luvtoolearn (2022-2023)

I am a non traditional type college student parent w/ three part time jobs that total a little over 30 hrs a week. All three jobs are completely unrelated (lifeguard, spokesmodel, bartending) but they allow me to be able to work around my class schedule. I also have been home schooling my son these last few years so that has been an amazing experience for me.

Before coming to Berkeley I had time to do a lot of ECs that I will list later but after coming here the curriculum got too heavy to keep up w/ work, family, etc.. so I'm not as active in the community as I used to be.

Prior to re-entering college after several years of being away I had a chance to attain extensive work experience in particular the government sector mostly related to tax law & working with everything from LLCs to celebrity/professional athlete's tax accounts. It was then that I realized I wanted to go into entertainment/sports law and have been pursuing that goal ever since. I'm currently finishing up my last semester at a Pac 10 school & help out some of the guys on the team w/ their legal/tax issues so it keeps me busy.

Been researching sports/entertainment law programs for the last two years and both Tulane & Southwestern have some great programs. Especially Tulane's sports law program & I love NOLA but even with my background experience, Tulane is a long shot w/ my LSAT score. Will try my best and see what happens.

Lets see... well I am really new to this site but I think it's awesome to be able to take people through our trials and tribulations... mine happens to be my horrible LSAT score(s). Yes I took it twice and scored worse on the second one than the first one. Of course I was really ill the second time (found out later it was swine flu), however I don't think I want to sit through that exam a 3rd time so I am applying to several schools and let the chips fall where they will.

The UCs on my list are of course a huge shot in the dark and if by some miracle schools, but since I qualify for a fee waiver I might as well apply to a few. After the initial shock of the devastating second LSAT score, I decided to go on here in case I actually get accepted to one of these schools there's hope for any of you who are like me and suck at standardized exams.

I will try to update as often as possible but I am in my last semester before graduating so I'll do my best.

Good luck to everyone in this cycle especially you LSAT challenged people like me :o)

10/18/09 - Finishing up my personal statement and getting ready to have several people look over it and give me some honest feedback. All 3 of my LORs are finally updated on LSAC. I have a missing transcript from a prior school that I went to briefly and I have requested it several times. It's getting irritating since I really need it for my LSAC GPA to get updated. It will change my GPA a bit but I believe for the better. I want to start applying to these schools and that is the only thing holding me back. I still am not 100% sure if I should apply now or in December when my final grades post for my last semester since I am almost positive they are all As. I have heard that I shouldn't wait to apply because of the low LSAT score and I need to apply as early as possible. I'm not sure what I should do.

10/19/09 - Oh man...what a terrible blow to my GPA...my missing transcript finally updated and they counted an F from 2003 in a remedial class that was so elementary that it didn't even transfer to Berkeley. I got the stupid thing from not properly dropping the class in time and retook the class with an A. I dropped it but I didn't do it correctly and didn't even realize until my grades posted the following semester, that's when I retook the class. I did not think it would count since it was clearly a remedial class but the rep at LSAC said that even if they can tell that a class is remedial it has to clearly state that on the transcript. I am so upset because it brought my GPA way down. I now have decided to wait to apply until this last semester grades post in December. One of my professors told me that my grade in his class is an A plus so far & as long as I do well on the final I will keep that grade. I am also bordering between an A and A plus in another class so I guess I have to wait. I really wanted to apply early based on recommendations from others that I apply early as possible. I'm so bummed..... :o(

10/20/09 - Well, I decided to take the advice of several people and signed up for Dec LSAT. I can't believe I'm putting myself through this again. Just signed up for a logic game boot camp class since that is where I am struggling the most on the exam.

10/29/09 - After looking over my personal statement, I decided to divide up my applications into two categories. Some of them I am applying for now (by the end of this weekend) and the others I'm applying after I get my Dec LSAT score along w/ my fall semester grades which should all post about the same time. It will at the very least be interesting to see if there is any difference between applying early or waiting for an improvement to GPA & a different LSAT score.

12/09/09 - Well its been a while since I updated due to finals. I was able to get 4 apps out today, several more to go but at least it's a start. I did not retake the December LSAT as planned due to a family emergency & will most likely end up w/ a absent mark on my LSAC file.

01/09/10 - wow, ok, I expected a lot of rejections but it only took Chapman 9 days to reject...actually If I don't count the holiday time, it was more like four days....lol, I seriously doubt they even read my ps, resume or addendum, probably just looked at my LSAT score & tossed my app aside. It can be safely assumed that I will be receiving a lot of these in the mail. I'll have to just keep my hopes up & see what happens....good luck to everyone on this cycle & keep your chin up...I know I will. :o)

01/10/10 Up at almost 3am applying to Hastings...It took a long time to complete the LEOP supplemental form as I had a lot to talk about. I hope that I can qualify for the LEOP program but we will see if it helps considering the scores. I'll keep everyone updated on this program, especially for anyone else considering it in the near future.

01/12/10 yeay...my last semester grades have posted. Straight A's & an A plus. I need to update my transcripts w/ LSAC, prol won't make very much of a difference but it feels good to finish my UG officially on solid ground. :o) Applied to 2 more schools in the last two days & removed some schools from the list. I might add one more school in a week or so but not sure yet. Hope everyone is holding up well.

01/15/10...resting after a long week @ work & decided to do some updates... So I finished applying to my last school & the wait is all that is left... I have been receiving some really good inbox messages as well as some hate mail... to anyone else who receives those types of messages my ultimate advise is to ignore it...most individuals will read your profile & not know anything about your past or work experience & assume that everyone is some niave recently graduated college student. Truth is, I am well into the industry with tons of experience in the real world. I left a high paying gov job to go back to school and pursue law. I still have full rehire rights at my previous employment at the same level I left at if I were to ever need it so I'm good to go as far as having a backup plan. In addition, I already have 3 job offers for the type of work that I want to go into based on my experience, so if anyone wants to still send hate mail to me or anyone else on this board based on numbers & schools alone, you might want to save it for those who actually want to hear it especially since you have no idea what these people (myself included) have lined up in their lives or background experience, job offers, etc. Not everyone wants to work in Biglaw and not everyone who goes to a low tier school is doomed to failure. I have plenty of friends that went to a lower tier schools and have excellent jobs in the local market. In addition, some of us have separate scholarships, grants & money from alternate sources. Most of us on this board are well aware of the cost and debt to get an education as I'm sure we all are intelligent enough to do simple math. Btw...on a side note...any anonymous posts that are non productive to me will be deleted. If you want to post your opinion even if it's negative that is fine, but you need to identify yourself. To everyone else, good luck on your future pursuits :o)

01/17/10- really strange, i checked yesterday's mail this morning & got a package from Seattle U w/ a bunch of pre-admit F/A info but no word on rejection or acceptance. Wonder why they sent this stuff to me w/out making a decision yet. Maybe they send this to everyone who applies to their school? Anyone else get this?

01/25/10- Finished my FAFSA last night based on estimated income & will update it once I file my 09 tax rtns. It seems like most of the law schools want it done by Feb.

On a more positive note, I received an email today from Seattle University saying that they completed a preliminary review of my app and decided to consider me for their Access Admission Program so it will be going through a secondary review for the program. Only 30 people are selected out of 400 so all I can do is cross my fingers and hope I get in the program. Not sure if it's a good sign or not but at least it's not a rejection. Still keeping that positive spirit :o)

02/12/10- dinged @ USF via snail mail, not a surprise. Hopefully I will get some good news soon from one of these schools :o)

02/17/10- dinged @ UC Hastings via snail mail,I didn't see it until today since I haven't checked my mail in a few days, was in Half Moon Bay over the weekend doing a promotion for the Mavericks Surf Contest so I was preoccupied and exhausted from the long weekend working....well @ least there is 3 down- 6 more to go, gotta keep the faith...It seems like response letters are coming quicker now so at least the wait is almost over. I had my updated transcripts sent to LSAC so my gpa should be updated soon w/ a slight increase. Passing on good vibes to all of you waiting :o)

02/26/10- Online status checker for both Southwestern & Western State University both state they have rendered decisions and have mailed them. I am really nervous at this point since I will be receiving at least two letters in the next couple of days. It is really strange that I hadn't heard anything in a while from any of these schools & now that my updated transcripts have been received by the schools, they are sending letters. It almost feels like they were waiting on them to finalize their decisions. Maybe I'm reading way more into the process, but at least the wait is almost over. Hope all of you are holding up well...:o)

03/18/10- Well folks, it seems that my law school aspirations for this cycle is almost at a close. Sorry it took so long to update and the dates are not exact but they are pretty close. I have been incredibly busy with work so at least it's for a positive reason. Most of these rejections were anticipated however the two most disappointing to me was Southwestern and Seattle University. I have no ill feelings towards Seattle University since they really considered me using a more holistic review and I spoke in length with one of the people in admissions who said they really felt I would be a good fit but this year the program I was being considered for was extremely competitive. I felt I was also a really good fit for Southwestern considering my work experience but it just didn't happen this year. All is not lost as I still have a great job and planning on reapplying for next year. First I plan to retake the LSAT again and see what happens. At least I will not still be in UG classes and have a little more free time to study. Also working full time again should enable me to have the funding for LSAT classes. I still have a few more schools left but I am not banking on them. Good luck to the rest of you and I hope everyone has a successful cycle :o)

03/19/10- Received email from GGU stating that my file is complete and in review...6 more weeks of reviewing...and so this cycle is almost over.

04/03/10- Hello everyone, well my cycle is officially over. My husband received an acceptance to the University of Washington's masters program and since we are moving to Seattle there is no need to wait for the decisions for the other two schools. No worries though, I am very happy for him and it gives me some time away from UG studies to concentrate on retaking the LSAT and reapplying next cycle so watch for me next cycle since I fully intend on doing much better and will apply to only WA local law schools. Everyone have a fantastic remaining cycle and I will keep watching some of you and rooting for your dream school.....peace out & GO BEARS!!!