International Applicants 2012-2013 Forum

[mosquito]

I am international applicant too (from Brazil =D) and I think I will apply for the next cycle. I am considering retaking the toefl test bc my score was 90 and I am afraid it is to low for me to apply to Law School in US. Anyone here took the toefl too?

Hi, I took the TOEFL~

[eyfl]

I am international applicant too (from Brazil =D) and I think I will apply for the next cycle. I am considering retaking the toefl test bc my score was 90 and I am afraid it is to low for me to apply to Law School in US. Anyone here took the toefl too?

Hi, I took the TOEFL~

I took it this fall, got 115. Good schools need 100+ (and you don't want to go to a bad school). Honestly, you're better off just preparing for LSAT & watching TV shows / movies in english - LSAT will help your reading part, TV shows the listening part. Writing should be pretty easy if your english is good enough for LSAT. The only thing that could cause problems is Speaking - you'll have to practice it separately.

[IwishIknewIt]

eyfl, what's your nationality if you don't mind?

I noticed you applied Harvard this cycle, please let me know the result. I will apply next cycle. 177/superior here, but I don't have academic LoR.

[namie_diary]

I am international applicant too (from Brazil =D) and I think I will apply for the next cycle. I am considering retaking the toefl test bc my score was 90 and I am afraid it is to low for me to apply to Law School in US. Anyone here took the toefl too?

Hi, I took the TOEFL~

I took it this fall, got 115. Good schools need 100+ (and you don't want to go to a bad school). Honestly, you're better off just preparing for LSAT & watching TV shows / movies in english - LSAT will help your reading part, TV shows the listening part. Writing should be pretty easy if your english is good enough for LSAT. The only thing that could cause problems is Speaking - you'll have to practice it separately.

Thank you so much =D.

[namie_diary]

I am international applicant too (from Brazil =D) and I think I will apply for the next cycle. I am considering retaking the toefl test bc my score was 90 and I am afraid it is to low for me to apply to Law School in US. Anyone here took the toefl too?

Hi, I took the TOEFL~

Hi. What was your score? Are you applying for this cycle?

[wisteria]

I feel so old. When I took the TOEFL, the full score was still 677. I have no idea what you guys are talking about now.

Welcome new posters~ And good luck to us all!

[eyfl]

eyfl, what's your nationality if you don't mind?

I noticed you applied Harvard this cycle, please let me know the result. I will apply next cycle. 177/superior here, but I don't have academic LoR.

I'm from one of the former Soviet Union states . I'll definitely update my LSN data post-cycle (I'm one of those paranoid types). I have quite strong LoRs (1 academic 1 from current boss) but with my numbers H does seem like a long shot

[mosquito]

I am international applicant too (from Brazil =D) and I think I will apply for the next cycle. I am considering retaking the toefl test bc my score was 90 and I am afraid it is to low for me to apply to Law School in US. Anyone here took the toefl too?

Hi, I took the TOEFL~

Hi. What was your score? Are you applying for this cycle?

I got 105. Yes, I apply for this cycle~

[mosquito]

I feel so old. When I took the TOEFL, the full score was still 677. I have no idea what you guys are talking about now.

Welcome new posters~ And good luck to us all!

Now the full score is 120

[IwishIknewIt]

I'm from one of the former Soviet Union states . I'll definitely update my LSN data post-cycle (I'm one of those paranoid types). I have quite strong LoRs (1 academic 1 from current boss) but with my numbers H does seem like a long shot

I knew a 173/superior got in Harvard back in 2009, so I wouldn't call it a long shot. But she had ten years working experiences. Don't really know whether that boost her chances. But your 172 puts you on good stand. Let's see what will happen.

[namie_diary]

I am international applicant too (from Brazil =D) and I think I will apply for the next cycle. I am considering retaking the toefl test bc my score was 90 and I am afraid it is to low for me to apply to Law School in US. Anyone here took the toefl too?

Hi, I took the TOEFL~

Hi. What was your score? Are you applying for this cycle?

I got 105. Yes, I apply for this cycle~

Good luck =D

[boris78]

anyone have success getting LSAC to reevaluate foreign transcripts? I don't think my "above average" classification is appropriate. thanks in advance for any info.

[eyfl]

anyone have success getting LSAC to reevaluate foreign transcripts? I don't think my "above average" classification is appropriate. thanks in advance for any info.

Well I think nothing is impossible but you are much more likely to retake and score a 180, IMO

[snova]

Hi everyone!

I'm an international student (French) and will be applying in Fall 2013 for 2013/2014 cycle. I haven't taken the LSAT yet.
If you don't mind I have a few questions, and I thought international applicants probably know the answers better than US applicants. (Sorry if this is a little off topic...)

1) Are there any international applicants here whose mother tongue is not English ? If so, are you perfectly fluent, and did you take the TOEFL or some other test to prove it ?
My English is good and I try to improve everyday, but it is still far from perfect which scares me a little...

2) Do you have any idea of how international transcripts are reviewed ? Do you feel like your evaluation actually reflected your grades ?
I am afraid that I won't get a "superior" because the French grading system is tough (basically, you can't get a GPA higher than 15/20, which would probably translate into a B at most), and even though my grades are good, my school doesn't rank students so LSAC won't know what my grades are worth compared to other students...

3) Is your personal statement related to the fact that you're an international applicant / Do you explain why you want to attend law school in the US ?

4) How did you prep for the LSAT ? Would you advise to take an online course ?

Sorry for asking so many questions but I'm kind of anxious. Feel free to answer only some of them if you want to, and I'd love to hear any other advice you might have.

Best of luck to everyone, and congratulations for those of you who already got accepted into some schools !

1) For me, English is my 2nd language and it's not perfect. But whether your English is perfect or not, you have to take TOEFL if you graduated a college outside US because many law schools require TOEFL score. Some top schools don't require TOEFL, so if your LSAT score is high enough, you don't have to take it.

2) Sorry, my country has a similar grading system to the US system so I have no idea about it. But I think you're not the only applicant from France and LSAC knows how to understand French grading system.

3) Yes. A friend of mine who went to American law school advised me to explain the reasons why I want to study the law at "American" law school in my essay. I think you should prepare the reasons anyway because we international students will get this kind of questions a lot from job interviews.

4) Unlike other international applicants on this post, my LSAT score is not high enough to enter T14. So other guys may answer this question.

Good luck!

Very helpful, thx.

[questionsandanswers]

Hi! I have a question: I have dual citizenship (one in US, one in another country), but I'm receiving my university degree at my home country (that is, not the US). I haven't gone through the GPA process yet, but my guess is that I am considered as an 'international' applicant in the admissions process, but would be eligible for federal aid, would that be correct? I couldn't find any info on this...
(I have US citizenship because I was born in the US when my parents were studying there)

[freakorist]

Hi! I have a question: I have dual citizenship (one in US, one in another country), but I'm receiving my university degree at my home country (that is, not the US). I haven't gone through the GPA process yet, but my guess is that I am considered as an 'international' applicant in the admissions process, but would be eligible for federal aid, would that be correct? I couldn't find any info on this...
(I have US citizenship because I was born in the US when my parents were studying there)

With an American citizenship you should be eligible for federal loans regardless of where you studied or lived.
Have you had the chance to look over the law school apps though? You can only select one 'country of citizenship' but there is also a question asking whether you are an American citizen permanent resident etc. . I didn't really know what I should choose but I chose my non-US citizenship as the country of citizenship and selected 'US citizen' in the status box. I don't know whether that has created any confusion or whether its impacted my chances in any way.... Good luck!

[pammie0415]

Hi all! I just discovered this thread and I'm hoping you guys have more insight on this than other applicants. I've posted this question on other threads but with users being predominantly American, no one seems to know the answer.

So.. A friend just told me that for international students, there's a visa deadline date (which is end of June apparently) and after that, even if you're admitted off the wait list you can't attend the school because the State Department required international students to apply for their visas like 2 months in advance?

Does anyone know if this is true? I'm still waiting for a few wait list replies and I'm prepared to wait all the way until Aug if I have to. So I would really like to know if this whole June deadline thing is going to screw me up.

Thanks in advance!

[leepokman]

Hi all! I just discovered this thread and I'm hoping you guys have more insight on this than other applicants. I've posted this question on other threads but with users being predominantly American, no one seems to know the answer.

So.. A friend just told me that for international students, there's a visa deadline date (which is end of June apparently) and after that, even if you're admitted off the wait list you can't attend the school because the State Department required international students to apply for their visas like 2 months in advance?

Does anyone know if this is true? I'm still waiting for a few wait list replies and I'm prepared to wait all the way until Aug if I have to. So I would really like to know if this whole June deadline thing is going to screw me up.

Thanks in advance!

I sure hope not, I am waitlisted on couple schools that I really want to go and I don't mind waiting all the way. Maybe we should just get the visa paper work done for our current school and if we get into our waitlist school we are simply switching visa from one school to another rather than starting the whole process again? I don't know, anyone able to answer that?

[onionskin]

Contact the international office at the schools you're WL'd and ask.

Then contact the school at which you've been accepted and ask about transferring your visa. Either way, definitely make the application first. Then if you can't switch it you can still make a new application sponsored by your WL institution.

[pammie0415]

Well, I'm definitely moving forward with all the paperwork at the school I'm deposited at. I looked all over the internet (US state department and homeland security site included) yesterday and couldn't find anything about this deadline thing. It just suggested that people get their visa sorted out early because an embassy interview can take as long as one month to schedule.

But for Canadians, we don't need an interview, so I guess the procedure won't be as lengthy? I read over on the NU board about a Canadian girl who got in late Aug and was fine.

Does anyone (Canadian or non-Canadians) know a friend or have heard of someone who's international getting off the wait list late in July or Aug and was still okay with their visas?

[poichi]

anyone have success getting LSAC to reevaluate foreign transcripts? I don't think my "above average" classification is appropriate. thanks in advance for any info.

Late on this, but don't bother. I have above average also and am currently deposited at Michigan (was accepted in January). Your UG transcript eval isn't the reason for your decisions, I can almost guarantee it.

[pearla]

Could the non natve speakers here comment on their experience studying for the lsat? If you got a high score, in which sections did u do well? I wonder if a predisposition for maths/logic games gives a legs up....

[Norisan]

Could the non natve speakers here comment on their experience studying for the lsat? ...

As a non-native speaker I studied in an English-speaking country and got both my undergraduate and postgraduate degree there.

I find logical reasoning to be the easiest section for me, I consistently score high on LR and I can finish a section in just under 32 minutes. Reading and logic games are completely different stories though, I often can't finish either of them on time and my accuracy are rather poor. I took LSAT last year and got 162, I am quite sure that most of the points were lost to LG and reading.

Unlike most people from my country I am terrible at math, so I might not be a typical international student at all. I think I am very good at LR because I've read quite a few books on logic as a hobby and I was debating with people all the time while in university. My poor math explains my logic game problem, but not sure why I suck at reading.

[eyfl]

Could the non natve speakers here comment on their experience studying for the lsat? If you got a high score, in which sections did u do well? I wonder if a predisposition for maths/logic games gives a legs up....

International LSATs are non-disclosed, so there's no way to know where you did better / worse. But you can know that from doing prep tests, for me the hardest part was Reading Comprehension (as a non-native speaker with non-english education), since I got 172 on Dec LSAT I've probably made up to 10 mistakes in total & I'm sure the majority were in the RC section.

Math should help with LG & LR (LR is really just math wrapped in words); RC is hard because the text contains lots of details and unless you're used to reading such dense texts it's going to be very painful. One disclaimer, however: while I find LR / LG relatively easy, I've read the bibles on those (so knew the strategy), I never had time to read a RC manual before the test - might be that after reading that RC would have been much easier as well.

[pearla]

Thanks all for the feedback and congrats for all the hard work. It is amazing to see how well foreign students are doing on this test.