mzshaw (2022-2023)

Married, mother of five who works full-time and attends school full-time. I don't really have time to devote to traditional "extracurricular activities" outside of managing my busy life and biting my nails over this whole law school application process.

I have been a litigation paralegal for ten years. My strong points are research and writing. I have a paralegal certificate, an A.S. in Paralegal Studies and will be completing my B.S. in Administrative Management in August.

I'm originally from Florida (I've been in Atlanta for 8 years) and would love to obtain my JD from a Florida school. Additionally, I have family in Miami and in the Orlando areas that can assist my husband and I with the kids.

I'm very thankful I found this website!!! It serves as a wonderful way to pass the time! It's also very encouraging to see folks with similar statistics being accepted to colleges that I'm applying to.

DAPHNE'S SAGA

1-28-09: Completed Florida A&M's application via LSAC.

1-29-09: Received email from FAMU confirming receipt of application.

2-02-09: Received confirmation that Law School Report and Letters of Recommendation forwarded to FAMU by LSAC.

2-09-09: Received confirmation that four of my five Letters of Recommendation have been received by LSAC.

2-10-09: Received telephone call from FAMU reminding me to forward my executed Certification Letter. Received confirmation that my fifth and final Letter of Recommendation had been received by LSAC. (Yea!)

2-13-09: Busy day!!!!!
* Forwarded executed Certification Letter to FAMU.
* Completed Nova Southeastern application via LSAC
* Completed Barry University application via LSAC
* Completed Florida International application via LSAC
* Completed University of Miami application via LSAC
* Completed Georgia State University application via LSAC
* Received acknowledgement of receipt from UM
* Received acknowledgement of receipt from Nova and request for supplemental information.
* Received confirmation that GSU, Nova, UM, and FIU Law School Reports and Letters of Recommendation had been forwarded by LSAC.

2-16-09:
* Sent emails to FAMU, Barry, Nova, FIU, UM, and GSU indicating my financial position and specifically requesting financial aid.
* Sent emails to CLEO indicating my financial position and requesting financial aid.
* Received confirmation of my financial aid request from FAMU and statement that my request will be added to my application file.
* Received email from FAMU notifying me that my file has been processed as complete.
* Received acknowledgement of receipt of application from GSU.
* Received confirmation that supplemental information had been added to my Nova file.

2-17-09: Received notification from Nova that my application is in review status. Received notification from GSU that my application is in process.

2-19-09: Applied to Northern Kentucky University today on a whim. We have family there, so it's an option!

Received acceptance letter from FAMU. White envelope marked "Welcome to the FAMily". Very excited!!! No word on scholarships yet. I will follow up with them tomorrow.

2-20-09:
* Received confirmation from NKU that application received.
* Received email from Barry indicating that they were "only waiting on the paper copy" of my LSDAS report and that "once the report has arrived" my file will be submitted for review. But warned "that process can take from 2 to 3 weeks".

2-21-09: Received invitation to apply and application fee waiver from DePaul University in Chicago. Letter states that I "may be eligible for...an Achievement Scholarship". It's worth a shot so I submitted my application via LSAC.

2-23-09: Called UM (couldn't take it anymore) and confirmed that file is complete, but still being reviewed. The pressure is killing me!!!!

2-25-09: Applied to Mercer at the advisement of one of the attorneys in my office.
Received acceptance letter for CLEO's Attitude is Essential Summer Program.

2-27-09: Rec'd letter from Barry which says "I am writing to inform you that the Admissions Committee has thoroughly reviewed your file and has voted to delay decision at this time." It says that delayed files will be reviewed in March. No worries! Barry was one of my last resort schools. I still hate rejection (or semi-rejection) though. :-)

3-2-09: Received notification from Nova via Decision Manager that I have been offered a spot in AAMPLE. Very pricey and I'm not sure that I want to throw $3,500 away on a maybe.

3-3-09: GSU status checker says " Complete ready for review."

3-5-09: NKU Status Checker says "In Review: Sent To Committee".

3-6-09: Rec'd email from Florida Coastal admissions rep encouraging me to apply and telling me that I am confirmed to receive $5,000 scholarship. Immediately applied.

3-9-09: Rec'd letter from UM today saying that "no final decision has been made at this time." They encouraged me to submit "relevant matterials" for the committee to review on the second round of deliberations. Writing letter now!!! Trying to remain positive...it's not a rejection!

3-11-09: Decided to withdraw my application to Nova. Just not willing to pay the $3,500. Good luck to someone else out there!!!

3-12-09: In at Florida Coastal with a scholarship!!! Woo-hoo!!!

3-13-09: Rejected by Georgia State (even though my status checker still says "Complete Ready for Review"). No problem! Now I no longer have a legitimate reason to stay in Atlanta!

3-16-09: Received lots of calls and emails from Florida Coastal. They really know how to make a girl feel welcome. I've been invited to the Recruitment Weekend festivities at the end of the month and I plan to attend. Still waiting on formal acceptance packet to come in the mail.

3-19-09: Received invite to attend Univ. of Arkansas Little Rock's Minority Banquet. Sounds nice, but I can't buy a plane ticket to Arkansas! Especially since I have no idea if I've been accepted or not.

Received rejection from DePaul "Your academic performance, test results, and other documents were each carefully assessed....yadda yadda yadda....regret to inform you...yadda yadda yadda." No worries here either. I surely do not think I would have been able to withstand a Chicago winter.

3-26 thru 3-28-09: The family and I took a trip down to Jacksonville to Florida Coastal's Minority Recruitment Weekend. It was absolutely WONDERFUL! I'm in love with the school and the students that I met. The school is so technologically advanced. I love the library! We were provided with an opportunity to sit through a class, rub elbows with the faculty, and even interrogate current students on any topic we chose as to their Florida Coastal experience. I paid my seat deposit. Unless another school offers me a full ride, I'll be in Jacksonville for the Fall.

3-31-09: After what seems like FOREVER my status checker status at both NKU and Mercer have finally changed. NKU says "Notification letter mailed 3-31-09" and Mercer says "File is complete, ready for review." I'm going out of town for a week in less than 48 hours and will likely miss the mailman. UGH!!!

4-01-09: Rec'd email from Barry admissions informing me that "the Admissions Committee has reviewed the held-delay list and your file is still on hold at this time. The first group of Early Start acceptance letters have been sent from this list; the Committee will review the held files again the week after April 15 for additional final decisions. " Que Sera Sera....

4-7-09: Received NKU letter in the mail...deferred until May. Toured UM. Not all that excited anymore. Very young crowd. Lots of self-absorbed people walking around with Chanel shades on. Florida Coastal's technology, facilities and accessibility are better.

4-14-09: Rec'd notification from UM that I've "been selected as an alternate for admission." Apparently, once a slot opens up, I'm in. Given my tour experience, I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm ELATED that my number 1 choice "sort of" chose me, but it's EXTREMELY expensive and I'm not sure if I want to be immersed in that environment. I'm going to send in my card asking them to keep me on the waitlist, but unless they come up with some scholarship $$$, I am not likely to attend.

4-16-09: Rec'd rejection letter from NKU today. Oh well. Their loss.

4-27-09: Rec'd letter from FIU. They've decided to "hold [my] application until the applicant pool has been more fully established." Yeah right. I won't hold my breath. I'm going to J-ville.

5-14-09: In at Barry via email.

5-19-09: Rec'd rejection letter from Mercer via snail mail.

7-10-09: Attended CLEO's Attitude is Essential seminar in Atlanta. Very insightful. Met a lot of cool people and gained a lot of exposure. Signed up to become a Kaplan PMBR Representative for my school. Also got a free code to take Kaplan's Law School Edge Course in Miami.