11/9/10 - My cycle is officially underway.
Here the the results of my merit-based waiver requests:
Yes - UCLA, Michigan, Virginia, Northwestern, WUSTL. At around $80 a pop, that's about $400 saved right there.
No - Cornell, Georgetown, Texas (said they didn't give out waivers, but I know for a fact that they do; have they ever heard about internet forums?), Penn (still applying), USC (50/50 on this one. If I get accepted with good money to UCLA, I'm probably not going to apply to USC anymore).
Pending - Duke
11/10/10 - Add Duke to the "Yes" list. I'm out sick today, but have taken advantage of the down time to submit a couple more applications.
11/15/10 - Pretty eventful day. Went complete at Vanderbilt and under review at Berkeley. Scheduled my alumni interview for Northwestern on Wednesday. Making good progress.
11/19/10 - Under review at Harvard! Didn't even get a file complete notification, just went straight to review from application received. Can I pull off an upset and squeak into the school of my childhood dreams?
11/22/10 - Got the status checker from Stanford. It appears my app has been under review since 11/18. Now, I wait.
01/27/11 - Got the vomit-colored envelope tonight, postmarked 1/24/11. I am in at Columbia! My first crack at a T10 school! So happy.
02/01/11 - Finally sent in my Yale application. It's a long-shot at best, but a long-shot is still better than no shot at all. That wraps up all my applications. I'm pretty pleased with my over-all cycle so far, but hopefully the best is still to come.