cactuarX3 (2022-2023)

Some softs, but nothing amazing:

- 3 years management consulting work experience
- Taught a basic contract law course in undergraduate school
- Involved as an officer in a pre-law fraternity while in undergrad

Casting a very wide net and seeing what happens; thank god for fee waivers.

6/11/2012 Received the ding via mail from Columbia. Was about to withdraw from the waitlist today anyway.

6/11/2012 Withdrew from Michigan and NYU waitlists. Doubt that I would get any money from them off the waitlist and can't see myself attending those schools at sticker.

5/4/2012 Received an update email from Penn regarding my waitlist so I took the opportunity to withdraw. Can't really see myself choosing them over Northwestern.

5/2/2012 Received the ding letter from Stanford. Guess there's no love from the bay area. Not sure why it took >4 months for them to decide on a ding but I guess life down on the farm is just a little slower paced than elsewhere. With that, my cycle is more or less complete and I'm 99% sure I will be in Chicago this fall!

4/30/2012 DLS at Stanford. Not sure what the decision was but it's either a waitlist or a rejection. I could call the admissions office to find out, but I think I'd rather wait for the small envelope.

4/30/2012 My hold at Harvard just converted to a waitlist. Basically, a dIfferent name for the same status. It's going to take a miracle for me to get in. In other news, withdrew from USC and UCLA today. Just can't picture myself living in southern California again. Barring any other surprise acceptances, it looks like I'll be attending Northwestern this fall.

4/27/2012 Withdrew from Duke and Georgetown. I always thought I would be too much of a rankings whore to turn down Duke, but Chicago is >>>> Durham. For Georgetown, the $0 in scholarship assistance was a little bit too big a slap in the face for me to consider them.

4/20/2012 Received word from Northwestern that they are upping my offer to match Duke's. Negotiation works!

4/16/2012 Withdrew from Cornell, Minnesota and WUSTL. Slowly narrowing down my final options.

4/15/2012 Made the first deposit at Northwestern! Barring some miraculous acceptances elsewhere, I'll be in Chicago this fall.

4/3/2012 After almost five months of waiting, NYU gets back to me with an offer to wait a few more months. Life is good.

4/2/2012 DLS status update from NYU today but no call or email. Not sure what to expect here...

3/30/2012 Received $45k offer from Northwestern. Better than I expected, but it feels kind of low. Tried to negotiate with them using Duke's offer, but no luck so far.

3/24/2012 Withdrew from Boston University, UC Davis and University of Washington. No money from any of them so no reason to stick around.

3/23/2012 Waitlisted at Michigan via email after being complete for 3 months. Probably going to withdraw from here too due to my other current options.

3/23/2012 Received $75k from Cornell in merit aid and a HUGE scholarship of $0 from Georgetown. It breaks my heart since they were my first acceptance, but it looks like I'm going to have to withdraw given the $$$ at peer schools.

3/21/2012 Got the financial aid letter from Duke with a $67.5k Dean's Scholarship and loans covering the rest. Honestly, it's a lot more than I expected to get so I'm pretty satisfied. At the very least, it's a bargaining chip I can use to negotiate with other lower T14s.

3/19/2012 Did not receive a finalist nomination for USC's Rothman Scholar award. Big surprise there; however, they did offer me the "poor man's Rothman" of $105k over 3 years. Debating whether to try to negotiate that to a full ride, given the money that (a higher ranked) UCLA is offering.

3/9/2012 Withdrew from the UVA waitlist. I don't think I would attend them over Northwestern and if I somehow desperately wanted to go to school in the South, I'll go to Duke. Also withdrew from Hastings because I wouldn't go there even if they paid me to attend.

3/8/2012 First ding of the cycle from my beloved undergraduate institution. What was the saying: "familiarity breeds contempt"?

2/23/2012 Notified via email that I'll be riding the waitlist at Penn. Guess it's LOCI and LOR time again.

2/17/2012 Found out via email that I'll be joining the other 2 million people on UVA's waitlist.

2/16/2012 Sent to faculty review via status checker by UC Berkeley. From what I heard about the admission numbers, I don't know if I like my odds.

2/13/2012 Put on the reserve list at Columbia. Seems like schools these days are getting too polite to just outright reject people.

2/10/2012 And WUSTL saves the day with a massive Scholar in Law award with no GPA stipulations!

2/10/2012 The bad news continues with a waitlist notification via email from Chicago. This was actually what I expected so I'm not too sad about it. Going to write a LOCI and send another LOR to increase my microscopic chances at getting off the list.

2/10/2012 Held at Harvard via email. I'm actually quite surprised that I wasn't an auto-reject. Will send an additional essay and LOR and pray for a miracle.

2/7/2012 Admitted to Duke via email! Didn't think it was possible given my #s, but I guess administrative mistakes are always a possibility...

2/6/2012 Admitted to Cornell via email! Looking forward to receiving their supposedly kickass admit packet!

2/3/2012 Received snail mail packet from Minnesota and was surprised to find a full tuition scholarship offer! The offer is based on a minimum 2.5 GPA stipulation.

2/3/2012 Waitlisted at Hastings. Their email says not to call or email regarding the waitlist. Don't worry, a withdrawal is all you'll hear from me.

1/27/2012 Admitted to Minnesota via a nice phone call from the admissions dean. It's such a nice touch to get a call; more law schools should do acceptances this way.

1/20/2012 Admitted to UC Davis via email! Will probably withdraw given other acceptances, but I definitely love the campus and have a lot of friends there.

1/20/2012 Admitted to Northwestern via email! Couldn't download the decision letter for the longest time and was sitting on the edge of my seat for about 2 hours before the email came.

1/13/2012 In via email to USC! Received the snail mail admit packet a few days later when I got back home.

1/5/2012 Admitted to Boston University via phone call. Wow, the good news just keeps rolling in!

1/5/2012 Admitted to University of Washington via email. Super excited because I really love the Seattle area!

1/5/2012 Admitted to UCLA via phone call from Dean Schwartz with a $90K merit scholarship based on a 2.5 minimum GPA stipulation. There's going to be some tough decisions ahead.

12/28/2011 Admitted to WUSTL via email and being considered for scholarship money. So far so good.

12/23/2011 In via ASW at GULC! First response, first acceptance of the cycle and t14 secure! Looking forward to relaxing for the holidays...

12/21/2011 Was able to generate a user name and password at GULC ASW, but could not access the site. TLS wisdom says admittance, but still not entirely convinced I'm accepted.

12/16/2011 Invited to apply for Rothman scholarship at USC. Is there an acceptance in my near future?

12/15/2011 Deferred to RD pool at NYU. Can't say I was surprised given their preference for 170 LSAT numbers. Sending LOCI and an additional LOR to strengthen my candidacy.

12/13/2011 Georgetown group interview scheduled for two days from now. Not sure what to expect, but looking forward to it!

12/2/2011 Having my interview with a Northwestern alumni tomorrow. Hope it goes well!