mmg3327 (2022-2023)

decent soft factors

- 5+ years as a high school teacher
- Fee waivers: Columbia, Duke, many other places to which I am not applying.

5/20/08
Accepted off the WL at Chicago! Woo-hoo! Ann Perry called first to gauge my interest. Now I'm completely torn: NYU or Chicago?

5/12/08
Waitlisted at Chicago. Only, according to the letter, they mean something different than other schools do by the term "waitlist". To Chicago, it means they'd like to continue reviewing my application and will give me a final decision sometime late in the summer. Huh? How is that any different at all?

5/1/08
NYU, here I come! It was a very tough decision between NYU and Columbia. In the end, given that I think the career prospects afterwards will be identical coming from both schools, I chose the one where I thought I would have the better law school experience.

4/22/08
Rejected at HLS via e-mail. Damn and blast. I had my hopes up and I shouldn't have. NYC, here I come!

4/18/08
Stanford rejection by snail mail. Not surprising, but a bummer. Glad I sent in the preemptive LOCI - now I don't have to wonder what might have been.

4/11/08
Sent a preemptive LOCI to Stanford. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a waitlist.

4/9/08
Sent a preemptive LOCI to Harvard. I'm hoping for a waitlist. Especially after reading Toby Stock's blog.

3/25/08
Mysterious e-mail from Harvard. Sounds a lot like a deferral. Maybe a hold. Was it automatically generated? Tough to tell. Invited to send more info, like a 5th (!) LOR or a "Why Harvard?" Hmm.....

3/24/08
I was hoping (expecting?) to get into Chicago. But then 6 pm came and went without a phone call. Checked my mailbox...thin letter. Shit. Turns out I'm on hold and invited to submit more materials by April 11. Really? I mean, I will, but what the hell, Chicago?

3/17/08
Waitlisted by e-mail from Berkeley. It's downright scary how accurate the posters on LSD were in the "What are my chances?" thread when I posted to it.

3/10/08
Thin envelope from Yale. The inevitable has occurred. Just because I knew it was coming doesn't make the blow any softer though. Oh well.

3/7/08
Dean's Scholarship to Texas! In-state tuition plus $9,500 per year. Pretty sweet.

2/29/08
Sigh. E-mail from Michigan: I've been waitlisted. This does not bode well for my chances of admission to HYS. My numbers are competitive but not stellar, and the only way I'm getting in to HYS is if my soft factors impress the adcomms. Given that I was waitlisted at Michigan and deferred at Berkeley, the two T14s that most value soft factors, my prospects seem dim. No matter - it's been a stellar week.

2/28/08
Went to check the mailbox, expecting (with fingers crossed against it) a rejection letter from Yale...only to find big packets from UPenn and Texas! Woo-hoo! Totally caught off guard. My Texas status checker merely says "complete" and I was under the impression that Penn called... Came inside and found a voicemail on my home phone from Texas congratulating me on being admitted. Nicely timed, Texas.

Columbia, Penn, and Texas? It's been a damn good week.

2/25/08
Most people who have been getting in to Columbia and Chicago seem to be getting in a month after going complete. I woke up this morning with high hopes for the week ahead (my one month mark)...checked the mailbox when I got home at 7 pm...WOO-HOO!!! Big pale green envelope! I'm in at Columbia! I feel so freakin' good right now. Just made a batch of celebratory pomegranate margaritas.

2/13/08
Accepted at Georgetown yesterday (hooray!), but found out today that I'd been passed on to the Faculty Ad Com at Berkeley...which is essentially a deferral...and one with an approximately 12.5% chance of ending happily ever after, according to Dean Tom's stats in his TLS interview.

2/7/08
Status checker says decision at UVA! I hope this is good news. I can't wait to get home and check the mail. Follow up: woo-hoo! It was indeed. No $ though.

1/22/08
Finally got my 4th letter of recommendation squared away, which has been a collossal pain in the arse. I should go complete at Stanford, Berkeley, and Chicago today, the rest next week.

1/17/08
In at NYU! Woo-hoo! Durham, you had 24 hours in my heart.

In all seriousness, I don't expect to receive any more decisions for a month - even though I submitted my apps in December, I've asked schools to hold off from considering me complete until they receive an additional academic rec.

1/16/08
In at Duke! And PinkTiki congratulated me on it within a half hour. Incredible: PinkTiki's inevitable "congrats" comment has become the victory cigar of LSN. Now it feels legitimate. Hooray for Duke! Even though it may not be my first choice, if I want to I can go to law school! One down, twelve to go...

1/14/08
Called NYU with an application question...and learned that they've already made their decision! Woah. Surpringly fast, and not preceded by a "complete" e-mail. Good news? Admissions rep said the decision would be sent out via snail mail tomorrow.