My readers know that I hate to be negative, but I've been asked to address my feelings on LawSchoolNumbers and Law School Discussion so here goes.
My major problem with these forums is that you can’t trust what people say because you don't really know where the advice is coming from. The people posting information are your competitors. They have an interest in intimidating the competition and spreading rumors. Even if members have the best of intentions, it’s still a case of the blind leading the blind.
Another reason I urge my clients to stay away is because the tone taken by writers on LawSchoolDiscussion is often arrogant, rude, exclusive, elitist and boorish. I haven’t seen a productive discussion on this site. I think it cultivates paranoia and I urge my law school admission consulting clients to stay away. (After all, what do you hope to gain by asking complete strangers to comment on your personal statement? Why show your goods to the competition?)
LawSchoolNumbers is an improvement; it still makes people paranoid and you still can’t trust what people say about themselves, but at least people are usually polite and civil to each other and it does help you organize your own information all in one place. Just remember, it’s not as anonymous as you think and once you start law school you probably won’t want people knowing what your LSAT score was….. When you meet someone at law school and mention playing soccer at X school undergrad, they will remember you….
If you want real information about law school admissions, there are better resources – call the law schools admission offices, a pre-law advisor, or a law school admission consultant. Read a book by a credible law school admissions expert, read blogs by law school admission counselors, and consult other credible sources.
Also, law school applicants spend an extraordinary amount of time on these sites when they could be doing something either productive or enjoyable. (Life is short – either do something productive to boost your chances for law school admission like volunteering for a good cause or reading a thought provoking book, or enjoy your time with friends and family because time will be short once you start law school).
I know there are law school applicants who live and die by these forums and they will probably say I have a financial interest in steering people away from the free advice available on these sites. However, I provide free advice to 5,000 law school applicants a month via this blog and do so in the hopes of providing insight and expertise without the paranoia ; )