Top Law Schools

So I have been sending in my stats and questions to different admission consultants to see what their reply is and try to get specifics on how they could be useful for me. I have some pretty good stats (AA male, 3.6ish, 177) but one of the problems with my app is 3 underage drinking tickets from when i was 18 and 19. The underage drinking violations are the main reason I am looking at consultants. A few consultants told me that I would likely be among the top 2 or 3 AA applicants, one even went as far as saying Harvard should be considered a safety.

A representative of these people: http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/la ... mittee.asp told me that, while the underage drinking tickets wont be that big of a deal, my GPA was little low and the GPA is what could give me a problem getting into T10 schools. Now I could accept that my GPA could possible be a problem at HYS and Berkeley but it seemed ridiculous for her to say the whole T10 could be a problem. Anyone looking at them as a consulting option should be very careful.

tkgrrett wrote:So I have been sending in my stats and questions to different admission consultants to see what their reply is and try to get specifics on how they could be useful for me. I have some pretty good stats (AA male, 3.6ish, 177) but one of the problems with my app is 3 underage drinking tickets from when i was 18 and 19. The underage drinking violations are the main reason I am looking at consultants. A few consultants told me that I would likely be among the top 2 or 3 AA applicants, one even went as far as saying Harvard should be considered a safety.

A representative of these people: http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/la ... mittee.asp told me that while the underage drinking tickets wont be that big of a deal my GPA was little low and the GPA is what could give me a problem getting into T10 schools. Now I could accept that my GPA could possible be a problem at HYS and Berkeley but it seemed ridiculous for her to say the whole T10 could be a problem. Anyone looking at them as a consulting option should be very careful.

Have fun at Yale.

rayiner wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:So I have been sending in my stats and questions to different admission consultants to see what their reply is and try to get specifics on how they could be useful for me. I have some pretty good stats (AA male, 3.6ish, 177) but one of the problems with my app is 3 underage drinking tickets from when i was 18 and 19. The underage drinking violations are the main reason I am looking at consultants. A few consultants told me that I would likely be among the top 2 or 3 AA applicants, one even went as far as saying Harvard should be considered a safety.

A representative of these people: http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/la ... mittee.asp told me that while the underage drinking tickets wont be that big of a deal my GPA was little low and the GPA is what could give me a problem getting into T10 schools. Now I could accept that my GPA could possible be a problem at HYS and Berkeley but it seemed ridiculous for her to say the whole T10 could be a problem. Anyone looking at them as a consulting option should be very careful.

Have fun at Yale.

I know this is TLS blasphemy.. but I doubt I will be applying. The consultant Im using (she agreed to represent me for very very cheap since, according to her, representing me would be good advertising for her business) limits the number of applications to 12 and the only possible way I would attend Yale is if i strike out on Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley and fail to get big scholarships at any of the other 6 T14 schools on my list.

Just apply to one of the schools without her help and use the help on Yale.

predetermined wrote:Why limit your apps to the number your consultant handles? Lots of us are sending out 12+ apps without a consultant.

And aside from the 250 word essay, it's not like you have to do much specific to the Yale app.

The contract I have with her specifically disallows applying to schools with her help and others without. I have no idea why but its no big deal to me since I have no intention of attending Yale. If I ended up at Yale, something went horribly horribly wrong.

tkgrrett wrote: If I ended up at Yale, something went horribly horribly wrong.

lmao. we're all so different

tkgrrett wrote:

predetermined wrote:Why limit your apps to the number your consultant handles? Lots of us are sending out 12+ apps without a consultant.

And aside from the 250 word essay, it's not like you have to do much specific to the Yale app.

The contract I have with her specifically disallows applying to schools with her help and others without. I have no idea why but its no big deal to me since I have no intention of attending Yale. If I ended up at Yale, something went horribly horribly wrong.

Sounds like a bunch of bullshit. I mean, I'm sure it's a common practice, but that's still lame.

Good luck with your cycle, though you probably don't need it.

predetermined wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:

predetermined wrote:Why limit your apps to the number your consultant handles? Lots of us are sending out 12+ apps without a consultant.

And aside from the 250 word essay, it's not like you have to do much specific to the Yale app.

The contract I have with her specifically disallows applying to schools with her help and others without. I have no idea why but its no big deal to me since I have no intention of attending Yale. If I ended up at Yale, something went horribly horribly wrong.

I guess you've got your reasons for not even considering Yale, but assuming you change your mind in the next 25 days, I'm pretty sure you could eke another app out of her for Yale. An acceptance there (which is very likely) would only help her advertising-wise.

Yeah, Im fairly certain she will be pushing me to apply to Yale. Not applying this cycle(2nd semester undergrad junior currently) so I have plenty of time if I suddenly feel I just HAVE to be at USNWRs number 1 school. Im a big proponent of the quality of life argument within a certain range of schools and Yale simply does not excite me.

tkgrrett wrote:Im a big proponent of the quality of life argument within a certain range of schools and Yale simply does not excite me.

haha. if you're looking for quality of life, apply SOLELY to Yale.

TLS.

Awful consultants, terrible advice. Would not offer their service to even my worst enemy.


But related:

You made a thread about consultants, don't offer any insight, and then at the very end you judge one of the consultants based on the FREE advice they gave you in passing? And 3.6x is below median in the T10 and if you weren't AA it COULD give you trouble, especially in combination with your underage drinking thing. Your LSAT and race are the things that will make those other considerations disappear.

Still, I'm really curious as to why you even felt you needed a consultant. Not to bash the profession, but they only thing consultants can really "sell" is their experience. And how much experience do they have with a 177 AA male who is only being held back by some drinking citations.

The fact is, the only thing holding you back from ANY of the T10, including Yale, is your citations. But there's plenty of free advice here, or you could just use your own intuition, and put in addendum about the drinking, it would only take a small paragraph to address. If you hadn't already chosen a consultant I'd say save your money and go it on your own.

Celibidache wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:Im a big proponent of the quality of life argument within a certain range of schools and Yale simply does not excite me.

haha. if you're looking for quality of life, apply SOLELY to Yale.

This. If we envy them a little, it's because they don't have to sit around waiting for their grades. Even friends at H are nervous about them, and they don't even have real GPAs.

OP, I wish you had found TLS first. We would have done all this (and probably much more) for free.

Sogui wrote:TLS.

Awful consultants, terrible advice. Would not offer their service to even my worst enemy.


But related:

You made a thread about consultants, don't offer any insight, and then at the very end you judge one of the consultants based on the FREE advice they gave you in passing? And 3.6x is below median in the T10 and if you weren't AA it COULD give you trouble, especially in combination with your underage drinking thing. Your LSAT and race are the things that will make those other considerations disappear.

Still, I'm really curious as to why you even felt you needed a consultant. Not to bash the profession, but they only thing consultants can really "sell" is their experience. And how much experience do they have with a 177 AA male who is only being held back by some drinking citations.

The fact is, the only thing holding you back from ANY of the T10, including Yale, is your citations. But there's plenty of free advice here, or you could just use your own intuition, and put in addendum about the drinking, it would only take a small paragraph to address. If you hadn't already chosen a consultant I'd say save your money and go it on your own.

Fair question, at the usual $2000+ rate I wouldve been hard pressed to pay for a consultant but this one gave me a very good deal. It seems like it would be easy for me to just use online information but there is simply not a lot of reliable information out there for an AA applying to T20 schools. In addition, I have a unique socially and educationally disadvantaged background that I believe would make a consultant useful at the price I am being offered. For me, its kinds of hard to tell a story about myself without an outside perspective to help me out. Im a first generation college student and I used a lot of online information when I applied to undergrad and made a lot of mistakes. All in all, I just find it a lot less stressful to have someone experienced leading me through the admissions process.

All.

Reading this thread makes me want to puke. If you cant write your own apps with those stats you dont deserve any of the T14. Im soory but it is ridiculous that you are using consultants and paying them to boot. Wow that business must be lucrative if they suckered an applicant like you into using them.

jayzon wrote:You don't need a consultant; you need some time on TLS.

Indeed.

Getting caught drinking three times should exclude you from everywhere, not because you drank underage, but because you got caught THREE times. Seriously?

I clicked on this thread thinking it would be about admission consultants, but clearly it is an attention grab for the OP. The first paragraph of the first post is mostly irrelevant to the second.

In any case, any URM with the numbers you claim using an admission consultant is a tool.

T14_Scholly wrote:I clicked on this thread thinking it would be about admission consultants, but clearly it is an attention grab for the OP. The first paragraph of the first post is mostly irrelevant to the second.

In any case, any URM with the numbers you claim using an admission consultant is a tool.

Yea.. this is exactly why I dont trust using TLS.. I thought this thread was relevant because about a week ago I saw another poster asking about admission consultants. I figured that poster wasnt the only one wondering. TLS isnt as all knowing about admission issues as you all I seem to think. I have seen a lot on here that is just absolutely incorrect.

Let me tell you something that is correct.

Every school in the country will be foaming at the mouth for you. A black dude with a 3.6 and a 177 C'mon Son! You already know you dont need an admissions consultant. All you need to do is submit your apps, after about a week they will all be knocking your door down with offers. Dont waste money on a consultant.

tkgrrett wrote:

T14_Scholly wrote:I clicked on this thread thinking it would be about admission consultants, but clearly it is an attention grab for the OP. The first paragraph of the first post is mostly irrelevant to the second.

In any case, any URM with the numbers you claim using an admission consultant is a tool.

Yea.. this is exactly why I dont trust using TLS.. I thought this thread was relevant because about a week ago I saw another poster asking about admission consultants. I figured that poster wasnt the only one wondering. TLS isnt as all knowing about admission issues as you all I seem to think. I have seen a lot on here that is just absolutely incorrect.

What are some examples of advice you've seen on here that is incorrect according to what you've been told by consultants?

IDILL_E wrote:Let me tell you something that is correct.

Every school in the country will be foaming at the mouth for you. A black with a 3.6 and a 177 C'mon Son! You already know you dont need an admissions consultant. All you need to do is submit and your apps, after about a week they will all be knocking your door down with offers. Dont waste money on a consultant.

Even tho IDILL_E is egregiously wrong sometimes,

+100 to this

/Thread

hmm.. now you guys have me second guessing myself.. my contract doesnt begin til March 1st(after the current admission cycle) so I havent made the payment yet...

Good luck to you. But before you write a check, I would try to renegotiate that clause about not applying anywhere on your own. If you're that valuable as a potential reference/case study, then that gives you leverage--assuming you haven't used it all up on whatever price break you got.

Standard practice or not, everything's negotiable.

Why pay for a consultant? Is there a lack of pre-law advisors at your school? Books about the admissions process should be sufficient. Also with your numbers you do not need someone telling you to only apply to 12 schools. You have a real shot at any t14. You should reach out to other AA URMS in law school currently. Get their perspective on your personal statement or how to tell your story. Utilize the resources you have. Do what you feel you need to do but don't get stuck in a contract you are not 100 percent about.

Seriously man, ditch the consultant thing and pocket the money. If you check LSN at all you'll see that non-URMs with those numbers are routinely accepted to Harvard. With your URM status, your an absolute 100% lock for any of those schools. It's easier to predict than Brown over Coakley.

Plus, you still have time to boost your GPA with a little hard work in school. I expect you'll be offered the Hamilton, Levi, etc. Whatever full-ride scholarship they have will be offered to you. As long as you can scribble a few semi-coherent paragraphs, you'll be on a full-ride to any T10 or accepted at HYS. But maybe you want us fawning over you?