Stop Lying About Your LSAT Score and GPA in Law School Forum

There's a particular type of grousing on law school forums that has to stop. You know the kind: “I have X LSAT score and Y GPA and I just got denied, so UMich doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing!” If you have done this sort of thing, not only is this not helpful, but YOU LIE!

Here's UMich's assistant dean of admissions Sarah Zearfoss over at Law School Podcaster:

[W]e know that that person simply doesn’t exist. We check and know that nobody with those numbers has gotten denied in the last month, or whatever. So people need to know that there are posters on those boards who are misrepresenting themselves.

See, she understands why such people are inclined to lash out by trolling message boards, but sour grapes should not justify muddling the admissions research process for future applicants.

I can understand the psychology behind why this sometimes happens — the poster might be seeking some solace from this community of anonymous people, hoping to hear someone say, “That’s too bad.” So, the poster may fudge his or her numbers or story a bit to make them sound more sympathetic than what the reality may be. But while I understand the psychology of it, what I think is problematic is that that story — one we know is false — is out there in perpetuity that other applicants in this or later admissions cycles might read and take as gospel. That’s frustrating.

I agree with the dean, of course. But I feel for the number fudgers, sitting around dealing with their rejection and rage by posting to anonymous forums. I mean, what's the harm, really? Who by now doesn't know how crazily inaccurate and seethingly racist, homophobic and sexist anonymous forums can be, right?….Nooo, it's still wrong. Poor number fudgers.

[Law School Podcaster]