Veterans Thread Forum

[dvjn69]

Hello everyone!

I'm a little late to the forum, but here are my numbers:

Army SSG with 5 1/2 years (Military Police)
158 LSAT
3.71 LSDAS (3.92 Cumulative)
15 month deployment to Iraq
Political Science (with Honors)from AMU (yes, that online one...) while on Active Duty
Going for 2nd Bachelor's (gotta do something with the $4500 per year....)

Accepted:
Stetson (unknown)
Florida International ($10,000)
Florida Coastal ($31,000)
Charlotte School of Law ($31,000)
Phoenix (unknown $)

Waitlisted:
UGA

No Decision Yet:
Florida
Florida State
Alabama

I have an account (same name) on LSN. I'll try to be pretty active on here, so PM me or reply if anyone has any q's or wants to chat.

[WannaGo]

Hey guys....I'm so glad to see a military thread!

I'm wondering how much emphasis everyone placed on their military experience in their PS. I kind of glossed over it and I'm wondering...How big of a mistake did I make?

I mentioned my awards (NAMs) on my resume as bullet points and have an LOR from my department head but my PS only had one or two sentences where I mentioned earning college credit while in.

Did anyone else focus on something other than their military service in their PS? Any successes?

*Keeping my fingers crossed for everyone*

[ahnhub]

Hey guys....I'm so glad to see a military thread!

I'm wondering how much emphasis everyone placed on their military experience in their PS. I kind of glossed over it and I'm wondering...How big of a mistake did I make?

I mentioned my awards (NAMs) on my resume as bullet points and have an LOR from my department head but my PS only had one or two sentences where I mentioned earning college credit while in.

Did anyone else focus on something other than their military service in their PS? Any successes?

*Keeping my fingers crossed for everyone*

I think most of us write about military stuff on PS because it seems the natural direction to go, and the most likely thing to capture someone's interest. What do you mean by "gloss" over it? If you don't mind revealing, what did you write your PS about? (You can PM me if you're not comfortable sharing)

[ehall20]

Air Force E-4 with 4 years TIS (Satcom)

I'm finishing up a six year enlistment. Right now I'm on my second deployment, the first was OIF non-combat with an army signal battalion (9 months) and this one is Africa.
UG GPA: 3.9, right now I'm finishing up the last 21 credits required to graduate through UMUC. I'll be taking the LSAT this october, and I just started studying for it. My first diagnostic was a 158. I'm hoping to improve this number up to 17X to give me a decent shot at some T6 schools (Looking particularly towards Stanford/Chicago if I score high enough).
Good luck to everyone here on getting in/succeeding in your target schools!

EDIT: Woohoo! Just did my second diagnostic after going through the logic reasoning bible and bumped my score up to a 170. Will take another practice test under timed conditions next week to be sure it wasn't a fluke.

[JCFindley]

Cool a vet thread.....

I am a little non traditional even as the military folks go because I am OLD!

Retired from the KS Air National Guard as an 0-4
Pilot/Instructor Pilot in B1-Bs, T-37s, T-38s, and the KC-135
21 years worth of stuff
3.4 GPA in math from Auburn University
Will find out what my LSAT is tomorrow.
Will also send out my rather late apps tomorrow depending on that score.

I have not decided on a PS yet. Most of the ones I have written do not focus on military events because I figured that is covered well in my resume. Should I rethink that?

Anyway, good to see so many of yall here.

JC

[03121202698008]

Cool a vet thread.....

I am a little non traditional even as the military folks go because I am OLD!

Retired from the KS Air National Guard as an 0-4
Pilot/Instructor Pilot in B1-Bs, T-37s, T-38s, and the KC-135
21 years worth of stuff
3.4 GPA in math from Auburn University
Will find out what my LSAT is tomorrow.
Will also send out my rather late apps tomorrow depending on that score.

I have not decided on a PS yet. Most of the ones I have written do not focus on military events because I figured that is covered well in my resume. Should I rethink that?

Anyway, good to see so many of yall here.

JC

Wait until next year. You're applying really really late. Any school worthy of going to have filled their class or has 20x more people in the pile ahead of you than they need to fill their class. Its rolling admissions. For the best odds, you need to apply in the Oct/Nov time frame...certainly by Christmas.

[JCFindley]

Cool a vet thread.....

I am a little non traditional even as the military folks go because I am OLD!

Retired from the KS Air National Guard as an 0-4
Pilot/Instructor Pilot in B1-Bs, T-37s, T-38s, and the KC-135
21 years worth of stuff
3.4 GPA in math from Auburn University
Will find out what my LSAT is tomorrow.
Will also send out my rather late apps tomorrow depending on that score.

I have not decided on a PS yet. Most of the ones I have written do not focus on military events because I figured that is covered well in my resume. Should I rethink that?

Anyway, good to see so many of yall here.

JC

Wait until next year. You're applying really really late. Any school worthy of going to have filled their class or has 20x more people in the pile ahead of you than they need to fill their class. Its rolling admissions. For the best odds, you need to apply in the Oct/Nov time frame...certainly by Christmas.

I am not against sitting out a cycle completely but to me it seems a little like giving up without trying. I figure I don't have much to lose but my app fee and am only sending out apps to schools I would actually want to go to. Not to mention, at 47 sitting out a year might put me in a nursing home.

So, I will throw out a few hail marries and see what happens. If I don't score, then I will look at getting better players for next season.

JC

[03121202698008]

Cool a vet thread.....

I am a little non traditional even as the military folks go because I am OLD!

Retired from the KS Air National Guard as an 0-4
Pilot/Instructor Pilot in B1-Bs, T-37s, T-38s, and the KC-135
21 years worth of stuff
3.4 GPA in math from Auburn University
Will find out what my LSAT is tomorrow.
Will also send out my rather late apps tomorrow depending on that score.

I have not decided on a PS yet. Most of the ones I have written do not focus on military events because I figured that is covered well in my resume. Should I rethink that?

Anyway, good to see so many of yall here.

JC

Wait until next year. You're applying really really late. Any school worthy of going to have filled their class or has 20x more people in the pile ahead of you than they need to fill their class. Its rolling admissions. For the best odds, you need to apply in the Oct/Nov time frame...certainly by Christmas.

I am not against sitting out a cycle completely but to me it seems a little like giving up without trying. I figure I don't have much to lose but my app fee and am only sending out apps to schools I would actually want to go to. Not to mention, at 47 sitting out a year might put me in a nursing home.

So, I will throw out a few hail marries and see what happens. If I don't score, then I will look at getting better players for next season.

JC

Just don't sell yourself short. Pedigree of the school matters a lot. If you end up with an LSAT that will get you into the T14, don't settle for another school simply because you got in this year and aren't opposed to going there.

If you haven't written your PS, have you gotten LORs and such in already? That can take months... (Writing my PS took the better part of a month between drafts, edits, etc.)

[JCFindley]

Roger that....

Everything is basically ready to hit send on. Though I continue to tweak the PS and come up with new ones that might be better....

To be honest Fordham ranks higher than the T-14s for me unless NYU, Columbia or Duke were to make up the difference between the GI Bill + YRP. I am to old to be taking on LS debt.

JC

[03121202698008]

Roger that....

Everything is basically ready to hit send on. Though I continue to tweak the PS and come up with new ones that might be better....

To be honest Fordham ranks higher than the T-14s for me unless NYU, Columbia or Duke were to make up the difference between the GI Bill + YRP. I am to old to be taking on LS debt.

JC

Keep in mind, public schools are free with the Post 9/11. I go for free and get $10K a semester in scholarships back from Michigan. Plus BAH.

[JCFindley]

Now, getting scholarship money back changes the playing field a bit.....

Thanks for the gouge...

[03121202698008]

Now, getting scholarship money back changes the playing field a bit.....

Thanks for the gouge...

This only works if the scholarship is classified right. The GI Bill is now a last payer. Michigan and a few other schools have changed theirs to allow refunds. However, you'd have to check with each school's veteran coordinator.

[ahnhub]

So...it looks like Columbia is giving some vet love this cycle. 170/3.8x, got in today. Army E-5.

[sgt101st]

So...it looks like Columbia is giving some vet love this cycle. 170/3.8x, got in today. Army E-5.

Gaaah nice! 169/3.8x(institution)3.2x(LSDAS) and got wait listed. So pretty sure the WL was only from military experience.

[JCFindley]

So...it looks like Columbia is giving some vet love this cycle. 170/3.8x, got in today. Army E-5.

CONGRATS

[Kring345]

So...it looks like Columbia is giving some vet love this cycle. 170/3.8x, got in today. Army E-5.

CONGRATS

I'll likely be attending CLS. Shoot me a PM if you want to.

[Aeroneous]

So...it looks like Columbia is giving some vet love this cycle. 170/3.8x, got in today. Army E-5.

Gaaah nice! 169/3.8x(institution)3.2x(LSDAS) and got wait listed. So pretty sure the WL was only from military experience.

Just curious because we have a similar GPA situation, did you have an upward GPA trend? If so, did you write an addendum about it?

[Kring345]

All that they care about is the LSDAS, that's probably why.

[sgt101st]

So...it looks like Columbia is giving some vet love this cycle. 170/3.8x, got in today. Army E-5.

Gaaah nice! 169/3.8x(institution)3.2x(LSDAS) and got wait listed. So pretty sure the WL was only from military experience.

Just curious because we have a similar GPA situation, did you have an upward GPA trend? If so, did you write an addendum about it?

Yeah, upward trend (3.6x, 3.7x, 3.8x, 4.0). I would say that it's a bit of a catch-22. I think my military exp is the only reason I got a WL instead of rejection from CLS, but it wasn't enough to offset the LSDAS because a 3.8x that I have with a 169 would normally be good to go for a military applicant based on LSN. Just never know though.

[rckybbby]

I outperformed my numbers, I think it was due to experience/ resume. Ill never really know how much I outperformed, cause when I got what I wanted I withdrew everywhere else. I'm talking t1-2 range so this may not help any of you.

[Scout04]

5 years Army/3+ years post army WE - Planning on applying next cycle. Because of my ROTC scholarship, I'm only eligible for 40% Post 9-11 GI. I think that puts me out of the running for the YR program, right? Does anyone know any other programs that help make up the tuition difference? Anyone else going to school on a partial GI like I will be? I'd like to hear how the whole thing works.

[zander4404]

.

[JCFindley]

5 years Army/3+ years post army WE - Planning on applying next cycle. Because of my ROTC scholarship, I'm only eligible for 40% Post 9-11 GI. I think that puts me out of the running for the YR program, right? Does anyone know any other programs that help make up the tuition difference? Anyone else going to school on a partial GI like I will be? I'd like to hear how the whole thing works.

From what I have seen on here schools are VERY liberal with their money if you 1.) Apply early in the cycle and 2.)Improve their stats. If you study your A off for the LSAT that can mean a lot of money from schools you wouldn't expect. (Or at least I had no idea they did that.....)

Once you have the LSAT score look at schools that you are above the median on both that and the GPA and preferably above their 75th percentile. It is likely that you will find schools that give you enough money to cover the difference. Even if your GPA is low and your LSAT is way high splitter friendly schools are still within your reach with scholarships.

JC

[bacchusbrown]

Hello all,

Just checking out this forum...lots of good info for prospective law folks.

Me:

-USCG, E-5, Logistics/Finance job, 8 years service
-EOE coming up and going to attend Campbell Univ. Trust and Wealth Management program (Pre-Law)

Post 911 GI Bill footing the bill for the undergrad remainder (2 years), if none left after that the Yellow Ribbon Program comes into effect. VA counselor from Campbell U in NC talks of covering all 3 years of Campbell Law via YRP. Also a plus that scholarships awarded and fed aid will allow to conserve some of that GI money.

Is anyone here attending or attended LS with a family? Im married, 32 yrs old, 3 kids. Just curious to see how you managed and any advice...Upon separation from Military, staying in the Reserves but im already 32 yrs old and dont like the idea of making a LS dream happen in my mid to late 40's upon active retirement, just my 2 cents! The post 911 Bill is a godsend for me allowing me to attend fulltime AND get the housing allowance, etc.

Cumulative GPA of Colleges/U's ive attended thus far = 3.7

[03121202698008]

Hello all,

Just checking out this forum...lots of good info for prospective law folks.

Me:

-USCG, E-5, Logistics/Finance job, 8 years service
-EOE coming up and going to attend Campbell Univ. Trust and Wealth Management program (Pre-Law)

Post 911 GI Bill footing the bill for the undergrad remainder (2 years), if none left after that the Yellow Ribbon Program comes into effect. VA counselor from Campbell U in NC talks of covering all 3 years of Campbell Law via YRP. Also a plus that scholarships awarded and fed aid will allow to conserve some of that GI money.

Is anyone here attending or attended LS with a family? Im married, 32 yrs old, 3 kids. Just curious to see how you managed and any advice...Upon separation from Military, staying in the Reserves but im already 32 yrs old and dont like the idea of making a LS dream happen in my mid to late 40's upon active retirement, just my 2 cents! The post 911 Bill is a godsend for me allowing me to attend fulltime AND get the housing allowance, etc.

Cumulative GPA of Colleges/U's ive attended thus far = 3.7

Um, you can't use the YRP after your entitlement is used up. It simply allows the school to split te excess over what your entitlement covers. I wouldn't waste your GI Bill on undergrad unless it's really expensive. I'd save it for law school.