About 15 months ago, while working as an Assistant Principal, I decided that I needed to make a career change from education. Education has taken a shift into a direction I am not comfortable with and I’ve realized I need to advocate for people in another way. But have no fear, that is not what this blog is about.
I decided that I am going to go to law school. So November 2022 I started researching LSAT prep information and in December I signed up for BluePrintPrep.com. I took a practice LSAT first and scored a 154 (a respectable starting score), but I was shooting for a 170+. For those of you who don’t know, LSAT score maxes at 180. If I could score above a 170 I would be submitting a very nice application, especially since my 23 year old undergraduate GPA was only a 3.07. In my defense that wasn’t a bad GPA back in the day, but now it is considered super low.
So I started preparing for the LSAT in December 2022 and put in countless hours practicing test questions and learning strategies to help me improve. I took my first official LSAT in April 2023 and scored a 164. Again, respectable score but not what I was aiming for. So back to studying and trying to reach my goal score on the September 2023 LSAT. Wow, what a testing experience that was. I rubbed my face due to being tired from staring at the computer screen and dealing with a stressful test and my proctor popped up a chat screen telling me they would cancel my test if I kept rubbing my face. GRRRRRR!
September test scores were released and I scored a 166, which is 90th percentile. While it wasn’t my 170+ I was hoping for, I realized that now that I was teaching again I would have even less time and energy to study. And my score was solid. Also during every single law fair and webinar I attended, admissions representatives stressed that the application review process was holistic and not just based on your stats.
So it was time to start applying to law school. Let me tell you, this process is not for the faint of heart. Stressing over writing personal statements and additional essays can take its toll on a person. I struggled to even come up with a topic for my personal statement. I did not think my story was interesting. My friend who was mentoring me told me it was and he encouraged me through the entire process.
So long story short, I submitted 7 applications the weekend on October 15. I finished my initial batch of applications the following weekend, with the remaining 6 I planned on. There was only one application from my initial list of schools that did not get submitted until early November because I had another major essay I had to write for it. I’ve had some panic applications submitted later and some others I submitted because I received information about some special programs I was interested in. In total, I have applied to 25 law schools.
But I am hoping that maybe my experience can encourage someone else to reach for their dreams, no matter their age.
