Law School Admission Game: Play Like An Expert | Interview

I interviewed law school admission consultant Ann Levine earlier this week. In case you missed it, she just released a new edition of The Law School Admission Game.

The second part of our interview is below.

How much time should one spend revising a personal statement, and how can one tell when it's *finished*?

Some people really struggle with writing, and some people do it quickly and (almost) perfectly on the first attempt. As a result, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this one. However, if you've spent under 3 hours total on your personal statement, it's probably not enough. If you feel like you rushed it, if you have been feeling like it's simply something to check off your to-do list, and you can't wait to get it off your desk, then you absolutely are NOT *finished* (as you put it - love the asterisks and must start using them more often!).  If you are feeling like you want to kiss the page and hold it up and lean back in your chair and pump your fist and say "YES!" and you are super proud of what you've done and how it represents you as a person and as a professional school applicant, and if you've had at least one other person check it for proofreading, then you are probably close to the finish line.


What advice do you have for applicants on getting accepted from a law school waitlist? 

Don't see a waiting list as a rejection. I talk about this a lot in the book - in an entire chapter, as a matter of fact! Don't worry about how many people are on the waiting list or whether it is a ranked list. Worry about communicating your commitment to attending that school, and please don't stalk the law schools. It can be a delicate balance.


What advice do you have for applicants on negotiating financial aid? 

Scholarships can be negotiable IF: (1) you have another law school's offer to use to negotiate, and (2) it's a law school that the first law school will actually care about. I have a lot of tips and strategies for negotiating scholarships in the book - my favorite tip that's in there is that you should have a specific number in mind that would actually make you attend School A.


Any last words of advice to share with applicants? 

Keep an open mind about where you want to go to law school. Most of my clients start off saying that Fabulous School is their "dream school" and a few months later the dream morphs to Other Fabulous School, and then they get into Super Reach School and they just can't believe it, and then Respectable School offers them a scholarship, and then their girlfriends move near Perfectly Great School, and mom and dad buy a condo right near Equally Great School. Maintain flexibility by casting a wider net with your schools list.