How do you put your heart and soul – and 20-plus years of your life – into a two-page, double-spaced document? The personal statement is often a source of many starts and stops for law school applicants. It’s also a powerful tool through which you can share more about who you are with the admissions…
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Get Accepted to Cornell School of Law [Episode 590]
Show Summary This week, Linda Abraham welcomes Dean Shane Cooper, Senior Associate Dean for Admissions, Financial Aid and Student Services at Cornell School of Law. Dean Cooper shares insights into the admissions process at Cornell Law School, emphasizing the mutual goal of finding the right fit between the school and the applicant. We discuss the…
How to Project Confidence, Professionalism, and Positivity in Your Essays
So you’ve sat down and brainstormed, and you’re now ready to hit the ground running with your essays. Great! You might be wondering how to best convey your reasons for pursuing graduate school to the admissions committees. What kind of tone or approach should you use? A good rule of thumb is to project three…
How to Get a U.S. Student Visa – Even When There Are Complications [Episode 589]
Show Summary This week, we hear from Marla Schechter, a US immigration lawyer with 20+ years of experience. Marla shares her expertise on various topics related to obtaining a visa for studying in the United States. She covers the process of obtaining an F-1 visa, the advantages of studying in a STEM-certified program, the H-1B…
Want an MBA or JD with a Focus on International Studies? Consider UPenn’s Lauder Program!
During my time as the director of admissions marketing and financial aid at the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, where I served on the admissions committee for more than seven years, I often heard candidates react with surprise when they learned how seamlessly the school’s master in international studies joint degree program fits…
How to Get Into George Washington School of Law [Episode 584]
Show Summary In this episode, Linda Abraham interviews Dean Sophia Sim of George Washington School of Law. They discuss various aspects of the law school admissions process, including what makes a standout personal statement, the importance of a balanced program, the acceptance of alternative standardized tests, the use of AI tools in the application process,…
Highlighting Your Leadership Experience in Your Application
Mike knew that an intern on his team was struggling with speaking up on client projects, so he mentored the individual throughout the summer and encouraged them to take on a key role on a final presentation. Amy worked part-time throughout college but still found ways to volunteer as a Big Sister, all while earning…
LSAT vs. GRE: Which One Should You Take When Applying to Law School?
Law schools are still requiring that candidates take a standardized exam as part of the application process (at least for now). In the past, law school applicants had only one testing option – the LSAT – but a growing number of law schools are now accepting the GRE, too, including those at Harvard, Columbia, Yale,…
How to Get into Washington University in St. Louis School of Law [Episode 579]
Show Summary Katherine Scannell, Vice Dean for Institutional Success at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, discusses the distinctive elements of WashU’s JD program. She highlights the individualized focus on students’ career goals and the broad areas of expertise that students can specialize in. Dean Scannell emphasizes the importance of early career services…
Making Friends with the GRE: How To Overcome Test Anxiety and Perform at Your Best
“I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I can’t concentrate or focus. I am just so nervous.” I heard all of this from Janelle, a prospective graduate student, during our conversation about scheduling a GRE test date. I was not surprised that Janelle was nervous, given that almost all prospective graduate students are a bit anxious…
How Personal Is Too Personal In Your Application Essays?
The personal statement is your chance to stand out and make an impression on the admissions committees. How can you make your essay original? How much should you tell? And at what point are you crossing the line into TMI? When I applied to college, I wrote a personal statement describing some challenging family circumstances…
The Diversity Essay: How to Write an Excellent Diversity Essay
What is a diversity essay in a school application? And why does it matter when applying to leading programs and universities? Most importantly, how should you go about writing such an essay? Diversity is of supreme value in higher education, and schools want to know how every student will contribute to the diversity on their…
How to Get into USC Gould School of Law [Episode 573]
Show Summary In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Linda Abraham interviews David Kirschner, the Associate Dean of Admissions, Financial Aid, and Innovation at USC Gould School of Law. They discuss the distinctive elements of USC Gould’s JD program, including its small class size and student-centered approach. Dean Kirschner also highlights the flexibility and experiential…
Can You Use the Same Personal Statement for Different Schools?
There are some common questions we admissions consultants hear often from college and graduate school applicants: “I’m applying to six schools, and each one requires essays/personal statements. A lot of the content will be similar! Can I reuse the same essay for different schools? How can I keep the quality and not burn out while…
Four Tips for Displaying Teamwork in Your Application Essays
Teamwork – and its close cousin leadership – are highly prized by graduate programs and universities. But if you haven’t worked in a team on any regular basis, don’t worry! You’ve probably got a number of examples of teamwork in your back pocket that you didn’t even realize were there. Consider the following four ideas…
Admissions Tip: Be Yourself!
Psst! How would you like to know the one thing that admissions committee members really want from applicants? Here it is: they wish – sometimes they even dream – that applicants would stop writing what they imagine the adcom wants to hear. Instead, they want candidates to just be themselves, presented articulately, of course. We…
Seven Tips to Get You Off the Law School Waitlist
It’s the time of year for acceptances – and waitlists. What can you do if you are waitlisted at the law school of your dreams? Here, we offer seven tips to improve your chances of getting off the waitlist and ultimately accepted. 1. Keep your expectations realistic. Getting waitlisted is positive, right? All things considered,…
Four Ways to Highlight Your Strengths in Your Application Essays
One of the most important pieces of advice you will ever learn regarding your personal statements and application essays is this: Show, don’t tell. It’s a classic writing lesson, and you’ve probably heard it before, perhaps many times. But how do you actually “show, not tell,” in your essays? Simply “telling” is ineffective, because it…
Writing an Essay Lead That Pops
How many times have you sampled the first few lines of a book and decided, “Nah, this isn’t for me”? Whether you picked the book up in a store or library, or downloaded free sample online, you probably made a pretty speedy decision about whether it would hold your interest. The human tendency to rush…
Writing Your Career Goals Essay
Check out all the blog posts in this series: Your career goals essay demands a laser-like focus. A personal statement, by contrast, allows for some flexibility in its content, though you can – and often should – discuss your career goals. But a career goals essay has a particular and packed agenda. In fact, the…
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