Updating application after possession charge Forum

[Aproposeverything]

Hi Everybody,

I applied to law school a few months ago, and earlier this week while on a vacation with friends I received a possession charge (had about 2g of weed, got a class 3 misdemeanor). I asked some lawyers for advice and they recommended I disclose this to the schools I applied to, which I agree is probably the best course of action here. I tried to update my application but LSAC says that since it's already been submitted the schools won't receive the updated version. What do y'all think I should do? What's the best course of action here? Should I contact the admissions offices and tell them what happened? If so is it better to call or email? Any and all advice welcome.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Yes, you will need contact the admissions offices directly. I would probably e-mail them so they have it in writing to put in your file (with contact info and a line about "please let me know if there is any further information I can provide"), but you could also call and ask how they'd prefer to receive the information.

[DriveLikeNashvillian]

You should definitely contact them, because failing to disclose could come back to haunt you. If I were in your position, I'd contact the schools by phone so you can have a more direct conversation with someone from admissions about your situation. You're more likely to be able to come across as sincere and regretful over the phone than through email imo.

[A. Nony Mouse]

You should definitely contact them, because failing to disclose could come back to haunt you. If I were in your position, I'd contact the schools by phone so you can have a more direct conversation with someone from admissions about your situation. You're more likely to be able to come across as sincere and regretful over the phone than through email imo.

See I think this depends. I would feel much more confident about my ability to express contrition in an e-mail I can spend 17 hours obsessing over, rather than a phone call where they might ask me something for which I didn't prepare an eloquent answer, but I fully admit I'm neurotic.

[DriveLikeNashvillian]

You should definitely contact them, because failing to disclose could come back to haunt you. If I were in your position, I'd contact the schools by phone so you can have a more direct conversation with someone from admissions about your situation. You're more likely to be able to come across as sincere and regretful over the phone than through email imo.

See I think this depends. I would feel much more confident about my ability to express contrition in an e-mail I can spend 17 hours obsessing over, rather than a phone call where they might ask me something for which I didn't prepare an eloquent answer, but I fully admit I'm neurotic.

Yeah, I guess it depends on the person's personality. I'd rather communicate through phone because I'd obsess over whether or not I'm coming across as too contrived by email lol

[Aproposeverything]

Dang, you guys are quick. Thanks for the advice. I'll probably start typing up an email and see how it goes. If it doesn't sound right I'll just call them up next week.

While I have y'all here I guess I'll ask: how badly do you think this will affect my chances of admission? I'll be the first to admit they weren't amazing to begin with. I'm waitlisted with 153 LSAT and 3.0 GPA in EE.

[DriveLikeNashvillian]

Dang, you guys are quick. Thanks for the advice. I'll probably start typing up an email and see how it goes. If it doesn't sound right I'll just call them up next week.

While I have y'all here I guess I'll ask: how badly do you think this will affect my chances of admission? I'll be the first to admit they weren't amazing to begin with. I'm waitlisted with 153 LSAT and 3.0 GPA in EE.

It's definitely not going to earn you any points and could very possibly stop you from getting off the WL... but there's no way to really know. Schools pull from the waitlist based on what they need and how likely you are to matriculate if you get accepted.

[Slippin' Jimmy]

Dang, you guys are quick. Thanks for the advice. I'll probably start typing up an email and see how it goes. If it doesn't sound right I'll just call them up next week.

While I have y'all here I guess I'll ask: how badly do you think this will affect my chances of admission? I'll be the first to admit they weren't amazing to begin with. I'm waitlisted with 153 LSAT and 3.0 GPA in EE.

Retake.