matokah (2022-2023)

Please Note:

I put down a deposit at Catholic University, but withdrew due to illness. I'm scheduled to reapply for Fall 2007. Retook the LSAT in December of 2005.

For reference, I was offered 10K/year at Pacific McGeorge, renewable contingent upon remaining in the top 1/3 of my class. My scholarship at Hamline was for 8500/year, renewable with a 3.0 GPA, and I was also awarded a $6000 Bakken Fellowship to be disbursed evenly throughout 2L and 3L to pursue specific research interests.

My username for the 2006-07 cycle is maryanni

Extracurricular Gunk
-Figure skater: 14 years
-Figure skating instructor/coach: 4 years
-TA for university skating class
-TA for university history class
-Administrative assistant for Classical and Near Eastern Studies department
-Research Assistant for Psychology Neuroimaging lab
-Vice President: Hebrew National Honor Society
-Co-founder: Religious Studies Forum
-Languages: English, French, Hebrew (some knowledge also of German, Spanish, Italian, and Arabic)
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Law School Information
Accepted = date on the letter.
Re: Visits:
+ = pros
- = cons
See also http://layla.nu for photographs. I usually took pictures of the schools when I visited.

1. Accepted at Hamline without any earlier notifications of when my application was received or considered complete. It came in a cream-coloured, small envelope with one sheet of paper.
***Update: 19 January 2005: awarded dean's scholarship ($8500/yr, renewal for 3 years if I maintain a 3.0 cum. average)***
***Visit: 3/16/05: +decent building, friendly administrators, awesome ADR program. -students didn't seem very engaged and were mostly Midwesterners, too close to home for me.***
***Update: 25 March 2005: Awarded the Constance L. Bakken Research Fellowship ($6000 over 2L and 3L to pursue a topic of interest with a member of Hamline's faculty, assuming I manage to keep a GPA of 3.0 or higher).

2. Santa Clara's acceptance came in an oversized envelope with a sheet about Public Interest Scholarships, info for entering students, and a small envelope to mail the deposit back in.
***Visit: 3/19/05: +beautiful campus, nice-looking library, friendly administrators. -lots of parents there with their kids (it felt like undergrad and I have a feeling a lot of them will be paying for their kids' law education. Blah), no Middle East study abroad programs, law building shared with undergrads; could get noisy.***

3. Cornell's rejection letter came in a small white envelope with one sheet of paper. Very nice, non-condescending letter with more than likely generic invitation to apply as a transfer 2L.

4. UMN deferral said that I should hear back from them again by 30 May (which makes no sense, considering seat deposits are usually due in April). Meh.
***Visit: November 2004. +Nice building, high ranking. -Large classrooms with off-putting teachers (or just the one I visited), in MN (I hate the cold)***
***Update: Rejection letter came on 21 April***

5. Suffolk's letter came in a small envelope with the acceptance page (+short, handwritten letter from the dean of admissions) and a notification of intent sheet. It took longer than it should've, because apparently the first dean's letter that was sent never arrived and needed to be resent.

6. Northeastern deferral said that I should hear back from them with a decision no later than 15 April and had a nice little note about how applying early shows them that you sincerely care about their school. According to them, chances aren't diminished by being deferred.
***Update: 3/21/05: Rejection letter came in a small envelope. Mostly talked about how they had too many qualified applicants this time around.***

7. University of the Pacific acceptance came in an oversized envelope in a red, glossy folder with the acceptance letter, a booklet for admitted students, and their Fall 2004 bulletin.
***Update 7 February 2005: Got a letter letting me know that I'm being "seriously considered" for a scholarship and have been invited to attend a legal scholars day on either 4 March or 11 March at the law school's expense. Haven't decided if I'll go yet***
***Update 11 February 2005: Just received an offer of $10,000/yr, renewable if I stay in the top third of my class. They also offered to pay for my first year, required books. Letter came in a small, off-white envelope with 3 sheets of paper.***
***Visit: 3/4/05: +Wonderfully friendly people (administration and students), only school in Sacramento. -In Sacramento (I don't think I like that city).***

8. Cardozo's offer of a place on their waitlist came in a small envelope. It also included the option that I can request in writing to be considered for their Part-time day program that starts on 12 May 2005. I'm seriously considering this. . .except I have a final on Saturday 14 May and get awarded my degree on Sunday 15 May. Since classes don't officially start until Monday 16 May, this shouldn't be an issue. Do I really want to try to finangle housing and flights for that, though? We'll see.
***Visit: 3/14/05: +Lots of space, professional staff. -Location (I didn't particularly like NYC), being told that raising my LSAT score might help (I realize this is just general advice, but I don't like being told that so it just rubbed me the wrong way), the building seemed a bit old, despite having been told it just underwent renovations.***

9. Catholic's acceptance came via email from the dean of admissions.
***Update: Official acceptance letter, extensive viewbook, and booklet on clinics/externships arrived on 30 January***
***Visit: 3/11/05: +Lovely undergrad campus, HUGE building, small class sizes (sections of 30-35 students, sometimes combined with another section for a class), friendly people, location (never been to DC before, but I liked it), flexibility of programming (ability to audit courses and choose other study abroad options), insitute for International Law, law and religion program. -Competing against 3 higher ranked schools in the area. Gulp.***

10. Boalt's letter was as thin and plain as can be. Expected, but disappointing nonetheless.

11. University of San Diego sent me a financial aid brochure. I've never gotten this before being admitted to a school, so this is making me slightly nervous. Who knows what it means, though.
***Visit: 1/14/05: +Beautiful campus, fairly friendly admissions staff, location (San Diego is undeniably wonderful), it's the highest ranked school in San Diego. -The law school was a bit run-down compared to others that I've visited.***

12. Temple's rejection came in a small, white envelope with an incredibly curt note about how I wasn't accepted. At least I won't have to worry about withdrawing my application now, heh.

13. Can't remember the exact date on the Boston U letter (at work now). Date above is the day which it was received. Small envelope, of course (I'm getting really used to them as of late, sigh).

14. Accepted to Seton Hall during my visit today (15 March). The admissions counselor handed me a copy of my acceptance letter which was dated 11 March 2005. It hasn't arrived at my home yet, so I don't know how it came or what else arrived with it.
***Visit: 3/15/05: +Beautiful building, good study abroad programs, friendly faculty, close (but not in!) Manhatten, nice living space nearby. -No undergrad campus nearby, location (not so sure about Newark since I didn't see much of it).***