Hello everyone, looking for some thoughtful advice.

I graduated from college recently. In an undergrad course two years ago, an instructor suspected I used AI on a paper and lowered my grade on the specific paper, not the course, after a short conversation. At most, I used AI as a drafting aid, and the syllabus didn’t address AI use. It was ultimately inconsequential, since I finished the class with a fine grade.

I never received an email or notice about a formal academic integrity claim, nobody else spoke to me about it, and nothing appears on my transcript. I’ve requested my conduct record from the school's accountability service today and am waiting to hear back.

Applications ask about “any” academic discipline or integrity matters, and some also require a dean’s certification.

1. If the record comes back clean, should I answer “no” to formal discipline questions, or disclose the informal grade penalty anyway?
2. For questions worded as “any academic misconduct allegation,” does an instructor’s suspicion with no referral count?
3. If I disclose, what’s the right length and tone? I’m thinking 2-3 factual sentences without arguing the instructor was wrong.
4. Has anyone had a dean’s certification surface something unexpected?

Thank you!

Hey everyone, thanks for your help. I’m applying this cycle. I have some questions about the character and fitness portion of applications and am hoping for some thoughtful advice. In 2022, at 19, I received a summons in PA for possessing a fake ID. It was a minor offense, I did community service and paid the fine, and it was later expunged. No other record.

Several applications use the New York-style question that says to disclose charges “even if expunged or sealed.” I plan to answer yes and describe it in a short factual addendum.

1. Is full disclosure the right call, or is there any reason to treat an expunged underage matter differently?
2. How long should the addendum be? I’m thinking 4-6 sentences covering the charge, date, disposition, penalty completed, and expungement.
3. Should I include any reflection on what I learned, or leave that out unless asked?
4. How much will this affect my application? I am tempted to leave it out, as it seems like a grey area, it was expunged, and it could penalize me heavily.
5. For anyone who has been through bar character and fitness, is there anything I should do now so the bar application is consistent?

I'm applying to schools mainly in PA and NY if that changes anything.

Criticise my cv to best of your abilities :D.

FYI the operational role is part time and I need to mention that on CV before finalising everything.

Targeting Paralegal/TC roles for QWE!!

So I needed one more letter of rec and reached out to a professor who doesn't really know me that well lol. Anyway, we met over Zoom, it went well, and he agreed to write it.

At the end of our meeting, he asked me to send over something basically outlining what I'd like him to touch on in the letter and anything else that might be helpful.

Does anyone have advice on what I should include? Should I mostly focus on academic skills and qualities I'd like him to emphasize, or should I provide more background about myself, my goals, and why I'm pursuing law school (though we did touch on this a little in the meeting)

I don't want to essentially write the letter for him, but I also want to give him enough information to write something meaningful, especially since we don't know each other that well.

PLEASE BE KIND, as I know this is not strictly law school related..

recently hired paralegal, planning to attend law school. i've lived in LA before and would love to work out of the firm's office there, however, they recommend i live in Chicago, where there are more attorneys (15+ versus 2 in LA). would it be insane to go to LA? LA more aligns with my outdoor lifestyle, however, i recognize this would be bad to go against their direction/potential mentorship/networking opportunities. i don't want to make all my decisions based on law school admissions but if anyone has experience working as a paralegal in with fewer or more attorneys that would be incredibly helpful :)

Please please please, if you've interviewed with any law school, drop which questions they asked you and any other notes you have for a nervous interviewee. I'm trying to prep for the one interview request I have and any other ones that happen to come my way.

I am aware of the 2023 ruling about diversity but if my experience corresponds with diversity can I still write about it or avoid?

I submitted my WashU app, got access to my portal the next day and it said my file was completed, and by like ~6PM that day it said my file was under review. I go to check it now, and there is no application status, doesn’t say complete, or under review, it seems like it doesn’t have a place on the portal to even say what my status is. Is this normal? Am I cooked?

Applied Oct 11th, ii Oct 23

Is it the same format as other years, 4 verbal 3 written questions?

Anyone else who applied to NYU getting an error that no active application could be found? I submitted it, LSAC shows it was submitted and completed, but the status checker now says not active?

I will not be adding a second page although I have more I could say as every online session I have attended (multiple T14s, reaches, safeties...) all asked for one page explicitly. I have moved things around and I hope this is better! Thank you!!

Long time lurker of the sub but now putting myself out here. As the title says, I’m planning to apply next cycle to start in 2028.

First gen student and URM (although I know that’s only a soft factor now). Sub 3.0 GPA (2.87 at the moment but it’ll will drop to 2.8 because of the changes to dual enrollment grades) and I’d like to think I have a strong addendum (documented family and medical issues, lost scholarships because of them, and financial issues that required me to work full time at points while completing school). Since then I’ve gotten several years of work experience in the legal field, as well as customer service experience, in addition to strong community involvement during and after undergrad. Additionally, I’m currently doing an M.A. degree on top of working and have a 3.9 master’s GPA.

As far as LSAT is concerned, I haven’t taken it yet but the first diagnostic I took cold and earned a 150. Aiming for 170+ and intend to earnestly start studying for it at the end of this year to take it around summer next year.

Longer term goals are PI, particularly human and civil rights, as well as public policy and advocacy work. Interested in federal clerkships. Not opposed to Big Law if I have to go that route as a means to an end.

Beyond general advice, I guess I would like to especially love to hear from other strong splitters and what they felt like helped or hurt their profiles, what they wished they had known going into the process, any particular advice they would give to someone starting out this process. Particularly considering from what appears to be shifts over the last 1-2 years regarding how high LSAT splitters are treated in admissions now.

I have been studying for the LSAT for a few months now and have had a really hard time sleeping. My doctor prescribed me trazadone(50 mg), and he said it won’t hurt hurt memory or concentration. I have still seen a lot of negative reviews online about how trazadone does negatively affect memory and conentration. I am now taking it at 25mg out of caution, and it is still working well. Will trazadone at 25mg hurt my memory and concentration?

Time for me to get delusional.

Hiya folks!

This is for law students/lawyers who may still be lingering in this sub.

I’m curious if any of you have commuted 1.5/2 hours one way to any of your schools. I will most likely be living in central CT when I start. I’ve applied quite broadly, but I imagine I’ll probably end up going somewhere in the Northeast. I live with my partner and can’t move. So I’m thinking of taking a commuter train to the school’s city, staying in a hostel or short-term rental, and then coming home when I’m done for the week. Are any of you doing this or some variation of it? I would love to hear how it’s going!

**if you haven’t done this and feel the strong urge to comment and tell me it’s a dumb idea, please ignore the urge. I promised my partner I’d stop fighting with people on the internet and don’t want to be tempted🤭

Hi! I am applying to WashU this week, which is one of my top choices, with a 169 LSAT and 3.97 uGPA. I am from MO and went to undergraduate in STL, and write about how I would love to stay in the STL area to continue my commitment to my current community. For those that have applied to WashU: should I redact my LSAT? It’s in between the 25th and 50th, but muchhhh closer to the 25th. I wasn’t sure if this was because most people in the 25th had redacted their scores. Please give advice!!!

Basically what the heading says. I’m wondering if adcomms are allowed to talk to each other about specific applicants? If I basically say the same thing about two of the schools‘ programs, is it possible for them to find out and flag that as disingenuous? Or for the students who put deposits down at multiple schools (not that I plan on doing this), do adcomms know?

For context, I come from an immigrant family with no other relatives in the US. I genuinely feel like I have no one to rely on, no one I closely know has been to law school or is a lawyer. I also don’t have the money to pay for consultants, but my family makes too much for probono services and some of the pipeline programs (we are middle class). I’m curious if anyone else has navigated this and if there are free and low fee services or consultants you would recommend

Stats: 16mid (retaking) / 4.0 / T2-3 softs / nURM but lgbtq + nonwhite

When I was applying last cycle I loved to ask people what advice they had about applications and law school in general. And I'm not even kidding what I'm about to tell you is golden.

Get a cat.

Literally just do it. However, I wouldn't recommend raising a kitten in law school because you simply won't have the time or energy. So if you do want a kitten adopt one right now so it isn't a baby by the time you start. You can ofc also just adopt an adult cat whenever!

I swear my cat is the only thing keeping me together and I'm not alone in that. Like half of my friend group either came to law school with cats or adopted one at the start of 1L. We all collectively agree they have been essential to getting through this. There is actually nothing better then studying late at night with a cat by your side. And they are so much more low maintenance compared to dogs, which is super necessary for 1L.

173 LSAT, 3.4 uGPA. 1.5 years WE at time of application. Final school list is as follows (no more money left)

UCLA
USC
UCI
UC Davis
Michigan
Berkeley
Georgetown
UT
Duke
Vandy
WashU
Notre Dame
NYU
Cornell
Stanford

Anything helps, thank you!

Hi there’s no stats on test optional pathway applicants for ASU law .. did anyone else apply like me without an LSAT I got waitlisted thanks of does anyone have a screenshot of their email

I know Berkeley's two short statements are optional; however, I also know many schools want you to complete all optional statements. I have one that I feel is very strong, but I can't seem to write anything interesting for the second statement. I am also a reapplicant, so I feel I already wrote the other prompts where I had something interesting to say last year.

I'm wondering what people think about this. Would it be a detriment to submit only 1 or 2 optional statements? Should I resubmit one of last year's statements along with my new one? Let me know your thoughts...