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What is this I don't even...

I have to self-enter every one of my grades from the past 2 years? And then go back and enter in all of my grades from undergrad individually as well? Am I missing something or is this system just utterly idiotic? Haven't they heard of these wild new things called transcripts?

I don't think anyone cares about undergrad.
and it takes 5 minutes.

what takes a long time is opening each application and attaching it

ben4847 wrote:I don't think anyone cares about undergrad.
and it takes 5 minutes.

what takes a long time is opening each application and attaching it

You're doing it wrong.

Probably half the judges I've drafted an app for want an undergrad grade sheet. And it takes forever to enter them all because, yes, they have to be individually entered.

But once you get it done, each draft application you do, you just click "undergrad grade sheet" in the appropriate box.

kalvano wrote:

ben4847 wrote:I don't think anyone cares about undergrad.
and it takes 5 minutes.

what takes a long time is opening each application and attaching it

You're doing it wrong.

Probably half the judges I've drafted an app for want an undergrad grade sheet. And it takes forever to enter them all because, yes, they have to be individually entered.

But once you get it done, each draft application you do, you just click "undergrad grade sheet" in the appropriate box.

uh oh.

ETA: Yes, I see that now. Well, good thing I didn't finalize yet. At least I have a rocking UGPA.

kalvano wrote:

ben4847 wrote:I don't think anyone cares about undergrad.
and it takes 5 minutes.

what takes a long time is opening each application and attaching it

You're doing it wrong.

Probably half the judges I've drafted an app for want an undergrad grade sheet. And it takes forever to enter them all because, yes, they have to be individually entered.

But once you get it done, each draft application you do, you just click "undergrad grade sheet" in the appropriate box.

Yeah, this is possibly the most asinine thing I've seen in law school, and that's really saying something. They make transcripts for a freakin' reason.

.

Is there any benefit or drawback to finalizing early or late?

not to derail this thread, but rising 2L at Vandy here. When should I start my clerkship apps and working on OSCAR?

letsdoit wrote:not to derail this thread, but rising 2L at Vandy here. When should I start my clerkship apps and working on OSCAR?

In like 11 months.

kalvano wrote:Is there any benefit or drawback to finalizing early or late?

Not if you're in the class of 2013 (as long as you finalize before Sep. 4).

romothesavior wrote:I have to self-enter every one of my grades from the past 2 years? And then go back and enter in all of my grades from undergrad individually as well? Am I missing something or is this system just utterly idiotic? Haven't they heard of these wild new things called transcripts?

This isn't even the dumbest part about OSCAR. But yes, it's annoying.

Disagree on the 11 months statement. Start getting things together in January, specifically lors. Have writing sample finalized by April. Be ready to submit off plan apps by end of April. Make Oscar apps 11 months from now.

Citizen Genet wrote:Disagree on the 11 months statement. Start getting things together in January, specifically lors. Have writing sample finalized by April. Be ready to submit off plan apps by end of April. Make Oscar apps 11 months from now.

Of course, this is correct. I was being a bit flippant with my response.

Wow. You guys want them to do everything for you?

I was the complete opposite. Other than a little up front work, it was incredibly easy to apply to all the judges. MUCH easier than state court applications. Much easier than paper. The cover letter editor is pretty nifty. My only gripe is that all judges should be on plan and should accept internet applications.

Im sure they get 1000s of applications for every spot, so perhaps the system is too easy. It must really suck to be in charge of shifting through all the apps.

Anonymous User wrote:Wow. You guys want them to do everything for you?

I was the complete opposite. Other than a little up front work, it was incredibly easy to apply to all the judges. MUCH easier than state court applications. Much easier than paper. The cover letter editor is pretty nifty. My only gripe is that all judges should be on plan and should accept internet applications.

Im sure they get 1000s of applications for every spot, so perhaps the system is too easy. It must really suck to be in charge of shifting through all the apps.

Overall, I don't mind OSCAR. It is a decent system. I don't need the to "do everything for me."

It just blows my mind that the system requires you to manually enter every single grade I got in law school and college, which wastes hours of time and creates the risk of error, when I could upload my transcript (a school-created document intended to convey my course grades in situations like these) in about 30 seconds.

Anonymous User wrote:Wow. You guys want them to do everything for you?

I was the complete opposite. Other than a little up front work, it was incredibly easy to apply to all the judges. MUCH easier than state court applications. Much easier than paper. The cover letter editor is pretty nifty. My only gripe is that all judges should be on plan and should accept internet applications.

Im sure they get 1000s of applications for every spot, so perhaps the system is too easy. It must really suck to be in charge of shifting through all the apps.

I don't see why they can't just let you upload a normal transcript in PDF form instead of typing everything in. I don't think anyone is asking them to "do everything for" us.

ETA: yeah, what romo said

Also sweet anon brah.

Wait? They care about undergrad? My UGPA is <3.0 but I am top 5 percent at a t-14. Am I screwed?

Anonymous User wrote:Wait? They care about undergrad? My UGPA is <3.0 but I am top 5 percent at a t-14. Am I screwed?

Me too. Anybody have any experience with this?

Consensus is it depends. Some judges care, most don't see to care.

I was told the reason for this is that many official transcripts have a lot of formatting, seals, watermarks etc on them that make a pdf scan become a huge file. When everyone uploads a few hundred apps it can put a lot of strain on the system. Again, just hearing this second hand. It might just be a dumb system.

If a judge only takes a paper application, should we still use the OSCAR grade sheet, or just send in a normal transcript?

kalvano wrote:If a judge only takes a paper application, should we still use the OSCAR grade sheet, or just send in a normal transcript?

Normal transcript according to my school's CDO.

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What about undergrad transcript?

And should the law school transcript be official or unofficial? Official is going to cost me a good chunk of change.

kalvano wrote:What about undergrad transcript?

And should the law school transcript be official or unofficial? Official is going to cost me a good chunk of change.

Not sure; my school gives official for free, so I just sent that to be safe. And I sent undergrad transcripts with all of my paper apps just to be safe. Not sure how every school does it, but if you don't have enough paper copies of your undergrad transcript, you may be able to get certified copies from your law school's registrar (a copy of the one that they received during the admissions process).

nevdash wrote:

kalvano wrote:What about undergrad transcript?

And should the law school transcript be official or unofficial? Official is going to cost me a good chunk of change.

Not sure; my school gives official for free, so I just sent that to be safe. And I sent undergrad transcripts with all of my paper apps just to be safe. Not sure how every school does it, but if you don't have enough paper copies of your undergrad transcript, you may be able to get certified copies from your law school's registrar (a copy of the one that they received during the admissions process).

I'll just send the undergrad transcript sheet from OSCAR if the judge wants undergrad. I think only 2 or 3 do. And I'll have to send unofficial transcripts and hope they don't mind. I'm not going to spend $100 on transcripts. It seems like something they would just ask me to bring an official transcript on the chance they want to interview me.