My colleague Alison, who heads up our college admissions pratice, just wrote this great blog posting about overcoming writer's block when trying to write your personal essay.

A current law student wrote to us seeking advice:

I was curious if you could speak to what factors a law student should consider when choosing between firm offers during this unique recruiting season.

Since many law school applicants are working on their resumes for this year's admissions cycle, I decided to follow up on my June 29th article, Top Tips for Legal Resumes and Cover Letters, and provide resume DOs and DON'Ts specifically for law school applicants.

What you should DO:

• Do provide context for your experience.

The Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) converts applicants' undergraduate records to a standard 4.0 Grade Point Average system, so law schools can compare candidates according to a uniform standard. Applicants often have questions about how their GPAs are calculated by the LSAC, and they may see differences between their undergraduate GPAs as calculated by their colleges, and their LSAC GPAs.

One potential law student wrote to us as follows:

I have a very strong undergraduate GPA (3.

Yesterday we received a question regarding letters of recommendation:

My son is applying to law school. I am a senior civil services officer of the Delhi Government in India, and I wish to know whether, if I write a recommendation for my son, it will be accepted and considered seriously. I think I know him better than any other person and I can be very objective in my assessment.

It's not surprising that this mom -- like many moms-- wants to do everything she can to help her son with his application But a letter of recommendation from mom or dad is not going to help this student, at least with U.

We received the following question from a blog reader and future law school applicant:

I have some concerns and don't know who to turn to for some solid honest advice. I am starting a one year program at a youth centered clinic predominantly focused on family planning and reproductive health. I will be a health educator there who will see the patients before they see the doctor.

Will more conservative law schools be hesitant to accept me based on such endeavors?

In the coming weeks, when the new law school year begins, 1Ls will face new campuses, courses, and classmates--and so will transfer students.

I don't know if you've ever had this question before, because my "dropping out" is a bit different from others' experiences.

Are law schools churning out too many lawyers? That's the question asked in today's Chronicle of Higher Education. The article is subscription-only, so for those of you who have an account, here's the link. For those of you who don't, here are some excerpts for you to mull over:

• At least 10 new law schools are on the drawing board around the country, in addition to the 200 already accredited by the American Bar Association.

Continuing my Q&A with colleague Marlena (see also Parts I and II):

Anna: We hope this series is helping you get ready for Round One. But how do you decide where to send your applications?

I entered the MBA application process believing that my academic and professional background positioned me well for the top MBA programs in the country. But a challenging economy had sparked one of the most competitive and unpredictable application cycles in decades, so I turned to Anna for her counsel to navigate this environment.

In my view, the most challenging aspect of the MBA application process is surveying one's complete academic, professional, and personal history, gleaning the most informative and illuminating experiences, and connecting and communicating them effectively through often vague essay prompts, limited recommendation submissions, and narrow interview windows.

There are several reasons why this BBC article is very, very funny. Among them:

For those of us old enough to have used Walkmen (Walkmans?