Discretionary Applicant Category

[OKfitchick]

I know that this question has been asked to death already and I am sorry for bringing it up again in. I know that in the general stream, my grades are definitely not competitive enough so my only choice is discretionary at this point. 

Currently I am working super hard to pull off a really good LSAT score because I ended my undergrad with maybe a 70 average overall.

My reasoning for my grades is that I have major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder and I was not diagnosed until after I completed my undergrad which I had to struggle through. I was homeless with nothing for about a month during one of the semesters after leaving an abusive home and pretty much failed all those courses a few weeks before finals. However, I have gotten treatment and I am doing a lot better now and have even demonstrated pretty good academic performance with a post graduate certificate I completed at BCIT where I finished with an 85 average overall. I do have medical documentation proving my diagnosis but there is so much stigma around mental illness I worry about providing things like hospital and psychiatrist notes in my application might work against me. I am not ashamed of my illness at all though! It is one of the things that makes me so passionate about law and why I am so motivated to do this.

Has anyone applied in the discretionary category before? If so, what was your experience like?

[qsizzle]

The point of discretionary is to help compensate for situations like yours.

That being said, you still need to be competitive and a 70 average is quite low. But your story may compensate for that.

In terms of providing documentation, you can just provide a diagnosis. No need for personal hospital or psychiatrist notes.

However, when I phoned them and explained my situation and asked if I needed to provide documentation they said no, but they have the right to verify anything I say. Additionally, descritionary candidates are held under greater scrutiny in terms of story and PS in order to compensate. So be sure it's coherent and well written.