Glossary
Process jargon and this book’s own vocabulary, 1 line each. Terms were defined at first use in the chapters; this is the backstop for the second pass.
ABA disclosures (509 reports). The standard data every accredited school must publish each year: medians, scholarships, conditional-scholarship cuts, costs, employment. These are the public filings this book taught you to read like a lawyer.
Addendum. A short factual explanation of an anomaly in your file. Spec in chapter 10: 4 moves, 150-word cap, A-plus boring.
Anchor / core / reach. The 3 jobs a school can hold on your portfolio: bargaining power and a guaranteed real seat; the close calls where your file does its work; the long odds priced with open eyes.
Band. Your position from the chapter 3 diagnostic: Runway, Build, In-Cycle, or Verdict. Routes your reading order and your next task.
CAS (Credential Assembly Service). LSAC’s clearinghouse. Transcripts, letters, and scores go in. Standard reports go out to your schools, including the LSAC-computed GPA and your full reportable score history.
Case file. The notebook or doc holding your theory sentence, instruments, tables, and dated entries. The thing this book had you build instead of a folder of drafts.
Conditional scholarship. Money with a condition attached, like a GPA floor or class rank. The trapdoor data and the 2 questions to ask before signing live in chapter 11. The conversion ask lives in chapter 13.
Defended median. The published number (LSAT or GPA) a school is visibly straining to hold. You can read it in 3 years of disclosures. It decides how your particular pair gets valued there.
Index. A school’s internal blend of your GPA and LSAT, used for sorting. Sets your pile; the medians set your price.
KJD. Kindergarten-to-JD: an applicant going straight through with no work years. Not a flaw; usually a thinner inventory, which chapter 7 exists to fix.
LOCI (letter of continued interest). The waitlist appeal brief: holding, new evidence, venue paragraph, short close. Spec in chapter 12.
LSAC GPA. Your undergraduate GPA as LSAC recomputes it, every grade counted, forgiveness policies ignored, graduate work excluded. Sometimes a surprise; always the number that counts.
Medians / 25th / 75th. The percentile markers schools publish for an entering class. A quarter of every class sits at or below each 25th; the median is table stakes, not a wall.
Reportable period. The window (currently 5 years) of LSAT scores that appear on your CAS report. Limits and terms drift; lsac.org has current rules.
Rolling admissions. Files read roughly as completed, all season, while seats and budgets spend down. Why September-to-November beats January at most schools.
Splitter / reverse splitter. High LSAT with low GPA, or the mirror image. Strategy is venue research plus volume; chapter 4.
Theory of the case. The 1 sentence a stranger could write about you after reading your file: what you’ve done, what you’re here to do, why anyone should believe you. The book’s center, chapter 6.
Verdict line. The resume unit: action, object, number, outcome. Opposite of a duty line.
Why-X. The school-specific essay. Venue evidence, held to the find-and-replace test; the antidote to yield protection.
Yield / yield protection. The fraction of admits who enroll, and the defensive waitlisting of strong-numbered applicants who show no evidence of coming. The fix is real venue evidence, chapter 9.
Early decision (ED) / early action (EA). Early application rounds; ED is usually binding (admitted means enrolled, negotiation over). The narrow case where it makes sense lives in chapter 11.
Fee waiver. Application and CAS fees, waived: LSAC’s need-based program (lsac.org) or a school’s own waivers, often handed to candidates they want. Take them; never choose venues by them.
Deferral. Permission to enroll a year late, granted school by school, usually with a form and a deposit; whether your scholarship carries is a question to ask in writing. Chapter 14 has the 4-sentence request.
Demonstrated interest. Engagement schools may track (events, interviews, contact). A margin factor at some smaller schools, a non-factor at most; never a substitute for venue evidence.
Complete (application status). All pieces received and the file ready for review. Rolling review runs on complete dates, not submission dates, so chasing a missing letter is calendar work, not nagging.
Withdrawal. Telling a school or waitlist you’re out. Costs nothing, frees a seat, keeps your docket clean; the 3-sentence version is in chapter 12.
