Help! Did I write a radioactive essay?

[lawyerup]

I worked really hard this season as a first-time applicant, especially because I knew I had to make up for a 3.6high GPA from many years back. I took the LSAT three times and managed a 174 on the third try. I had enthusiastic letters of recommendation from two partners at the law firm where I work, a personal statement that I was truly proud of, and while I took nothing for granted (again: less-than-stellar GPA), I was very confident that, while Columbia was a longshot, I would at least be waitlisted there. I even hoped maybe I’d get an interview.

They gave me a hard rejection, and since it’s my first real result of the season besides an in at my safety school, I’ve been worrying and worrying about what this could mean for my other apps. An evening program where I’m well above both medians has been taking forever to get back to me.

Basically, I think I blew it with my Challenges/Perspective essay. I wrote frankly about the fact that I tested in the 8th percentile for processing speed on the WAIS-IV. This effects how I interact with my environment and has created challenges in my life. I even mentioned that it had impacted my grades in college. Weirdly, it doesn’t affect my ability to read or analyze at all: I’m a speed reader and I took the LSAT with no accommodations. I mentioned that. But I don’t think I did enough to explain how I have improved over the years from being an anxious college student to the person I am now.

Law school reading and analysis represents the kind of work I do best—hence the good words from my job—and I’m sick at the thought that, after working so hard, I might have made every adcomms department I contacted think otherwise. It’s been ruining my week. I am going to law school this cycle come hell or high water—I’m in my 30s so I don’t want to blow another year. I don’t know what I want. Reassurance? Tough love? A time machine?

[Dave Killoran]

I worked really hard this season as a first-time applicant, especially because I knew I had to make up for a 3.6high GPA from many years back. I took the LSAT three times and managed a 174 on the third try. I had enthusiastic letters of recommendation from two partners at the law firm where I work, a personal statement that I was truly proud of, and while I took nothing for granted (again: less-than-stellar GPA), I was very confident that, while Columbia was a longshot, I would at least be waitlisted there. I even hoped maybe I’d get an interview.

They gave me a hard rejection, and since it’s my first real result of the season besides an in at my safety school, I’ve been worrying and worrying about what this could mean for my other apps. An evening program where I’m well above both medians has been taking forever to get back to me.

Basically, I think I blew it with my Challenges/Perspective essay. I wrote frankly about the fact that I tested in the 8th percentile for processing speed on the WAIS-IV. This effects how I interact with my environment and has created challenges in my life. I even mentioned that it had impacted my grades in college. Weirdly, it doesn’t affect my ability to read or analyze at all: I’m a speed reader and I took the LSAT with no accommodations. I mentioned that. But I don’t think I did enough to explain how I have improved over the years from being an anxious college student to the person I am now.

Law school reading and analysis represents the kind of work I do best—hence the good words from my job—and I’m sick at the thought that, after working so hard, I might have made every adcomms department I contacted think otherwise. It’s been ruining my week. I am going to law school this cycle come hell or high water—I’m in my 30s so I don’t want to blow another year. I don’t know what I want. Reassurance? Tough love? A time machine?

My initial reaction is that it's really hard to tell, mainly because the impact of any essay is all in the details and execution. It depends on how you described yourself and how that was perceived by the committee. If you really emphasized the back-end improvement and the fact that it's not much of an issue any longer, then the impact would be minimized. If you skimped on how things are now, that could be a problem. your other essays matter too because this is about a whole picture for the committee, and I can't see those or how they fit together.

As for not getting responses and being above medians at other schools, I'm not surprised there but that has nothing to do with you. We knew this would be a slow cycle, and what's happening with the numbers proves that. We have 20% more applicants, and way more high LSAT scores: https://x.com/DaveKilloran/status/1896991866463379938. Schools are being careful and medians are likely to rise. That always leads to a slower cycle, unfortunately.

I'm not actually surprised by the Columbia rejection, but I don't think it means you have a full failure of a cycle head of you. Best thing to do is take a deep breath and wait it out. A lot of your fellow applicants are being forced to do the same thing right now as well :/