11/5/09: Rejected from UVA via e-mail.
11/6/09: Changed my application to ED at GW.
11/10/09: Accepted at UGA via status checker. Very excited about my first acceptance. Hope status checker can be trusted!
11/18/09: In at Alabama with $15,000/year scholarship. They called my parents and then e-mailed me with the details (since I live abroad). Nice to have another acceptance and another low cost school to choose from.
12/2/09: E-mail from Iowa--accepted.
12/4/09: Decision rendered and mailed from W&L via status checker.
12/7/09: Iowa acceptance letter received.
12/7/09: Wait listed at Fordham via status checker.
12/14/09: W&L Acceptance letter received.
12/17/09: Held at Boston College.
12/18/09: Accepted at Illinois via e-mail with a $10,000/year
scholarship!
12/18/09: Accepted at Wake Forest via e-mail.
1/6/10: Fee waiver from Ohio State. I wanted to apply there in
October so I sent out an application today. I think its a good school in a nice city and they seem to give out decent scholarships.
1/9/10: Wait listed at Minnesota. This was my first choice too!
1/12/10: Wait listed at Wisconsin.
1/13/10: $20,000/year scholarship from Wake Forest. Nice!
1/15/10: E-mail from Dean Randall of Alabama Law. Always nice to get an e-mail from a law school dean.
1/15/10: In at IUB with a $15,000/year scholarship. Took almost a month to get the priority mail package in Taiwan (postmarked 12/17) but at least it came bearing good news!
1/29/10: E-mail from W&L of $17,000/year scholarship.
2/9/10: My former landlord in Taiwan got a letter from UGA. I think it is a tuition equalization scholarship for the first year. Contacted them to resend to permanent address. Will Update here when I know more.
2/19/10: Wait listed at GWU. Not a big shock. Likely will withdraw from GWU, Fordham, Wisconsin, and BU on Monday.
2/22/10: Heading to Alabama for a visit. Will update after. Will also visit W&M, W&L, Wake, UGA, Emory, OSU, IUB, UIUC, and maybe Iowa in the coming weeks.
2/23/10: Excellent visit at Alabama. Offered more scholarship money. Definitely worth the trip for anyone interested.
2/25/10: Visited W&M. Good visit. Admissions office was a bit pretentious about things. Said I was in the good pile of people who haven't heard anything. I'm expecting a WL letter in mid-March.
2/26/10: Visited W&L. Nice school. Too small a town for me. Not too sure about the new 3L curriculum compared to clinics at other schools. Planning to withdraw.
3/1/10: Visited Wake Forest during an accepted students day. Nice building, nice campus, nice people. Spoke to Melanie Nutt and she increased my scholarship. Still a contender, but I think I prefer Alabama. Also withdrew from W&L today.
3/2/10: Visited UGA. Had kind of a strange visit as I missed the class I was supposed to sit in on due to parking issues and the school closed early due to snow. Still got a student-led tour and met with Ramsey Bridges. Confirmed the tuition equalization scholarship. I think I prefer Alabama but the guaranteed money and the fact that the law school determines residency are interesting money factors since Alabama has a GPA requirement.
3/3/10: Visited Emory. They didn't want to schedule a visit for a Wednesday and said I could do a self-tour. I had hoped to cross it off my list. My father called me as I arrived at noon and said he got the admissions package at my permanent address with a $18,000/year scholarship. I looked around the school and when I went to the admissions office, a nice gentleman named Andy gave me a tour right then upon learning I was admitted. I think they got some shock and awe value out of all this, especially since it is likely the best school I will get into.
3/5/10: Visited OSU. Decided I wasn't into Columbus or the school that much. I got a nice tour (though they had an ASW that they were prepping for) and sat in on a class. I'll wait for the decision, but will probably withdraw regardless.
3/8/10: Had an excellent visit at Indiana. I think I like it most out of all the schools I visited. They treated me almost as well as Alabama. The high cost of tuition compared to my scholarship is worrying though.
3/9/10: Nice visit at Illinois. Much nicer school than OSU, but I think Bloomington is a better town than Champaign-Urbana. Got there an hour early (I forgot it was in the Central Time Zone--I was coming from Indianapolis). Overall its a great school, probably better ranking and academics than Indiana, but I think I prefer Indiana. Received an increased scholarship offer from Illinois.
3/10/10: Visited Iowa. Nice place, good tour. I think it has great professors and is really student focused. Surprised to hear that RAs in 2nd and 3rd year get in-state tuition. Met with Collins Byrd and had a great conversation with him. However, at the end of the day I think I still prefer Indiana. Unless they come through with scholarship money for the first year, I'll probably withdraw. Also got an e-mail from my former landlord in Taiwan. Apparently Boston College sent the hold letter to my permanent address in New York but decided to send my wait list letter to Taiwan after I had left. They set a deadline to let them know of my intentions for two weeks after the letter was sent. My landlord didn't even get it until a week after the deadline had passed. Oh well, I was planning to withdraw anyway.
3/15/10: Accepted at OSU via e-mail.
3/16/10: IUB increased my scholarship offer. It still is much more expensive than most of the other schools I am considering, but it is the school I liked best.
3/17/10: Withdraw Day 2010:
Withdrew from:
Boston College
Boston University
Fordham
Iowa
Illinois
GW
OSU
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Feels good to have a smaller spreadsheet to look at.
3/19: Saw on my W&M status checker "Congratulations: Admit packet mailed". Assuming I'm accepted. Makes my decision oh so much more difficult.
3/21: More surprising than being admitted to W&M was the scholarship included with my acceptance. Wow! Now I have a difficult decision to make between Alabama and W&M.
3/22: Withdrew from Wake Forest, Indiana, Emory, and UGA today. Good luck with those on wait lists at those schools!
3/26: Went to W&M ASW. Checked my e-mail in the driveway of the law school and saw I got more scholarship money from Alabama. Just what I needed, something to make my decision even more difficult, but I was very happy to receive it. Full tuition 1st year, 22k the 2nd and 3rd years if in the top 40%.
3/27: ASW at W&M was good. Spoke to Dean Shealy about my other offer and how I wanted to make my decision by April 1st. She was very helpful and I decided to attend W&M during the weekend. Previously I had compared every school I looked at to Alabama. Once I was admitted to W&M, I was comparing Alabama to it. I also thought I could see myself at W&M more than I could at Alabama. Decision made!
3/30: Awarded I graduate research fellowship at W&M (worth 14.2k/year). Already decided to attend, but this helped. Committed and sent my deposit.
3/31: Sadly withdrew from Alabama. If you are considering it, consider it strongly. If you like it, tell them. They will work with you to get you there. Claude and Page are wonderful!
Thanks for the congrats and the offer. I expect it will be a long cycle for me but I'll let you know if I have any questions about Richmond.