I wrote every optional essay on all of my applications.
I had three really good recommendations. Two were from professors with whom I had very strong personal relationships. The third was from the director of the Peace Corps in my country of service, corroborating my reasoning behind reapplying.
This year's results aligned with / differed from last year's in the following ways:
Last year Vandy offered me 81k, and this year they offered me nothing.
Last year UCLA offered me a need-based grant of 9k, and this year they offered me a merit scholarship of 90k.
Cornell didn't offer me anything last year, and this year they offered me 90k.
Michigan and Duke increased their offers from the previous year by a few thousand. I understand that their offers were the same scholarships, adjusted for the increase in tuition.
Northwestern initially didn't offer me anything, even though they offered me 90k the previous year. I spoke with Johann Lee, and he came back two days later with an offer of 90k, matching the previous year.
Harvard put me on hold last year. I did not reapply this year.
Columbia put me on priority reserve last year. I did not reapply this year.
I did not apply to Chicago last year. I was waitlisted this year.
If Vandy is a top choice, I'd suggest applying for their Law Scholars Merit Award even if you don't feel confident about your chances at getting it. I did this last year, and was offered a scholarship. This year I did not do the separate application for the Law Scholars Merit Award and they didn't offer me a dime. I think that doing the application, regardless of the outcome, shows Vandy that they are a serious option for you, and could likely result in another unnamed scholarship award.
I visited Penn, Berkeley, Northwestern, UCLA, and Duke. I would rank them in the same order as for how I liked each.
Penn, Berkeley, and Northwestern are great. Northwestern's campus and location are unreal. Berkeley is Berzerkeley! Penn Law's campus is cozy. The school's campus is traditional in a beautiful way. You have to have a student ID to even enter the main university quad. I was surprised by how much I liked Philadelphia.
UCLA's law school is nice. It's the environs that make it over the top beautiful. Westwood is a very manicured, pretty, and well-to-do part of LA. The campus is like 5 miles from Santa Monica beaches! Dean Schwartz is also nothing less than amazing. He was responsive and always available to chat. I've received responses from him at 9pm on a Saturday night. The guy is fantastic and defines "hands-on."
I didn't like Duke Law's campus so much. It felt like a high school and was really busy when I visited. Lot's of windows and natural light though, so that's certainly a plus. Also, it's location on the far west side of West Campus isn't ideal. Duke's East Campus is where the aesthetically pleasing, shabby-chic old buildings are. The positives of Duke Law's location, though, revolve around it's proximity to tons of forest and outdoor spaces. For an area with 1,000,000 people, the triangle is still quite rural. The woods are wonderful.
Because of my commitment to Public Interest work, I am accepting my Toll Scholarship offer and will be withdrawing all of my other offers.
I'm excited about working with the Toll and Gittis Centers. Penn has a fantastic program, and I cannot say enough about how impressed I was by everyone with whom I interacted there.
I'm excited for my experience at Penn.
Hey there! Congrats on everything and your Toll! I also accepted a Toll a few days ago. Looks like we'll be working pretty closely together over the next few years. Penn is great; I absolutely agree with your impressions of Philadelphia and the school (I did my undergrad there as well). You'll love it. Excited to meet you in the fall!