pianoman86 (2022-2023)

ACADEMICS:
Honor Societies
Deans List All Semesters
Scholarship
Summa Cum Laude

WE/VOLUNTEERING:
Nothing too impressive... a little volunteering, a little tutoring, etc.

MUSIC:
Wins at some fairly impressive state/national competitions throughout HS and UGrad
Several Solo/Ensemble appearances at major national and international jazz festivals in the last 5 years
A few notable private/public concerts, etc.

LOR:
Three good/very good ones (I got to read them)

My Chiashu %s are on the far left, all based on the 2006 data.

Best of luck to everyone out there this cycle!

12/04: Acceptance email from Duke. The first one of the cycle, and it feels so good!

12/07: Acceptance email from Boalt. I'm a little stunned, considering that they actually had faster turn around time from complete to decision/notification than Duke did with PT. Not that I'm complaining :)

12/13: In at Georgetown...nice personalized message at the bottom of the letter, which is a really nice touch from a school with a reputation for being a bit 'impersonal'.

12/14: Received the 'Complete' email from Harvard without the famous 'Toby Stock Call Email' first...I'm guessing that this does not bode well for my application chances, but who knows?

12/26: Got the acceptance letter from NYU (dated 12/14). Never officially even went complete, but that seems to be a trend with NYU. Not complaining- pretty sweet day-after Christmas present!

12/30: Got my first official "good news" phone call, from Dean Schwartz at UCLA. Talk about a dedicated guy- he's calling people on a Sunday afternoon during the weekend in between Christmas and New Years! Impressive.

1/17: Got the happy little envelope from UVA, informing me that I was accepted as a "Deans Scholar", and therefore I would be considered for a nice scholarship. Sweet! (Postmarked on the 14th.)

1/24: Morning phone call from the Dean of Admissions at Penn...good news from a great school! He mentioned that the letter was in the mail, but he wanted to call and give me a heads up before the weekend- a very thoughtful (and appreciated) touch.

*1/25*: Bumped the GPA up to an official 3.90 from the 3.89 that I originally applied with because LSAC finally finished processing my Fall transcripts...not that this will really do a damn thing for me, but it's nice to finally be able to say "3.9" instead of the much shadier "3.9ish".

2/07- In at Chicago via phone call. Exciting...I love Chi's reputation for being a badass intellectual/academic powerhouse. Assuming HYS are out, even if Columbia doesn't come through this is going to be an incredibly difficult decision to make....

02/13- Small white Deferral letter from Columbia came today (dated 02/08)...I'm not taking this as a good sign on that front, or a good sign for my future at HYS. Ah well, such is life. I can hardly complain about my cycle thus far. We'll see what happens.

02/25 - Mailed my LOCI to Columbia today. Also, I called the USC JD Admissions Office to see what's up...apparently, I'm still "in review", have been since mid-January, and can expect for be for anywhere between 4-8 weeks from today. What a bunch of horseshit. Thanks and fuck you too, alma mater...I use the internet, I read message boards, and I know that you've been accepting applicants with numbers both below and above mine for months now- many of whom applied significantly later than I did. You're even sending out scholarship offers already, and you can't be bothered to let me know if I'm in or not as an alumni with autoadmit numbers? All I can say is, they better not be counting on any of my future BIGLAW income to be finding a way into their coffers. (Take note of how they treat their alumni, future LSNers.)

3/10 - Scholarship offer from UChi came in the mail today for 50k/3 years. Not only was I flattered, but I was very impressed with how on the ball they are...this is the first firm, $$$-specific offer I've gotten this cycle. Looking good, Chicago!

3/17 - USC finally decided to notify my (at my parent's permanent address) that they have decided that I am "not a finalist" for the Rothman Scholarship. Of course, I still haven't even been officially accepted or rejected as an applicant yet by them either. I'll definitely be crying myself to sleep tonight...

3/18 - Finally got the "good news" (if you can call it that at this point) from USC, and in much more important news received a nice scholarship offer for $48k/3 years from Duke. A little anticlimactic after the amazing offer from UChi, but I'm certainly not complaining.

3/20 - Got a short email from UPenn informing me that I've been selected as a "Deans Scolarship" recipient for $39k/3 years. Again, a tad anticlimactic, but I still feel like an incredibly lucky guy to be weighing so many amazing options like this.

3/26 - Recieved a half scholarship from UVA today...sweet. Time to take this one and put it on the table at Berkeley to see what it lands me - if they still have any scholarship funds left, that is...

4/10 - Got the rejection letter from Yale...can't even say I'm too upset about it because I've been expecting it for months now. I'm actually mildly pleased that I made it past the first few rounds of cuts there.

4/17 - Deferred @ Columbia a second time, to the "Reserves". Annoying.

4/25 - Waitlisted at Harvard. Not unexpected, and probably the realization of a best case scenario for me at this point. I'll definitely be waiting this one out. Meanwhile, I am officially withdrawing from USC/UCLA/Georgetown/Virginia/UPenn/NYU/Duke on Monday. It's down to Chicago and Berkeley for me out of the current acceptances I'm sitting on.

4/26 - Finally waitlisted at Stanford. This could get interesting...or it could turn out to be a complete dead end. LOCI sent in, so we'll see...

6/01 - Sent in my confirmation at Chicago and withdrew from Berkeley by default. Sad because I was really excited about both schools for different reasons, but I think I made the right choice, given the circumstances and the money.

6/10 - Officially rejected at Columbia. Barring a miraculous acceptance off of the H/S WL, I'm off to Hyde Park!

Good luck c/o 2012! It's only gonna get more competitive from here on out...