Suspension-Acceptance/Scholarship chances

[wjccc50]

Hello,
I was suspended from my first college back in January of 2014. These incidents had to do with alcohol, destruction of property and being dishonest with the administration and university police.

Since then I have had no issues, graduated with a 3.6 and scored a 158 on the LSAT. I am also a year and a half removed from college and have a job in a major health system which I interned at before moving to full time. In July of 2017 I also was had a month long summer internship in Washington DC with the US embassy.

My question is how will my past mistake hurt my chances at acceptance to law school. I am at or above the 75th percentile at most schools I am looking at. A lot of this has to do with tuition and the ability to go part time.

Would this also effect scholarship opportunity?

Like I said I believe my record before and after the incident prove this was a one time stupid mistake on my part, but I understand that not everyone will see it that way. I’d appreciate any feedback you have!

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi, WJCCC,

Excellent question, and I understand your situation. There are a couple steps you should consider as you proceed with your law school applications:

1. Obtain a copy from your school administration about any details concerning the incident. You'll want to have the relevant documentation both for complete transparency and to back up your statement.
2. Reach out to the schools you're interested in advance. Find out their policies for disclosure of certain events (some ask for convictions, some for any incident, etc.
3. Write an addendum that explains what happened. Be forthright and take full responsibility, but accentuate the positive accomplishments you've had since the incident. Stress that you've learned from what happened, and this was a one-time moment of madness.
4. Don't be defensive, and don't over-explain or go into unnecessary detail. Cover your bases; do your due diligence; but don't let this situation define you or your application.
5. Remember that if you get out ahead of this situation, it's going to reflect positively on you. It's not the crime; it's the cover-up as it were.

If you want further help navigating this situation or anything else in your law school applications, please follow up here.

We also offer law school admissions consulting services, if you are interested:

https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/law-school-admissions/

Be positive! You're on the right track.