Late Cycle Admissions Qs with Ann Levine (Ep. 283)
Friend of the show and law school expert, Ann Levine, joins Nathan and Ben to answer some of your burning late-in-the-cycle admissions questions. The squad tackles questions about negotiating scholarships, picking a school with an international program, what’s appropriate for a diversity statement vs. a personal statement, and whether it’s too late to apply to a T-14 school. Plus, Ben and Nathan talk about the dirtiest word on the LSAT, they cover another “excuse of the week,” and they answer another LR question from PrepTest 65.
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Important Dates
02.20.2021 – You better be falling in love with this test, ‘cause it’s the February LSAT
02.24.2021 – It’s not a joke, it’s actually the registration deadline for the April LSAT
04.10.2021 – The April LSAT Flex testing week begins!
2:16 – Too Late to Apply to T14?
On a “rival” podcast (who are we kidding? this shit is peerless) an admissions professional suggests that now—February—isn’t too late to apply to a T14 school. In fact, said admissions pro suggests that top schools consistently allow folks to apply after application deadlines and will admit those people. But Ann points out that these are truly exceptional situations and that applicants are way, way better off applying to the T14 early in the cycle. Especially in an ultra-competitive cycle like this year’s, there’s just no doubt that an early application will give you your best chance at a spot at these top schools.
9:49 – Who Qualifies as Diverse?
V is a Ukrainian immigrant who came to the U.S. in 2013. Since then, he joined the army, got his bachelor’s degree, and enrolled in a paralegal program at UCLA. He wants to know if he is a “diverse” applicant. Ann and the guys agree that V has a lot to share with law schools about his personal experiences that could go into a diversity statement or a personal statement. They discuss how to balance what information you share in each essay.
15:11 – On International Programs
Deeba wrote in a few months ago, hoping that she would get into American. And since that time she’s been accepted to 10 of the 14 law schools she applied to—but American isn’t one of them. Still, with all of these offers, Deeba’s starting to see some other appealing options out there. In fact, she’s been offered a bunch of moolah from Penn State. Deeba’s goal is to be an international human rights lawyer, and she has her eye on American because they have an international program. She asks the team if those programs are valuable—because if not, that might make some of these other offers seem a little sweeter. Ann weighs in on these types of programs and whether or not Deeba can count on transferring to American. The pro tip? Consider being the big fish in a small pond—that can open you up to far more career opportunities than any of these special programs might.
32:40 – Negotiating Scholarships, Pt. 1
Madeline’s in a good spot. She’s been admitted to her top-choice school, and she thinks she can negotiate a great scholarship there. The only thing is, she also wants to defer enrollment for a year. She wants to know if it’s possible (and if so…is it a bad look) to nab the scholarship and then ask for a deferment. The team weighs in.
39:13 – Negotiating Scholarships, Pt. 2
Bob is anxious to start negotiating his scholarship amount from a choice school. He’s afraid that if he waits, the school will start awarding money to other folks and then there won’t any left in the bank for him! Ann disagrees—she suggests that March is the best window for negotiations this cycle and explains why.
43:46 – “Should” on the LSAT
LSAT Demon teacher, Katie, notes that students are often confused when they see the word “should” in answer choices. Kids these days want to know when they should pick an answer choice with the word “should” in it. Should is definitely a yellow highlighter word on the LSAT—in fact, Nathan calls it the “f word” of the test. The guys describe how “should” generally functions on the LSAT, and why it’s important to be hyper-aware of when and how it’s used.
58:26 – Excuse of the Week
It’s your (sometimes) weekly segment, Excuse of the Week. It’s part of the show where the guys hear a rather choice excuse from LSAT classrooms about why things aren’t panning out so well for students. This week, the guys hear an excuse from a student who states that they’re a “visual learner.” The excuse sparks a conversation about learning styles, and the guys suggest that this is something you’ll have to overcome as a lawyer.
1:12:38 – LR Question
Nathan and Ben continue to tick through LR section 4 of LSAT prep test 65. Today they tackle question 19, which has to do with the “questionable” practices around extending produce shelf life at grocery stores. As per usual, the guys slice and dice through the argument and answer choices and share their thinking all the way to the correct answer.