8/5/09 - I'm reviving this long-dead LSN profile just to report that Harvard dinged me today. I'm not bummed at all - after all, it was Harvard! With that, this shall remain dormant forever. May it provide help to future law students in the cycles to come.
4/16/09 - I've been waitlisted at Harvard. I'm going to remain on the waitlist because you can't ever blindly say no to Harvard, but I'm pretty sure I'd rather go to Columbia. I'm sure though if Harvard were to give me an offer before I started living in New York that I'd give it strong consideration. I'm in love with Columbia and it's where I want to be but I can't just dismiss Harvard without knowing. I'm not doing this just to see if I can get in, I should mention; that would be disrespectful to other waitlist members. We'll see.
4/8/09 - Columbia is the answer. The other schools have been withdrawn from. My cycle exceeded my expectataions by leaps and bounds, and I could not imagine better fortune. If anyone from an admissions committee is reading this, thank you.
In the end, it came down to Columbia and NYU. During Spring Break I visited both New York City and Philadelphia, as Columbia, Penn and NYU were in my top three, and as Penn didn't ever get back to me the choice was simplified slightly. After offers started coming in my choices were broadened, especially by Cornell's absolutely stellar Dean's Scholarship. NYU's package was pretty solid, though, and I loved my first visit to New York City, so it pulled into the lead until Columbia offered even MORE money and it made the choice very easy.
I've filled in all my real data. If you have any questions about anything please don't hesistate to ask. I'd like to pay this forward as much as I possibly can, and a great way to help is to provide advice to applicants in upcoming cycles.
Best of luck!
4/6/08 - I've made my decision and my cycle is over, but I want to ensure that all the schools to which I have withdrawn receive notification from me personally before any information is divulged over the internet. I would like to thank everyone on LSN who provided assistance in the form of comments and messages, and I wish you all the best on your remaining cycles.
I will update this information and fill out any details once all the loose ends are tied up.
4/4/09 - Great offer from Columbia! 75K over three years, which is exceptional enough in and of itself but also some of my loans were given out to me in the form of Perkins loans, which no other school was able to offer and which really mean a lot to me. I was told that my offer was made specifically after consideration to my other offers, which I had informed them of as they rolled in.
3/25/09 - Scholarship offer from NYU, which I'm thrilled about. They way they do their money allotment is very cool as well - if you go into public interest work after your 3L year it's worth 60,000, otherwise it's worth 50,000. That's great because it provides flexibility, and that's the reason those scholarships are so important in the first place. Again, the generosity of these institutions is really remarkable. I marked my scholarship as being worth 60,000 in the table above just because I'm an optimist.
Wow, productive day! Just heard from Virginia too. Jeez, these places are making this decision incredibly difficult. I've always been partial to the South, and I guess Virginia is kinda-South. I'm more than kinda-thrilled though. Awesome day.
3/16/09 - I'm amazed by how generous many schools are! Duke just gave me a wonderful offer as well! I can't believe how well this cycle is going for me. What a blessing.
3/10/09 - Jaw dropping scholarship offer from Cornell. Stakes are very high now, and Cornell shoots far higher on my list. I'm starting to get very nervous - this is a lot of money to play with!
2/19/09 - Oh, man, bummer! Rejected from Berkeley. While I'm disappointed, I have many other great options to choose from. Best of luck to everyone for whom Berkeley is a top choice!
2/18/09 - An extremely nice woman named Susan sent me an email from the Virginia Admissions, and she asked for me to give her a call at my convenience. Once I contacted her, lo and behold she had an acceptance for me! Wonderful! Now if only Penn and Berkeley would get back to me I could start thinking about choosing between all these wonderful schools!
2/6/09 - Still waiting from Penn and Virginia; I really hope that I get accepted to those schools, especially because I'd like to schedule a trip to visit over our spring break. I'm sure they're outrageously busy with applicants so I'll stay as patient as I need to, but I think I might have been passed up based on their stats and their graphs. Regardless, I also submitted my Cornell scholarship forms. Can't wait to receive their offer.
1/28/09 - Received a VERY generous scholarship to U of M. I have to say that my jaw dropped, but this really has completely changed the game. Makes me consider Michigan much, much more strongly. I hate being in debt and any way that I can come out of law school with less of a burden would be of tremendous advantage to me and the woman in my life. I absolutely can't believe this happen. The amount listed is the total over the three years and hinges only upon making sure I keep up a 2.0 GPA.
1/26/09 - Accepted to Columbia! Nobody has delivered as nice a package of information as the once King's College has, and I'm thrilled to have a choice between schools in New York City. Dean Iwerebon was so nice when I met her at a law forum too, so I can't wait to go and visit. This feels wonderful.
1/22/09 - A big blue folder arrived today from Michigan. Dean Zearfoss, who has been a nice lady in all interactions I've had so far, personalizes the little notes and that's a wonderful touch. Also included - a flash drive with a presentation from the law school faculty and from alumni talking about the merits at Michigan. Wonderful haul, and very quick turnaround. Go Blue!
1/20/09 - Rec'd that email yesterday from Berkeley that lets me know I've gone to a faculty review. Some people on admissions forums are talking about that as though it's a bad thing but to be honest I'm just thrilled to know I haven't been rejected. I know my GPA isn't what they wanted so to me this is good news. I really don't know what "deferred" means and other people are marking this change in status with that designation so I throw up a D by it above.
1/7/09 - Big Blue reporting in complete.
1/3/09 - Came home to a violet envelope! NYU is in. Considering they were the ones without a status checker this comes pretty much as a complete surprise. I'm very excited to hear from them. I really like the idea of going to school in New York, but I do have to admit that NYU is a dark horse in that I know the least about it compared to the other law schools - a problem that should be easily remedied by the three informational packets they sent me. I'll have some great reading material over the next few days and based on what I'm seeing here I think I'll be able to make a decision on where I rank this school. As I have no idea when this packet showed up to my door I just listed the date that was on top of the letter they sent me.
12/17/08 - And Michigan gets the report in. All should be quiet now for quite a while...
12/15/08 - Go Big Red! In at Cornell. I additionally got this letter that encourages me to apply for a Dean's Scholarship, which is icing on the cake from one of the acceptances I was looking forward to the most. Cornell was my top choice as an undergraduate, but I could not attend. Ithaca is "gorges" after all, and it seems like a slammin place to live.
12/11/08 - Cornell reports that I'm EA Complete. I wonder if this means I'll be getting a decision soon!
12/9/08 - So I called Cornell yesterday and asked about my EA status considering there were many, many mixups with my Dean's Certification form. They basically told me that a big group of apps (mine included) had recently gone to the evaluation committee and that it wasn't a big deal that my Cert hadn't come through yet. Cool. I have to say that Cornell's application office is by far the friendliest I've yet encountered and that goes a LONG way with me... the way I see it, the way you act is sometimes a kind of indirect demonstration of the place you work and live and that bodes very well. Also rec'd Columbia's fee reimbursement check. Nice! Also applied to Michigan at long last. I would have done this sooner but it didn't look life my life would align properly to live in Michigan for a while, but now it's looking like a possibility again and, after all, they just beat Duke! Kidding.
11/26/08 - A very nice letter arrived today from Georgetown and I'm in! Great news. Mr. Cornblatt attached a very nice personal note to my letter as well. This is all very exciting.
11/25/08 - Complete at NYU. Wondering if I'm going to get a TS1 call. I sure hope so. Even if he doesn't let me in, I'd sure like to chat with Mr. Stock even if it's just to say I did.
11/24/08 - Another completion notification, from Columbia this time. Very excited about that one. I submitted all my apps with a couple of buddies and they went complete there a while back; I wonder if it had something to do with my fee waiver, which was activated retroactively. Hm. Either way, thrilled that I heard from them. Only Cornell and NYU are left in the lurch, and I know why that is for Cornell - turns out my school didn't forward my Dean's Notification properly. Oh well. They were apologetic about it and I know how much paperwork their offices have to deal with.
11/21/08 - Out of the malaise of pre-Thanksgiving classes comes a notification from Penn. Looks like I'm complete there.
11/16/08 - Accepted at Duke by email... on a Sunday night. Whoa nelly but that was unexpected so early and... on a Sunday night. I'm thrilled to know I'll be going to an exceptional law school! What a blessing.
11/13/08 - The need-based fee waiver application I sent in to Harvard was accepted today. Thanks, Harvard! Also, my application status checker for them says that my application is "now under review," so cautiously I'll say that means I'm complete I guess. I'm starting to get a little nervous that Cornell's status hasn't changed at all. I know I sent in my Dean Recommendation form a little late due to a transcript mixup, but just the same it's been several weeks. I'll give them a call this afternoon because I've heard their office is nothing but courteous. Additionally, I'm debating whether or not to apply to Michigan. While I love what I know about the law school so far and while the Michigan admissions staff has been the most professional and friendly one I've dealt with, I have concerns about my girlfriend being able to work around the Ann Arbor area. I guess I'll have to just keep thinking about it.
11/10/08 - Penn reports in as having received my stuff.
11/8/08 - Penn app sent, Georgetown goes complete. Interesting - they haven't sent me any confirmation details. The differences between the application notification procedures of each school are freaking out some of my friends, but honestly I don't think it's so bad because most schools have been courteous enough to provide a status checker.
11/7/08 - Hooray for a bunch of things "going complete." Isn't it interesting that the realm of law school admissions has its own lingo? Duke's completed application particularly excites me because they graciously allowed me on their "priority track," which sounds so very official.
11/6/08 - Columbia fee waiver and Columbia report come in on the same day. Columbia's fee waiver system is retroactive with submitted apps. Bless them. Complete at Virginia via email.
11/4/08 - Virginia and Georgetown are reporting in, at least according to the LSAC site. Good stuff. Oh Columbia, where art thou? Guess those poor folks must be plenty busy with all the torrents of applications. Oh well. I'll give em a call if they haven't requested my LSAC report by the end of the week though. Hope there's nothing wrong with my data.
11/3/08 - Most apps went out on Halloween. Michigan and Penn are left. Michigan and Penn both would like essays about why I'd like to attend their school, and I haven't written those yet. I have good and unique things to say for both though, it's just a matter of getting to it between nights of studying. I hope to have both of them out by the end of the week.
Things are a little bit off just for the sake of anonymity, although I'm sure people could figure out who I am if you cared to search hard enough.
I'm a multiple LSAT kid with a gap of larger than 5 points, for those of you playing our home game.
Hey, just wondering how Georgetown let you know that your app was complete (we submitted about the same time). I'm having mental issues much like your friends.