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notify Law schools when applying about very rigorous courses you took--and excelled at--in UG?

Do you use the PS, an addendum, what? I feel like it's important information; getting A+s in extremely demanding classes makes a good case for your likely level of Law school competency.

Everyone trying to get into LS has done well in a hard class. If you can make an individual PS about it, do it, but it has a high likelihood of sucking.

The classes im talking about were extremely rigorous--not your "everyone applying to law school has taken" kind, I promise.

Describe the class. If it's extremely rigorous, it might make a good PS.

Then get that professor to write you a LOR. Writing an addendum or making it a PS will make you seem like a jerk.

Hannibal wrote:Describe the class. If it's extremely rigorous, it might make a good PS.

Well, ok: basically, without going into too much detail, you read on average 17-20 full books in ten weeks; usually coming out to about 75 pages per night, every night, including weekends, for the whole quarter. Class meets twice a week and you get quizzed on little details of the reading due for that day (in excess of 300 pages).

Basically, a hell of a lot of work and I took six of them. If I'm totally wrong and this kind of rigor is common don't hit me too hard, lol.

dooterdude11 wrote:

Hannibal wrote:Describe the class. If it's extremely rigorous, it might make a good PS.

Well, ok: basically, without going into too much detail, you read on average 17-20 full books in ten weeks; usually coming out to about 75 pages per night, every night, including weekends, for the whole quarter. Class meets twice a week and you get quizzed on little details of the reading due for that day (in excess of 300 pages).

Basically, a hell of a lot of work and I took six of them. If I'm totally wrong and this kind of rigor is common don't hit me too hard, lol.

I wouldn't say it's common, but I did two just like that. I almost wonder if we were in the same class. I tried to write a PS about it but got bad reviews from pretty much everyone. Good luck.

Come on man! Seriously?

Schools could care less about the difficulty of the class. If you excelled in them theres no reason to tell them that. You think youll get extra points because the class was hard? No dice son.

You know what though? Do it. Write an addendum for this. I'd love to see what happens.

gdane5 wrote:Come on man! Seriously?

Schools could care less about the difficulty of the class. If you excelled in them theres no reason to tell them that. You think youll get extra points because the class was hard? No dice son.

You know what though? Do it. Write an addendum for this. I'd love to see what happens.

Really? So it I got straight A's with a basket weaving major as opposed to a Bio chem major no school would care?

dooterdude11 wrote:

gdane5 wrote:Come on man! Seriously?

Schools could care less about the difficulty of the class. If you excelled in them theres no reason to tell them that. You think youll get extra points because the class was hard? No dice son.

You know what though? Do it. Write an addendum for this. I'd love to see what happens.

Really? So it I got straight A's with a basket weaving major as opposed to a Bio chem major no school would care?

Not really. Welcome to law school admissions. It's a numbers game.

Yes, that's a lot of reading, but I wouldn't say it's exceptionally rigorous. Your best option here is to get that professor to write you a letter of recommendation, and have them explain the course, how you excelled, and how it shows you're prepared for law school. That amount of reading is great preparation for law school, but let the professor describe it. If that's not an option, I think any attempts you make to describe it will fall flat. In my opinion, it'd sound too much like "But look how haaard these classes were!!" (Even though I know that's not your intention.)

Hannibal wrote:

dooterdude11 wrote:

gdane5 wrote:Come on man! Seriously?

Schools could care less about the difficulty of the class. If you excelled in them theres no reason to tell them that. You think youll get extra points because the class was hard? No dice son.

You know what though? Do it. Write an addendum for this. I'd love to see what happens.

Really? So it I got straight A's with a basket weaving major as opposed to a Bio chem major no school would care?

Not really. Welcome to law school admissions. It's a numbers game.

Wow that is really funny. Thanks for the info guys.

Also, it's difficult to summon sympathy for someone whose school offered A+s.

Seriously though, any attempt to make this argument in a personal statement or addendum will come off as over compensation.

While that is definitely a decent amount of reading, I wouldn't consider it something to brag about to law schools. It's not highly unusual. Even if adcomms do think think the class was extremely difficult, I highly doubt that it will do anything for your application whatsoever. I was kind of the same as you in that I began trying to split hairs in order to improve my application in any way possible, but in the end the only things that will matter are LSAT/GPA and maybe a VERY good soft (i.e. Peace Corps or Teach for America). The simple truth is that most applicants all have a little something special about their app, so you have to have done something pretty important for your soft(s) to matter.

Yeah, this is all pretty good stuff guys--thanks.

dooterdude11 wrote:

Hannibal wrote:

dooterdude11 wrote:

gdane5 wrote:Come on man! Seriously?

Schools could care less about the difficulty of the class. If you excelled in them theres no reason to tell them that. You think youll get extra points because the class was hard? No dice son.

You know what though? Do it. Write an addendum for this. I'd love to see what happens.

Really? So it I got straight A's with a basket weaving major as opposed to a Bio chem major no school would care?

Not really. Welcome to law school admissions. It's a numbers game.

Wow that is really funny. Thanks for the info guys.

You must be fairly new to TLS. Before I found this site, I always thought that these types of things will help. Schools always try to act as though they care about softs, but it's pretty clear from looking at LSN that they don't. Reason being, softs can't be quantified the way your numbers can for US News rankings - The Holy Grail for law schools.

Edit: Not to stalk your posts or anything, but I noticed that you have a 4.0 and a 171. You're fine.

dooterdude11 wrote:

gdane5 wrote:Come on man! Seriously?

Schools could care less about the difficulty of the class. If you excelled in them theres no reason to tell them that. You think youll get extra points because the class was hard? No dice son.

You know what though? Do it. Write an addendum for this. I'd love to see what happens.

Really? So it I got straight A's with a basket weaving major as opposed to a Bio chem major no school would care?

you may think your udegree was more rigorous than my basket weaving degree, but you never had to take the underwater portion.

eskimo wrote:Then get that professor to write you a LOR. Writing an addendum or making it a PS will make you seem like a jerk.

This.

Don't do this...especially if the numbers cited by the other poster were true. It's just unnecessary.

billyez wrote:Don't do this...especially if the numbers cited by the other poster were true. It's just unnecessary.

Yeah, given the near uniformity of opinion expressed here so far, I won't. I do have a 4.0 and 171 but I'm shooting for Berkeley or Stanford and I hear they're notorious for not playing the numbers game. Wondering how to make the app better is all

dooterdude11 wrote:

billyez wrote:Don't do this...especially if the numbers cited by the other poster were true. It's just unnecessary.

Yeah, given the near uniformity of opinion expressed here so far, I won't. I do have a 4.0 and 171 but I'm shooting for Berkeley or Stanford and I hear they're notorious for not playing the numbers game. Wondering how to make the app better is all

LOL.

Hannibal wrote:

dooterdude11 wrote:

billyez wrote:Don't do this...especially if the numbers cited by the other poster were true. It's just unnecessary.

Yeah, given the near uniformity of opinion expressed here so far, I won't. I do have a 4.0 and 171 but I'm shooting for Berkeley or Stanford and I hear they're notorious for not playing the numbers game. Wondering how to make the app better is all

LOL.

What?

I don't know what Hannibal means precisely, but I did find it a little funny that you seem to have taken the opposite reaction that's common to those who are presumed to have a more "holistic" approach. Last cycle, I heard people with lower numbers than usual (for those kinds of schools) saying they would apply to certain schools precisely because those places were known for "looking beyond the numbers."

Here, we have someone with very, very high numbers - who will most certianly get at least a 75% scholaship from one or more of the T14 - seeing this "holistic" process as a cause of concern and a reason why they need to make their app better. Maybe it's because I've been through the nonsense of the application season on here already, but it's a little funny.

Anyway, get good LOR's and send your app's early. Have a decent PS...and you're done.

You have really awesome numbers. DO. NOT. WASTE YOUR PS ON THIS. It would be a crime.

Hannibal wrote:You have really awesome numbers. DO. NOT. WASTE YOUR PS ON THIS. It would be a crime.

QFT. Assemble a stellar application and reap the rewards.

And as was mentioned previously, most students have taken extremely difficult courses. Schools like Stanford and Berkeley will take not if the course is truly noteworthy.