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Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:42 pm
by Borhas
best poster on TLS
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:45 pm
by sarcasmpolice
I was shocked to find out you bottomed early in your illustrious career.
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:45 pm
by los blancos
They wouldn't. But you might get caught on it during C&F and thus render your pricey law degree useless.
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:47 pm
by SkiBumLawyer
I went to a Yale info session once and some dumbass asked the admissions rep this same question. He was not obviously going to Yale.
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:55 pm
by icydash
Peter North wrote:My sincere apologies if this query was raised at a prior occasion.
We all know that adcoms general prefer supporting documentation and sometimes they even go as far to ask for additional documentation that further substantiates the 'hardship' the applicant is alluding to (eg. tax records pointing to financial disadvantage, certified medical history/reports highlighting physical disability, etc......)
But what about in some cases where the adcoms may not be in a position to fully validate the authenticity of an applicant's "sob story" so to speak? Sure, the 'good faith doctrine' applies, the applicant swears to the truth of the content by way of his/her signature, etc.......... but what possible repercussion could be there other than to admit the applicant on compassionate grounds and then expel him/her from the law school, if found that content in his/her PS wasn't true?
Hypothetically speaking, if I were to say that I was the victim of an abusive wife (think: she physically & sexually assaulted me on a routine basis, she had abused my kids, she is a chronic drug abuser, etc) how would the adcoms actually know that I wasn't even married or didn't have any kids?
Two things:
(1) if you are serious with this post, you shouldn't be going to law school. A lot of law requires high ethical and moral standards......
(2) the truth is personal statements count for shit. The only time your personal statement makes any kind of remote difference is if you had the borderline correct stats for the school anyway (maybe above 50th percentile for both LSAT and GPA, and they're deciding between waitlist and acceptance anyway). Point being, it's not worth enough on your application to warrant the possible consequences of lying and getting kicked entirely out of law school, and probably never being able to go to another law school again/practice law.
The only thing that makes any kind of real difference is URM status, which I assure you they can and will verify.
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:02 pm
by avacado111
.....
deleted cuz i don't want to ignite an aa war....
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:03 pm
by Anastasia Dee Dualla
They verified mine. Seriously.
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:24 pm
by FCD
Anastasia Dee Dualla wrote:They verified mine. Seriously.
how?
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:02 pm
by jonas586
If you are indeed Peter North, I think you should have plenty of evidence to prove that your life has been "hard".
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:03 pm
by bees
Borhas wrote:best poster on TLS
+1
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:09 pm
by Ragged
bees wrote:Borhas wrote:best poster on TLS
+1
+2
Every post is a nail...
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:18 pm
by Anastasia Dee Dualla
FCD wrote:Anastasia Dee Dualla wrote:They verified mine. Seriously.
how?
Asking me in a sense to prove it! so i did...letters of verification from the state of XXXXXXXX. Though that might have more to do with fin aid...but they still asked.
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:44 pm
by icydash
For a PS the risk just doesn't warrant the reward. If i was going to try to game the system, it'd be for my GPA or LSAT or something somehow.
Lying on your personal statement is like writing that their school is your number one choice to every school. Adcoms know it's not true when they read it, and even if for a particular school it was true, it wouldn't do anything for your app unless they were borderline going to admit you anyway. The truth is most admissions may feel bad for you if you've had a hard life / etc, but they certainty won't admit you if your numbers are sub-par anyway.
Re: Do adcoms verify the authenticity of "hardships" on a PS?
Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 3:27 am
by existenz
Having a well-written and interesting (read: non-boring) PS is worth a hell of a lot more than some fake sob-story about your grandma dying or your wife being abusive.
That said, I love OP's posts. His tale of being distracted by hot chicks at the LSAT center still cracks me up.