Sakura3210 (2022-2023)

6/7 years work experience
Volunteer work
Membership in national and school-based honor societies

Lessons learned:
1. Awesome essays are VERY important for URMs.

2. Applying early (like September-early) and being a URM will give you a boost BUT it is not as big as people make it out to be - if you are a weak candidate (low LSAT low GPA, boring story), it will AT BEST keep you from flat-out rejection. Borderline candidates probably benefit the most, as it can help put them "over the edge" as it were.

3. URM cycles are (especially with borderline numbers) very unpredictable. See timeline below for proof. :

Good luck to everyone that's applying!
-Money is a three year total

8/9: End of the road at Harvard. Well, it's been a long ride, but I'm happy with my final destination (alright, stopping with the trip metaphors now) :D Here's to having a great year at NYU!!!

4/23: I am a waaaaitlist queen, young and sweet, but not seventeeeeen! *ahem* So yeah, Columbia gives me another waitlist, bringing my total count to 4 acceptances, 4 rejections, and 7 waitlists (I pulled out of Northwestern after being held)! I've decided to stay on the Harvard and Columbia ones (still waffling on Chicago), so my cycle is far from finished.

4/17: Waitlisted at Harvard!!! :) That's not usually considered a great thing, but heck, I'm just happy it's not a rejection. I'm ready to ride this thing out until the end of time!

...annnnd just got the letter of rejection from Stanford :( Jeez, they made me wait for that. I guess I should be thankful that I apparently was at least a contender. :

4/2: Alright, so Duke waitlists me (I'll be withdrawing), while Berk. fails to come through w/money. I am now left with my final big two...

3/25: Nice to get another acceptance (Cornell), but at this point all I'm really holding out for is Harvard or Stanford (pleeeaaase...*crosses fingers*).

3/10:...Followed by a waitlist from Chicago. I reeeeally don't get my cycle.

3/09: Some good money from NYU 0__0.

2/23:...Ugh, withdrawing made me feel sick to my stomach. It's the right thing to do, but it's still oddly anxiety-provoking to completely eliminate a possibility. :

2/22: Finally some news, for what it's worth. Put on hold at Harvard (!), which I'm pretty pleased about. Placed on "Preferred Waitlist" at GULC.

2/19: Waitlisted at Penn. Nothing more to say, except that getting waitlisted sucks in general :

2/12: Waitlisted at UCLA. Really??? Meh, whatevs, I'll withdraw later.

2/10: On hold at Columbia. Small envelope, thought it was a rejection 0__0

2/8: Out at Mich. Sucks, but eh, what can you do. Gotta say though, I'm not insanely happy that I got the letter while my status checker still said I was only "complete".

2/3: A decision/non-decision from Northwestern - placed on hold.

1/30: Out at Yale. Can't say I didn't see it coming, but yeah, it still stings. I would have loved to go there (though who wouldn't?) :(

1/28: First (and hopefully only) rejection of the cycle goes to Virginia! Meh, big deal. I figure it's just YP.

1/19: In at Boston! Gotta say I like the scholly :)

12/26: IN AT NYU!!! I hadn't heard a peep from them since an e-mail acknowledging they got my app., so it was kind of out of the blue. Sooo nice to have choices available :)

Update 12/16: I JUST GOT ACCEPTED TO BERKELEY!!!! E-mail came in w/the congrats, I am so happy! Victory dance! *proceeds to do awkward dance; family turns away in shame* XD

Update 11/25: Sent out my apps in one big group. Gave me a headache :
Now, the waiting game begins...

-So, originally for "sent" I put down the day I submitted my orders electronically. I just realized that it's better to instead put in the day LSAC says it sent my reports out. FYI, it will create some discrepancies (electronic apps "received" before paper copies are "sent".