1/13/2011: All applications are in and now I join my fellow 1L hopefuls in the waiting game.
1/21/2011: WOO HOO First acceptance e mail from University of Baltimore. It does feel good to get in.
1/24/2011: The wait still continues. Although I have to tell you, I'n not nearly as anxious as I was two weeks ago. I still check my status checkers on a fairly regular basis (even U of Baltimore...It's nice seeing "you have been accepted") but I no longer check them 10 times a day. Now it's only 4-5 times a day.
1/24/2011: Disappointed by wait list at WCL although I can't say that I am completely surprised. Beats a rejection letter right? I saw the status change on status checker and received an e-mail from them while I was looking at the status change.
1/31/2011: No surprise. I was rejected via e-mail from GMU
I now have an acceptance, waitlist and rejection in that order. If this were a sequencing game I should be expecting another acceptance letter any time now.
2/08/2011: And the wait continues...
Of course I wrote that a few hours ago and I just received a rejection e-mail from GW. Once again, no surprise but I'm still disappointed.
2/14/2011: Awaiting more responses. In the mean time I am trying to figure out a way to work full time (and preferably keep my current job) while doing school part time nights. It looks like one of the only ways to do that is work a 24 hour shift starting Friday at 0700 ending Saturday, then working 7pm to 7am Sunday to Monday. It would leave my days open to study and allow me some time with my wife on the weekend.
Just for Fun I thought I would do Law School Predictor vs Reality (to join so many others in seeing how accurate it is):
1.Georgetown: Deny...reality...Deny
2. American: Deny...reality..Waitlist
3. University of Maryland...Deny....reality waitlist
4. Catholic University...Strong Consider...reality Hold for additional review--waitlist
5. George Mason University...Deny....Deny
6. George Washington University...Deny...Deny
7. University of Baltimore...Admit...ADMIT :~)
2/18/2011: Letter received from UMD, waitlisted. They will start looking at their waitlist in the beginning of May. Kind of late, but I think I will stay anyway. They have a great healthcare law program.
2/19/2011: Went to an accepted students day at UBalt. I was very impressed. They seem like a great school. They also recently joined with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for a joint Law and Medicine program. The only one in the country (with this particular focus). For someone like myself, this would be a great opportunity....Looking more and more like UBalt is where I will end up. Also got a call from them a few days ago and it looks like they may be able to offer me scholarship money, which would make my decision much easier:-)
2/21/2011: Application at CU "placed on hold" I guess that is not truly waitlisted. I hear hold is one step above waitlist. I guess I just have to keep waiting until I hear something further.
2/23/2011: Catholic University officialy changed my status to waitlist.
2/28/2011: CU actually put me back on the hold for additional review...Interesting.
3/2/2011: Just got an email from U-Balt. $8000/year if I keep a 3.25 GPA.
3/3/2011: I just wanted to say thank you to all that have stopped in to view my profile. It often amazes me how many people have looked at my LSN. Everyday, I look forward to a few things. One of them is seeing if there is any new news on the acceptance/rejection front. Another is seeing how many people have looked in on my profile. Just kind of fun. Of course, none of it is as nice as getting home to see my wife after a day of work.
3/18/2011: Nice e-mail from GT rejecting me (and on my birthday). Of course I expected that. Scores aren't good enough to get into a T14. Not sure I would have spent the money to go there as I don't want to do big law and the cost wouldn't have been worth it. I plan on staying in the area, so other cheaper schools are probably better for me.
3/30/2011: officially placed on Catholics wait list. Oh well. What can I say. A few rejections, a few wait lists and the all important acceptance (with a scholarship). Overall not a terrible cycle :-D
4/1/2011: It's official, I have accepted and payed my seat deposit at U Balt. I am very happy with my decision (although I didn't have much of a choice). There is a high probability I would have ended up there even if I got accepted elsewhere. They are the cheapest school I applied to and lets face it getting out of law school with little or no debt is something worth considering. I have a friend who graduated from a top 30 program and he was highly recommending U Balt if I plan on staying in the area.
PROS: 1. They offer (and arrange) for every 1L to have an internship during the summer following your 1L.
2. The Dean is an amazing man. He has the two biggest jumps in US News and World Report ratings (U Balt being the second biggest increase for a dean ever, and he has only been there 3 years). By the time I graduate, it will be a top 100 school.
3. I'm looking at doing some sort of healthcare law as I have a strong background in healthcare. They just teamed up with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for a medical healthcare program. Details are still a bit in the works I believe, but it should be nice and maybe I can help shape that program somewhat. I have worked closely with the Physician from Hopkins that is in charge of their side (although it was over 10 years ago...I wonder if he'll remember me?)
4. The feel of the school was really nice. I visited one other school and thought it had a really nice feel to it, but it didn't even come close to U Balt.
5. I already have connections with Alumni. One of my friend's husbands graduated from there last year (5th in his class). I am also being deposed for a malpractice case (don't worry I'm not the defendant) and my attorney graduated from U Balt.
6. They offered me a scholarship.
7. I have already met people (via E-mail) that will be attending U Balt or will possibly be attending U Balt that live in the DC area and they are interested in carpooling.
CONS: 1. It's about an hour drive each way (see # 7 above).
Well Folks, there you have it. I have really enjoyed this journey and I will miss LSN, although I'll keep checking in until school starts. Who knows, maybe I'll even do a little more updating.
Best of luck to everyone during the rest of your cycle. I'll keep looking to see what happens to you :~)
4/3/2011: Never received anything about my decision from Catholic. Their website says I was placed on the wait list and I should look for an e-mail from them with more information. That was March 30, 2011. Today is April 3, 2011 and I still have not received anything. I don't even know who to send my withdrawal letter to.
On a side note, I just realized I misspelled withdrawal on my two withdrawal letters (that's what I get for cutting and pasting). Oh well I'm not going to those schools anyway ;0)
4/15/2011: I often log on to LSN and click on the recent user updates, in the lower left corner, to see if any of my LSN friends have updated recently. Over the past few weeks I have noticed the familiar names have been posting less and less and a new batch of 1L hopefuls has started to post more and more. Much like the LSAT blogs, I will miss this when it is no longer relevant for me. I wish all my LSN friends (and non-friends) the best of luck finishing up or starting their cycles :~)
4/27/2011: I realize that my cycle is basically over, however, I can't help but to continually check my LSN account as well as my "friends" accounts on here. Besides, I really want to hit 2000 views. Why you may ask? I don't know. When I started this I really never expected more than a few people to read it, but now that I am closing in on 2000, I'd just kind of like to see it happen.
4/30/2011: Today I am updating due to the lack of updates on LSN. As those that have been following me know, I have already accepted a position (loud applause can be inserted here), and withdrawn from all the schools I was waitlisted on. We already have two reading assignments. One I have completed and the other I have just started. The first one was Lucy v. Zehmer, 193 Va 493 (1954). A case in which a farm was "sold". The person selling the farm claimed it was a joke, but the person purchasing the farm believed it to be real. Anyway we will be briefing that case during our orientation. If you are interested you can google it on scholar.google.com and you will have no problem finding it. Our second reading assignment is a book called: Case of A Lifetime by Abbe Smith (ISBN: 9780230605282). So far quite interesting and fairly easy reading. If anyone is looking for an easy read to get them in the spirit of law school, I would recommend picking up a copy of this book. I got it used on Amazon (in like new condition) for around $10 including S&H.
I'm still hoping to hit 2000 soon ;-)
Your words of advice were well received. I treated my FE Exam in a similar way and I think that just doing my best and leaving the anxiety at home will help on the next LSAT. Good luck on your apps and in the future at large!