HungryJOHNNY (2022-2023)

06-01-2010
I haven't checked back in a while and noticed some activity so here's my response to those who have left some feedback. I hear you loud and clear. The advice is sound and I believe anyone planning ahead for law school will benefit from your experience guided wisdom about this topic. My problem is that I did not plan accordingly when I decided to make the jump to law school. I hated my job and had always planned to go law school. I took the LSAT and started applying for schools and realized my lack of preparation put me in an unrealistic category for a really good school. So i wasted money applying for schools that ultimately were not going to accept me but I was hoping for luck. I realize now that had I prepared for a couple years and discovered the advice of those who understand this process earlier then I would have perhaps done things the recommended way. Alas, I am currently unemployed and school starts in August. I am getting some tuition assistance and I have money saved that will allow me not to go into debt the first year of law school.

My sister and cousin both plan to attend law school in the future and I have informed them of all the great advice I have gotten over the last several months. I know they will both benefit from the information that so many have provided. My cousin is taking the year long process of studying for the LSAT now and I am sure she will do very well because of it.

I don't have the luxury of waiting a couple more years because if I get back into my field of work I may be unable to leave it again.

Thomas Jefferson is not a bad choice for me. Regionally, the school has a good reputation in San Diego where I plan to practice. Many of the alumni hire from the school locally. And I know transferring to a better school is unlikely but I am better prepared now and know the consequences of not making it to a T14. With the knowledge of the benefits of transferring to a better school I will work hard to be #1 in my class and try to have such an opportunity.

The glass is half full from where I sit and perhaps the road less travelled by WILL make all the difference for me.

Thank you all for being part of my process.
05-18-2010
Wouldn't you know it, after I sent my deposit for UST, Thomas Jefferson finally accepts me ... now I have a dilemma .. I initially really wanted to go to TJSL because it was a San Diego school and I went to UCSD and have strong ties to the city ... a decision has to be made quickly.

As for the Tier 4 status, well I can live with it. What I have learned from this process is that the consensus out there is that law school is not worth going to unless one makes the T14. Most people see the expense as rather high compared to what one may earn as a T3-T4 grad. I agree. But I want to be an attorney, and I'd like to practice in San Diego where I feel the most home. I am pretty sure I can get some of the tuition taken care of with a scholarship which I have learned is negotiable from this process. And, most practicing attorneys agree that 5 years after graduating law school, the significance of the school shrinks greatly.

I still hope to transfer out to a better school but I will cross that road when I get there.

The fact of the matter is, one has to make his or her own path. And though advice is valuable often it is better to ignore advice if one is confident in his or her convictions.

That's not to say I haven't made my fair share of mistakes but I hope that I have learned from my mistakes and understand what I am capable of. I am sure law school is the next step for me, the only question is which school will it be.

05-14-2010
I am 95% sure I am headed to University of St. Thomas. The class size is small and the quality of life for students has always been ranked in the top 5. My cycle is pretty much done since the remaining schools I have little to no shot at and I will not hear back from my waitlisted schools for a few months. With the $8,000 a year and a lower GPA maintenance requirement my law school education should be less than the $100K that I have been so warned about. I will continue to update and leave these numbers up for future aspiring lawyers to look at for the next cycle. The only school that will change my mind is Thomas Jefferson in San Diego, regionally the location is where I wish to practice and I have strong ties to the city. Otherwise, I am planning a visit to Minneapolis in the summer and if that goes well then I'll be moving there in the fall. =)

Thanks for all the comments, advice and support!

05-12-2010
I'm going to copy this notification and paste it here:

"please note that our Fall 2010 Class is now full, qualified applicants are currently being placed on our summer waitlist and it is difficult to predict whether candidates%u2019 will be called off the list."

05-05-2010
Creighton dubbed their wait list an "Alternate List" granting possible admission in the event that some places open prior to the beginning of classes on August 23 2010. At least it was not a flat out NO.

05-05-2010
Five more rejections today.

05-03-2010
Out at Louisville, thought I had a shot there ... oh well, got deferred at Thomas Jefferson which is the only Tier 4 I really want to go to since its in San Diego my other hometown. Sent an LOCI and had an alumni friend of mine leave a message with the dean of admissions ... I am generally an optimist so I'll keep the fingers crossed.

04-26-10
Received rejection letters from both Pepperdine and UCI today. I am now more than two thirds done with my cycle. I am excited to be admitted at one tier 3 school thus far and have 15 schools left to hear from. At this point in my cycle, I would have to say that my experiment is turning out better than expected. One out of 5 schools has either accepted or wait listed me, although the majority were tier 4 schools one was slightly higher. I have browsed other user pages and seen that people with similar numbers have even broken the T100 according to the US News rankings. I hope to do the same by the time my cycle is over but currently I would have to say I am optimistic about my cycle. I hope this experiment is helping other law school hopefuls that may have done poorly on their LSAT as well. --- Good Luck all!!

04-22-10
Both Pepperdine and St. Thomas have reached a decision via status checker. The interesting thing is that the deposits for Pepperdine disappeared. Rejection is really getting painful, still waiting for a few official letters from the Ave Maria and Denver as well. When these letters finally arrive, I will be at more than 50% rejection and waiting on around 15 schools. I am not ashamed to beg for luck right now. Other people with similar numbers have gotten into other than Tier 4 schools, why not me? Fingers crossed .. btw Happy Earth Day!

** just got an email from St. Thomas and I am in!! I finally got into a tier 3 school, if you don't believe me check the rankings =P .... I'm going to buy a lotto ticket today!

04-20-10
Got an email from Whittier that said I could join a special summer program, do well and get in for the fall. Being as thus far this is the ONLY california school that is giving me a way in, I am actually contemplating investing the $1,000 and getting some practice before fall .... anyone got any advice on this?

04-19-10
Got wait listed at Whittier today via email, and over the weekend the official not came from boston college. Still waiting on official notice from Ava Maria and Denver. I have two CA wait lists and not CA acceptances, I may have to leave my beloved home state =(. I have to say, these rejections are torture right now and I would love a yes from any school in CA right about now.

04-14-10
Status checker at Ave Maria doesn't say congrats like other users so that means it's probably a rejection. Need an acceptance with these 3 denials pending to arrive in my mailbox.

04-13-10
Boston College and University of Denver status checkers both state that a decision has been rendered. It has been my experience that unless the status checker explicitly states that you are accepted the opposite is true. =(

04-12-10
totally right about new mexico, two short sentences to say "no."

04-10-10
Snail mail arrived with my thinly enveloped Baylor denial.

04-08-10
UNM status checker says a decision was rendered and mailed. I checked the & of people that get in with my numbers and it is under 1%. I am going to chalk this one up as a denial via snail mail probably by Monday. Still trying to break Tier 3, Tier 2 and going snowboarding this weekend so no stress for two days!

04-06-10
Hamline Status checker states "Admission Denied," weak!!

Received the OCU Law letter today, had a nice $6,000 scholarship offer attached. That cheers me up.

04-05-10
Rejected at PENN STATE via email, Is it wrong that it bothers me when a school doesn't even want to waste stationary on me?

No go at ASU via snail mail today.

I am now halfway done with my cycle!!

04-01-10
I GOT INTO HARVARD!! (APRIL FOOLS)

Actually no news today, but the majority of schools state that they will notify applications by May 1st which means I will have all my answers within the next 30 days.

03-31-10
Email from Duke said thanks for trying. As to be expected and not much other activity via status checker.

Email from OCU stated "Congratulations on being Admitted!"

3-30-2010
Not much status checker news today, but I did talk to Valparaiso to ask for some scholarship money. They were very firm on the "NO" so I withdrew. I have also withdrawn from Phoenix and Charlotte since those are both provisionally accredited school. Keeping FCSL because they offered money and are fully accredited. Still hoping for T3 news!!

3-29-2010
Checked the status at Valparaiso and it stated " Congratulations! Welcome to VU Law." Makes me feel good to be accepted after a bunch of rejection. If the offer me more money than FCSL they move to the top of the list. Also, sending out 21 LOCI today to the T1 and T2 schools I have not heard from in a while.

Out at Gonzaga, very nice rejection letter. Still haven't broken the T3 yet.

3-26-2010
Application denied via status checker at NYLS ... chugging along. Also emailed a few schools that showed my application was complete since early February for an update.

3-24-2010
Gonzaga's Status checker says decision made today. That was pretty quick, I sure hope that's a good sign.

3-22-2010
No go at Santa Clara and American University. I was hoping Santa Clara would say yes because it's local, but both were a long shot. More fun to come!

3-20-2010
Today, the status checkers highlighted 3 changes: Santa Clara, Georgetown and American all read "decision mailed." I'm pretty sure Georgetown is a "NO" but Santa Clara is less than 30 minutes from where I live and boy are my finger's crossed because I really want to stay in CA. Should know by Monday.

3-19-2010
I got an email today that said that I was not admitted to Williams and Mary Law School. I just don't remember applying, I have been diligent about tracking my applications but must have let this one slip from my mind. I find it amusing that I was rejected by a school I didn't care enough to remember. And Hastings was kind enough to reject me in a second letter today. I'm just happy to start to see some movement in my cycle.

3-11-2010
Boom .. got into Charlotte, acceptance feels so much better than rejection. =)

3-7-2010
I got some descent news today, Golden Gate wait listed me and although being wait listed is rather unappealing from a tier 4 school at least the letter means that I have a chance to stay in CA.

3-3-2010
Got the rejection by snail mail today. I hope this serves as a lesson for anyone thinking about higher tier law schools with low LSAT scores. Make sure you study, HARD and give yourself plenty of time to take the test more than once. I was scoring mid 150's and even 160's on my practice exams but only scored a 149 on the real deal and that was my second time. I am still an optimist and hope that spending so much money on applying to over 30 law schools will at least yield a T100 school. But alas, I am being realistic when I say a 3.09 and a 149 will only get you into a tier 4 school at best. Still keeping the fingers crossed!! Good luck out there to everyone!

Choice = 2010 US News Ranking Tiers
1 = Ranked 1 - 50
2 = Ranked 51 - 100
3 = Tier 3
4 = Tier 4