Chicago c/o 2015 Applicants (2011-2012 cycle) Forum

[Dany]

A bump to 3.87 would be HUGE. And depending on LSAT, it could either bump you from WL-> admit or from a decent scholarship offer to an incredible scholarship offer. Congrats on the change - definitely worth the effort to get it done!

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Indeed, congratulations! What is your LSAT score? This could give you an enormous boost.

[uchi15hopeful]

Thanks all! It was a huge mistake on their part; they put an F in a slot that didn't belong When I tried to rectify it at the time, the person told me it would be fixed. It never was, and when I went through this whole month-long process, they just flat out denied me and called me a liar. I was pretty upset, but I figured I would let it slide, as I had a strong enough GPA as it was. I received an alumni survey phone call and I started thinking about getting it fixed. This time, I just went straight to the top and it was fixed right away. My transcript already reflects the change and I'm going to go in, today, to have a corrected transcript submitted.

I have a low LSAT score, at the moment (which is addendum-worthy), but I will be retaking in October. My last PT was a 172, so I'm just hoping to have a strong showing in October. I found out about the change this afternoon, after I got done studying from 7am, haha. It kind of felt like a nice reward for the hard work!

Here's to a score in the interquartile range!!!

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Wow, that's a bit ridiculous. Glad you were actually able to fix it.

Good luck on the Oct LSAT! Hope you're able to make it into Chicago

[uchi15hopeful]

Thanks man, I really appreciate it.

If we both get in, I'll bring an Alan Alda poster to orientation for you to hang in your apartment! Haha

[Tiago Splitter]

In other news:

Dear Chicago,

Me gusta. Please let me in.

Sincerely,

Tiago

Me too!

But do you really doubt this, Tiago? You aren't that bad of a splitter and they'll love your LSAT. Plus, I really want you to get in because they may need your LSAT points to make up for my score!!!

look back a few pages in this thread and you'll see what a tough time the 3.5 level splitter crowd had. I liked the school but I just don't think applying ed and giving up scholly money within the t14 is worth it.

By the way, congrats on your gpa bump. Good luck on the retake!

[Perdevise]

I was wondering how significant a .1 GPA difference would be, all things equal (say a 3.77 vs 3.87)?
Thanks

Well, I think it depends on multiple factors, including where the 0.1 GPA difference is, i.e., is it between a 3.9 and a 4.0? a 3.3 and a 3.4? Or as you said a 3.77 and a 3.87? Assuming the latter, a 3.77 is below their median, while a 3.87 is at their 75th percentile. So, in this case, I think it would make a large difference.
Of course, it also depends on what your LSAT score is.

Your advice sort of strengthened my resolve and emboldened me to re-request a transcript review, at my undergrad institution. They had made a mistake on my transcript, but the head of records stonewalled me; he was completely unwilling to address the issue. I went over his head and e-mailed the director of the department, and they made the change within two days! Now I just need to re-send the corrected transcript and I'll get a .1 bump in my GPA.

Thanks!

Way to go; every little point helps, and it took very little effort.

[icedflames]

While going through the app. on the LSAC site I had a few questions?

What's the additional demographics section for?

Also, is anyone else having problems with the academic honors/awards in the education section?
There seems to be a character limit or something but the limit is very low, maybe 50 characters.

On law school interest, what's the proper way to list the schools you are applying to? I want to skip the question as it is optional, but that seems a bit risky to me.

[MumofCad]

If you scan back through this thread, you will see a few of us had trouble with the education section. You can actually fill the whole box on your screen. I thought it was a character limit too, but didn't see a ticker. It was actually an issue because I had certain symbols. It doesn't like parentheses and the like. Its a big fan of the comma. Once I took that out, it seemed to be fine with the content length.

ETA: On the law school interest, either answer it honestly and completely or skip it.

[Dany]

On law school interest, what's the proper way to list the schools you are applying to? I want to skip the question as it is optional, but that seems a bit risky to me.

They didn't have this question last year, but I guarantee you it's not a big deal. Answer it, don't answer it, whatever. They probably just want to see which schools they'll be recruiting against. Honestly I'd think an applicant was crazy if they had UChicago numbers and didn't apply to at least a few of HYSCN. In my opinion, they would NOT ask the question just to hold an answer against you.

If y'all are really that worried about it, I'd suggest calling admissions anonymously and asking point blank what they're looking for with that question.

Also, is anyone else having problems with the academic honors/awards in the education section?
There seems to be a character limit or something but the limit is very low, maybe 50 characters.

For schools that had this problem with the application last year, I just listed my coolest-sounding awards on the application then had the full list on my resume.

[MumofCad]

If it fits into your PS and you have something to say about why Chicago would be a good fit, can you just tailor your PS to them specifically?

Two of my friends who out-performed their numbers last cycle made direct appeals to the law schools in their PS. One even did to Harvard (which on here everyone keeps saying is not a good idea). Curious if any of you admits have anything colloquial to add or noticed any of the Deans at the T-6 addressing this in their blogs?

[Dany]

I tailored my PS to Chicago.

[Bildungsroman]

I tailored my PS to Chicago.

And you were extra rigorous by giving that PS a test-run, amirite?

And yes, I'd recommend tailoring your PS to Chicago for its app if you can do it well (e.g. not just inserting two lines into your regular PS that are like "And that's why I want to attend your fine institution").

[MumofCad]

Ok great - thanks! Just wanted to be sure it wouldn't be so out of place that they wondered if I had read the instructions. Now I just need to find the right phrasing. It will be at the end, but it will probably be an entire paragraph, making my PS 2.5 pages. I'm really interested in the Center for Comparative Constitutionalism. It fits pretty nicely with my work and academic experiences to date. My doctoral dissertation has a large section devoted to an analysis of the Iraqi constitution and the negotiations surrounding its implementation. Its a little muddled transitioning from my PS though directly because of how my PS ends. We'll see.

ETA: Does this mean that Chicago does not accept a Why Chicago statement?

[LaCumparsita]

Help! I keep trying to type my awards and honors into the box for question 5 in the Education section, and every time I try to save it, it gives me "Error". What am I doing wrong?

[JamMasterJ]

Ok great - thanks! Just wanted to be sure it wouldn't be so out of place that they wondered if I had read the instructions. Now I just need to find the right phrasing. It will be at the end, but it will probably be an entire paragraph, making my PS 2.5 pages. I'm really interested in the Center for Comparative Constitutionalism. It fits pretty nicely with my work and academic experiences to date. My doctoral dissertation has a large section devoted to an analysis of the Iraqi constitution and the negotiations surrounding its implementation. Its a little muddled transitioning from my PS though directly because of how my PS ends. We'll see.

ETA: Does this mean that Chicago does not accept a Why Chicago statement?

They do, but Xifeng mentioned that it is best sent as a LOCI

[Bildungsroman]

Help! I keep trying to type my awards and honors into the box for question 5 in the Education section, and every time I try to save it, it gives me "Error". What am I doing wrong?

According to other applicants, there's a very low character limit on that box. Try cutting down the length of what you're putting there and see if that fixes it.

[Blessedassurance]

Help! I keep trying to type my awards and honors into the box for question 5 in the Education section, and every time I try to save it, it gives me "Error". What am I doing wrong?

Why are you answering the questions?

[LaCumparsita]

Why would I not be answering the questions?

[Hopefully2012]

Why would I not be answering the questions?

It's also glitchy if you try to number the items or if you use symbols like $ / () --. I was having problems at first as well but after I removed all the symbols, it was fine.

[Blessedassurance]

Why would I not be answering the questions?

It's an exercise in futility. Why don't you wait till Sepetember 1st or after? It's like showing up three hours early to an outdoor event on a day when there's an 85% chance of rain and thunderstorms.

[Hopefully2012]

Why would I not be answering the questions?

It's an exercise in futility. Why don't you wait till Sepetember 1st or after? It's like showing up three hours early to an outdoor event on a day when there's an 85% chance of rain and thunderstorms.

Worth it, IMO, if it means front row for your favorite band.

[Blessedassurance]

Worth it, IMO, if it means front row for your favorite band.

Not if the organizers have informed you, they're not going to show up. LSAC claims new applications will be available on September 1st and applications filled before that will probably be lost. They could be wrong but why expend energy hoping they're wrong when there's absolutely nothing to gain?

Watch someone complain on Thursday about losing the data they already entered.

To each his/her own, I suppose.

[uchi15hopeful]

LSAC updated my GPA, I'm all set. 3.88 GPA and my LSAT prep is going well; I'm starting to really learn how to attack the exam, instead of being led by it (straight into tarps!), haha.

What do I need? A 170 on the October? Man, it would be so incredible to study at Chicago - I think about it each and every day!

[tmon]

LSAC updated my GPA, I'm all set. 3.88 GPA and my LSAT prep is going well; I'm starting to really learn how to attack the exam, instead of being led by it (straight into tarps!), haha.

What do I need? A 170 on the October? Man, it would be so incredible to study at Chicago - I think about it each and every day!

170 would give you a shot, but seems waitlist-y all the way through 174 really. Certainly a shot though.