Some Questions In Regards to My Current Situation

[Crk85]

TLDR: ease my mind about chances at Fordham.

Simply put Fordham is my dream school. September scores came back yesterday and was unfortunately below what I was hitting on my PTs and anticipating, but still enough that I think I have a legitimate chance. Retake in November is not possible due to athletics.

GPA: 3.23
LSAT: 162
Non-URM

I play football at an Ivy League university. Come from a pretty unique socioeconomic background which I write about in my PS. My grades have been on an upward trend since freshman year (tough transition and figured out my major, was undecided at time of lower grades). Minus freshman year, GPA is probably much closer to a 3.4/3.5.

I worked at my county courthouse sophomore year, and then worked as a legal and contracts intern this past summer (which I have a letter of rec from describing the work I did which was closer to L1/L2 work than undergrad work)

I know my LSAT is a point below the median and my GPA is well below the 25th percentile however, I had a teammate last year with 3.2/159 who was admitted to Fordham. I plan on applying early action and have a few questions:

1. should I write an addendum for my GPA? Football has been time consuming and I struggled adjusting freshman year. I’ve had an upward trend and suffered a severe injury that required surgery junior year that honestly had some mental health effects but I maintained my GPA despite that. I was thinking no to an addendum as these things seem fairly minor, but was wondering other people’s thoughts on the matter.

2. Obviously it was last cycle, so how much stock do I put on my teammate getting accepted with worse numbers? He applied much later than I plan on applying, and my softs (in terms of work experience) are better than his. Do I assume that him getting accepted at much lower than average numbers shows how much they value athletics and Ivy undergrad prestige? At a recent law fair, all schools I talked to (including Fordham) seemed to place more importance on the athletics soft than I was expecting. As a whole, I think we are almost identical as candidates except from me having a higher LSAT score, so this gives me a lot of hope in terms of my chances.

3. Do I write a Why X? I've seen mixed opinions on this that vary for school to school and any opinions for or against this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You in Advance!

[Dave Killoran]

TLDR: ease my mind about chances at Fordham.

Simply put Fordham is my dream school. September scores came back yesterday and was unfortunately below what I was hitting on my PTs and anticipating, but still enough that I think I have a legitimate chance. Retake in November is not possible due to athletics.

GPA: 3.23
LSAT: 162
Non-URM

I play football at an Ivy League university. Come from a pretty unique socioeconomic background which I write about in my PS. My grades have been on an upward trend since freshman year (tough transition and figured out my major, was undecided at time of lower grades). Minus freshman year, GPA is probably much closer to a 3.4/3.5.

I worked at my county courthouse sophomore year, and then worked as a legal and contracts intern this past summer (which I have a letter of rec from describing the work I did which was closer to L1/L2 work than undergrad work)

I know my LSAT is a point below the median and my GPA is well below the 25th percentile however, I had a teammate last year with 3.2/159 who was admitted to Fordham. I plan on applying early action and have a few questions:

1. should I write an addendum for my GPA? Football has been time consuming and I struggled adjusting freshman year. I’ve had an upward trend and suffered a severe injury that required surgery junior year that honestly had some mental health effects but I maintained my GPA despite that. I was thinking no to an addendum as these things seem fairly minor, but was wondering other people’s thoughts on the matter.

2. Obviously it was last cycle, so how much stock do I put on my teammate getting accepted with worse numbers? He applied much later than I plan on applying, and my softs (in terms of work experience) are better than his. Do I assume that him getting accepted at much lower than average numbers shows how much they value athletics and Ivy undergrad prestige? At a recent law fair, all schools I talked to (including Fordham) seemed to place more importance on the athletics soft than I was expecting. As a whole, I think we are almost identical as candidates except from me having a higher LSAT score, so this gives me a lot of hope in terms of my chances.

3. Do I write a Why X? I've seen mixed opinions on this that vary for school to school and any opinions for or against this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You in Advance!

Hi Crk85,

Thanks for the questions! Here are some thoughts:

1. I would. It's not because your GPA is under the 25th (although that makes it more urgent), it's that you engaged in a time-consuming collegiate sport. There's no doubt it affected you grades, and it will help to enunciate that clearly (without making excuses). I don't know if you should mention the mental health issues; it depends on the circumstances and how you explain it.

2. His acceptance is a marker that shows you are well within the realm of acceptance. Is it a guarantee? No, of course not, and we can't see how well he executed his entire app so perhaps on paper he came off as amazing. but you know you have a legit shot.

3. The answer is always the same for Why x essays: do you have a great, unique reason for wanting to attend? If so, definitely make your case. If you don't, and you are either reaching or will simply repeat the standard reasons, then skip it. A "blah" Why X essay does way more damage than not submitting one.

I hope that helps. Thanks!

[Crk85]

TLDR: ease my mind about chances at Fordham.

Simply put Fordham is my dream school. September scores came back yesterday and was unfortunately below what I was hitting on my PTs and anticipating, but still enough that I think I have a legitimate chance. Retake in November is not possible due to athletics.

GPA: 3.23
LSAT: 162
Non-URM

I play football at an Ivy League university. Come from a pretty unique socioeconomic background which I write about in my PS. My grades have been on an upward trend since freshman year (tough transition and figured out my major, was undecided at time of lower grades). Minus freshman year, GPA is probably much closer to a 3.4/3.5.

I worked at my county courthouse sophomore year, and then worked as a legal and contracts intern this past summer (which I have a letter of rec from describing the work I did which was closer to L1/L2 work than undergrad work)

I know my LSAT is a point below the median and my GPA is well below the 25th percentile however, I had a teammate last year with 3.2/159 who was admitted to Fordham. I plan on applying early action and have a few questions:

1. should I write an addendum for my GPA? Football has been time consuming and I struggled adjusting freshman year. I’ve had an upward trend and suffered a severe injury that required surgery junior year that honestly had some mental health effects but I maintained my GPA despite that. I was thinking no to an addendum as these things seem fairly minor, but was wondering other people’s thoughts on the matter.

2. Obviously it was last cycle, so how much stock do I put on my teammate getting accepted with worse numbers? He applied much later than I plan on applying, and my softs (in terms of work experience) are better than his. Do I assume that him getting accepted at much lower than average numbers shows how much they value athletics and Ivy undergrad prestige? At a recent law fair, all schools I talked to (including Fordham) seemed to place more importance on the athletics soft than I was expecting. As a whole, I think we are almost identical as candidates except from me having a higher LSAT score, so this gives me a lot of hope in terms of my chances.

3. Do I write a Why X? I've seen mixed opinions on this that vary for school to school and any opinions for or against this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You in Advance!

Hi Crk85,

Thanks for the questions! Here are some thoughts:

1. I would. It's not because your GPA is under the 25th (although that makes it more urgent), it's that you engaged in a time-consuming collegiate sport. There's no doubt it affected you grades, and it will help to enunciate that clearly (without making excuses). I don't know if you should mention the mental health issues; it depends on the circumstances and how you explain it.

2. His acceptance is a marker that shows you are well within the realm of acceptance. Is it a guarantee? No, of course not, and we can't see how well he executed his entire app so perhaps on paper he came off as amazing. but you know you have a legit shot.

3. The answer is always the same for Why x essays: do you have a great, unique reason for wanting to attend? If so, definitely make your case. If you don't, and you are either reaching or will simply repeat the standard reasons, then skip it. A "blah" Why X essay does way more damage than not submitting one.

I hope that helps. Thanks!

Thank you so much! Your response was incredibly helpful. Especially with the sometimes mixed information I see regarding addenda and the Why X stuff, It's good to get a solid answer to those questions.

Thanks Again!!!