So tell me a little bit about where you're at now at this point in the process. You're a few weeks, really a couple months, a couple months before starting the whale this fall. How are you feeling about it? I'm feeling okay.
As we're recording this video, Loyola still hasn't given us a direct answer as to if we're online or hybrid or in person, but assuming that Los Angeles sadly will not be as, how do I say like coronavirus friendly by the time it's August, I think most likely it'll be online. We're just waiting for the news, but there's nothing I can really change. I just have to kind of enjoy this summer and read some prep books here and there for law school and just being ready to possibly be online. Nice.
Nice. Yeah. I think that most schools are going to end up going online, especially if there's an open question about it. If things might look a little shaky, it's the safer route.
I know I'm going to get questions on this though. You mentioned some books that you're reading for one L prep. What are some of those books? So obviously just as kind of like a funny, you know, see what a one L experience might be like, the classic one L book by the Harvard Law City, the former Harvard Law City, I forgot what his name was already, but that's a good book.
I've been recommended a few books. How do you change the count to Rose and one L? Oh yeah. Yeah.
That would be a good book. Honestly, I've heard great things. Also, getting to maybe is a really classic one that a lot of people recommended. Those are the two right now.
I've heard about a few more about having to touch those. So we'll see about that. I think I'll start really kind of getting into those things in a few weeks because law school starts from 17th August for me. So I saw a little bit of time before I get going.
Yeah. Yeah. For sure. No, it's good that you're reading a little bit about it, learning a little bit about the process and what one L could look like.
Does the way I'll tell you to do any prep in particular? Do they give you any guidelines about that or do they really get pretty open ended? So loyal law school, I think they're going to start telling us stuff once they give us our section assignments, which is coming up on the 20th of July. So we're still waiting on that.
But in terms of other resources, they've given us town hall meetings and various webinars with some of the professors that we can kind of get a sneak peek on things and required readings, though, not necessarily. There's like a loyal book club that they've been passing around and stuff. But I just think it's a little too early for them to really tell us. But I know that certain students in my incoming class were given this kind of pre one L summer institute kind of thing.
I think that Harvard was kind of starting where it kind of gives some students a chance to experience what one L might be like in the successes of it. There's been this whole debate about like, do you get invited or do you have to sign up and ultimately I think you had to get invited, but by no means do I think you're disadvantaged if you don't do it. Right, right. Now, I imagine that you could walk in day one without any prep at all without any book reading prior.
You'll learn what you need to know. But at the same time, there are benefits to getting ahead a little bit. And I know there are a lot of gunners who do want to do at least some prep. And there's varying schools of thought about this.
I've seen some say don't do anything. I've seen some who also happen to be selling one L prep saying one L prep is a good idea. But they could still be right. Who knows.
But I guess you'll be able to report back a few months from now. Yeah, I mean, it's that of the advice has been really nothing in the middle. Like it's kind of been polar opposite whether it's hey, don't go to law. Don't go into law school having studied.
Enjoy the summer. Read some books. Enjoy time with your family because you'll need it. But then there's also people who recommend it.
You know, read those prep books. Might as well get ahead. Like, you know, these kids are going to be super, super competitive, especially online. So I have no idea.
It's kind of frustrating because I don't know what's going to be the best. But I guess I'll just have to do whatever I think is better. But ultimately everyone's going to start from the beginning somewhere. Like no one's gone lost.
We had the whole point of going into law school. I was cool to take that approach and make the most of the summer that you have. And I feel like that was kind of a mentality that you took back when we were working together and I guess I should have prefaced our conversation with a member together intensively one on one to prepare for the LSAT. And I felt that you stroke a really good balance between being committed to the process without letting it completely take over your life to the point of burnout.
Yeah. Wow. I mean, I look back at that process was in the fall semester of my senior year. So that was last year.
But that was the balance. That was a good point. I think knowing the schedule that you gave me and knowing that I had worked to do most of the days was great. But I knew that after a certain time, I was to go home, enjoy some time with friends, enjoy some time just with good company and everything.
And I think it was a good balance. But by no means was it easy, but it definitely was a much more efficient and much more effective approach. I remember. Yeah, definitely.
So let's. So we're speaking now, beginning of July, you've got law school about a month, a month and a half away from now. But to zoom back in time, it was fall semester, your fall 2019. You were studying for the LSAT and putting together your applications.
Do you want to talk a little bit about what that process was like for you? Yeah, of course. And I always love sharing this stuff. I think it can really help students.
I kind of started this whole law school process a couple years back when I was interested in it. But the whole process really began officially in, I guess, the beginning of 2019 and January when I started studying for the LSAT itself. I use some other test prep programs and I was planning for March, but I ended up taking it in July. Still wasn't ready.
And that kind of pushed me back because I wanted to send in all my applications by October to be early, you know, all the advice that you yourself and other industry professionals have given us is that earlier is better for sure. I mean, even though it's kind of like not as important as I'd say nowadays, but still that kind of sent me back. And so I realized I had to study really differently and really like much more efficiently and effectively. So I began that process again in September during my fall of senior year.
And that's where I actually came across you and we worked together. And for those two months or so, we worked together one on one and I ended up taking it in November, which allowed me to still apply by January, like six, I still sense in all my applications to the California school that want to go to. And I threw in four more at the end of January just because hey, why not? It's still time to.
And that was the process. But if I had known coronavirus to hit and I'd have a little more time, I'd say I might have retaken again because LSAT Flex is definitely favorable for some students, including myself, I think. And so I don't regret anything. I'm happy to go to Loyola with the amazing amount of money they've given me.
But if I look back, there are definitely some things I wish I'd known ahead of time. That would be really helpful. Yeah, for sure. There's always more you wish you could have done.
And maybe yeah, with COVID, you could have retaken it, but you still got a ton of scholarship money and feel free to disregard this if you want to. But I'm sure folks would be interested to just get a sense of what the magnitude of those LSAT scholarships could be like. Are you willing to share anything about that? Yeah, I'm pretty transparent with the scores.
I think that'll be pretty helpful. I mean LSAT score wise, I was able to increase from a 154 to a 164. Thanks, Steve. I mean, I always give credit to when we work together.
Like the nuances of figuring out not only the LSAT, but also the mental approach and not getting psyched out by certain things and things like that. Even like getting the music stuck in my head was a huge thing that we figured out. I'm going to make scholarship money too. Yeah, essentially, I'm paying almost little to nothing actually to Loyola.
Maybe a few thousand dollars, I think. I would say it's one of the bigger scholarships they give out. I don't know how many other students were able to get it. But I mean, as long as I'm, I don't think there's any repercussions for me talking about it.
It's a great opportunity that I got. And I know that other T14s or higher schools that might have given me no money, but still acceptance. I don't know if I would, I don't know that's a tough decision, because especially with COVID and family circumstances and trying to keep the debt lower. I was really blessed honestly to be giving this opportunity to go with essentially no money from my pocket.
That's incredible. And you say it's no matter a fact that I think it's actually huge. And most people don't realize how important this is. The debate over scholarships versus prestige scholarships versus the rankings.
I mean, we didn't open this video talking about Harvard Law, but Loyola paying little to little to nothing. In some ways, in some situations could be better depending on your circumstances, depending on your goals, but to pay almost nothing for law school and save hundreds of thousands of dollars from increasing your LSAT score 10 points is incredible. It's a lot of money per point. You're totally right.
And when you I know you preach that to students that just taking LSAT again to get that, not even to get into a higher school, but just more scholarship money is a really good thing to point out because 154 might not even have gone to be a mission to Loyola. Honestly, but studying a few more months and getting a 164 that not only unlocked many other schools amongst this caliber, but unlocked a lot of scholarship money. And frankly, I know that I want to practice in LA. And so Loyola being a great LA powerhouse school and has a great alumni network like they honestly worked out for the best.
And I truly mean it for anyone watching. Like, if you just study hard, it has safe people like things will work out in a really weird way because back in November when I was working with Steve, I was pretty stressed and I didn't think that I'd be into the show. I am now. Yeah.
And then just a call out again, the length of time you put into this, like I helped you and we talked, we worked together. But at the same time, you were at this for a long time, even before we started together. You mentioned January of 2019, all the way through to November. Right.
So nearly an entire year. You were focused on this. Crazy. I know it's been a long time.
And you know, granted I studied during school, so people might say, Hey, you could have been better. Maybe if you just did it, you know, during the summer after senior year. But frankly, I've had this debate with a lot of other students. I think now is the time to enter, especially with coronavirus and a lot of things changing attorney work is going to be really helpful and really necessary.
And I think you mentioned it in a lot of your podcasts and YouTube videos, but there's the opportunity cost, you know, if you don't want to get into it. If you don't go into the cycle, then the next cycle might be even more competitive and you might get less money or things like that. I mean, it's not a guarantee, but it's something I had to really think about. And, you know, I think it's still to the best issue for me.
Yeah. There's always going to be pros and cons, but it's important to really at least think them through fully, not to just go based on that instant or emotional loan because there are tradeoffs and the repercussions of any choice are pretty large, especially when talking about the opportunity cost of salary, as well as just the cost situation itself. Sure. Of course.
Now, one thing we didn't talk about and feel free to cover only the details you want to, but we didn't touch on GPA and we didn't touch on parts of the application like the personal statement. If any, do you think those played in your application either to help her to her or anything in between? That's a great point. And, you know, I'm again happy to share.
I don't think there's any reason why I can't share personally. So I got a 3.73 GPA from UC Berkeley, but I think calculated through LSAC, I got a 3.74. So that helped me by, you know, getting that point 01 boost, but the GPA was good because for loyal and other schools, a 3.7 was in the 75th percentile. So that helped me as well in terms of scholarship money and looking like a competitive applicant.
And in terms of the personal statement, I think that was actually a really underrated area that people forget. I've been stressing this to maybe three or four other people that I'm currently just kind of helping as a friend in terms of the law school process is that your personal statement is where you can really differentiate yourself. And personally, I think that's the reason why I got waitlisted at schools such as Berkeley, where like my scores were clearly under both the 25th percentile. And I don't know if I'm getting it off the wait list, but the fact that I think I had a personal statement and a why Berkeley that really showed them, hey, this guy really cares about Berkeley and wants to be here.
I think that made a difference along with letters of rec I got from professors at Wets of Berkeley. So it, I don't know, it's always going to be a question in my mind, but it seems like a logical thing, I think that the personal statement helped a lot. Yeah, I would certainly imagine so. So let's bring back to the present day.
Now we're looking ahead towards loyal, maybe being online this fall. How are you feeling about the prospect of online law school? And what have you heard about? Maybe the spring semester?
We're just your experience here and from others. So we have like a law school or loyal law school kind of like class of 2023 group chat. So we're actually having these conversations every day. So I definitely have a lot to share.
I think I can kind of represent the voices of like, you know, maybe a few hundred students or not, but we're all pretty, you know, unsightly. You know, uncertain about things. We, some of us are excited that it's going to be online because we can, you know, be safe and not have to risk ourselves to expose your from other students. A lot of us are definitely bummed that it's not going to be in person because as anyone knows, one L is such a social, such a vibrant experience in your law school career.
But I think the overall consensus is that including myself is that we're all pretty bummed it's online. We want it, we want it to be in person, but we're going to respect whatever decision loyal it makes and whatever the CDC and WHO make because they know it's best. And we need to stay healthy eventually. I mean, a lot of us are going to live at home.
I mean, I'm living at home for at least the first semester. If it's online or hybrid, because luckily I live like maybe 30, 45 minutes away. And I have, you know, parents to think about their, well, their mid 60s and I need to make sure that they're healthy as well. Yeah, definitely.
Well, it sounds like you're taking a very reasonable, prudent course of action with it and hopefully things will improve over the next several months. And so the spring or beyond at least we'll be better. We'll hope. Yeah, I was just touched on your question of if it's going to be online spring.
I mean, I have no idea, but based on my look on, you know, the CNN and like, CBS and websites like that, you know, if we don't have a vaccine, I think by the spring, it's tough to say what it'll be. So I have no idea. And that's why, although I wish Loyola and other schools could give an answer soon, I also respect what they're doing and don't blame them because they themselves have no idea what to do. So it's, you know, it's unfortunate, but you gotta understand that it's a hard situation for everyone.
Yeah, everyone's doing their best with imperfect information. And I'm sure they would do it in person if they thought they could, but then there would also be a massive disruption cost if they had to switch midway through. And then of course, if someone got sick or worse, there are not only liability issues, but just basic moral issues to contend with. And so I wouldn't fault anyone for being online in this situation.
I think it's probably the best course of action for all schools for this fall. Yeah. And I mean, just, and you've probably fallen in the news too. I know you have a Facebook group too, where people also post, you know, things about latest news and stuff.
There's definitely been a wave of schools that are going online. And so I wouldn't be surprised in the next weeks or so to see a trend of, you know, okay, we're going online too, because, like you said, morally and also health wise and ethically, it'd be tough to go in person and having someone get sick and all that stuff going on. Yeah, definitely. Well, Kenny, this has been a blast.
Anything else you want to share advice for pre law applicants before we wrap up with this conversation? And then I'd love to do another one down the line to update folks on your law school journey. Yeah, no, I'm on any video you want to do. Please let me know.
I love these kind of things. So looking forward to that. But for anyone watching or listening, first of all, I mean, Steve's been a great resource for me. So please, you know, have trust in him.
He's pretty much dedicated his life to this, you know, so trust in what he's saying. It really helped me. And if there's one piece of advice, it's that don't be afraid to, I'd say retake the LSAT if you feel like you need to because that advice for me not only got me accepted into a school that I'm so, so excited to go too. But it gave me so much more scholarship money that kind of made me feel like I was in control of the process.
And now I'm confident that I don't have to worry about the money when I go into school. I can worry about getting to grades, meeting great friends and colleagues and really excelling and doing what I want to do. So yeah, just spoke to me else that I think I think all the other parts of the application are important. Like the LSAT is pretty important.
So don't stress, but definitely take your time and try your best on it. Definitely. I couldn't agree more. Well, thank you again for having this conversation with me all the best as you start law school in August and stay safe and we'll do an update in a few months.
Yeah, looking forward to it. Thanks, Steve. Thanks for tuning into the show. Please subscribe if you haven't done so already to be notified of new episodes as I release them.
And feel free to reach out if you need anything at all so you feel with your prep. I'm happy to help. However, I can. In the meantime, I wish you all the best and take care.