LSAT and Academic Addendum: Please Critique Forum

[Captain Muscles]

LSAT and Academic Addendum


Dear law school admissions committee:

I scored a 161 on the December 2009 LSAT, 8 points higher than the 153 I scored on the February 2009 LSAT. For the December exam, I focused on developing a better strategy for the logic games section. I believe the new score is a better indicator for my potential to succeed in law school.

For the 1998 Spring Semester at ******, I received a 1.67 GPA. This was due to a lack of maturity and a lack of effort. I was very disappointed with this performance and decided to dramatically increase my efforts and thus, I raised my GPA to a 4.0 for the following year, 1998-1999.

The “C” I received in the upper division class, Politics 161 was due to extenuating circumstances. On 6/2/2000, the Friday evening before the final exam, I was leaving a party with some friends and we were attacked by a group of people. The police arrived and arrested one of the assailants who was later convicted of mayhem. Two of my friends were seriously injured and I had to visit the hospital on 6/3/2000 to tend to a minor knife wound sustained above my left eye. Since I was emotionally distraught, I missed the final exam scheduled for 7:30pm Wednesday, 6/7/2000. Please review my narrative evaluation for an assessment of my performance in the class.


Best regards,

*******

[thelawguy777]

My two bits:

I scored a 161 on the December 2009 LSAT, 8 points higher than the 153 I scored on the February 2009 LSAT. For the December exam, I focused on developing a better strategy for the logic games section. I believe the new score is a better indicator for my potential to succeed in law school.

I don't think this is necessary at all. The 161 is so much higher that the committee can fill in the blanks themselves. I personally think this statement draws too much attention to the 153. Just ignore it. Don't worry about it. That's my advice. The admission committee will be much less focused on the 153 than you are. P.S. Good job getting a 161! Most people can not pull up their score like that. Good job.

For the 1998 Spring Semester at ******, I received a 1.67 GPA. This was due to a lack of maturity and a lack of effort. I was very disappointed with this performance and decided to dramatically increase my efforts and thus, I raised my GPA to a 4.0 for the following year, 1998-1999.

I would reword this slightly. The 4.0 the following year is an awesome accomplishment. Why not mention it first AND last.

Maybe... "I was happy to receive a 4.0 GPA in 98-99... something about having the low gpa being a call to action... and mention the 4.0 again"

The “C” I received in the upper division class, Politics 161 was due to extenuating circumstances. On 6/2/2000, the Friday evening before the final exam, I was leaving a party with some friends and we were attacked by a group of people. The police arrived and arrested one of the assailants who was later convicted of

This totally sounds like an awesome drunken brawl story... I would love to hear about it over lunch... However, we want to minimize the fact that you were coming out of a party. Just mention that you were assaulted, it was a challenge to overcome the situation, and that the C was a choice you made as opposed to taking a medical withdrawal the Friday before the final. Make it sound like you got a purple heart as opposed to a sweet drinking story.


Good luck! I hope the best for you.