Application record: 9-0-5
6/8: For some measure of closure, I'm going to send an e-mail to the Miami office of admissions. I'm starting to think they've made a decision, but there may have been some sort of mixup in the mail. I mean, it can't possibly be taking them this long, right?
6/1: That's it and that's all. I'll be a Johnny when August rolls around. Now I can relax and enjoy what should be a pretty phat summer, after which I will not have any life whatsoever. Fair winds and following seas to the rest of you who will be joining me in taking the plunge this fall.
5/18: What is the friggin' hold-up, Miami? T-t-t-t-today, junior!
5/3: Well, Colorado's back in play. As I spent most of this morning thinking about the options available to me, it really hit me that I should consider CU more seriously. It would just be a fantastic fit for me. Then, this afternoon, like a sign from Zeus himself, I received an e-mail from a prof. at Boulder, reaffirming that belief and even commenting specifically on my personal statement. Not one to throw sand into the eyes of fate, I decided to holler at the admissions office and let them know I was still interested, in spite of the seat deposit deadline having passed. They said I could still send in my deposit and confirm a seat under the original scholarship terms. We'll see what happens.
5/3: Admitted at Chapman, according to status checker. I was out in Orange last year and I had a really good time. Realistically though, unless there's a really generous scholarship offer, I doubt I'll attend. I'm way too high on both St. John's and USD at this point. I'm actually going to send in the first deposit to San Diego today and then spend the next month agonizing over the decision between the two schools.
4/30: Okay, Colorado's out. That was a tough call, but while I do like the idea of going to school in Boulder for a few years, I'm not sure if I really want to live/work in Colorado afterwards. So far, I have a deposit in at St. John's ($750?! Come on, St. John's!) and am strongly considering laying down a depo at USD as well. I absolutely love that city and am a huge fan of the San Diego lifestyle. A little more laid back, which is right up my alley.
4/29: Just saw the new USNWR law school rankings for the first time. Awesomely enough, the schools I'm considering jumped in the rankings and a lot of the schools to which I got waitlisted fell a few spots. So in the words of Carl Spackler, at least I got that goin' for me.
4/26: Just received a letter from San Diego with a scholarship award. It's for 22K the first year, renewable for each subsequent year provided my financial situation hasn't drastically changed. So San Diego might have just edged ahead of Boulder in what is now a three-horse race.
4/23: Received a packet from USD, scholarship info forthcoming. As of now, nil. Just waiting on Miami and Chapman.
4/21: Received an e-mail from Boulder w/ a scholly offer. 11K the first year and 4K for years 2 and 3. I'm assuming the discrepancy has to do with qualifying for in-state tuition. At this stage, it's pretty much solidly between CU and St. John's. I'll try to decide within the next week or so.
4/11: The avalanche of waitlists continues with Seton Hall joining the party. I'll be withdrawing shortly.
4/7: The waitlists are flowing like wine. U of Minn. this time...I'll be staying on this one.
4/1: I came home to find a thin envelope from Buffalo. A waitlist...what a weird cycle so far.
3/25: Quick update- I'm pretty sure I'll be withdrawing from Temple, Penn State, Cincy, L&C, DePaul, and Chapman in the next few days. As it stands now, I'm leaning towards taking the full ride to SJU, unless I get a fully at Minnesota, Miami, or San Diego, all of which are very doubtful. I'm eagerly awaiting the packet from Chicago-Kent. If I happen to get a full scholly there, then it's a very good possibility that I'll take the offer. I've never been to Chicago, but from what I know about the city, I'm pretty sure I'd love it there. But I won't put the cart ahead of the horse. At this point, St. John's is in the lead.
Also, I just got a call from a 1L at DePaul, asking me if I had any questions about the school. Totally caught me off guard, as I was in the process of eating lunch and reading humorous online sports blogs. I stuttered and stammered my way through, explaining that the DePaul website was very thorough and I had no questions at the time. Next time I see an unrecognized number on my phone, one thing is for damn sure...I will be prepared.
3/23: Just got an e-mail from the Chicago-Kent Law dean, congratulating me on my acceptance...hell yeah! I should expect a letter in the next couple of days. I'll update w/ scholarship info, if there is any.
3/22: I really wish the remaining schools would quit fartin' around and let me know the decision already. St. John's and Santa Clara both need a seat deposit by the beginning of April. Also, just found out over the weekend that a buddy of mine got a full ride to St. John's as well. We came awfully close to drunkenly making a pact to go there together, but in a rare moment of clarity, I decided that choosing a school under the influence of booze would be a bad call. Still, it's cool to know that if I do go there, I'd be able to get a place with someone I'm familiar with and not some random jabroni.
3/16: Packet from Colorado...this is awesome. The acceptance letter says "you will automatically be considered for scholarship money. Offers are now being made on a rolling basis." I sure hope some scholly funds roll my way, b/c I am a big fan of Boulder. I only applied to two Tier 1 schools (CO and MN) and I'm 1 for 1 so far. My only regret so far in this cycle is that I decided too late in the game that I'd be okay with staying in NYC. I probably should have applied to a few more local schools. Ahhh well.
3/1: In at Temple, according to online status checker. Fingers crossed for some scholarship $$. I'd be more than thrilled to be at Temple for the next 3 years. Funny, I was a weak consider at Temple, according to Law School Predictor, strong consider at Cincy, and admit at Penn State. Guess my application was a tough one to evaluate.
2/24: Just got an e-mail from Penn State...waitlist. It's starting to look more and more like St. John's is going to be the move, which I'm totally fine with.
2/22: Waitlisted at Cincy. F**k you, Law School Predictor. Thanks for hyping me up. On the bright side, this puts my qualification in perspective. That 4-0 start had me thinking that perhaps I should have raised my standards a bit, in terms of the schools to which I was applying. At least now I know, mine is definitely a Tier 2 application. Probably should've taken the ol' studies a bit more seriously back in college. (sigh) C'est la vie.
2/20: Letter came in the mail from St. John's. Accepted with a full scholarship. EXTREMELY surprised by that, considering my piss poor GPA. I was kind of hoping to leave NY for school and the postgrad career, but it's going to be hard to pass up on an almost free legal education. Also, SCU sent a letter explaining that the scholarship award, which I'd originally thought to be 18K total, was 18K per year, so I updated that amount in my profile.
2/16/10: Came back from a Trey Anastasio concert late night to find acceptances in the mail from Santa Clara and L&C. Very nice little Tuesday right there. I'm getting money from Santa Clara, but none from Lewis and Clark. Sucks, because of the 3 schools I've gotten into so far, that'd be my choice if I had to pick right now. On the bright side, I did get an e-mail from Lewis and Clark about some Oregon scholarship opportunities for minority law students, so it looks like I might be writing a few more essays in the coming weeks.
2/8/10: Received packet from DePaul in the mail today. 15K per year scholarship dependent on me maintaining a 2.3 GPA. Looks like I'm going to law school!
1/27/10: Waiting for decisions sucks.
12/26/09: Applied to USD and Chicago-Kent, since I was only planning on sending one rec to each. My other recommendation should be in by the first Monday of 2010, at which point I'll be rapid-firing a bunch of other apps.
Congrats on the acceptance and scholarships to St. John's and SCU.