Top Law Schools

• CAS (transcript)
• LSAT
• Personal statement + Yale 250
• Two letters of recommendation
• Application form
• Application fee (need-based waivers only)

[+] Spoiler

Please answer a, b, and c separately from any included résumé. Your application will not be considered complete unless a, b, and c are answered. Please list:

(a) Significant extracurricular activities and unpaid externships or internships in college, in order of their relative importance to you. Please estimate your time commitment for each activity.

(b) Paid employment while in college and during vacations.

(c) Other activities during college (in or out of school) that you consider relevant.

[+] Spoiler

If it has been more than three months since you attended college, describe what you have been doing in the interval. You should include graduate or professional education, paid or unpaid employment, as well as any other activities that you consider relevant. Please answer this question separately from any information provided in a résumé.

[+] Spoiler

Write an essay of not more than 250 words about a subject of your choice. The Admissions Committee looks to the 250-word essay to evaluate an applicant's writing, reasoning, and editing skills. The subject is not limited; the choice of topic itself may be informative to the readers.

[+] Spoiler

Please submit a personal statement that will enable the Admissions Committee to make a fully informed judgment on your application. Many applicants include the personal statement they have prepared for other law school applications.

[+] Spoiler

If your answer to either of the Character and Fitness questions (9.1 or 9.2) is yes, include an attachment describing the circumstances.

Please note that the information included in your Character and Fitness attachment as well as answers to the Character and Fitness questions may become part of the character and fitness review of the bar in the state(s) in which you intend to practice. Admission to the practice of law depends not only on adequate academic performance in law school and successful completion of the bar examination, but also on satisfaction of the requirements of the particular jurisdiction as to proof of good character. These requirements differ from state to state, and applicants should inform themselves of the requirements of the jurisdictions in which they are interested.

[+] Spoiler

A résumé is not required, but you may include one if you wish. Unless you have a significant number of publications, the Admissions Committee prefers résumés to be no longer than one page. Please answer the College and Post-college Activities questions separately from any included résumé.

[+] Spoiler

You may use this attachment slot to provide any additional information necessary for a full representation of your candidacy.

RictusErectus wrote:CHECKING DA EFF IN

R. Jeeves wrote:

LikelyThrowaway wrote:Lol, they rejected someone at 4.0/180. Not even waitlisted. I guess I just need to try really, really hard not to expect anything...

...

Fuck it, I want in!

forum_user wrote:

LikelyThrowaway wrote:Lol, they rejected someone at 4.0/180. Not even waitlisted. I guess I just need to try really, really hard not to expect anything...

...

Fuck it, I want in!

You have to consider what an applicant with a 4.0/180 is going to look like though. Obviously the vast majority of Yale applicants are going to have stellar numbers. Between a 4.0/180 and a 3.9/177 there's little marginal difference, at which point LsOR, resumes, and statements will become the biggest determining factor. So if the 4.0/180 had a good PS and decent LsOR and 3.9/177 had a great PS and stellar LsOR, my money would be on the latter.

At any rate I bet someone with perfect numbers would tend to be on the more arrogant side of things, expecting to glide through on their untarnished record. I imagine that seldom comes off well for adcomms.

That being said, checking in--here goes nothing!

PrezRand wrote:

proteinshake wrote:

PrezRand wrote:

pretzeltime wrote:

proteinshake wrote:

PrezRand wrote:

Exaaaaaactly how I feel, but I took one for the team and OP'ed. YOU'RE WELCOME!

KissMyAxe wrote:

forum_user wrote:

LikelyThrowaway wrote:Lol, they rejected someone at 4.0/180. Not even waitlisted. I guess I just need to try really, really hard not to expect anything...

...

Fuck it, I want in!

You have to consider what an applicant with a 4.0/180 is going to look like though. Obviously the vast majority of Yale applicants are going to have stellar numbers. Between a 4.0/180 and a 3.9/177 there's little marginal difference, at which point LsOR, resumes, and statements will become the biggest determining factor. So if the 4.0/180 had a good PS and decent LsOR and 3.9/177 had a great PS and stellar LsOR, my money would be on the latter.

At any rate I bet someone with perfect numbers would tend to be on the more arrogant side of things, expecting to glide through on their untarnished record. I imagine that seldom comes off well for adcomms.

That being said, checking in--here goes nothing!

The bolded is pretty much all inaccurate, or at least an extreme oversimplification of things.

First, the adcomms have very little control of who gets admitted after the initial cut down of applications (from 2800 to 1000 or so), which I would be shocked if both of the above applicants didn't coast through. After that, it entirely depends on the professors assigned to the application. Quite a few professors are very involved in their research, and so will just look at GPA/LSAT/undergrad and yay or nay it. Others take a very scrutinizing view of the application. I've been told by a prof that they nixed an application whose LSAT essay they didn't like. So while you should always work to craft the best application possible with the mantra "Do no harm," there is a certain amount of luck that goes into admissions, and so it's always worth throwing the Yale Mary, since all it takes is the profs deciding they want to share the halls of Sterling with you.

BTW, I also think it's pretty stereotypical to assume that someone with perfect numbers would somehow be more arrogant than someone with a 3.9/177, though considering my own numbers, I do appreciate that idea. lol. Also, fyi, I highly doubt there's any student who comes in here expecting to glide through this school. They're all smart and do their research, and most know of TLS even if they don't post. They realize YLS is the holy grail of law schools and everyone who goes there is going to be the absolute best. If anything, I'd say the vast majority students have concerns of being under-qualified at first.

That said, I am happy to answer any questions I can, or at least find out the answers if I don't know them myself. My small group did get slammed with pretty much the toughest schedule you can have, but I'll try to answer as many questions as possible over the next few days. And if they're more sensitive, I'm just a PM away.

KissMyAxe wrote:

forum_user wrote:

LikelyThrowaway wrote:Lol, they rejected someone at 4.0/180. Not even waitlisted. I guess I just need to try really, really hard not to expect anything...

...

Fuck it, I want in!

[+] Spoiler

You have to consider what an applicant with a 4.0/180 is going to look like though. Obviously the vast majority of Yale applicants are going to have stellar numbers. Between a 4.0/180 and a 3.9/177 there's little marginal difference, at which point LsOR, resumes, and statements will become the biggest determining factor. So if the 4.0/180 had a good PS and decent LsOR and 3.9/177 had a great PS and stellar LsOR, my money would be on the latter.

At any rate I bet someone with perfect numbers would tend to be on the more arrogant side of things, expecting to glide through on their untarnished record. I imagine that seldom comes off well for adcomms.

That being said, checking in--here goes nothing!

[+] Spoiler

The bolded is pretty much all inaccurate, or at least an extreme oversimplification of things.

First, the adcomms have very little control of who gets admitted after the initial cut down of applications (from 2800 to 1000 or so), which I would be shocked if both of the above applicants didn't coast through. After that, it entirely depends on the professors assigned to the application. Quite a few professors are very involved in their research, and so will just look at GPA/LSAT/undergrad and yay or nay it. Others take a very scrutinizing view of the application. I've been told by a prof that they nixed an application whose LSAT essay they didn't like. So while you should always work to craft the best application possible with the mantra "Do no harm," there is a certain amount of luck that goes into admissions, and so it's always worth throwing the Yale Mary, since all it takes is the profs deciding they want to share the halls of Sterling with you.

BTW, I also think it's pretty stereotypical to assume that someone with perfect numbers would somehow be more arrogant than someone with a 3.9/177, though considering my own numbers, I do appreciate that idea. lol. Also, fyi, I highly doubt there's any student who comes in here expecting to glide through this school. They're all smart and do their research, and most know of TLS even if they don't post. They realize YLS is the holy grail of law schools and everyone who goes there is going to be the absolute best. If anything, I'd say the vast majority students have concerns of being under-qualified at first.

That said, I am happy to answer any questions I can, or at least find out the answers if I don't know them myself. My small group did get slammed with pretty much the toughest schedule you can have, but I'll try to answer as many questions as possible over the next few days. And if they're more sensitive, I'm just a PM away.

Schneidersbetter wrote:Hey all. I checked in on the c/o 2020 thread but thought I'd follow up here. I got into Yale last cycle and deferred, so I'm hoping a bunch of you (or all of you) will be my classmates next year. I honestly still can't believe I got in, so I'm trying to keep the good karma going by being as helpful as I can. So if u got app questions lemme know, and I'm also happy to share some of my materials, tho I think I'd prefer to pm them rather than post here.

Aight, that's my longest post ever, good luck everyone!

BradyBunch wrote:

Schneidersbetter wrote:Hey all. I checked in on the c/o 2020 thread but thought I'd follow up here. I got into Yale last cycle and deferred, so I'm hoping a bunch of you (or all of you) will be my classmates next year. I honestly still can't believe I got in, so I'm trying to keep the good karma going by being as helpful as I can. So if u got app questions lemme know, and I'm also happy to share some of my materials, tho I think I'd prefer to pm them rather than post here.

Aight, that's my longest post ever, good luck everyone!

Hey!! Congrats on getting into Yale, hopefully I can get in this cycle! I was wondering if you could PM me your Yale 250. I am in desperate need of an example.

Thanks again!

TheMikey wrote:where's that PW with the hat