Warning

Info

What are "softs" and how are they classified?

LSAT score and GPA are "hard" data. Softs refer to everything in your application that isn't "hard" data.

Softs are inherently unquantifiable. That's why they're called softs.

The tiers below are very rough guidelines for putting a number on something that really can't be quantified. Don't take the tiers too seriously when comparing yourself to other applicants on LSData. Holistically valuing softs is the admissions committee's job.

The soft tier system is copied from an old reddit post by /u/whistleridge.

@adcoms - is this information out of date? Email us at admissions@lsd.law and tell us how we can improve!

Soft tiers

Please do not consider under represented minority (URM) status when classifying your soft tier.

Tier 1 (extremely rare)

  • High decorations for valor (Congressional Medal of Honor, DSC/Navy Cross, Silver Star)
  • Rhodes Scholarship
  • Started multimillion-dollar company/innovative service that is household name
  • C-level executive in publicly traded/Fortune 500 company
  • Professional athlete/college athlete who was a lock for professional except for injury
  • Widely published author/heavily cited academic
  • Prior high expertise in field (surgeon who invented technique, etc.)

Tier 2 (rare)

  • Decorated military service (Purple Heart, Bronze Star)
  • Fulbright/other prestigious scholarship
  • NCAA athlete in standout position, e.g. household basketball name, led water polo team to 3 titles, etc.
  • Overcome extraordinary physical/mental handicap (ALS, blind & deaf, etc.)
  • High level (director, etc.) position in prior employment
  • Prior demonstrations of high expertise (patents, etc.)

Tier 3 (uncommon)

  • Commissioned military service
  • Prestigious undergraduate scholarships and/or research awards
  • NCAA athlete
  • Overcame extraordinary adversity (childhood poverty, physical/mental handicap, etc.)
  • Published academic
  • Peace Corps/Americorps/other public service
  • Prior employment in legal field or otherwise pertinent area (engineer for IP, etc.)
  • Disadvantaged status: LGBTQ+, first in family to attend college, single working parent, etc.

Tier 4 (common)

  • Any military service
  • Legal internships
  • Congressional internships
  • President/officer of clubs/frat/etc.
  • School newspaper/yearbook/etc.
  • Honors societies

General

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LuckyDog
19:59
So nice
crybaby2024
20:00
agreed!
crybaby2024
20:00
loyola and cornell were both that way and michigan was also unprompted but like a week? after the admit email i think
KimchiQueen
20:00
@crybaby2024: Yes that's smart! I would definitely recommend learning the language, too, to avoid any misinterpretation.
KermitTheHermit
20:00
@crybaby2024: The allergy cards in native language is a fantastic idea!
LuckyDog
20:01
gotchu
LuckyDog
20:01
@crybaby2024: Did they call you firstly
crybaby2024
20:02
yes cornell called, only one.
LuckyDog
20:02
yessir
Ijustwannagetinman
21:12
Are they SLS real?
IdyllingApplicant
21:14
seems pretty weird for them to be grouped like that and all private idk
JocularJock
21:14
Maybe they're updating before the weekend?
[] ararara
21:19
SLS class size is so tiny and yield so high probably best to ignore those when they’re all bunched up like that and private!
[] ararara
21:19
Also a good idea to ignore statistical outliers (even though I haven’t seen what their stats are!)!
[] ararara
21:20
If you Stanford As are real though congratulations that’s amazing it’s Friday so we riot!!
Ijustwannagetinman
22:19
If you interview with a dean after being WL how good are your odds of admission
Ijustwannagetinman
22:19
Has anyone interviewed after being on the WL
manifestT14acceptances
22:24
ooooh which school
KnowledgeableRitzyWasp
22:36
It is pretty good to be interviewed by dean if you are WL
Ijustwannagetinman
22:44
I was just curious
HulkingAmusingUnicorn
22:45
why is yield % insightful to look at for a WL'ed applicant? sorry to interrupt everyones conversation
Ijustwannagetinman
22:51
It’s good for their ranking. And increasing yield is easier to do with WL stuff
Ijustwannagetinman
22:51
Bc you can be more certain of an applicant’s genuine interest by their persistence
HulkingAmusingUnicorn
22:53
thank you!!
CanWeTalkAboutTerrenceMalick
23:54
Question for the general chat. Sent an addendum to WashU today. Received an email that asked me whether I have deposited anywhere; if so, where; and how long I would like to remain on the waitlist. Does anyone have any idea why these questions would be asked, particularly the first two (I'm not confused about why the third would be asked). I don't have any problem with their asking these questions. I just found it unusual, since no other school I've spoken to since being waitlisted has done that.
CanWeTalkAboutTerrenceMalick
23:55
I feel I must clarify that I know the probability of being admitted off the waitlist here (or anywhere else where I'm waitlisted) is low. Nonetheless, I am curious what you'll think the answers to my questions are. Gracias.
CanWeTalkAboutTerrenceMalick
23:56
y'all*
manifestT14acceptances
0:04
i definitely wouldnt 100% know, but if i had to guess I would say it's to gauge how likely you would be to accept an offer off the waitlist if it's given to you. like if you said you deposited at a higher ranked school and they have reason to think they wouldn't be able to offer you much in terms of scholarship they might try to pick someone else off the waitlist
manifestT14acceptances
0:06
or conversely if you said you hadn't deposited at a school or deposited somewhere significantly less prestigious they might think you are more likely to take an offer if it's given to you
CanWeTalkAboutTerrenceMalick
0:34
I see. I could see that. Makes sense. Thanks.
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