- Master's Degree in IR from a top European university.
- 4 months of campaign experience, 4 months of barista experience.
- Socioeconomic diversity statement.
-Suffered traumatic brain injury and dropped out of school, then came back and had three semesters of terrible grades. After completing cognitive rehabilitation, averaged a 3.7 with a full load during final two years.
HISTORY
11/01: Vanderbilt admissions interview with Officer at law fair.
11/09: Penn visit, no interview.
11/11: Virginia visit, informational interview with Dean.
11/21: Duke visit, informational interview with Officer.
12/19: Made an NCAA-style bracket pool for my friends to guess where I'd get in and which of those I'd choose. I have 22 people signed up to play, and somebody's definitely going to win... unless I end up at Columbia, in which case all 22 of the doubters get a prize anyway.
12/20: Fee waivers solicited from every school except NYU, Chicago, and Berkeley.
12/21: All applications submitted at this point.
12/22: Vanderbilt acceptance via *very* heavy, foil-embossed black slipcase full of glossy materials in the mail. Ten day turnaround... pretty crazy.
12/23: Georgetown acceptance via letter in the mail. Came with handwritten note from the Admissions Dean complimenting my essays. At this point, I consider myself really lucky to have two great schools to choose from.
1/04: Lunch with former what-I-want-to-do (which is not NYC BigLaw). He recommends Columbia, NYU, Duke, or Georgetown over the other options.
1/09: Berkeley rejection via email. Kind of expected; no biggie.
1/11: Michigan visit, informational interview with Officer.
1/12: Northwestern visit, admissions interview with Officer.
1/13: Chicago visit, informal conversation with Career Services.
1/26: Georgetown admitted students weekend. Good times.
2/04: Columbia waitlist. Still in the hunt.
2/11: Chicago waitlist. No big shock there.
2/11: Northwestern waitlist. Kind of surprising given my numbers and interview, but I figured work experience would be an issue.
2/11: Texas acceptance via missed call, confirmed via email.
2/12: UNC acceptance with 75% scholarship via voicemail. I have an interview in two weeks for the other 25% and a fancy title. I now have a low-debt option, which is a wonderful thing.
2/17: Virginia acceptance via voicemail. Wahoowa.
2/22: UCLA acceptance via missed call, confirmed via email.
2/25: Michigan waitlist via email. Very sad.
2/28: Cornell acceptance. Quite flattered, but I don't think I'd take it over Virginia or Georgetown.
3/2: UNC scholarship is now a full ride Chancellor's Scholarship.
3/3: Vanderbilt scholarship is $65,000 over three years.
3/5: Duke status checker has said "Info required; watch for email" since February 5th. I called them and they emailed me back, asking for more info on what I have been doing since graduate school. I sent them an updated rsum and a three-page essay. Hope that does the trick.
3/7: Penn waitlist. Sucks to be a splitter.
4/8: NYU waitlist. Oh well... a lot of waitlists, but at least I have some solid options and didn't get a straight rejection from anyone other than Berkeley. Looking at the charts, it seems like my extenuating circumstances made no difference in getting acceptances but assured me a waitlist or hold at almost every school above my numbers. Still pursuing a small number of waitlists... if nothing happens with those, I will have a very hard choice to make between Georgetown, Virginia, and UNC.
4/13: Turned down the full ride to UNC. It was a very difficult decision.
4/17: Texas scholarship is now a full ride. Even harder to turn down, but I don't want to risk underperforming and being limited to Texas firms. Also, their chaos with the dean position is worrying.
4/18: Duke acceptance via email. It's for the JD/LLM in International Comparative Law, with a 0L summer start and a 1L summer job overseas. The total cost of attendance is the same as a straight JD from Virginia or Georgetown, and I like the Triangle more than Charlottesville. Barring some unexpected waitlist movement or an equally unexpected scholarship offer, I think my decision has pretty much made itself.
5/11: Georgetown scholarship is $15,000 over three years.
5/17: Duke scholarship is also $15,000 over three years... which more or less cancels out the extra cost of the LLM. Duke it is. I've now withdrawn from all other accepted schools, as well as the Chicago, Penn, and Northwestern waitlists. I'm still riding out the waitlists at Columbia and NYU, but I won't be heartbroken if they don't come through.
6/4: First day of summer classes at Duke. I'm really happy here, and I really like all of the people in the dual-degree program.
6/11: Columbia sent another waitlist confirmation letter. I don't think have any real hopes of getting in, but I figure I'll stick it out just on the off chance that something happens.
7/11: NYU acceptance off the waitlist via phone call. Not sure what to do... I guess that means I'm headed to Manhattan this weekend to check it out.
7/13: Talked to my professors at Duke, and they're all supportive of me going to whichever place I'd be happier living for three years.
7/16: NYU campus visit. It seems like all the faculty at both schools consider the difference in education, prestige, and job opportunities to be negligible; the universal consensus is that there's no wrong decision to make. NYU's law school facilities aren't as nice as Duke's, but the neighborhood is cool and the increased networking opportunities in New York would probably be worth the extra cost of living.
7/17: I asked Duke if they'd be willing to increase my scholarship offer, and they said they'd get back to me.
7/18: Duke says no on the scholarship increase. Guess that makes it a done deal.
7/19: Just paid my seat deposit at NYU and withdrew from Duke. Here's hoping I'm making the right decision...
10/21: Yeah, I love it here. :-)
I absolutely loved reading your journey. Thanks for such a detailed description of your Law School path. I can almost even say I felt like I was in your shoes. Congrats and super happy you're loving it at NYU!