jwalker5 (2022-2023)

-Cofounder of Nonprofit in Atlanta
-Numerous civic engagement service projects for past 3 years
-Vice President Phi Alpha Delta 2007
-Congressperson Bonner Scholars 2007
-Many more....

Last UPDATE June 2010 ( in case someone researches profiles from far back in 09-10)

I am glad that I got a chance to talk with students who have come across my profile for this admissions cycle. I know how useful this website is for future law students trying to measure their chances of admittance at certain schools. I hope my story served as motivation and a useful tool for their journey into law school.

I am currently studying abroad in Vienna and Budapest studying International Business Law and IP law. I also got accepted as a transfer student to Santa Clara School of Law to specialize in IP law. To those with low LSATs, please understand that it is NOT determinative of your aptitude. Work hard and keep the faith and everything will work out. I am grateful that VLS gave me an opportunity to study law and gave me a scholarship. Living in Vermont however, was more difficult than I expected: the school's flagship program in Environmental law left me with limited options outside of that to explore other areas of law, living in the middle of nowhere was quite a culture shock, and I felt kinda isolated. Do not get me wrong, VLS is an excellent school with excellent faculty and I am sad to leave, but it is time for me to move on and take advantage of some opportunities in IP law. I will officially retire my profile so those of you who happen to come across my page and have any questions, please email me at: jazzyslim2005@yahoo.com

-Graduated College in 3.5 years
-After months of studying for LSAT, I didn't expect to get the score I got, but I am going to have to live with it and hope for the best because taking the Feb 09 test will not reach schools in time
-Applying for CLEO! I hope to get in!

I know some may wonder why I applied to a lot of "reach" schools considering my numbers but I just wanted to see if its true or not whether law schools can really look past numbers...we'll see won't we! ;)

Jan 13-Waitlisted from John Marshall, totally was not expecting to hear anything from any schools for another month or so...so caught off guard with the decision letter in the mail...but at least its not a rejection yet! Now I'm going to be watching the mailbox like a hawk now! Dang, my nerves can't take it lol

Feb 3- Received four law letters yesterday: American, Drexel, Stetson, Iowa. American waitlisted me!!!!!!! OMG!!! I am soo shocked considering that I got a lot of rejections! I realllllllllllly want to go home to DC for law school and this was a very welcomed surprise. Now I need to campaign harder!! ;)

Feb 6- Rejected from Hofstra, oh well.... And received email from St Thomas, they want me to do a summer conditional program, I was going to consider it but then I realized that it was VERY expensive! Not sure about it but its not like I have many choices! : ?

Feb 10- Good things from St Thomas, the admissions office put in contact with 3L who did and completed the summer conditional program. After speaking with him, I feel alot more confident about possibly applying for the program. It is good the St Thomas arranged that for me, if admissions is that helpful to a law applicant, imagine how it must be while enrolled! So, I will hold off sending in a deposit yet, I will make that my last resort if I dont get off the waitlist or into any other school and CLEO.

Feb 11- Getting a bit worried about the rest of the schools since I havent had a definite YES from any school...Loyola is a great school and hope to get in....thinkin about inquiring about an interview.

Feb 11- Had an interview with Direction of Admissions for Loyola, I think it went pretty well, I had to explain my low lsat and things that I wanted to put in my application but had not had a chance to do. I will find out something next thursday, hopefully it will be good news! (Staying positive ; ? )

Feb 19 11:35pm- Counting down to the minutes! lol Called Loyola as instructed and learned that my file goes to the committee today! I thought it went already!?! But I'll be patient because I'll hear something by this afternoon! Im hoping for good news!

Feb 19 4:45pm- Have not gotten in contact with Director so will call back tomorrow morning.

Feb 20- Called Director back and I am waitlisted, but not feeling bad about it because she really urged me to give her a call back March 1 to check my standing, I have a feeling she is going to look out for me!

Feb 20- Spoke with Dean of Admissions from Vermont Law and she urged me to apply, so I will be sending off my apps ASAP, in addition Nova, NCCU, and maybe Detroit Mercy.

Feb 21- Northeastern got me good! I went to the mailbox and saw a large envelop from NE, so Im all excited right? Wrong! Just a letter from Career Services about their Coop program...man that threw me off!!! LOL

Feb 24-Since my cycle hasn't given me any definate answers from any schools, I submitted apps for Hamline, North Carolina Central, Detroit Mercy, Nova, and Vermont...ight last round of apps, hopefully ill have better luck with these schools.

Feb 25- Here's a blog and response I recently wrote to in order to understand my chances of getting off the waitlist for American. It was to Ann Levine from Law School Expert and the blog was about waitlists:

[February 25th, 2009 at 09:57 | #7 Reply | Quote
Hello Ms. Levine,
I have a question about what I should do. I am a female minority and was placed at my top choice (American University) waitlist. Honestly, I did not even think they would consider my application because it is a long shot for me. My GPA is in their 25th percentile with a 3.34 and LSAT is no where on the radar, 144. In my case, should I consider the waitlist a rejection if they are Yield protecting? Or do I have any chance of getting off, and if so, what should I do? (I sent a letter of continued interest and spoke with the Dean of Diversity Affairs and an alumnae professor there about my file).
Ann Levine
February 25th, 2009 at 12:53 | #8 Reply | Quote
Hi Jasmine,
It sounds like you're doing everything right. I have seen American make HUGE exceptions on LSAT in order to admit minorities. If they weren't going to consider you seriously, they would have outright rejected you. I think your chances will depend on how many deposits they get from URM admitted applicants.
I wish you the best of luck!]

Feeling a whole lot better! I"m in it for the looong Haul for American!!

March 2-(sigh) Albany rejection and FIU hold letter, when will I see some positive news??

March 10- Rejection from Northeastern and UMD, oh well...i had met the Dean of admissions for UMD a few years ago, she went to my alma mata, but i guess my lsat is ultimately holding more weight than anything.

March 13- Friday the 13!!!!!!!!! The most unluckiest day if the year and guess what?????? I'm off Loyola Waitist!!!!!! Im sooooo excited!!! Thank you Jesus, now I know I will be goin to Law School!!! I found out via online status checker!

March 16- Just withdrew myself from St Thomas's list of conditional summer program applicants. It was kinda funny that the administrative assistant asked me why I was withdrawing. I told her i got accepted to another school. Did she really have to ask that though? I mean, I wasn't even unconditionally accepted? Ya'll tell me if that program aint all about $$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be wary of those conditional summer programs......

March 17- Had an interesting conversation with a professor from American who served on the admissions committee in the past. Well....long story short she told me to go ahead and secure a seat at another school. I appreciate her honesty and candid responses to my question but it looks like i will be unlikely off the waitlist, due to that lsat. So now, i think i will withdraw apps from the rest of the schools i recently submitted since I only applied to them as a last resort. Now that I'm in at Loyola, I think that's my best bet. I really like that school. We'll see.......

March 30-Received a rejection from Duke...was expected...still wondering what's taking CLEO sooo long with my application!! I emailed my acceptance letter from Loyola, hopefully that should get the ball rolling. Now UCI, no word...i guess that's another rejection..but no worry cuz I'm happy with Loyola.

March 30 6:00pm- Ight, I'm going to Loyola, its official! I got a scholarship from my (alma mater ) school to offset 1% of tuition lol (hey its better than nothing at all!) I will still update ya'll with the rest of the school's actions but like I said before, I have no interest in attending them since they were last resorts.

April 1: I GOT INTO CLEO!!!!!!!!!.......sike! April fools to me! lol Unfortunately I did not make it in the program, I spoke with the director this morning and she told me that she would put me on a wait list. So now I need to find a prelaw prep program because I really want to prepare for law school....any suggestions anybody?

April 13: Called Vermont Law and learned that I was accepted!!!! They sent an email on last friday but I haven't been near the computer for a few days. Sent acceptance package last friday. I'm soo excited now I have options...but I still want to go to Loyola more than Vermont. I need to weigh both programs...anybody with any info about Vermont hit me up!

April 15- Just recieved my acceptance package from Vermont and and found that I was selected as a Merit Scholar!!!!! $20,000 per year!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! OMG! Yo, im telling ya'll forget the lsat!!!!!!!!!! I got a merit scholarship based on my merit and not by the performance of a test score. This is extremely humbling, I've got to say, It looks like imma withdraw my seat from Loyola. Just like i said before, the only way I would look at another school is if they give me a scholarship, even though my numbers may not warrant one. It feels very good to know that there are schools that WILL look past a low test score and rather see your merit through your hard work, perservance, and dedication in your collegiate career. OMG!! I am sooo completely humbled! ; ) Thank you Vermont!!

April 17- Received rejection from UCI. Had a wonderful convo with Dean of students and dean of enrollment at Vermont, and they said nothing but positive things. I am getting early consideration for a headstart program a week before orientation in august and Dean of students is working to get me even more money!!!! Yo, this was a wild journey that i thought would end in tradgedy for me but God had a special blessing in store for me!

Also, spoke with Loyola about a possible scholarship now that I have a better offer, they are considering it. But you know what, I am starting to realize that Vermont really wants me more than Loyola, and it feels good to be wanted! ; )

April 20-CLEO sent me an invitation to their Attitude is Essential program...I will be sending my seat deposit for that, glad I could bypass the application process and go straight to the front of the line!

April 21- Received additional $5,000 scholarship (Debevoise Family Scholarship) from Vermont! God is Good!

April 22- Got a strange email from John Marshall yesterday saying that my account was deactivated since I did not submit a deposit. I was confused because I did not receive any notification that I was off of "hold' status. Then i called to find out what the deal was and was informed that I got the email in error. My status is still on hold. Wonder if that happened to anybody else. Imma withdraw tomorrow.

April 23- Got email from UDM saying to contact them. It was obvious it was good news because it said congrats in the email. I called and learned I was accepted and will receive letter in mail! Yay!

May 1-Deferred at Hamline and accepted to AMMPLE for Nova. Withdrew already...now one more NCCU...

May 7-Well after 6 long months John Marshall decides to reject me after my deferral in Jan...they gotta lot of nerve! lol

June 24- MY CYCLE IS OFFICIALLY OVER!! Rejected by FIU and waitlisted at NCCU this month. I am currently about to wrap up a prelaw program I was in this month in a couple of weeks and will be gearing up for AIE in July. I couldn't be happier!

I would like to thank everyone who sent me positive vibes throughout my cycle. I would also like to advise future applicants with low LSAT scores not to limit yourself, cast your net wide and have faith. I didn't think any school would accept me and I ended up with a pretty decent acceptance to a great school with money. I am looking foward to my future studies at Vermont and I hope my profile will be helpful to future applicants.

August 19-One last post! I did a few summer prelaw programs and that really opened my eyes to the whole admissions process. Most people (lawyers, judges, mentors) will tell you go to the best law school you can possibly get into. There is merit to that advice, and I must add one more consideration: Fit. Never would I have thought in my wildest dreams that I would feel so lucky to attend VLS. Some schools talk about having a supportive and accessible faculty, excellent career services department, great diversity iniatives, and a personal interest in the growth and success of your legal career. Well, I must say that many schools that preach this definately do not practice it. Based on personal experiences of some friends that went to "prestigious" schools, they were very dissapointed in the level of support and access to resources they needed to make a smooth transition. It seems like some schools lure you in with money and a name brand degree, but you must ask yourself, is this school the right FIT for me? Do they have the level of support I would need to succeed? What about academic counseling, if I'm having trouble understanding consideration in contracts? Would I be able to meet with my professors? Or how about if they can refer you to a a decent landlord for housing? Or even help you move into your house and provide help with furnishing? (Ok the last two were my specific case but some schools may go out of their way to help, you just gotta ask!) Do they follow their school mission down to the period? Those are the things that can affect the type of success you will have in law school. If you attend a school that is there with you every step of the way and takes a genuine personal interest in your success, you've hit the jackpot. I am not trying to endorse VLS, but I am trying to share what I've learned in my admissions cycle and I hope this could help a future applicant that may share commonalities with me, be it academic stats or being a black female. So when choosing the school you will attend, along with its ranking or prestigue, gauge the school's climate and whether or not the school's offerings are conducive to your personal and professional success. I will leave my page up and please, if you have any questions, message me and I will send you my email address. I'm starting my first yr so if you have questions about the application process, some of the prelaw programs I attended, or what 1L is like (I'll definately be able to give you a very candid view since I'll be in the midst of it!) do not hesitate to message me. Best of Luck!!