Top Law Schools

I'm a college senior applying to law schools shortly and have some questions about the LSAC fee waiver appeals process.

I applied for a LSAC Fee Waiver and was denied due to my income being too high. I sort of predicted this because last year, I worked full time from January to November and made about $33,000. I switched to part time and my hourly salary dropped from $17.00 p/hour to $7.25 p/hour (I work on campus).

I have explained this in my rough draft of my appeals letter, but I want to add as much info as possible, because like the cover sheet says, all decisions are final.

My question is about my parents:

Neither of them are able to contribute any significant amounts of money for me to apply to law schools and pay CAS. My parents are separated; my mom makes about $40,000 p/year and my dad is going through a divorce with wife #2. Consequently I'm on my own financially. I'm independent status since I'm 24 and a veteran.

Right now, I just mentioned that they are not able to contribute any money to me and that I'm 24 and a vet. Should I elaborate more in the appeals letter? Should I get them to write letters explaining their situations or try to get their financial paperwork (taxes, bills, etc.)?

Any other quality info would be sincerely appreciated.

Bump

This is a pretty rare situation, so I doubt anyone's going to have specifics for you. My best guess is that including more information is better than less, but you probably won't get it. You're also going to run into this during Need Access applications: you're too young to leave your parents' information out. Then again, if you're a veteran, you might be in a position to not worry about Need Access in the first place.

cavalier1138 wrote:This is a pretty rare situation, so I doubt anyone's going to have specifics for you. My best guess is that including more information is better than less, but you probably won't get it. You're also going to run into this during Need Access applications: you're too young to leave your parents' information out. Then again, if you're a veteran, you might be in a position to not worry about Need Access in the first place.

Thanks for the info. I may call LSAC and ask if getting my parents info would be better since this is a unique situation. I would rather send them everything at first since they probably won't contact me and ask for more info afterwards.

Actually, unless you indicated on your original LSAC Fee Waiver application that you were still a dependent, you do not need to include your parents' information and they will not ask you for your parents' information. Include as much as you can about your current situation. The more you include, the better your chances. If you have a letter saying you went from FT to PT, that's good. You can even include your pay stubs or bank statements. Hope this helps in some way!

I heard back from LSAC today...

...AND I WAS APPROVED!