Ep 09: Staying Motivated Through The Law School Application Process
In this episode of Break Into Law School, I'm going to talk about staying motivated through the law school application process. I want to touch on three points:
1. How to avoid and combat negative thoughts and limiting beliefs.
2. How to stay focused on your journey.
3. How to avoid burnout and make time for rest.
Today, we are talking about staying motivated through the law school application process.
Welcome to another episode of Break into Law School. My name is Sydney Montgomery and I'm a law school admissions consultant specializing in working with first-generation and minority applicants.
So let's dive in.
We are going to touch on three different points. The first is how you can avoid and combat negative thoughts and limiting beliefs. The second point we're going to talk about is how you can stay focused on your own journey. And then the third point we're going to talk about today is how to avoid burnout and making time for rest so that you can stay motivated because this is a marathon guys. This is not a sprint. All right. This is a marathon. So, we're going to be talking about how you can use these tools to make sure that you are having the best law school application process as possible, to have a process that is not stressful because I don't believe the process has to be stressful. To have a process that is maybe dare I say enjoyable. And I know that you might be looking at me like, okay, she's definitely off her rocker.
There's no part of this process that can be enjoyable. But I promise you, you can take this as an opportunity to be more introspective, to learn more about yourself and to just discover your passions and your "why" and your reason. And it's always good when we get more intentional about finding our passions and our reason why.
So let's talk about that first point. That first point was combating negative thoughts and combating those limiting beliefs. What do I mean by that? So, first off, I really believe in encouraging yourself. In order to stay encouraged you really need to encourage yourself and that can be really hard.
For me, I know that sometimes that is really hard because I'm a person that also struggles with depression and anxiety. I know that it's not something that we talk about a lot, especially in the black community. We don't talk about mental health as much as we could and as much as we should. But I know that there are so many moments where the thought of encouraging myself just seems impossible.
It seems like you're telling me to walk on water or move a mountain literally. Because there's just no way that I can see where I am currently and you know that dream or that vision in the future. And so when I talk to you guys about encouraging yourself, I don't want to just give you some trite and overdone response. Like yeah, just tell yourself you can do it.
Because we all know that that doesn't really work all the time. Cause I'm going to give you some actionable steps to take, to keep encouraging yourself. The first is actually a daily affirmation. So I have with me a box.
And I really like this company, it's the Legendary affirmation cards. I love it. They have different colors based off of different themes, and it's really helpful for me when I can't necessarily encourage myself, to have some external ways of staying encouraged. So that first card that we're going to read today, that I want to talk to you about. "I was not made for mediocracy." I think that's really important because sometimes we feel like we just want to continue to get by. I just want to make it through today. I just want to make it through the year. I just want to make it through the semester. I just want to make it through law school. I just want to make it through the process.
And when you're making it through, you're not really thriving. You're not excelling in anything. You're not living your best life. You're just muddling through and that's the definition of mediocracy, right? Just the middle, you're very like meh. So I want to encourage you that you weren't built for mediocracy. You were called to be great.
You were called to achieve greater. For those of you who are Christian, and even for those of you are not, I believe, you know that the Bible says He has called us to live life and live it abundantly. He's called us to be the head and not the tail. So what does that mean if He's called you for something greater? If He's called you for this abundant life? Not a mediocre life, not a meh so- so drug life.
But a really abundant life and to be the head and not the tails, and how can we go about walking in our purpose so that we absolutely feel like we are striving for, even if we're not currently experiencing, but striving for that abundant life, that abundant passion, that abundant goal. So when you're setting your goals also, I want you to set big goals.
And then when we talk about combating these negative thoughts, I love to combat negative thoughts with at least neutrality. I had a very wise person tell me once that our brain can't really go from a negative thought to a positive thought right away, but it's actually easier to go from a negative thought to a neutral thought, and then from a neutral thought to a positive thought.
So, what does that look like? The negative thought would be: I'm no good at the LSAT. And then people would be like, ah, you got to turn that negative into a positive. You got to say, I'm going to crush the LSAT. I'm so good at the LSAT. And the brain can kind of tell when you're lying to yourself.
If you don't really believe it, like if you solidly believe that you are no good at the LSAT exam, you can't just then tell yourself you're like a beast. Because your brain's like, yeah, I don't really believe that. However, what you can do is you can turn it into a neutral. So you can go to "I'm no good at the LSAT" to "I'm okay. I'm not the worst. I'm not the worst at the LSAT." Right. We can kind of move ourselves there. Then from, "I'm not the worst" to be like, "I'm average at the LSAT". You know, the median score for black test takers is 142 and the median score for Asian and White test takers is 153, at least before last cycle.
We don't have updated racial statistics yet for the 2020 cycle but at least before that cycle. So, you know, maybe you're not about 170, 165. And I'm not at all saying that you can settle there, but what I am saying is to change your beliefs and your thought patterns, can you at least say, "Hey. I'm average. I don't suck at the LSAT, but I'm average." And then once you really believe and adopt that your're average, then I want you to take it to that next level. All right. I can crush this because your brain can do that. Your brain can go from " I'm average" to "I'm going to crush this". But it's just really hard if you're stuck in the, "I suck at this. I'm no good at this. This is not for me. I can't conquer this." If you're in that space, then I want you to try to move yourself to neutral.
Because in that neutrality, you'll actually find some more power and confidence that will enable you to move yourself to that more positive uplifting, not mediocre thought about yourself. So that's the first part. If you're going to stay motivated in the law school application process, you need to be able to combat negative thoughts and limiting beliefs. Turn them into a neutral before you can turn them into a positive.
And you need to have ways to encourage yourself, get some daily affirmation. Sometimes I write things on sticky notes and I put them places. I put them in my bathroom. I put them by my bed. You can do this. You will get better. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Your dream is attainable. You will be successful. Whatever it is that you need to do for those external validation, that external encouragement. So that second thing that I wanted to talk to you about is focusing on your own journey. And this is really important. Now, probably many of you like to, or maybe you don't like to but you do it anyway, find yourselves in the Reddit forums. My first piece of advice really is to get off of Reddit. Get off of Reddit. Just get off of Reddit. What happens when we're on Reddit is we start to compare ourselves. Oh, their essay was so profound. My essay will never be like that. Oh my God. They did all this work experience and they worked on The Hill and what have I done? I've just been here, work at Walmart or Target or whatever, and it's not as prestigious. I won't be able to get into law school. Oh my God. They were valedictorian of the class and I barely graduated. Obviously I can't go to law school. We have all of these comparisons. And first off we don't see anyone's full story.
We don't know anything else about anyone else's law school application package, their background, what they're aiming for their goals. But if you continue to put yourself in a place of comparison, And this is really especially key with sample essays, because people do this all the time. They will just see all of the sample essays and they'll be like, "I will never be able to write an essay like that". First off, yes you can. I believe in you. And each and every one of you is a strong, impactful essay. And if you want help making a strong, impactful essay. If you want help brainstorming, I highly, highly suggest that you go take a look at my step-by-step guide to drafting, brainstorming and structuring and drafting your personal statement. You can find it on my website.
That class will walk you through my brainstorming method. That class will walk you through how I help you pull out the stories, how I help you make a multi-faceted essay that is going to take your essay from good to great. How I help you make that impact and that connection with the admission readers.
But listen, like I said, all of you. Each and every one of you have impactful essays within you. You have all lived so much life. But if you spend your time comparing yourself to someone else's essay, someone else's journey who, they've lived completely different lives from you, you are going to find yourself stuck.
Because then you're going to be trying to fit their structure, their themes, their hook, their gimmick or whatever into your writing. Now, while we're on this topic, my biggest pet peeve is when people think that they need to have a gimmick or a really shocking hook. I really don't think that's necessary. I've been doing this for almost seven years. I have helped well over 70 law school applicants, none of my students have a shocking hook and they've all just done well. I have students that have gone to every school in the top 14 every year almost. I have students, multiple students that get into Harvard Law School among other schools, part-time programs, full-time programs, regional schools, national schools. I believe that a strong, impactful essay is so much better than trying to do any of these kinds of hooks or grabbing their attention because ultimately it's the emotional connection that they have throughout your essay that is going to stick with them longer than some really flashy hook at the beginning. And you really don't know the personality of your admissions reader. Because I can tell you that it would annoy me. And so if it would annoy me, that means that there's a chance that it would annoy at least one of your admissions readers.
I just find it just very tiresome when I see these kinds of things, because I know what you're doing. Like you're trying to grab my attention. And that's kind of the feeling that I have when I keep reading. Now it can be done very well, but mostly it's usually not.
It's like when I say they have those few essays that are just so out of the box that sometimes it's like really makes an impression on you but nine out of ten times students that try to be out of the box end up failing. I'm like a little bit more of a considered but risk free kind of person. I would rather you write a strong, impactful essay that is going to hit ten out of ten, right? That it's not like some of them will love it and some of them will hate it. Why don't we just write an essay that most of them will love.
I think it's a good strategy. So run your own race. Your law school journey is your own. Your essays and your stories are yours alone, work on making your writing unique to you. How many different parts of you can you share? How can you show them that you are a fantastic writer, that you are ready for law school? How can you share with them the impact that you want to make on your community and the world? That is what I want you to focus on. And then the third and last thing is that you need to create that time to rest, to avoid burnout. And sometimes when I talk about creating time to rest, it really looks like reorganizing your time.
Because some of you are not working efficiently. And let me talk to you about that. If you want to stay motivated through the entire law school process, then you need to have a sustainable plan of action. And now some of you do not have a plan of action. You're just kind of throwing things at the wall and hoping that they stick.
You cannot do that for a very long sustained time at the same rate without burning out. So you need to have a plan of action. You guys have heard me talk about creating timelines. Where are you in the process right now? Have you just started? Have you started your essays? Are you still thinking about law school?
Where are you now? And what is the plan for being ready? Now, some of you, your plan is just a more physically to study as much as you can from the sunup to sundown. And here's my question: how are you studying? Are you using seven different study books and just trying to figure out and piecemeal it all together because that's not going to work.
Do you have an actual study plan? Are you figuring out when you're going to be taking practice tests, you guys should each be probably taking about 10 tests, 10 practice or diagnostic tests before the real test? Do you have a tutor or a class? I highly recommend a tutor or a class. Why? Because it gives you structure. It gives you a plan of action. It makes it so we're not just throwing random things at the wall and seeing what sticks.
When you have a tutor or a class, a good one, when you invest in one, then you will make sure that you are maximizing your opportunities and creating a sustainable plan for your LSAT. Same thing with your applications. Do you have a plan? Do you have a structure? One of the things that I love about my law school boot camps is that they are 12 weeks.
All right. 12 weeks we will get it done. From brainstorming to having all of your personal statement, your diversity statement, or your resume. We'll outline your optional essays. We may not finish all of them, but we'll outline them. Your addenda, your letters of recommendation, the main parts of your application is going to get done. They're intense. They're intense 12 weeks. You'll be done with your applications and that's a nice sentence. Because when you join a program like that, you are not just relying on yourself and your own timeline, you are letting people help you with your timeline.
We'll make sure that you don't fall behind. We'll be like, Hey, here's the homework. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Here's some office hours, here's some extra help. Right? Here's some private sessions. Here's some, document review, but we're doing everything with structure and that's the same thing with an LSAT prep course. You're doing everything with structure.
So I truly believe that all of you have enough time, and when you have a plan, when you know that you're working on your essays, when you know that you're spending this number of hours on your LSAT and where that's going in your schedule. And it doesn't have to look like a three hour chunk of time for your outlet. You can do an hour in the morning. You can do an hour at lunch. You can do an hour before bed. Then we can start to build in rest. And when you have confidence in the structure that you have picked and you have started to build in rest, then you avoid burn outs. And that's why even in my online personal statement course, I have a four week and eight week and a 12 week timeline, because I'm a big proponent of structure and plan and organization to avoid burn out. And rest because if you're burnt out, you will not stay motivated through the cycle.
And like I said, in the beginning, this is a marathon. And not a sprint. I want you to be energized throughout this entire process. This is going to be a really competitive cycle, again. Perhaps shockingly, even more competitive than last cycle. So I want you to have a plan. I want you to have some structure. I want you to be able to speak positivity over your life, or I want you to get some affirmation cards.
Have them help you speak positivity over your life. I want you to squash your limiting beliefs. I want you to focus on yourself and your journey and not compare yourself to someone else's journey. And I want you to make a plan, a sustainable plan of action that helps you incorporate rest into your schedule and avoid that burnout.
I don't want you to feel like you are on an island. You're never on an island. I want you to feel that support and feel that love because this, like I said, does not have to be a stressful and demoralizing process.
This was another episode of Break into Law School with Sydney Montgomery.
Want to learn more about how you can work with me? Visit my website at www.smontgomeryconsulting.com or follow me on instagram @smontgomeryconsulting.
Make sure that you rate and review this episode, if it was helpful to you. And if you're looking for even more inspiration, check out my podcast, Mindful Prayers for Students, where I provide encouragement, mindfulness, and prayer on your academic journey.