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Let's share the mistakes we made during the past cycle with this year's applicants.

I waited until October (after taking the LSAT) to ask for LORs, and it took forever for my LOR writers to send in their letters.

waited until 2 weeks after getting my October LSAT score to apply. Didn't write any LOCI for waitlists I was on. Didn't write a single Why X essay and wrote both PS/DS in a 3 day span and didn't edit them. amidoingitrite?

Didn't find TLS until late in the cycle...remained in denial about career prospects from lower Tier 1 schools for too long

moomoo.

Would you recommend sending in applications before october lsat score is released or waiting until the day they are released to submit apps

Doesn't matter either way IMO. They won't consider your application as complete without an LSAT score, and I'm not even sure that LSAC will let you apply without a reportable LSAT score. If it does/you have a previous LSAT score and you send in the app early then you still have to wait for your new LSAT score to complete the application. I suppose the only advantage would be that they already have all the parts in and they're just waiting for your new LSAT score, but it might take just as long for them to receive the score and complete your file as it would to simply send everything in with your new score.

My mistake was just fiddling around for 2 weeks after getting my score and waiting until late November to apply when I could have done so in the first week of November.

- Not getting academic LORs (although this would have been near-impossible since I graduated in 2002 and don't even remember my professors' names).
- Not writing optional essays.
- Not writing LOCIs for WLs.
- Not using Pithypike's (or any) plan to study for the LSAT. If I got the score I did with such a half-assed effort, what could I have scored if I'd done the thing properly?

I don't think I would have chosen any of the higher-ranked schools on my list over Northwestern, but I do think I underperformed my numbers slightly. And these are my theories why. (Well, not the LSAT study one.)

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thelawschoolproject wrote: And, lastly, my undergrad didn't have a pre-law advisor

That's likely a blessing in disguise. Many of them have no clue what they're talking about and give advice that sends people down the wrong path. Without an advisor, you probably stumbled upon this site faster, which contains better information than many will give you.

bp shinners wrote:

thelawschoolproject wrote: And, lastly, my undergrad didn't have a pre-law advisor

That's likely a blessing in disguise. Many of them have no clue what they're talking about and give advice that sends people down the wrong path. Without an advisor, you probably stumbled upon this site faster, which contains better information than many will give you.

+1. I've sent 3 emails to my pre-law advisor...he hasnt returned a single one

I wouldn't have waited until Christmas to apply.

Also, would have placed mutliple deposits at schools to continue negotiation later and possibly get a better scholarship.

ETA: wish I had applied to a few higher ranked schools rather than assuming there was no chance and trying to save a little $.

I only found this site after I had sent in my apps, so I didn't think to retake the LSAT a third time. I wish I had.

Found TLS late in cycle. Didn't realize being a URM mattered as much as it does and therefore didn't aim high enough.

Still at a great school but probably could have been at the best.

shoeshine wrote:Found TLS late in cycle. Didn't realize being a URM mattered as much as it does and therefore didn't aim high enough.

Still at a great school but probably could have been at the best.

u coulda got into Yale?

thederangedwang wrote:

shoeshine wrote:Found TLS late in cycle. Didn't realize being a URM mattered as much as it does and therefore didn't aim high enough.

Still at a great school but probably could have been at the best.

u coulda got into Yale?

LOL, probably not but maybe one of HYS.

I at least should have thrown apps at them.

thederangedwang wrote:

bp shinners wrote:

thelawschoolproject wrote: And, lastly, my undergrad didn't have a pre-law advisor

That's likely a blessing in disguise. Many of them have no clue what they're talking about and give advice that sends people down the wrong path. Without an advisor, you probably stumbled upon this site faster, which contains better information than many will give you.

+1. I've sent 3 emails to my pre-law advisor...he hasnt returned a single one

Me too. I have no idea who this guy even is. Nobody has even heard of him.

I didn't apply to a bunch of schools in my target/reach range (UVA, Penn, Duke) because of laziness.

I didn't apply to a couple of schools (Berkeley and NYU) until late December.

Should've retaken (chasing scholarship money), should've applied to Penn (chasing scholarship money), should've stayed on the Chicago waitlist (chasing scholarship money).

Opie wrote:

thederangedwang wrote:

bp shinners wrote:

thelawschoolproject wrote: And, lastly, my undergrad didn't have a pre-law advisor

That's likely a blessing in disguise. Many of them have no clue what they're talking about and give advice that sends people down the wrong path. Without an advisor, you probably stumbled upon this site faster, which contains better information than many will give you.

+1. I've sent 3 emails to my pre-law advisor...he hasnt returned a single one

Me too. I have no idea who this guy even is. Nobody has even heard of him.

Mine is a Math professor lol

Shouldnt have applied to soo many safety schools. Even with the fee waivers, the $12 per app to send your LSAC report add up.

also, should have got my deans cert in a lot quicker. Deans dont understand that, with each day they dont send in your certification, your chances of being admitted go down

Well, I thought in March that late apps (most in by Feb 1) were the stupidest thing ever, and that I should have saved the $700 I sunk into applications last cycle since I was just going to do it all again. But things somehow worked out for me. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, and you have to have a gameplan and say no to what may seem like very tempting offers. (For me, about half tuition at a T25 and sticker at NU.) I also sent a LOCI to Cornell sometime in late April before they had made a decision on me, and told them all about how much I wanted to go to Northwestern. Brushed that WL off pretty quickly.

Basically, I ended up at my first choice, but I had to fight tooth and nail to get there. I did not apply strategically: T14 and then lower T1 safeties, with only 1 T25. I didn't apply to my alma mater because I heard a silly rumor that they didn't like accepting their undergrads (found out later through TLS wisdom that they're actually quite fond of their undergrads). That's the only place in the T14 I regret not applying to, but I would have gladly thrown some apps to 16-25 to have some scholarship offers to show off. I'm pretty sure earlier apps would have netted me basically in the same place, maybe with more money but most likely not. And I am so happy with my extra year off. I'm already having nightmares about OCI outcomes as a 0L, so I'm glad I have this year to travel and sleep and say fuckall to responsibility (while still saving up a smidgen for 1L living expenses).