bertandernie (2022-2023)

worked for 4 years after undergrad
played collegiate sport
studied abroad
horrible freshman gpa, due in part to transition to college sports (failed to write initial addendum, not the only mistake i made)
some honors here and there, deans list for a semester or two, academic frat, grad with honors in my major

Start:
Applied late due to who knows what, stupidity i guess, think it definitely affected me

4/1 Waitlisted at American, pretty good start since that was the highest ranked school I applied to

Early April, Waitlisted at USD, not bad I guess for the late app and sub par numbers, checked off PT program as well when waitlist papers sent back in

April 5th or so, Rejected from ASU, this one hurt, not even waitlisted

Mid April, Waitlisted at Southwestern, hmm, tier 4? must have been that late app....things are looking bleak, REALLY SHOULD HAVE APPLIED EARLIER (like everyone told me)

Mid April, Accepted at Catholic, got in somewhere, this was a relief and minutes from where my parents live and where i grew up

Mid April, Rejected at Denver, who cares, sent me info two weeks later on masters programs they offer in law admin...get real, that pissed me off

Mid April, Got in to Cal Western, received $15,000/year a few weeks later

Late April, Visited Catholic and loved the school, not a great part of DC and I really don't want to be taking loans for full tuition (should have applied earlier, this is becoming a theme)

Late April, Got in to Chapman, with presidential scholarship, 80% renewable with 3.0...this was a huge relief as I want to be on the west coast/southwest area...great area to live and great money

Late April, Got in to Syracuse, my parents undergrad alma mater...they paid for the app fee and the shirt that says Syracuse Law was worth it for my Dad

Found out yesterday 5/6, that I was accepted to the USD PT program and still waitlisted for the full time, this pretty much slammed the door on the east coast schools and cal western

Tough Decision:
Choices are narrowed to the great money and rising rep of Chapman and great weather in OC and the PT program, good rep and great weather at USD, and hopefully the full-time program there and an earned scholarship after year 1 of good work....need to visit both schools pronto

Will be making my withdrawls from everywhere except American this weekend...if AU offered me a spot it would really complicate things, how do you turn down a top 50 school if I were lucky enough to get in?