u/Ok-Shock5195

Hey all.

I have written a few drafts of my personal statement from a few different angles, and I'm trying to figure out which one will be better for my application.

My 2 main levers:

1. I have a fairly unique, community driven job that I am very passionate about and am quite successful in. I have a solid story that shows off this job and my success in it. The tie to my why law is a bit weak, but it does well in showing that I'm a working professional and valuable in my community.

2. I won't name it, but the dots probably will not be hard to connect -- There was a major, national news event that occurred on my college's campus while I attended the school, and I was on campus when it happened. What happened, and the figure involved, were quite polarizing. If I was to write about it, I would write about the aftermath on campus life and my positions in student leadership and opportunities I had to act as an advocate for other students.

My family and friends are all insisting I choose option two, because of my unique connection to the situation and what I think is their understanding of personal statements as a race for the best sob story.

I'm not saying they're wrong at all about which angle to take. I think I could write a great statement for #2 and the connection to my why law is much smoother -- but given the fact that they will see my undergrad on my application there will be 0 doubt about what event I'm referencing, and as it was extremely polarizing I worry that it could detract from me and my successes. I could also name the event in the statement so it's not like I'm hiding my hand, but I worry that would exacerbate the unwanted effects I'm worried about.

Any input welcome, let me know what you would do in this position.

Hey all, I've seen a few threads about this topic, but none in the context of law school, so I figured I'd ask around here.

I saw a post on here a week or so ago critiquing someone's resume, and it seemed to be well agreed upon that a hobbies/interests section is welcomed, if not expected by law school admissions committees. I am working on my resume right now and one of my main hobbies/interests is marathoning. I have run 3 marathons and a handful of halves in the 3 or so years I've been doing it.

My question is: would including my Marathon PR on the resume be overdoing it?

The case for: Not to toot my own horn, but I am very proud of my race PR, as it's probably around the 95th percentile of marathon finishers. It took a long time to improve to the level that I did, and a lot of disciplined training, learning, and effort. Although different application, the way I train is the way I do everything and that M.O. is what brought me success on the LSAT, my career, and in school. In the off chance the person who reviews my file runs marathons, they may recognize the effort and dedication that it took to reach that point.

The case against: They probably don't care at all, obviously. Double obviously, marathoning is niche, and the AdComms could very well have no frame of reference, meaning at best putting my PR there is doing nothing to help me, and at worst it's coming across negatively.

To frame this post:

1. It probably doesn't matter, and perhaps at some/most places will not even be seen by the AdComms.

2. I know having a PR on my resume is not getting me into, or keeping me out of, any law schools.

I'd still appreciate input on this topic on whether you feel it would come across braggadocious or whether it's a fine addition.

I lowkey thought I killed it but I want to see with fresh eyes lol

Hey all.

I'm planning on applying this Sept/Oct for Fall 2027 admission. I have a rough draft school list, or at least some reasons that I plan on applying to specific schools. I'm going to list some of those here, and if you have reasons/experience that makes you believe I should leave a school off the list, or a school that you think makes sense for me based on my reasoning, I'd love to hear it.

Background: Utah Resident, 176 LSAT, 3.Mid GPA, KJD but Decent Non-Legal Internship Experience, Solid but not crazy softs/LOR. Geographic preference is the west (Primarily Utah or SoCal but other Western states are close secondaries), unless I have a reason to make an exception. I'm relatively debt averse and cost is going to play a huge factor in my decision but I still want to see with some of the more prestigious schools.

- University of Utah: Geographically prime, have an existing legal network due to undergrad in the area, and been a fan of the school since youth as a small added benefit.

- Arizona State: I like Phoenix/Tempe and have heard good things from Alumni about the school. I have a sports background and would love to work in sports in the future (obvious unicorn, not hanging my hat on it), and would consider ASU's Masters in Sports Law and Business program specifically for the networking, but am not completely sold on that front because I've had a hard time finding feedback about it and I'm not sure how much it would really do for my career. I'd consider the JD program alone as well.

- Harvard: Simply for the shot. I know it's likely <1% chance but I told myself I'd apply in Undergrad and didn't (and my chances were a lot worse then) so I'm gonna do it now.

- Vanderbilt, Texas, WashU: All grouped together because after I got my LSAT back I wanted to add some more prestigious schools to my list and these are some non-zero chance options in cities I could see myself living/practicing in.

- UCLA, USC: Similar to the above three but a little more targeted -- I grew up in Southern California and I would love to practice there if possible.

- UCI: Same reason as UCLA, but I feel a more realistic chance.

- Colorado: Kind of a similar reason to Utah, lower ranked, geographically preferable school. I really like Colorado, probably my third choice market besides SoCal and Utah.

- Oregon, Denver, UNLV: 'Safety' Schools that I could hopefully get good results at and still work for me geographically.

Should I let my... evil side shine through?

Hey all, I have a quick question about the transcript report I just got back from LSAC.

From what I can gather, this is what gets sent to the schools themselves, not the actual transcript. It also lists GPA by academic year (23-24, 24-25, 25-26), but not by individual semester.

My GPA shows an upward trend, but the highest part of this trend is still unimpressive. However, it is only as good as it is because my subpar Fall 2025 GPA, which was in part affected by a major national event happening on my school's campus, was offset by getting a 4.0 semester GPA in the Spring, as the result of that same major event shifting my focus from internships and work in the career path I thought I would pursue to Law school, which will be talked about in my Personal Statement.

My questions are

- Can someone confirm whether schools are able to see my transcript, or just the report from LSAC?
- Can someone confirm whether schools will be able to see Semester GPA or simply academic year GPA?
- If they can only see academic years, is it worth in a GPA addendum mentioning that my Spring 2026 GPA was a 4.0, or will that be unhelpful since the school will not be able to corroborate the information?

Not really looking for guidance on my narrative, that was just there to provide context. Any help appreciated.

Context: I'm an upcoming KJD applicant from a marketing background. My collegiate timeline is:

Fall 2023: Full Time Student, Not working

Spring 2024: Full Time Student, Working part time in Marketing Role 1

Summer 2024: Part Time Student, Working part time in Marketing Role 1

Fall 2024: Full Time Student, working part time in Marketing Role 2

Spring 2025: Full Time Student, working part time in Marketing Role 2

Summer 2025: Part Time Student: Working full time across Marketing Roles 3 and 4

Fall 2025: Full Time Student, Working part time in Marketing Role 5

Spring 2026: Full Time Student, Working full time across Marketing Roles 3 and 5

Summer 2026: Part Time Student, Working full time across Marketing Roles 3 and 5

Does this constitute having work experience? I suppose the better question is does this hold any weight with admissions? Are they only concerned with legal work experience/full-time positions? Should I tackle this from a certain angle resume wise?

Any guidance is appreciated, I'm just a little concerned about how to leverage my experience in this different field.

Kind of a dumb question, but I can't find a real answer anywhere so I figured I'd ask here.

I always figured a cycle ends after seat deposits go out, but I guess based on waitlists and other factors that's not exactly true. So when is the breaking point between the 2025-2026 cycle and the 2026-2027 cycle? I'd imagine there's not a clean date, but is there a ballpark? Is it just when new applications open? When classes begin? Obviously I'm already prepping for next cycle, but I'm just curious when things start to firm up.

Hey there. I'm a KJD splitter (3.MID and 17Mid).

I'm wondering if you guys think I have an adequate case for a GPA addendum, or whether, in my case you would simply not touch it and let my stats speak for themselves.

Important Context:

- I came to college in Pre-Law, but changed majors after a semester.
- Spent the rest of college pursuing a Marketing degree, and didn't commit to returning to a Pre-Law track until December 2025.
- I have worked at least 25 hours a week and often 40+ hours a week in Marketing roles for essentially my entire college career.
- I have a fairly flat trend, but directly following my commitment to a Pre-Law Track I achieved a 4.0 Semester GPA for the first time.

Is there anything here? I'd assume an addendum would be something based on the fact that because my goals were a career in marketing, I was focusing much of my efforts and bandwidth on my internships rather than my classes because I saw that as my best path to success in that field. Once my goals shifted to Law School, I adjusted my efforts and study habits accordingly, which is shown by my Stellar LSAT score and my 4.0 Semester GPA. I have a pretty solid Why Law in my personal statement based on a specific event that occurred in my life that fits the timeline.

Any thoughts?

Hey all,

After receiving my April score back, I'm officially a splitter (3.4high, 17mid).

I have a few questions about how to optimize my application for this particular profile. For reference, I'll be applying to a few T-14s, 10-15 across the T-50, and some T-100 schools as well.

Firstly, I'm not sure I have a good angle for an addendum. I have a pretty flat trend as far as my transcript goes, and no real extraneous circumstances that affected it. I did pull off a full slate of A's for the first time this semester (Spring 2026), while studying for the LSAT and working full time. My best angle is probably that I was focusing more on my work than my education, which has changed since re-committing to attending law school, and that's visible by my improved grades and LSAT score. Would you leave it alone or is there something there?

Secondly, is there any schools that you know to be Splitter-friendly? My school list isn't set and I could use some more potential options to use as negotiation chips or potential new homes.

Any other tips on what to focus on in my application or things to do to get a leg up are appreciated.

I am a K-JD, and I'm open to an R&R if this cycle doesn't go well, but I plan on applying this cycle regardless, so I'd love any feedback that isn't "go get work experience."

Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/xn69008xg5yg1.png?width=2254&format=png&auto=webp&s=f84e8acf6380049d450e29b53cbc9253a58bb4cd

Much love to you all for getting me through this test, godspeed and I'm rooting for you guys who are continuing on!!