How to Deal with Open-Ended Questions Asked in Law School Application Forms

Some law schools leave room on the form for a brief paragraph in which you can list other qualifications. Or they instruct you to use a jump sheet for this purpose. Typical questions ask for "any other factors concerning yourself that you think the admission committee should consider," or "any other unique personal qualities, talents and/or any activities . . . which indicate significant achievement." Don't list talents or character traits in the abstract. It isn't helpful for you to write "I am musically talented" or "I'm an extremely persistent person who never quits." Instead, list here any accomplishments that tend to provide evidence that you possess talents or character traits related to law school. If not listed elsewhere on the application form, you should include
 

• fluency in a foreign language
   
• residence in a foreign country or extensive travel abroad
  
  
   
• computer or similar technical skills, beyond those commonly attained by liberal arts graduates
   
• publications
   
• publication or exhibition of photography or work in a similar communications medium
   
• nondegree educational work completed
   
• ordination as a religious official
   
• honorably discharged veteran status
   
• proficiency on a musical instrument, as demonstrated by recitals or other performances

When responding to this question, present the information in the form of a list, providing dates and names as you would in listing your employment history:

Lived in Aix-en-Provence, France, 1980-82, and developed proficiency in spoken and written French.

Take a similar approach if the law school asks you to "comment on your application" or "describe any circumstances the knowledge of which would help the law school in judging your qualifications," or "identify any special circumstances that this law school should know about . . . that sheds light on your academic record." These questions call for explanations, and you can use them to try to minimize some shortcoming or weakness.

As a rule, you should emphasize the permanence of any improvement in your record:

When I started college, my grades were poor. But if you look through my transcript, you'll see that each semester is better than the one before.

or

When I started college my grades were poor. But since I spent four years in the Marines they've improved dramatically.

or

I wasn't able to concentrate during my freshman year because my parents were divorcing. My grades improved when my home life became stable.

or

When I started college, I thought I had to seek a traditional woman's career. It took me a year to realize that I didn't want to be a schoolteacher and another year to realize that nursing is not for me. But since I decided to go to law school, my grades have improved.

In essence, the purpose of such an excuse is to convince the law school that it's not appropriate to use its usual predictor of success, the GPA, to predict the likelihood that you will succeed. Your case will be stronger if you can suggest some alternative criterion for evaluation:

I know that my GPA is a little below your median. I had a bad freshman year because I wasn't mature enough for college work. But in my junior year I had one 4.0 semester and one 3.8 semester. These grades show you what I'm capable of, not the overall GPA.

or

My GPA is deceptive. I've had weak semesters and strong semesters. The weak ones coincide with my working 30 hours or more a week and the strong ones coincide with when I didn't.

Here is the way one nontraditional student described his poor undergraduate showing:

When I went to college, many years ago, the curriculum was fixed. I had to take many required courses that didn't have much value to me, and consequently I didn't do very well. My grades in hard sciences were always higher than my grades in Latin, philosophy, and history.

You can use the same tactic with the LSAT:

My LSAT score is low. But I have a history of doing poorly on standardized tests and, as you can see from my grades, I have always done better than the tests predicted.

Some law schools suggest in their catalogs the kinds of compensating factors that they will view favorably. The University of Illinois notes that its admission committee may consider

... (1) physical handicap of the student, (2) maturity and experience achieved outside the undergraduate classroom, (3) presence of multiple LSAT scores with significantly differing scores or an undergraduate record marred by poor grades for only a brief period of time, (4) the student's success as an undergraduate in spite of the need to work significant hours outside the classroom, and (5) ethnic and cultural background of the applicant.

If you come across a list like this, you can phrase your explanations to fit into one of these categories.

You should also use the explanations paragraph to identify any special circumstances: write "Hold for fall grades," for example, if you want the law school to wait for an updated LSDAS report.

Most law schools will notify you that your application has arrived by mailing back one of the preaddressed postcards. Some law schools notify you when your application is complete-that is, when the LSDAS report and all letters of recommendation have been received-by mailing off a second postcard. A few law schools send out notices only if your application is not complete by some fixed cutoff date shortly before the application deadline. Some law schools send out no notices whatsoever.

It's your responsibility to make sure that your file is complete before the law school's formal deadline. A fairly common reason for rejection is the absence of some essential piece of information. In case of an appeal, you may have to document that you submitted various items. Save your certified mail receipt and whatever communications you receive from the law school, even if they're just form letters. Write down the name of anyone at the law school you talk to on the telephone and summarize your conversation. You may need evidence that you have at least begun the application process if something gets lost later on. Scrutinize your monthly LSDAS update reports. The LSDAS should send a copy of your file to a law school within two months of the date your application was received there. If it hasn't, call LSDAS to find out whether the law school requested the report. If the law school didn't, call to find out why not. (A likely reason is that you forgot to include your matching form with your application.)

Learn the 10 Factors That Matter to Big Firms More Than Where You Went to Law School

I tell my students to call the law school admission office six weeks after the application was mailed unless they are notified that the application is complete. Ask whomever answers to tell you the status of your application. That person should be able to tell you what documents have been received and what documents are missing. (Some officials won't give this information out on the phone, but will respond in writing if you request it.) You can then take steps to secure the missing documents. Most commonly, letters of recommendation are missing. You'll have to visit your recommenders and remind them to write.