1/14/2010- Accepted at Denver, the whole acceptance packet was really not too exciting. At least I have one school down!
1/22/2010- Accepted at Loyola, definitely going to law school next year now!
2/12/2010- Waitlisted at Indiana University and Penn State University... I wasn't too surprised about IU but PSU really caught me off guard. Oh well, I would have picked Loyola over any of them.
2/23/2010- Visited Loyola Law School in LA today. It's hard not to feel good about the idea of going there. Still waiting on the others.
3/20/2010- Received waitlist letter from Pepperdine. Oh well. I will definitely be staying on this one.
3/25/2010- Got my Acceptance letter from Santa Clara University. Like Denver, the acceptance packet is very underwhelming. Also, there was no scholarship. The important thing is that I am back to a .500 record!
4/8/2010- Received letter from Baylor saying that I was being rejected from admission into the Fall 2010 class, but the school was "ready to offer admission" into the Spring 2011 class, should I reactivate my application. I reactivated it and am scoring it as a deferred acceptance! We shall see what kind of things they offer me when it comes to scholarships or anything. Right now I am still leaning on attending Loyola Law School.
4/9/2010- Got an email from USD saying that I had been placed on the Waitlist. From my initial dealings with them to the email I got today, I have been disappointed in their conduct and treatment of applicants.
4/13/2010- The new USNWR Law School rankings leaked out today. Especially pertinent: Penn State drops to 72, Loyola shoots up 15 to tie USD at 56 -just behind Pepperdine at 52. These new rankings really confirm my impression that Loyola, Pepperdine and University of San Diego are all about the same. Most importantly, Loyola Law School's move from 71 to 56 this year helps me feel a lot better about going there.
4/16/2010- Withdrew from Santa Clara. Who knew that they would be tied with Chapman in the rankings this year? Oddly enough, I didn't apply to Chapman because they were still at T3. It doesn't matter however, as rankings does not immediately affect your hiring statistics.
4/22/2010- I mailed in my seat deposit check to Loyola this morning and barring any unforeseen circumstances, will be headed there this fall! I still have yet to hear from UNC Chapel Hill, but I doubt it an acceptance.
5/4/2010- My cycle is officially over. I received a rejection letter from UNC Chapel Hill exactly 5 months after my application went complete there. Much can be said at how disappointing the admissions department at UNC is in their handling of applications. My advice to future applicants is that the application to UNC is straight up not worth it -unless you are in-state. $70 Fee extra "Why UNC" essay - no status checker insane wait... adds up to an enormous waste of time. I am now of the opinion that it is easier to get into Duke as an OOS student than UNC. That said, my deposit is in at LLS and I am excited to head up to Los Angeles this next fall. On a side note, I also just received my Spring '11 acceptance packet from Baylor. I will wait to see what it looks like financially before sending in my withdrawal notice.
Conclusions:
I started out this journey in the aftermath of a hugely disappointing LSAT score, opting to pass on re-taking the LSAT in December. I was going to apply with the numbers I had (157/3.8) and see where the cards fell. Though I applied to 9 schools in all, there were really only 4 schools that this cycle was centered around: UNC, IUB, Pepperdine, LLS and USD. More importantly, Pepp, LLS and USD were the trigger schools -the other two were reaches. I got waitlisted at Pepp and USD, but was accepted at LLS very early on. Though there was no scholarship, I had at least been accepted somewhere I could definitely see myself going. My decision to attend LLS became very easy: I had an older friend there who had nothing but good things to say about the school. Add that to solid job placement numbers in the midst of the deep recession and 15 point jump in the USNWR rankings, I felt really good about it.
Take-away points:
1) Work hard on your Statements! You never know if they tip the scales in your direction... Loyola could very well have like my essays enough to overlook the rest.
2) Apply early to most schools if possible, though an early application won't make it or break it when applying to T2 schools. My relatively early applications to USD and Pepperdine did NOTHING. As long as you submit them by mid-January, you should be fine.
3) Don't dwell on the law schools you'd like to go to too much before you actually get your score back. It will ruin you. Evaluate your options openly and decide if you can go where you would be happy. Hey, going to a top law school is probably one of the most difficult things to do in our society, on par with med-school and a host of other feats. Accept your limits and just be happy with who you are!
Whats your take on Loyola vs Pepperdine