Top Law Schools

Does anybody have any first-hand experience applying to Yale after having taken a prep course (and have an opinion on whether or not it affected their admission/rejection?)

OR

Does anybody have an opinion as to whether or not it does substantially affect admissions decisions?

I am particularly interested in how this might affect the admission/rejection of URMS...

bump

Stanford414 wrote:Does anybody have any first-hand experience applying to Yale after having taken a prep course (and have an opinion on whether or not it affected their admission/rejection?)

OR

Does anybody have an opinion as to whether or not it does substantially affect admissions decisions?

I am particularly interested in how this might affect the admission/rejection of URMS...

They will, naturally, value your LSAT score slightly more if you haven't taken a course. I think that is BS because the course I took didn't help me at all. That said, don't lie. It's a pretty easy thing to get caught with.

I actually had this same question.
I was thinking about omitting, because I agree that if it's used in an admission's decision then it's used unfairly. Is it unwise to omit? I think I read that they require an answer for all questions in that #3 - 7 section (not sure what numbers exactly)

Fresh wrote:I actually had this same question.
I was thinking about omitting, because I agree that if it's used in an admission's decision then it's used unfairly. Is it unwise to omit? I think I read that they require an answer for all questions in that #3 - 7 section (not sure what numbers exactly)

If you omit, they will just assume you did, or are too incompetent to fill the app out correctly, which is worse.

I think that is BS because the course I took didn't help me at all.

I know what you mean

I was honest with them (used T-M), and it didn't hurt me. I think they're just curious.

d34dluk3 wrote: If you omit, they will just assume you did, or are too incompetent to fill the app out correctly, which is worse.

Actually they probably won't just assume I did, considering the reality that test prep courses are most often a reflection of socioeconomic status, in which case they'd assume I didn't.

And do you really think intentionally omitting a question demonstrates incompetency? You're probably just joking

BioEBear2010 wrote:I was honest with them (used T-M), and it didn't hurt me. I think they're just curious.

thanks!

Fresh wrote:

d34dluk3 wrote: If you omit, they will just assume you did, or are too incompetent to fill the app out correctly, which is worse.

Actually they probably won't just assume I did, considering the reality that test prep courses are most often a reflection of socioeconomic status, in which case they'd assume I didn't.

And do you really think intentionally omitting a question demonstrates incompetency? You're probably just joking

I dunno, I would assume the only reason to omit the question is because you're some nutjob that thinks answering it will invalidate your score because you took a course.

paratactical wrote:

Fresh wrote:

d34dluk3 wrote: If you omit, they will just assume you did, or are too incompetent to fill the app out correctly, which is worse.

Actually they probably won't just assume I did, considering the reality that test prep courses are most often a reflection of socioeconomic status, in which case they'd assume I didn't.

And do you really think intentionally omitting a question demonstrates incompetency? You're probably just joking

I dunno, I would assume the only reason to omit the question is because you're some nutjob that thinks answering it will invalidate your score because you took a course.

or some nutjob that doesn't want that factor to be considered in their admissions decision. the same type of person that might omit their race??

Fresh wrote:

d34dluk3 wrote: If you omit, they will just assume you did, or are too incompetent to fill the app out correctly, which is worse.

Actually they probably won't just assume I did, considering the reality that test prep courses are most often a reflection of socioeconomic status, in which case they'd assume I didn't.

And do you really think intentionally omitting a question demonstrates incompetency? You're probably just joking

I think if I were the Dean of Admissions at the most prestigious law school in the country, and I gave applicants a simple 12 step application (or whatever it is), I would be very unimpressed with anyone who was unable to fill it out correctly.

Asha is on record saying that even one typo or grammatical error is unacceptable. How is this any different?

Fresh wrote:
or some nutjob that doesn't want that factor to be considered in their admissions decision. the same type of person that might omit their race??

notsureifsrs.jpg

d34dluk3 wrote:

Fresh wrote:

d34dluk3 wrote: If you omit, they will just assume you did, or are too incompetent to fill the app out correctly, which is worse.

Actually they probably won't just assume I did, considering the reality that test prep courses are most often a reflection of socioeconomic status, in which case they'd assume I didn't.

And do you really think intentionally omitting a question demonstrates incompetency? You're probably just joking

I think if I were the Dean of Admissions at the most prestigious law school in the country, and I gave applicants a simple 12 step application (or whatever it is), I would be very unimpressed with anyone who was unable to fill it out correctly.

Asha is on record saying that even one typo or grammatical error is unacceptable. How is this any different?

sorry to derail. even though i understand that, yes, this is yale and all your applications should be 100% perfect, i think that getting bent out of shape about a typo is absurd. /rant

cortnf wrote:sorry to derail. even though i understand that, yes, this is yale and all your applications should be 100% perfect, i think that getting bent out of shape about a typo is absurd. /rant

You realize you're applying for a profession in which a typo can end your career, right?

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/12/drafting ... a-dodgers/

d34dluk3 wrote:

cortnf wrote:sorry to derail. even though i understand that, yes, this is yale and all your applications should be 100% perfect, i think that getting bent out of shape about a typo is absurd. /rant

You realize you're applying for a profession in which a typo can end your career, right?

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/12/drafting ... a-dodgers/

that doesn't look like a typo to me, "inclusive vs. exclusive" seems more like a poor grasp of the language.

cortnf wrote:

d34dluk3 wrote:

cortnf wrote:sorry to derail. even though i understand that, yes, this is yale and all your applications should be 100% perfect, i think that getting bent out of shape about a typo is absurd. /rant

You realize you're applying for a profession in which a typo can end your career, right?

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/12/drafting ... a-dodgers/

that doesn't look like a typo to me, "inclusive vs. exclusive" seems more like a poor grasp of the language.

Cool, man. Feel free to write Asha a letter and let her know her standards are unfair. I'm sure she'll appreciate it.

Just so you 2014ers know, many of the students who were accepted to YLS last cycle (myself included) had somewhat egregious typos on their applications (look at the 2013 thread if you have the time/interest). Precision is important, but it's not everything.

read ashas blog post

Stanford414 wrote:Does anybody have any first-hand experience applying to Yale after having taken a prep course (and have an opinion on whether or not it affected their admission/rejection?)

OR

Does anybody have an opinion as to whether or not it does substantially affect admissions decisions?

I am particularly interested in how this might affect the admission/rejection of URMS...

I just got in and took a Kaplan prep course. I disclosed this in a brief, one sentence answer to that question. I don't think it's necessarily something that will count against you — they just want as much information as possible before they make a decision.