defeatist (2022-2023)

I'm in my late twenties, and have been working in a non-law-related field for several years.

My "received" dates are the dates of either LSDAS report requests, or dates of an email reporting receipt (whichever is earlier).

I was notified via email of completion at NYU, Chicago, UIUC, Columbia, and Penn. Michigan notified me with a small little envelope, and Northwestern didn't notify me at all -- I had to check their web status page.

1/24/06: I've offically driven myself insane with worry. As a guy with a job and a house, it's incredibly stressful to submit the last ten years of your life up for evaluation. As a 'splitter', it's even more stressful, because it's painfully clear that you're smart enough _now_, even if you weren't smart enough in college. If I don't get into law school it's not because of anything I've done or not done in the last five years. My GPA from before the Clinton impeachment will be my undoing.

01/27/06: Sweet relief! Notified of acceptance by UIUC via email.

02/01/06: Starting to get anxious again. It's looking like I didn't get into NYU. Why haven't I heard from NU and Michigan yet? I just know I'm going to end up on about four waitlists -- if I'm lucky. I can't wait around all summer! I'm nearly 30! Why am I doing this to myself?

02/02/06: Curse you, LSN! I'm watching everyone who went complete with me at NU get results today, but I'm hearing nothing. Silence = Death, or so I hear.

02/09/06: I'm strangely resigned to my fate now. I know now that every time I check my email or open my post box, there will be nothing, nothing, nothing. At this point, I'll be surprised instead of relieved if I do get any news.

02/14/06: Happy Valentines Day to me. My present: a big heart-shaped box of assorted nothing.

02/17/06: You're already in hell, you're already in hell / I wish we could go to hell // When the bottle gets empty / Then life ain't worth the drown

02/21/06: "In my life / Why do I give valuable time / To people who don't care if I live or die?" -- This is what I've come to: posting Smiths lyrics to my LSN account. Kids, don't apply to law school.

02/22/06: Started making plans to attend the 3/3 UIUC Open House.

02/27/06: My new hobbies: First, hourly examination of LSN trends, comparing myself percentile-wise with the accepted, rejected, waitlisted, and pending pools at each remaining school. (As of 1pm today, I would be in the 86th percentile by index number of waitlisted applications at Northwestern. That's good, right?) Second, constructing elaborate universal theories-of-everything that explain the reasoning process of law school admissions committees, the interminable delay in evaluating my application, and the blooming of flowers on distant Tibetan mountains.

03/06/06: Nietzsche was right! The abyss is TOTALLY staring into me RIGHT NOW. It's giving me the heebie-jeebies.

03/07/06: Received "hold" letter from Chicago. Letter dated 3/6, rec'd 3/8. I get to write an additional essay! Now I have something to do besides wait by the mailbox.

03/14/06: Another week has gone by, and I'm starting to feel the resignation set in. All of this pending, pending, pending! What are the odds that good news will come this late in the season? Why can't I just have my bad news now?

03/20/06: I'm getting ready to go on a much-needed vacation (to Argentina! hooray!) for a couple of weeks, so my LSN obsession will be interrupted. I'm looking forward to coming home in early April to go through my big stack of whatevers.

03/21/06: Okay, so I'm not technically on vacation yet, but while I was packing, I rec'd a letter (dated 3/15) from Columbia informing me of my "reserve" status. Sounds like a waitlist to me. Whee! Let's go on vacation!

03/23/06: Greetings from sunny Buenos Aires! I wish you were here! Also, Northwestern has put me on their waitlist! Chau!

03/30/06: The brightly-painted public buses here are called 'colectivos' and they race at frightening speed through the narrow streets. We took #29 from La Boca to Palermo today. Also, Penn put me on their waitlist.

04/03/06: Today we took the ferry over to Uruguay. Uruguay is a lot like Argentina. Also, Michigan put me on their waitlist.

04/05/06: So I'm back from Argentina. It's nice to be home. There wasn't any mail waiting for me from NYU (or any other law school). I'm still not sure what I'm going to do when that deposit deadline from Illinois rolls around.

04/13/06: Found my first rejection in the mail today, from NYU. Letter dated 4/4, postmarked 4/7. It's funny, since I've been half-expecting this rejection since February (see above), it doesn't sting too badly.

04/18/06: I'm getting ready to put my deposit down at UIUC, and I've been sending out all kinds of charming, but gently pleading, letters to my other schools. April waitlists bring May acceptance letters, isn't that right?

04/24/06: No news anywhere. I'm anxious about hearing from Chicago, since I've gone and gotten myself all excited about possibly getting in. Clearly, I'm well-and-truly insane at this point: why would I start getting my hopes up in APRIL?

04/26/06: I guess I'll click the 'Attending' checkbox for UIUC, as I sent them my deposit last week. Chicago, I'm still carrying a torch for you.

05/07/06: Process at a standstill? Must be time to go on vacation. I'm going to be in Paris for the next week. Would someone please water my plants? Thanks.

05/14/06: Back home again. I sorted through a giant pile of credit card offers to find.... nothing. At least I have good credit.

05/16/06: Rec'd letter today from Chicago -- 11 days after the 5/5 postmark! Waitlisted. I feel pretty good about it, though. I thought they'd laugh my application right out of there, so to get all this consideration from them is gratifying.

05/26/06: Putting down my second deposit at UIUC today. 87 days until classes start there.

06/07/06: No news, no news, no news. It's now been a year since I took the LSAT for the first time. This has not been a particularly fun year. 75 days until classes start at UIUC.

06/15/06: Today I got emails from Michigan and Northwestern checking my interest in spending the summer on their waitlists. There was a similar letter from Columbia that I rec'd on the 13th. Orientation at UIUC is in 64 days.

06/16/06: In today's mail: a rejection note from Chicago. Disappointment doesn't begin to describe how I feel. Actually, it's a pretty good beginning. I'm disappointed, among other things.

06/20/06: In either an astounding turn-around or the world's cruelest hoax, I was admitted, via telephone call, off the waitlist at Michigan.

06/25/06: I've returned from a lightning-quick visit to Michigan. It looks like the cycle is over for me, as I can't imagine I'm going to find a better situation. Michigan could have been my top choice all along. Hail to the Victors, indeed.

12/17/06: (In the middle of finals) I got a letter this weekend from LSAC, letting me know that they've re-examined my undergrad transcript, and their new opinion about my GPA is that it should be 3.03/2.97, and not the 3.11/3.06 I was admitted under. I hope there aren't any consequences.