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Ann K. Levine, Esq. 805-683-2837 -or- |
Financial Aid Deadlines Approach
Categories: Financing a Legal Education The deadline for completing financial aid applications is March 1st! Ann Levine Quoted Re: Law School Application Trends
Categories: Career, Law School Rankings, Practicing Law See today’s Daily Pennsylvanian for my remarks on why Penn Law’s applications increase even when application numbers generally might be a tiny bit down. Reasons to Visit a Law School Campus
Categories: Advice, Wait lists One of my clients sent me this e-mail over the weekend: “I think you mentioned that the point of visiting a law school was to follow up about what you liked about the school. If during a visit, you aren’t able to see an admissions counselor, does that defeat this purpose (i.e. the ability to follow up), since the admissions counselor doesn’t have a face to the applicant, and there really isn’t a specific person you could write a follow up letter to? Also, does the admissions committee keep track of who visited to take a tour/class visit to guage the student’s interest in the law school (for admissions purposes)?” The point of visiting a law school (before being admitted) is to show the school you are likely to actually attend. Due to yield rate concerns, schools are more likely to admit someone whom they believe likely to actually attend the school. Even if you don’t get to meet someone face to face, you should be able to work it and talk to students and take notes and follow up with a letter explaining what impressed you about the school. You can send it to the Dean or Director of Admissions at the school. A smart law school keeps track of who is visiting; a smart applicant takes steps to make sure the school knows about the visit. Getting Private Loans for Law School
Categories: Financing a Legal Education Thanks to Brian Leiter for pointing out this article about how the current economic climate might be impacting the ability to obtain private loans for law school. Law School Expert’s Valentine’s Day Gift to You
Categories: Uncategorized Wishing all of my readers a happy holiday weekend and Valentine’s Day. Try to concentrate on the things in your life that really matter. (Hint: People, not law schools). Here’s a little gift for all of you (which my husband says I’m crazy to post this on the blog, but I guess I’m just very excited about getting away for the weekend). Law School Waitlists
Categories: Advice, Wait lists, waitlist A client just sent me this e-mail: I was wondering if you could give me (or blog about) a little more insight about how wait lists usually work. Is there a weighted order in which applicants are ranked and then applicants are taken off according to that? Is the ranking based on their admissions index number or the order in which they received apps? Would retaking the LSAT in June and getting a higher score give them more of a reason to take an applicant off the WL? As a director of admission for a law school, I looked at my waitlist for a combination of the following: 1. Likelihood of attendance if offered admission. 2. Numbers. I didn’t have time to make phone calls going down the list – I wanted to make one call to an applicant who I knew would be thrilled to hear from me and who would commit to my school practically on the spot. This is why Letters of Continued Interest are so important. This is why likeability is a factor. Whose day do I want to make? That’s what I would think about. Now, not every school uses its waitlist in the same way, and not every school uses its wait list the same way from year to year or week to week. Some do place people in quartiles or priority lists. Others use numbers only or residents first or perhaps even take diversity factors back into account depending on how it seems the class is shaping up so far. You can’t predict what will happen, and nothing I tell you will change that. The key thing to keep in mind is that, yes, people get into their dream schools off the waitlist. Absolutely. So, if it’s important to you, then pursue it. If you’re staying on the waitlist just to get another acceptance letter in your portfolio, then perhaps consider a polite bowing out in favor of that applicant who would be thrilled at the acceptance. (Just because the law schools play games doesn’t mean you have to : ) Lastly, I have seen people improve on the June LSAT and be admitted off a waitlist as a result. Yes. I had a client with a 165 waitlisted at Northwestern. He came back with a 170 on the June LSAT and was admitted. California’s Law Schools Discuss Application Trends
Categories: ABA News, Law School Admission Trends See this article about law school application rates at California ABA law schools. Should You Cancel Your LSAT Score?
Categories: LSAT Were you seated by someone who coughed every 12 seconds? Was your concentration rattled by an idiotic proctor? Did you mis-bubble an entire section? If you are considering canceling today’s LSAT score, please review these previous posts to help you decide: Tips for the February LSAT
Categories: LSAT, LSAT; Rolling Admissions I want to wish all February LSAT takers good luck on tomorrow’s exam. I hope you are ready, healthy, and well rested. At this point, stop studying and stop reading discussion forums. Relax, eat a nice dinner (nothing fancy-think of it as race day food for runners), and look at tomorrow’s test as a welcome challenge – an opportunity that will allow you to really show what you can do. Be positive. And prepare for the unexpected – put a Powerbar in your bag and sit far away from those noisy proctors. (In law school, I always sat in the front row during classes and back row during exams – each choice meant to keep me focused on what needed to be done). 6 TIPS FOR LSAT TEST DAY: And, please, above all else – if you know you have not adequately prepared and that tomorrow’s result isn’t going to get you where you need to be, consider waiting for Fall 2010 and taking the test under better conditions in June. If you’re considering not taking this test and waiting to apply for Fall 2010 admission, then check out my interview with Steve Schwartz on his LSAT Blog on the February LSAT’s limited use in the rolling admission cycle. Good luck! Test for Twitter Feed
Categories: Uncategorized Please ignore this! Preparing for the LSAT
Categories: Advice, Application Timeline, LSAT, LSAT Prep, Law School Location; Law School Rankings, Low LSAT JB left this comment on my old blog and I wanted to share it in a separate post here so everyone could benefit from the response:
Thank you Ann! I decided to take your advice and wait. (about the February LSAT) First, this is a good decision. I’m glad you’re going to dedicate yourself to going through the law school application process the right way rather than the “get it over with” way. Here are some resources on LSAT Preparation: Also, here’s a link to a previous LawSchoolExpert post on LSAT Advice and here’s one on LSAT Prep Courses.
Low UGPA? You’re not alone.
Categories: Low GPA I received this great question on the old blog and thought it should be a post of its own on my new blog, so here goes: “I have a question that no one has asked. I may be the only one with the nerve. My UGPA is 2.6 – and yes, I have a learning disability but that is only a tiny reason for my undergrad performance. You can probably guess the larger reasons: fraternity, girls, sports. Now, two years out of college, I am incredibily REMORSEFUL and mad at myself. How can I come back from this lack of maturity? The LSAC told me that they will never consider more classes taken after the degree is granted. My LSAT is 155. I have grown up so much, and if I am given a chance to go to law school, I will be the hardest working student in the school. Can you give me advice? Thank you for this blog. Sincerely, Former Slacker.” This is an incredibly common problem, so don’t beat yourself up about it to much. The important things will be to emphasize your maturity and growth and the level of responsibility you’ve handled since college graduation. An addendum to explain why your grades are not a fair indicator of your future success is also in order. A strong resume, strong letters of recommendation, and perhaps taking a class just to get a good letter of rec from it wouldn’t be the worst idea. These are all the kinds of issues I help my clients with on a regular basis and you should not feel alone in your circumstances! Ann How to Politely Withdraw Your Application
Categories: Uncategorized There are two reasons to withdraw a law school application: In either case -although you’re not required- it’s nice to let the school know your intentions so they can move on to other prospective students. A simple one-sentence email to the admission office thanking them for their acceptance but politely declining is all you need to do. New Look to Law School Expert Blog
Categories: Advice, Application Timeline, Rolling Admissions It’s been a scary process to redesign and redirect the Law School Expert blog. So please beg my pardon while I launch a few experiments over the next few days to see how things are working. |
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Ann K. Levine, Esq., former director of law school admissions for two ABA law schools, is a law school admission consultant and owner of Law School Expert,
