ABSOLUTELY need to do all the extra stuff. Apply the day that apps open. Do every supplemental essay out there. Write a solid (short, but good) GPA addendum.

You should be following this advice. I was also a former splitter (2.9/170) who got into a T14 when the admissions cycle was super competitive.

First off, your results are surprising but not terribly unusual. There's some amount of survivorship bias on TLS where only successful super-splitters tell us about their experiences. Only occasionally do you hear about super-splitters who haven't been as successful.

But your essay isn't bad. I wouldn't say it knocks it out of the park, but it's not bad enough to warrant your results. You did the right thing and avoided the bad personal statement topics. It was good that you didn't try to explain your bad grades there.

You absolutely have to write every single extra essay and include at least an addendum about why you have a <3.0 GPA. If you don't have a good reason for your bad grades, come up with one--it's not hard to spin a reason for your grade patterns. (E.g. "I did better towards the end of college when I matured; I did worse when I was a bio major than when I was a history major, etc.)

Be creative. Form a clear and concise argument for why you underperformed in college. Your evidence (transcript) may not perfectly support your argument but try as best you can. When you become a lawyer this is what you'll be doing with briefs, etc.

Failure to do extra essays and addenda will tell schools that you're lazy. "This kid was too lazy to write a few hundred extra words--he/she probably hasn't changed." Combining that with you being just 5 months out of college means bad admissions results.

I also wonder if your recommendations contained any red flags. Those of us with bad grades tend to have weak recommendations, so it can be tricky to find someone to give you a very strong rec. (Not that a strong rec will help a ton, but a weak rec will hurt you.)

Did you make it on to any waitlists? I wouldn't consider them rejections, especially at certain schools. For example, Northwestern has a history of building their entering class by using the waitlist--specifically cherry picking promising splitters and admitting them in the summer. Write LOCIs and demonstrate your interest in attending. Sitting on the waitlist for months and getting admitted in the summer is just part of the game for splitters.