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ae10798485 wrote:Hi everyone,

I was wondering about some advice about extra circulars. I'm going to be applying for l.s. admissions for the '13-'14 cycle. I have a 3.3 gpa right now at an ivy league institution. My question is that I am a two sport varsity athlete (varsity football and varsity track - also, AA male) I really don't want to sound like i'm making excuses on my l.s. application, but should i explain the level of commitment needed to participate in both sports at the same time? (Spring semester is the WORST, both football and track practice everyday - football at 6am-8am, tf practice 3pm-7pm)... What do you think?

you got some good things going for you but you just need to get a decent LSAT and then you'll have your pick.

thanks for the reply / advice. I figured I'd have to get a pretty decent LSAT score. Any predictions as to what "decent" entails? Also, I was homeless in high school and during my frosh year at college... (this is going in my personal statement).. So i'm guessing two sports in an addendum ? possibly to explain commitment level in terms of grades, etc?

ae10798485 wrote:thanks for the reply / advice. I figured I'd have to get a pretty decent LSAT score. Any predictions as to what "decent" entails? Also, I was homeless in high school and during my frosh year at college... (this is going in my personal statement).. So i'm guessing two sports in an addendum ? possibly to explain commitment level in terms of grades, etc?

Score a 160 and you'll more than likely snag several t14s (based on what I've seen on LSN - i'm a 0L). Still, aim for a 180.

ae10798485 wrote:Hi everyone,

I was wondering about some advice about extra circulars. I'm going to be applying for l.s. admissions for the '13-'14 cycle. I have a 3.3 gpa right now at an ivy league institution. My question is that I am a two sport varsity athlete (varsity football and varsity track - also, AA male) I really don't want to sound like i'm making excuses on my l.s. application, but should i explain the level of commitment needed to participate in both sports at the same time? (Spring semester is the WORST, both football and track practice everyday - football at 6am-8am, tf practice 3pm-7pm)... What do you think?

Win the Heisman Trophy; enjoy HYS.

Yeah, I think you should put that in an addenda. I would say make it as less redundant as possible, since you'll have those two activities in the resumes already. What I mean is, don't talk too much about having football and track, because you've already established that in the resume. Focus on how managing the two became extremely difficult at specific times (like Spring you mentioned), and relate this to your grade drops at those times (assuming you have grade drops in Spring instead of other semesters).

And I agree, ace the LSAT 170+, and you'll be so set. Smart enough to get into ivy + work ethic from athletics should definitely put you into a solid candidate to reach that high if you take it seriously.

nugnoy wrote:Yeah, I think you should put that in an addenda. I would say make it as less redundant as possible, since you'll have those two activities in the resumes already. What I mean is, don't talk too much about having football and track, because you've already established that in the resume. Focus on how managing the two became extremely difficult at specific times (like Spring you mentioned), and relate this to your grade drops at those times (assuming you have grade drops in Spring instead of other semesters).

And I agree, ace the LSAT 170+, and you'll be so set. Smart enough to get into ivy + work ethic from athletics should definitely put you into a solid candidate to reach that high if you take it seriously.

+1

I wrote my personal statement on playing college athletics, I talked about how I learned to manage my time, commitment to the sport, team work and individual responsibility etc. Rather than an addendum I would try to incorporate it into your personal statement, admission officers know how much time it takes to play at the collegiate level, since you will not be the first or the last college athlete to go to law school, so try not to spend too much time on it. Without knowing your situation exactly I would imagine it was extremely hard to dedicate your time to athletics when you were homeless, I would work your sports time commitment in that way if possible. I can't imagine being a two-sport athlete in college.

Good Luck!

b123 wrote:

nugnoy wrote:Yeah, I think you should put that in an addenda. I would say make it as less redundant as possible, since you'll have those two activities in the resumes already. What I mean is, don't talk too much about having football and track, because you've already established that in the resume. Focus on how managing the two became extremely difficult at specific times (like Spring you mentioned), and relate this to your grade drops at those times (assuming you have grade drops in Spring instead of other semesters).

And I agree, ace the LSAT 170+, and you'll be so set. Smart enough to get into ivy + work ethic from athletics should definitely put you into a solid candidate to reach that high if you take it seriously.

+1

I don't think op even needs 170 for hys IMHO

Hey OP,

I was a 2 sport athlete in the patriot league. Had a better than expected cycle. I did write a gpa addendum; not sure if it made a difference but it didn't hurt. And really, 4 hours of track practice a day? Unless you were like a triple jumper and watching lots of video, I have no idea how you did that.

Good luck!

with your story and urm status, a 160+ will snag you some t14s. If you can pull off a 165+, ud be in an even better position and HYS would be within reach. 170 and you write your own ticket.

WanderingPondering wrote:Hey OP,

I was a 2 sport athlete in the patriot league. Had a better than expected cycle. I did write a gpa addendum; not sure if it made a difference but it didn't hurt. And really, 4 hours of track practice a day? Unless you were like a triple jumper and watching lots of video, I have no idea how you did that.

Good luck!

Haha yeah, but the 4 hour track practices were fairly predictable... every day we had practice it;d be
3pm-4pm (warm up/dynamic flex)
4pm - 5:30ish.. would be the workout (whatever we'd be doing that day, access, sprint endurance, general conditioning, etc)
5:30 - 6:00ish .. cool down, mobility circuits
6 till whenever you were finished... Lift (i usually finished in an hour, which would put me around 7ish)


also thanks everyone.. this is all very, very, very helpful

nugnoy wrote:Yeah, I think you should put that in an addenda. I would say make it as less redundant as possible, since you'll have those two activities in the resumes already. What I mean is, don't talk too much about having football and track, because you've already established that in the resume. Focus on how managing the two became extremely difficult at specific times (like Spring you mentioned), and relate this to your grade drops at those times (assuming you have grade drops in Spring instead of other semesters).

And I agree, ace the LSAT 170+, and you'll be so set. Smart enough to get into ivy + work ethic from athletics should definitely put you into a solid candidate to reach that high if you take it seriously.

0L checking in here, but I agree with this advice in the quote. I think your best bet is using your PS to talk about your story (you mentioned it, homeless challenges etc.) and touch on the activities, but save the details on those activities for the addend. When you write that, just be as brief as possible about how you worked hard to be a two sport athlete and the process was grueling and made the challenge of succeeding academically (which you have, 3.3 is certainly a good GPA) that much greater.

GL, you're in great shape with your softs GPA and URM status it would seem!

rftdd888 wrote:

nugnoy wrote:Yeah, I think you should put that in an addenda. I would say make it as less redundant as possible, since you'll have those two activities in the resumes already. What I mean is, don't talk too much about having football and track, because you've already established that in the resume. Focus on how managing the two became extremely difficult at specific times (like Spring you mentioned), and relate this to your grade drops at those times (assuming you have grade drops in Spring instead of other semesters).

And I agree, ace the LSAT 170+, and you'll be so set. Smart enough to get into ivy + work ethic from athletics should definitely put you into a solid candidate to reach that high if you take it seriously.

0L checking in here, but I agree with this advice in the quote. I think your best bet is using your PS to talk about your story (you mentioned it, homeless challenges etc.) and touch on the activities, but save the details on those activities for the addend. When you write that, just be as brief as possible about how you worked hard to be a two sport athlete and the process was grueling and made the challenge of succeeding academically (which you have, 3.3 is certainly a good GPA) that much greater.

GL, you're in great shape with your softs GPA and URM status it would seem!

Don't write an addenda about this - it would say exactly what I expect: "I was a two-sport varsity athlete, which took a lot of time." It's not adding anything to the conversation.

Instead, have your coach for one of the sports write you a third LoR. On top of the normal stuff about your commitment and drive, ask him to talk about how he can't imagine being a full-time student on top of ONE sport, let alone two, and how you were always enthusiastic, ready to go, and on top of your game despite the large draws on your time. That way, you aren't making excuses yourself but you still get that information in there.

0L football player here who played a couple of Ivy's the past few years in college and is wondering if we played you haha... Two sports is pretty impressive. I know what its like to do one and that's hard enough. But I would focus more on your life story in your PS, using athletics as part of the narrative to show your drive/passion/ability to overcome obstacles. But I think the core should be your life.

Read this PS, its one of if not the best I have ever read. I know its obviously not the same story as you, but the way she weaves it together was incredible IMO.

http://books.google.com/books?id=tDbWfx ... y.&f=false

(Its the one that starts "I prefer the blues to Pavarotti...")

Lastly, good luck OP. You sound like a great guy, but I still hope we kicked your ass on the field haha

thanks for all the advice everybody

jetsfan1 wrote:0L football player here who played a couple of Ivy's the past few years in college and is wondering if we played you haha... Two sports is pretty impressive. I know what its like to do one and that's hard enough. But I would focus more on your life story in your PS, using athletics as part of the narrative to show your drive/passion/ability to overcome obstacles. But I think the core should be your life.

Read this PS, its one of if not the best I have ever read. I know its obviously not the same story as you, but the way she weaves it together was incredible IMO.

http://books.google.com/books?id=tDbWfx ... y.&f=false

(Its the one that starts "I prefer the blues to Pavarotti...")

Lastly, good luck OP. You sound like a great guy, but I still hope we kicked your ass on the field haha

hahahahaha! dont mean to crush your hopes...