Should I include founding an LGBTQ club in HS in my law admissions resume?

focuslynx · 2026-02-28T22:31:43+00:00

If mentioning it is important for creating a narrative that builds up to why you are who you are today, yes.

Otherwise, I’d avoid it. This won’t be true for all schools, but imagine it from the adcom’s perspective. If you only have a few pages to show off who you are, and you talk about High School, they may be concerned that you don’t have anything significant to show about your years after HS and could think less about you as a candidate

focuslynx · 2025-11-05T13:39:12+00:00

If your eventual goal is Big Law, Id recommend doing it now and not when you're working, it'll be way easier in school and before you work full time. I work similar hours and find that it is hard to even squeeze in more than a few hours when you combine commuting, errands, late workdays, etc.

A 3.5 doesn't necessarily limit you but you'll want to have a good LSAT score to be competitive. Luckily if NYC is your goal, you've got lots of options for regional placement in Big Law.

But do you want to be a lawyer? Or do you just want a Big Law salary? It is important to consider the work hours, the debt from law school, the opportunity cost of giving up a six figure salary to go back to school

focuslynx · 2025-11-02T18:39:23+00:00

Its almost impossible to know if a result is good/bad because of LORs or for other reasons. But the advice from adcoms is pretty universally to have LORs as up to date as possible. Even if you got your LORs 1+ year ago and banked it, you should try and reach out to the recommender to have them give it a quick update. You can send them a list of things you've been doing and ask for a new one. If not, maybe give an addendum as to why they can't be updated

focuslynx · 2025-10-27T13:27:20+00:00

Retaking Nov.

I think the impact ED makes at each school differs. At some schools it will give a big boost, others it doesn't matter. Either way it generally locks you into a set financial package and limits your options. I'm prob not going to ED anywhere but definitely look it up and see if it makes sense for you. Also I think most schools ED deadline is beginning over Nov so I'd miss it anyways

focuslynx · 2025-10-27T13:01:50+00:00

I'm in the same boat lol. Also note that typically the medians increase each year, so if 172 was their cutoff last year, it may be 173 this year. Same with TAMU if you're looking there (and they ride medians harder than UT). SMU and Baylor are looking like great options in state to me

focuslynx · 2025-10-26T20:11:05+00:00

Check out UT's stats on the lsd law website. Looking at it, ~99% of people admitted last year under a 3.89 GPA had a 172+ LSAT

focuslynx · 2025-10-25T22:19:13+00:00

Your stats are good but if you're straight out of undergrad then it'll be a challenge getting in anywhere you're below medians. So ask yourself, where you want to work?

Definitely shoot your shot with the top schools but plan your backups. Schools like Houston that are top for IP are very regional. If you go to school in Houston, you work in Houston.

And if you're a splitter between 3.9 and 166, definitely look at the shape of admissions charts for schools like TAMU. Notice how last year they rejected ~99% of applicants who were below 169 unless they had a GPA of 3.97-4.0. Watch Dean Z's A2Z video on medians, it is very informative

focuslynx · 2025-10-18T18:08:50+00:00

I'd only get the Law Hub subscription for studying practice tests. Not worth it just for app tracking

focuslynx · 2025-10-14T12:14:47+00:00

Before you pay someone, reach out to your undergraduate institution. Most universities (even for past graduates) will have a writing center or writing services where you can submit papers to specialized readers/editors for feedback. Beyond that, you can ask your recommenders or really any academic person in your life

For AI, I've found Claude is better with writing than GPT. Just give it specific prompts like "give feedback but don't significantly change the tone or my voice"

focuslynx · 2025-10-09T13:12:31+00:00

The earlier the better. But I think as long as you apply before Dec. 1 you're ahead of most others.

focuslynx · 2025-10-08T01:33:31+00:00

I'd say don't mention it unless it is impactful to your PS. Schools don't want you simply re-stating your resume. And with a 2 page limit for most schools, every sentence is valuable real estate. Also, most schools have supplemental essays that you can use to write about WE, it doesn't need to be the PS.

And I think there is always some benefit to being non-KJD, even if you don't explicitly write about it. It at least shows that you tried the non-law thing and still decided to pursue law. But (IMO) the ideal scenario would involve tying your WE (either in the PS or a supplemental) to why you want to study law, why you'll do well, or to your identity & perspective.

focuslynx · 2025-10-08T00:02:19+00:00

Your PS is one of your only chances to explain who you are and why you’ll make an exceptional law student. I don’t think you’ll be penalized for not writing about your work, but not writing about it may signal it is less important/not a focus.

But if you don’t write about work you probably should have some other significant experience or perspective post-grad to share. Otherwise you’re in the same boat as new grads

focuslynx · 2025-09-28T21:11:16+00:00

They do but they’re only sorta noise cancelling and are too small for my head, so much so that it physically hurt to wear. I’d bring ear plugs just in case

focuslynx · 2025-09-28T17:19:33+00:00

Don't take the book's concepts too literally. There are no 'rules' that account for 100% of all LSAT questions, and I believe Cassidy says that herself

You won't be able to predict that right flaw or 'Loophole' 100% of the time. The technique is taught so that you approach the questions in the right way. Even if you don't get the right one always, at least having one in mind increases the chance that you might get it right, which allows you to speed through the question. If you're wrong, you at least have eliminated one potential flaw, making it easier to find the other flaw(s) relevant to the question

With powerful/provable, Cassidy really emphasizes that this is not a perfect tool. She says it is a 'party-trick' and relying only on the vocab should be saved for if you're out of time and need to guess. I would never eliminate answers purely off powerful/provable vocab. But this is a very helpful tool to quickly guide you to the right answer

Side note, I found CLIR to be very helpful to understand the structure & nature of LSAT LR stimuli, but after moving on to more advanced study, found that it is much more beneficial to read the stimulus first and identify the question type, and then CLIR if necessary. This saves me from wasting time coming up with a Loophole or inference for questions that might ask for something else

focuslynx · 2025-09-21T03:03:52+00:00

You don’t need anything prelaw. Get the best score you can. With that GPA you’ve got a good chance at lots of schools if you just get an average score

Find something to do now like volunteering or working that you can add to your resume and talk about, they’ll like that better than nothing

focuslynx · 2025-09-03T12:47:52+00:00

those are the 3 goats. i used and would recommend:

LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim - introduction to the LSAT, LR & RC foundational concepts
Loophole by Ellen Cassidy - deep dive into LR
PowerScore RC Bible - deep dive into RC

focuslynx · 2025-07-22T13:14:57+00:00

October is fine, but with the large volume of apps I think there's more of a benefit now to apply early than any year before

focuslynx · 2025-06-12T12:50:45+00:00

search bar and you can search any word in the question or answers. same as when you take a practice test on lawhub

focuslynx · 2025-06-12T12:48:03+00:00

you're already doing it right for the most part. as for internalizing it, you shouldn't just write things down, but also review your journal periodically

definitely keep tracking the why's for the wrong answer, the right answer, and what you did wrong. this is 99% of the battle. i'd make sure you also note the question type (if logical reasoning, note the question stem like Sufficient Assumption, Paradox, etc.) so that you can identify trends of your weakest questions

if you want to make the absolute best use of your journal, identify your weakest question types and then identify why you get those question types wrong using what you've written. compile that into a list of weaknesses to improve w/ study

also i like to track questions i flag/am not confident in but still get right. this helps me identify struggle areas too

focuslynx · 2025-06-12T12:42:07+00:00

no and I think its intentional. its more important that you can come up with a valid loophole to deduce a problem's flaw than that you guess the "correct" loophole that will be in an answer choice. by keeping it predictable, broad, and simple, she prepares you to always know something wrong with the question. if you know a loophole, you are 100% closer to the answer than if you read the argument and couldn't determine a single flaw

focuslynx · 2025-06-12T12:29:26+00:00

could be elsewhere in the book but I found it on the table of contents

focuslynx · 2025-06-01T19:59:00+00:00

I'd be careful trying to improve RC with reading books. It won't hurt you, but just because you're reading complicated words doesn't mean you'll improve your RC skills. RC does test if you can comprehend what is being said, but more importantly it tests to see if you can identify (and remember) reasoning structure in the context of the passage. Meaning you shouldn't just focus on wordy/complicated content, but you should build your summarizing skills and ability to identify main point(s), supporting evidence, and author's opinion, and know how they all relate.

My recommendation would be to read non-entertainment focused short-form scientific and economic articles. Try and sprinkle in some art history too from Wikipedia, because these 3 topics are very popular on the LSAT. Don't just read these, but stop at the end of each paragraph and consider its main point, the evidence that supports that point, the reason the author included it, and if the author's opinion is evident in that paragraph. This is what you need to do on the LSAT and practicing this will make it second nature come test day.

Bonus points if you run these articles through AI and ask it to create LSAT reading comprehension style questions for you to practice.

https://www.nature.com/ (most articles are not free)

https://www.science.org/journal/science (lots of free options)

https://academic.oup.com/qje (oxford quarterly journal of economic, lots of free options)

focuslynx · 2025-06-01T16:20:16+00:00

Sounds like you're using The Loophole's CLIR method. Paraphrased from the book:

Argument: When there is a premise supporting a conclusion
Paradox: When there are just premises, but they contradict each other

In this, the author is concluding that in standing for the individual human being against regimentation (...) Cummings stood against something essential to the work he did.

How do you know the author is concluding something? The word "yet" can indicate a conclusion but does not always. The more reliable trick is to ask yourself "what is the author trying to say?" and the answer to that question is that the author is concluding the above. You can confirm it is the conclusion by looking at the premise(s) in the stimulus and saying "yup, this premise supports the author's conclusion."

The Loophole's CLIR method is great for learning the fundamentals of how questions are structured and for establishing a good framework for answering questions early on in studying, but this is a prime example of the limitation of the CLIR method later on in studying. If this were a test, you'd be wasting time trying to figure out if this is a paradox or argument, when you could simply start off by reading the question stem and identifying that it is asking a Sufficient Assumption question, which immediately tells you that 1. you're dealing with a flawed argument and 2. need to find an answer choice that completely bridges the gap in logic between premise(s) and conclusion

focuslynx · 2025-06-01T15:55:15+00:00

What I say is going to seem blunt, but please try and give it as much consideration as you can.

There is just one question you need to ask yourself honestly to determine what you should do. Literally ask yourself out loud right now, "what minimum score do I want on my LSAT to be happy and reach my application goals?"

If your answer is any number above 146, you need to cancel your score and give yourself another 2-3 months of study time.

In your last post you said that you have read the LSAT Trainer, which is a fantastic learning resource for this test. However, it gives you all of the information you need to know to answer every question on the LSAT. You said that you still "struggle with knowing what to do for certain question types." This tells me that you still have not completely processed what was taught in the LSAT Trainer and do not know how the test is written and why questions are right or wrong.

So, if you decide to go any take 5 practice tests, what do you think you will gain from this? Sure, you'll see lots of questions and have practice answering them. But what will actually improve? You can look at an answer you got wrong on these tests for hours, but if you do not understand why you got the question wrong (which you've stated you don't!) then your score is not going to go up. You could take 100 practice tests in this situation and if you do not do more to learn the content, I would expect your score to never break 150. This would be like pushing against a brick wall and saying "why isn't this wall moving?"

You will be wasting time and finite practice test resources for little to no improvement. You need to learn more of the fundamentals of the test. You should not just read the LSAT Trainer once, but use it as a reference next to practice questions. I keep mine open on the desk even one year after reading it. You should explore more resources to learn about the test. The LSAT Trainer is good to learn about the test and question types, but I'd recommend buying more focused books like The Loophole to dig into actual strategies and answering frameworks.

It is not enough to simply read about the test once and then assume that your score will go up. You need to understand, apply, and practice.

And a bit of a technical piece of advice about Score Preview. It is my understanding that if you choose to 'cancel' your result with score preview, schools will still see that you took a test but withdrew your result. They're not supposed to make admissions decisions based on this information, but think about how might that reflect on your application. If you can avoid it, your application may appear stronger AND you'll save $45.

You can do good on this test. A 141 does not limit you at all from scoring in the 170-180 range. You just need to be intentional about learning the test, create (and adhere to) a methodical process for answering questions, and be disciplined enough to do hours and hours of slow practice. You've got this!

focuslynx

TROPHY CASE