OrchidGloss '23–'24

Hello! I’m equally stunned and honored that you’re looking at my profile.
Things I wish I did:
Market myself better in my personal statement. - I’ve been writing cover letters for years and somehow managed to forget that the whole point of a statement is how well you can sell yourself. I went for the “every last relevant detail” approach where I basically recapped my resume while simultaneously telling my life story which looking back, I regret. I would have loved to use it as an opportunity to market myself better instead of mining trauma and personal lore.
Start your personal statement early. - Not to say that mine was rushed in any capacity, I worked on it for over a month and it was the one thing that held up my applications, but I wish I would have worked out a solid first draft a few months prior to submissions, left it alone, and go back to it with new eyes and zero stress afterwards.
Do more rigorous LSAT studying for longer. - Ultimately, everything worked out in the end, but I have been working full time for a top law firm for over two years and throughout my entire LSAT/Application process. This leaves minimal time and energy for studying. When I pushed myself to my absolute limit, I was scoring 165-167 on practice tests, but the stress of the test day (Aug 2023 tech issues) threw me off too much.
Seek out fee waivers.- Truthfully I have no clue how people got these, but it would have saved a ton of money ($800)

Things I’m glad I did!
Focus on only one Waitlist. - this is purely personal, but once I got waitlisted in a million places, I only prioritized UW. I think one waitlist is enough stress for me, and so I didn’t attempt to get off anywhere else.
Wait to submit your LOCI.- I took about 2 months to process my feelings about getting waitlisted at my top choice, and took that time talking to alumni from that school and learning more about the program and the faculty. I was able to reference those conversations in my LOCI which helped a ton. Submitting a LOCI immediately reads as desperate and frantic.
Submit early. - Not only does it feel great to be done with law apps, I’ve seen so many people who said that submitting later harmed their applications, even as early as December.
Get an extra reference letter explicitly for your top choice. - I had my supervisor at work write a reference letter for me which I didn’t get to submit with my initial application (my two letters were from a partner at my firm and a philosophy professor I adore). In this extra letter, instead of saying general terms like “your J.D. program” she stated the name of my top choice, and in the letter she states explicitly that this school was my top choice as well. It was dated and signed in October, and I submitted it alongside my LOCI in April. I think this reads as more authentic and helped substantiate my desire to go to UW.

Ultimately, I got off the waitlist and I’m attending Law school at my top choice, so I can’t complain too much. However, the waitlist process is incredibly stressful and likely aged me a few years. If the only regrets I have about the process are outlined above. I wish you tons and tons of luck!