134
Finance
Banking-Inv.
Sponsored
Penn-Carey
LLM
Despite having a low GPA, I was admitted to a top-10 law school in the United States.
Essay counselor: Mr. Round
Program: LLM
Admitted schools: Pennsylvania, Northwestern, UCLA, among others
Other details: Company-sponsored; no legal practice experience; non-lawyer
I am extremely satisfied with Round-sensei’s counseling. His support was invaluable across many areas, including target school selection, preparation scheduling, résumé creation, assistance with requesting letters of recommendation, and application support (most LLM programs do not require interviews, so I did not receive interview counseling). Because my company’s internal selection process concluded late, I had less than six months to prepare before applying, and I applied to more than 10 schools—an extremely tight schedule. Even so, he created a flexible and workable plan for me. I truly believe that it would have been impossible for someone like me—with a low GPA (around 3.0) and no legal experience—to gain admission to my target schools in such a short preparation period without Round-sensei’s support.
Round-sensei listened carefully to my preferences and aspirations. Even when I aimed high and considered applying to very competitive schools, he never discouraged me. Instead, he worked with me to think through how I could maximize my chances of admission. He provided concrete advice not only on how to present my past achievements in a way that would appeal to law schools, but also on what I could do before applying to strengthen my candidacy.
This was the area where I received the most support. For letters of recommendation, he helped with selecting recommenders and creating outlines for recommendation requests, thoughtfully considering my relationship with each recommender. For essays, he first presented an overall structure and then carefully edited what I wrote for each school individually. At the beginning, I had no idea how to write these essays at all, so having a clear structure was immensely helpful. He also assisted with brainstorming content. When I struggled with essays that required discussion of legal themes, he offered suggestions such as alternative topics to consider, which I found extremely valuable. In addition, there were occasions when Round-sensei introduced me to individuals he had previously counseled who had studied at the law schools I was targeting. This proved highly useful in gathering material and insights for my essays.
Most LLM applications are submitted online, and I was asked to send screenshots of the application screens. At first I wondered why, but it became clear that he was carefully checking each field to ensure everything was filled out correctly. Because my background as an LLM applicant was somewhat unconventional, there were many areas where I was unsure how to choose among options. Not only did he advise me on each of these decisions, but when necessary, he also recommended creating supplemental documents and supported me in drafting them. As deadlines approached and stress levels rose, having someone review even the smallest details so carefully made a tremendous difference.
As described above, Round-sensei provides highly attentive counseling tailored to each applicant’s individual background and aspirations. I was quite anxious during the application process due to my low GPA and lack of legal experience, but because Round-sensei consistently approached matters with a positive mindset and offered constructive advice, those anxieties were significantly eased.
If you are struggling with how to choose a counselor, I strongly recommend first consulting with Round-sensei.
