A2Z S2, E12: Soft Factors That Will Make or Break Your Application

Having a good GPA and LSAT score isn't enough to get you into law school. And having numbers below the medians isn't enough to keep you out. So what are the other "soft" factors that can make or break your application?
Questions, comments, or requests for an episode? Comment below or email Dean Z at [e-mail].
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Michigan Law Admissions: experience.law.umich.edu/
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🕔 Time Chapters 🕔
00:24 Soft Factors
01:48 Numbers are great, but other factors did not go well
2:09 Getting no sense of the applicant's personality
03:05 Sense of arrogance, lack of humility, self-centered
04:18 Overly negative
05:05 Being overly dramatic
05:24 Redundant essays
05:58 No experience outside of the classroom
07:10 We care about writing
07:46 Lack of authenticity
09:20 Low LSAT and GPA but strong candidates
10:33 Make sure it looks like you put effort into it
11:00 Conveying interest in the school
11:36 Supportive Letters of Recommendation
12:05 We like to see something unusual or interesting
12:55 Strong, positive sense of personality
13:30 Strong writing
14:22 Teach us something
15:05 Doing something outside of your "expected zone"
16:10 Numbers aren't everything
16:38 Grammar - "re"

[@iponczk]

These free videos are better than most paid consulting groups

[@mojo3262]

What a great and supportive video for those who are at or slightly below the median border but show promise with a story to tell. While the sky high LSAT scorers are certainly assured more reach options, others anxiously await hopefully positive acceptance and are so appreciative that their attempts and stories carry merit too. Thanks, Dean Z.

[@user-nx9ic6ld8b]

Thanks for the JD tip at the end.

[@gordonfelesina3170]

Honestly so impressed this was all in one take! Very difficult to film a video this long without multiple cuts and transitions. Such high quality content!

[@metatrix4251]

Not one take though 5:22 But yeah, very nice content. Well-expressed, relevant, casual and elegant. Very appreciable.

[@justanomaly3338]

Kudos to Dean Z, whose insights and easy-going articulations give all of us (applicants) both hope and a high altitude view on what can be. As a soon-to-be-applicant to law schools, her delivery, approach, and infectious delivery make me wish I was applying to Michigan. (Commitments are keeping me in Texas.) To all who are applying to Michigan, it's an amazing program and I wish all of you the best of luck in the process.

[@djpcinema]

Very helpful. Thank you so much.

[@firstgeneration_lawstudent]

You guys give me hope!! ♥️

[@oatmilkfiend9627]

Thank you for being the best, Dean Z!

[@horaceward1657]

Great information

[@bbears1072]

Thank you for all you do Dean Z and team! The transparency is valued. ❤

[@Agc619]

Extremely helpful!

[@justanotheryoutubefan8070]

This was so helpful and encouraging! Thank you so much for this!!

[@EthanRosen]

Love these - thank you so much for making them! Go Blue!

[@TravelinTrey]

This was wonderful. Thank you so much.

[@lupitahaussmann]

From a Mom considering law school thanks for this valuable advice! Definitely one of the best and most insightful videos pertaining to this topic of non traditional law applicants. Thank you!

[@dawnroberts8425]

This was amazing. I have my son watching now.

[@jolpenrose]

Thanks be that I don't have to take the LSAT or apply anywhere or prove myself again. Dean Z's talks have shown me that I'm happy with myself and my accomplishments. No need at 69 to do anything else.

[@aarongrubbs5668]

I find these videos and Dean Z so so charming. Thank you for creating them.

[@umichlaw]

💙💛

[@MountainPerson]

This woman is so awesome.

[@nickcerro]

Dean Z is a national treasure

[@lavenderxolemon]

I met her at the law school admission forum!! She was so nice! I have lower than the median for Michigan, but this has me still wanting to shoot my shot here when I apply for schools later this year! 😊

[@mamba1763]

This was very helpful! Thank you

[@umichlaw]

Glad it was helpful!

[@amandaswan8645]

My mom and I actually do watch these together and she loved the mom shout-out at the end. Go blue and go moms

[@umichlaw]

Absolutely love that! Go Moms! :)

[@kimberlyknight9503]

Thank you! I've been saying Juris "Doctorate" for a while now. Juris Doctor it shall be from here on out! 😊

[@johnsterling5425]

i need someone to be frank with my draft before i apply but i don't have access to any great people like the star of this video

[@testprepguy9512]

Request for Clarification: At approximately the 1:35 mark, you said that you admit about 10% double-low applicants. I felt like you left some ambiguity in the ratio that this 10% refers to or at least some applicants may interpret the remark incorrectly. You seem to refer to "total / total ." Please confirm. But the more interesting percentage for applicants would include " / . The latter number would provide insights into probability of admission. Thanks for all that you do.

[@metatrix4251]

Those are lovely advice and criteria. I am considering law studies, and they certainly make me want to go through with it. I'm not sure if it will be answered since this video is a few months old, but I'm gonna ask a question. To begin with, here are two crucial facts: 1. I am 39 years old and I live in Montreal, Canada. 2. I have a high school diploma and no other academic achievements. But, I have been studying psychology, philosophy and law by myself all those years (it may sound weird but I quit college at the peak of my thirst for knowledge, to study) simply because I enjoy it so much and I wanted to explore those subjects from an uneducated and creative point of view. Not only do I enjoy it, but my deep love and calm passion for those subjects, especially law in this case, come from and with a mind that understands them. When you understand (love helps) the principles, the formula becomes obvious. I can have deep and esoteric conversations with my friends who are neuroscientists, masters in philosophy and lawyers (I have a wide range of friends because the quality of my relations has always been a top priority) because 1. I have studied the language and 2. because I can understand, my mind dwells with ease in the realm of principles. I do not have an educational background nor do I have relevant professional experience in the field, but I have some knowledge (quite enough to start), the discipline, the love of the Law and a few key qualities that constitute the right mindset to study and practice law. "This flower would certainly thrive in this garden." God I must sound arrogant, this is so uncomfortable, but it is necessary for my line of questioning. So if you please, let's say that you would accept these as facts, just for the sake of my query. What path would you recommend I take to get myself past into the Great Halls of the Themis? Maybe you'll say this is not a good situation to be in, and maybe you'd be right, but I dare have faith that if there is a will, there is a way. And thank you for your videos, this is all truly charming to me! Blessings!

[@PurrfectLaw]

Just finish up your undergraduate and you should be good to go 👍 you sound passionate

[@danielcrotty8697]

I am a student applying to law school for the second time since I graduated from college in 2014. I have letters of recommendation from professors back then, but I also have two new recommenders to use that are current. Should I include the old recommendations along with the current ones?

[@umichlaw]

The two new recommendations will tell readers who you are now, which is the question they are trying to answer, so those are the ones I would counsel you use. If you really want to include a letter from one of the other writers, I would reach out and ask them if they are comfortable refreshing whatever they wrote previously; a letter from 2014 is, in almost all cases, not likely to be compelling and it will seem odd to the reader. If that’s not possible, and there is some compelling reason you want to include one of the earlier letters (e.g., a writer knew you exceptionally well, in a way that your newer recommenders don’t/can’t, and the writer is now deceased), I suppose my advice might change-but in that case, I would make sure to include a brief addendum explaining why you had a letter from 2014.

[@brittneystaples7493]

When it comes time to writting my application essay that tells my story, could I send it to you and see what you think? I truly feel like becoming a lawyer is my calling in life.. being able to fight for those that don't have a voice.. if not, I truly understand. You must be a busy woman, but I would love your input!

[@r.p.8906]

Beautiful. Thank you. M.D. is my first degree. I had a " direct supervisor" 20 years ago during residency ( !) who then became one of my best friends. Is it ethical to use her as a recommendation person for the application? She knows me very well and supports me 100% despite us living in different states. Please advise. Thank you! The other letters will be from a doctor who lived in the same city as me and a professor who supervised me directly during my fellowship much later😊.

[@AttorneyNoumanJahangir]

Can a higher LSAT Score cover the low GPA? I have a 2.57 GPA if I get a higher score on LSAT then whether can I get admission in Top 50 Law Schools in USA as an International Student and can also get the scholarship and loans etc?

[@livelaughslay2633]

yes absolutely.

[@thatweirdscienceguy9880]

Yes!

[@lordmarsgaming1935]

I believe lsac doesn’t even calculate international schools gpa if I’m mistaken please correct. But this opens you up to t14

[@madison5545]

this gave me anxiety

[@mbsmbsmarcelasamuels-2940]

LOL U FUNNY LADY!