Top Law Schools

When I was a sophomore in college I broke the code of academic integrity and was subsequently put on disciplinary probation for a semester for using something which was explicitely stated in the directions not to use (unfortunately for me I had skimmed the directions and hadn't cought that part. Talk about a lesson learned in making sure to fully read directions). How much will this effect my application for top law schools if I graduated from a top school with a good gpa, have top lsat scores, and have 2 years of good work experience? I would also write something owning up to and explaining the situation and what I learned from it. Are we talking no shot at getting in, marginal effect or, as I suspect, somewhere in between? Thank you for your input.

Its hard to really say without knowing more detail. but it does not sound prohibitively bad (although I would expect a bit of a negative).

It's tough to say how much that could impact you. Some schools may see it as a negative, but in today's admissions climate, top schools can't be too picky about applicants. If you have an otherwise stellar application, I can't see this hurting you all that much.

When I was a sophomore in college I broke the code of academic integrity and was subsequently put on disciplinary probation for a semester for using something which was explicitely stated in the directions not to use (unfortunately for me I had skimmed the directions and hadn't cought that part. Talk about a lesson learned in making sure to fully read directions). How much will this effect my application for top law schools if I graduated from a top school with a good gpa, have top lsat scores, and have 2 years of good work experience? I would also write something owning up to and explaining the situation and what I learned from it. Are we talking no shot at getting in, marginal effect or, as I suspect, somewhere in between? Thank you for your input.

I had an offense on roughly that level (also involving academic integrity). However, I wasn't formally disciplined other than getting a letter in my file.

Didn't seem to affect my results at any level (in up to Harvard, full ride at two T14). So definitely doesn't rule you out off the bat. But a lot depends on how your addendum comes off and how much time you had between the incident and application (I had 2 years between the incident and application, 3 years between incident and matriculation).

EVERY school will see it as a negative, but Moneytrees is right that schools can't be too choosey these days. If the rest of your file is great and there isn't anything to suggest being stupid and/or careless is a chronic and ongoing condition, you'll likely be fine. The fact that it was years ago helps.

Acknowledging your mistake, being contrite, and learning from it are all you need to do. Where people get into trouble is trying to minimize it and act like it wasn't that big of a deal or try to shift the blame and characterize the prof as overzealous or unreasonable.

Dean Perez
Texas Tech Law