Patman1585 (2022-2023)

-Extremely strong and unique extracurriculars
-Three good LOR's
-Personal statement basically on how I think (kind of abstract and scattered, but it turned out really well)

-High GPA, decent LSAT
-Applying early at Gtown, BC, and Santa Clara

-No clear #1 choice. We'll see where I get in and go from there. Not too caught up on prestige; my decision will come down to (1) going somewhere where I can get a solid job (preferably in Cali) after I grad, and (2) going somewhere where I can be happy and succeed (ie competition level, location, weather, courses offered, atmosphere of the school)

12/7--Gtown status checker goes to complete. Here comes the rejection....

12/8--Instead of receiving something from Gtown in the mail, I receive something from one of my other early notification schools--Santa Clara. Not an acceptance though, but a christmas card! Thinking this bodes well, and now I have decided the law school admissions process is going to be filled with interesting surprises.

12/12--First acceptance: USD in a big envelope! I AM GOING TO LAW SCHOOL AND COULD BE SPENDING THREE YEARS IN MY FAVORITE CITY! still restless about my early notification schools (georgetown, where is my rejection?).

12/16--And now my first rejection: Georgetown. No surprise and I am not particularly phased by it. It's my hardest school, so this shouldn't be too indicative of the rest.

12/18--IN AT BC! I expected a deferral so i am thrilled!

1/2--Had my roommate in SD open my mail. Into Santa Clara with Emery Merit Scholarship for 18k per year. I think my dad is more excited about this than I am...

1/6--Come back to school and get a 16K scholarship offer from USD, invitation to to Santa Clara Early Admits Reception on Jan. 24, and I check my online status check for Hastings. Dated 1-5 (my birthday): Decision-Admitted! I am really, really overwhelmed right now. I did not expect all this, especially before my winter quarter starts...

1/16--Receive Hastings acceptance letter in the mail. Hand-written note from Dean at bottom referencing my personal statement. Feels nice to be wanted by one of my top choices!

1/20--On the Provisional List at Notre Dame. Kinda excited, we'll see if I stay on it.

1/25--Going crazy waiting for these last four to come in!
Here are my current thoughts about the schools I've heard from:
San Diego: Good regional school in great location, but even with the scholarship, it is still no less expensive than the higher-ranked UC's. A lot of my best friends will be in the area, but it's still a long-shot.
BC: Great school, and good match, but expensive, and far away. Love the idea of going here, but I would probably chicken out.
Santa Clara: Been very underwelmed with them. Kinda crappy letters (ie the scholarship letter basically telling me that when I am an alum, I need to donate back to the school) and interactions with staff have been negative. SCU had a chance, but if I was going to go to law school in Norcal, Hastings is the same price and much more prestigious.
Hastings: Great school, personal note on acceptance letter has helped their cause. Their biggest advantage is that there are NO huge drawbacks. Unless an LA school comes through, I could end up here.....
ND--Will see if I can get off the Waitlist. It's a bit expensive in an extremely undesirable location, but we'll cross that bridge later if I need to.

1/26-Second rejection at Berkeley. Not surprising, and it actually doesn't bother me at all (especially if I can take a Berkeley rejection for an acceptance or two from my final three schools).

2/15-In at Davis, and waitlisted at UCLA! I wanna be a bruin so I NEED to get off this waitlist.

3/4-Decided I'd never go to SCU (been disappointed with them throughout the admissions process) and I don't wanna leave Cali (so I reluctantly withdrew from BC to help those on the waitlist). It's narrowing down, less than a month to make a decision--and then I still have to wait for UCLA!

3/21-Come on USC! Where are you?
Will know in 10 days: USD v. Hastings (Davis with an outside chance, and not pending waitlist...). Leaning towards staying in San Diego (REALLY impressed on campus visit day) but we'll see....

3/29-Revised scholarship offer from USD (22k a year) as well as a phone call from Prof. Murr (sp?) all but sealed the deal for them. Toured it again with my dad and met with someone from career services. I have realized this is the place for me and I really couldn't be happier! Had slight problems with both Hastings and Davis (although to a lesser extent with Davis), but will stay on the UCLA waitlist and wondering if I will ever hear from USC. Don't care so much though, I love San Diego and love USD. I am done! (also notice I have changed my numbers to what they actually were instead of estimates intended to keep my annonymity)