KennyG (2022-2023)

Scholarship amounts are total for 3 years (4 for SMU's evening program).

I've got weak softs. No extracurriculars to speak of. Only work experience is waiting tables for the last 4 years. There is a fairly pronounced grade trend of a couple semesters when I was dealing with depression, but my grades were pretty mediocre all around.

Post Cycle Reflections: I applied to too many schools in places I really didn't have any interest practicing (DePaul, Penn State, Creighton, Seton Hall, Hofstra, Cardozo, and Qunnipiac). I also should have done more research on the schools individually (other than whether or not I had a shot at getting in) before I bothered applying (wasting my time and adcom's). My advice to anyone else with similar numbers is to figure out the most important factors early in the process. If you apply to 10-15 schools in the second tier range, you should should have some options and several waitlists. With close numbers you will get into law school somewhere, so go ahead an figure out whats important to you.

6/26
WIthdrew from W&L's waitlist.

I took the June LSAT and scored a 168. Too little too late, but I am really excited about Richmond.

4/29
Officially moved from held by MIami to waitlisted via e-mail.

4/19
My UGA status checker says I've been rejected. That wait list didn't last very long at all. I'm kind of pissed that they actually waitlisted me if they were only going to reject me in April. I don't like that they rejected people off the wait list before before the 2nd deposit was due, but I'm probably just a little bitter.

On a more positive note, I found out today that South Carolina sent me a letter dated 3/24 saying I was awarded the tuition equalizer so that I'd only have to pay in-state.

4/11
Visited Richmond and was very impressed. I like its small size, the campus is gorgeous, and I was very impressed by the overall atmosphere. It also helps that my wife stands a decent chance at getting in to Medical School at VCU. I will send in my deposit this week, and it will officially be down to Mercer and Richmond.

4/2
Dinged by Bama via snail mail.

4/1
Deposit in at Mercer. I visited SMU last week, but it just didn't feel like a great fit for me and my wife. On paper it easily looked like the best choice, but I think I'd be much happier at Mercer. I hope I don't regret this. I still have a few more weeks to decide about Richmond and South Carolina.

3/23
Accepted at Richmond by phone call. I didn't expect any more acceptances this late in the game. I will be visiting in a couple weeks. They just made a strong move toward the top of my list.

3/19
Waitlisted at W&M! Will be visiting soon.
Rejected from FSU via snail mail.
5k in scholarship money at Charleston.

3/10
Waitlisted at Georgia via e-mail. I'm really excited about it and this means that I've been waitlisted at my top three choices, something I never would have expected at the beginning of my cycle.I know in state people with 163 and sub 3 gpa's didn't fare well on UGA's waitlist last year, so I think this officially means I'm giving the LSAT one more shot.

3/4
Dinged by Georgia State via status checker.

2/27
I received my LSAT score today. I knew I bombed it because I froze in the logic games section and had to guess on almost half. I ended up with a 163. The exact same score. A little better than I expected, but it is definitely frustrating that I didn't get at least 164. I might take it in June just for to get off a waitlist and because I know I should have done better. Oh well.

2/26
Waitlisted at Tennessee. A pleasant surprise, and I will fill out the form to stay on the waitlist.

2/20
Got a big white envelope in the mail saying that SMU would give me 8k/year (in the 4 year evening program). I didn't want to drive out to Dallas, but it's going to be hard for me to ignore this type of offer. Money from a tier 1 school.

2/19
Just returned from visiting W&L, Wake, and South Carolina. My preferences are really starting to shape up. I met with admissions at both W&L and Wake and apparently there isn't a lot I can do to get off their waitlists. Disappointing, but it won't stop me from doing all I can. I'll probably take the June LSAT just so I can feel like I'm doing something.

2/15
Waitlisted from Quinnipiac. Probably will go ahead and withdraw.

2/12
Rejected via e-mail from Penn State. Cycle is almost finished

2/7
I took the LSAT yesterday. I think I did fantastic on everything but Logic Games, but that section will destroy my score. It was a difficult section (first of the test) and I froze. I'm probably not looking at a better score than my first one. Hopefully a lower score won't hurt my status at the schools where I have been waitlisted.

2/4
2 days before the Feb. LSAT I get an e-mail saying I am waitlisted at Wake. I'm psyched.

1/29
I got a voicemail from John Marshall today congratulating me on my acceptance.

I also got a call from SMU accepting me into their evening program. If I had it to do over again I probably wouldn't have applied part time, but at the beginning of the process I was much more pessimistic about getting in anywhere decent. Even though it is part time, it is still an acceptance to a tier 1 school. I have a lot more options than I expected.

1/28
According to my dad I got in at South Carolina. Apparently the mail was sent to my permanent address. I'm looking forward to visiting.

1/27
Denied by Samford via status checker. I had some interest in going there and I'm a little surprised by the rejection as everyone with similar numbers has been accepted. Oh well, I guess that makes my decision a little easier. Their application did require me to disclose my parking tickets though, and I had about 30 of those from living in Boston.

1/25
Dinged by Cardozo via snail mail.

1/19
Waitlisted at Washington & Lee. I thought I would be an auto-reject. I got the small white envelope and I assumed it was a rejection. I was excited when I found out otherwise. They just shot up towards the top of my list.

1/16
Dinged by Seton Hall. It doesn't bother me at all as I'm pretty sure I don't want to live in Newark for 3 years and I don't want to settle down in the Northeast after law school.

I've been doing a fair amount of studying lately for the lsat. My last 5 practice tests have averaged about 175 so I'm just trying to keep myself from dropping any in the next 3 weeks. I'm just really hoping that Georgia and Wake don't reject me before my score gets back.

1/9
Rejected by George Mason via snail mail. It was certainly expected, so no biggie. I don't know how seriously I would have considered it even if I had been accepted.

1/5
Even though all of my apps are in and most are in review I've registered to take the February LSAT. I'm hoping that schools won't put a hold on my file until scores are released in 2 months.

12/23
In at Hofstra via status checker and e-mail. I'm in at law schools in 6 different states. Merry Christmas, its been a great year.

12/22
Accepted at Charlotte via e-mail. Also got 10k a year in scholarship money. I like the Charlotte area so I'm going to add that to my list of schools to visit. I know I haven't received any decisions from any of my reach schools yet, but so far my cycle is going ridiculously well.

12/19
Accepted with a little scholarship money today from Creighton. It's always nice to feel wanted. I don't know how feel about Creighton or moving to Nebraska so I'll have to do some serious research about it. It probably doesn't compete with DePaul or Mercer at this point though.

12/17
Routinely checking my status checkers after work tonight I found out I was accepted into Mercer. It isn't ranked as high as DePaul, but it would allow me to stay in Georgia and it's a place where my wife and I could be at the same school. Even if nobody else accepts me, I'll probably be able to practice law in Georgia. I'm pretty thrilled to be accepted and the more I learn about it the more I like it. At this point I think Mercer is pretty easily at the top of my list of schools where I have been accepted.

12/14
Got a small envelope from Miami today. It said they've reviewed my file and my credentials qualify me to be placed on hold until my file is looked at again before April 30. I think this is actually pretty awesome. I didn't expect them to give me much of a chance, but if I can score higher on my retake I might have a legit shot. I'm marking this as being waitlisted.

12/7
Got an email from Charleston School of Law with Congratulations as the subject. It's nice to be accepted to a school in the southeast.

12/4
Met with UGA admissions today and asked them some questions. They said that I was on hold, and they are feel that my lsat score shows I have the potential, and that they just have to decide whether they think I could step up to the plate and succeed in law school. As such, they said that if I retook the Feb. LSAT and scored a 167, it still wouldn't help them answer that question and thus wouldn't significantly help my application. They did say that the good news is that I haven't been rejected even though they have already rejected a lot of people.

12/3
Dinged by Stetson today. They were probably my top "target school". Oh well. Dinged by a tier 3 and money at a tier 2. I have a feeling it is going to be an unpredictable cycle.

EDIT: Stetson rejected me for the full time program, but I also applied for part time and they could not tell me when these applications would be evaluated.

12/2
I've decided to retake the LSAT. I'm taking it in February and registering at the last moment because I don't want it to mess up my current cycle, and hopefully I'll have most of my decisions by then. My last 2 preptest scores have been 167 and 169. With some more work, I think I could probably score in 168-170 range by February. I don't think even that kind of a score would make too much of a difference in my cycle though. Most of the schools that will reject me will do so at the mere sight of my gpa. Though I do think doing well on the Feb lsat might help me at the schools where I will be waitlisted. If a school thinks I'm a borderline candidate right now, then I think a higher LSAT can only make me look like a better borderline candidate. If nothing else, a higher score can help me with scholarship money at the place(s) I am accepted. Either way, a lower score can't hurt me much, so I might as well take the shot.

12/1
I got my first decision today. Accepted at DePaul with an 8,000 per year scholarship. It's a hell of a way to start off my cycle. I was worried I'd be stuck trying to work my way out of a tier 4 school, but I'm already accepted into one of the top 100 law schools. I'm pretty excited.

11/15
I've finally sent in all of my applications and all schools have requested reports from LSAC. I was tempted to apply to a few more schools, and if I get waivers from a few schools in particular I might, but I think I probably have enough at this point. I know that the vast majority of the schools I am applying to are reaches, but if I can get into just 1 of the 13 schools I applied to in the top 75, then it will certainly be worth it.

11/2/09
I'm going to the shotgun approach, inspired by several others on here from past years with similar numbers. I got about half of my apps out today and I should have the rest out this week. Wish me luck.