Wednesday, July 26, 2006

A book that doesn't help

So I'm leaving town for five days again tomorrow super early morning, so I thought I would double post to make up for a few days of nothingness.

I have been working on my PS as most of you know, and for the most part I have been working through it on my own. About 6 weeks ago I decided I needed all the help I could get, broke down, and bought the Brodie law school book. I was not impressed.

It isn't the fault of the writer, its the topic. There simply is no good way to write a book that helps people put together the single aspect of their application that varies most from person to person. Though the author tries to help by creating items that should be included in different types of statements, the book is on the whole not helpful. Outside of a few random "lists" of things to cover (which sparked my interest but didn't help me put together my essay) there wasn't much usable help in the book. Anna Ivey's book is much better.

On a related note, why do writers of personal statement books insist on using silly essays as examples. Look, I'm buying a book because I don't know what to write about. I'm guessing most people are similar to me. Give us an essay about a normal person without any exceptional experiences, not a bunch of essays about people that accomplished things that already make them fantastic candidates. WRITE TO YOUR AUDIENCE, PEOPLE THAT LACK A SOLID PERSONAL STATEMENT TOPIC!!!

Finally Deciding

So after some massive help from an LSD poster (thanks a lot dude), I have decided to focus my personal statement editing on my story from work. I will spend the trip working and reworking the story and hope to get back with a semi polished version suitable for law school applications.

In addition, I will continue to work on my Statement of Purpose as I have noticed that several of the schools I am applying to require them.

The good news is I can move past blank page syndrome, the bad news is that I now have LOTS of editing to do and a story to completely rework. I am hoping for the best, who knows.

My application package currently looks like this:

1. Old applications complete, will only need to copy information across to new applications.

2. LORs in the writers hands, waiting for them to be completed and submitted.

3. Diversity statement is writen, needs to be edited for space and grammar.

4. Personal statement, have a topic, need to rework it.

5. Why Penn is complete, needs to be edited slightly.

6. Statement of purpose needs to be lengthened and polished.

Basically everything is started and nothing is completed.

Additionally, I met a Fordham 0L on the dice table in Vegas. She seemed nice and will be starting this fall. I have noticed that my ears perk up at mention of the words "law school," "LSAT," or any similar or related words. I can't decide if this is normal or not.

Thoughts?

On a more humorous note, did you know Las Vegas is second in the number of call girls employed on a given night. The only city that beats is: an unsuprising Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Flight Write

So I just got back from Las Vegas this morning (good times, won about a NW application fee's worth on the craps table) and I must say, I got some things done. In addition to starting my preliminary prep for fantasy football this fall, I also made a good amount of headway on my law school writings. I completed a first draft of a diversity statement (that most likly needs to be shortened), a why Penn essay, and a drop in to add to my LOR statement of purpose to help turn it into a law school statement of purpose. All in all, I made up some ground.

I have two days (today and tomorrow) at home, and then a week in Texas. Hopefully I can NOT think about law school for the next couple of days, then hammer out a why Michigan essay, hopefully hopefully hopefully a personal statement, and tune up my statement of purose into a two page masterpiece. This is what we call "wishful thinking," but to quote the crappy love song, "I'm the king of wishful thinking."

I'll keep you updated. Hopefully I'll slip in two more posts before I leave.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Bonus Reading

Since I'm going to be in Vegas this weekend, which means a drop in posting for a few days, so to hold you over here is an article I found hilarious.

Caution: It deals with sex and politics... if you don't like these things don't read it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11979370/

Pretend Applications

So I got this brilliant idea to print off all of the 2005-2006 applications to schools I plan to apply to. I spend last night and some time today answering the applications. I now have what I consider to be a solid understanding of the questions I will be asked on each application and am ready. I also learned that I need the following additional documents:

1. A list of awards, scholarships, etc.
2. A list of community service.
3. A ranking of activities in order of importance so that I can prioritize on applications that say "don't attach."
4. Lots of short, stock "why X" answers.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Things that don't count

Using law school numbers has some definate advantages. For one, I get to see what people feel are important enough activities to list. Some people, in a hurry will not list anything when they do in fact have activities or will speak very generally, but I would think you never have somebody that puts down MORE than they intend to put on their application (mainly because it takes time to put information on LSN).

Given what I said above, I have noticed several activities that should NOT be included in law school applications and am always tempted to messege people and tell them that. Here is my list of the top 10 things that you should not include as activities, awards, accomplishments, or jobs in your law school application. Obviously this list could get very goofy, so I have included only things that I have ACTUALLY SEEN listed on LSN. I have ranked these based on how strongly I feel you should not list these activities.

10. Your vacations: If you studied abroad, took a trip to help make someplace better, or spent a summer backpacking in Europe and learned a lot about yourself, feel free to list these or even write a personal statement about them. If you went somewhere for the purpose of having a good time, leave it out. The worst offender I saw on LSN had a section entitled: International Vacations: and listed, among others, Amsterdam and Cancun. Congrats dude, I'm sure you had a gnarley spring break, but leave it off your application.

9. "Senior notables": I'm not going to say much here. Lets just say nobody cares that you were voted most likly to be a lawyer or something similar. For one, the people voting have no idea what it takes to be a lawyer and are probebally voting because you either argue a lot or talk about going to law school a ton. Also, nobody cares. Talk about the characteristics that would make you a good lawyer in your PS if you want, but dont write down this award.

8. Your sexual orientation: If an application asks for this, list it or dont, I dont care. If you feel the need, write about it in your diversity statement, but it isn't some "amazing soft factor." You might want it to be, but it isn't the same as being a URM. Actually Gay men are actually ORM in law school. If you were the target of an attack or want to work for gay rights, feel free to write your PS, Diversity, or even "why law school" essays about this, but dont just throw it down on a list between "Phi Beta Kappa" and "Student Government." It may be important to who you are, but it isn't important to your application so why list it on LSN.

7. GMAT scores: These crack me up. Seriously, I find this funny as hell. Congrats on the GMAT dude, you are smarter than 99 % of business majors. Unfortunately, your skills are either better suited towards the study of business or you are another example of how the test taking pool for the LSAT is more competitive because you didn't do nearly as well on the LSAT. The law school isn't goign to overlook your LSAT because of another, unrelated test. If you GMAT is so awsome, why aren't you applying to B-School?

6. Greek Week champion or winner of any "Mrs/Ms Sorority/Fraternity" contest, talent show, or similar award: I realize that these differ from school to school, but at my university, somebody once drove around on a tricicle and hit himself in the head with a whiffelball bat for his talent during one of these contests. Drunk singing and dancing are often a centerpiece of these types of contests and the Mr/Mrs contests typically have some element of "fundraising" (either in an auction, selling tickets, or some other way to generate revenue) component to them. These are all hallmarks of stupid things to put on your resume. Again, you might have been super thrilled to win X contest where fraternity men get sorority women to raise money for them, but this shouldn't make it onto your resume. Inlcude it in recruitment, feel proud, make a t-shirt, I dont care, but DONT list it on your law school application. Nobody cares. Even if greek week is the central contest at your university, nobody cares that you joined the sorority that won. If you were greek week chairperson then a quick: "Served as greekweek chair for 2 semesters, organized and planned x,y, and z events and finished first in A among 35 chapters" sounds good as long as A is something relating to charity. The key here: Ask what messege it sends about you. You look good in drag? Contrats. You sing well? Mention it in your personal statement if its that important to you.

5. Your high school activities and awards: Congrats. Seriously. I'm glad you loved high school. I did too. I'm glad you were successful in high school. Most people applying to high school were. When you include high school honors you send three negative messeges. First, it makes it seem as if you are stuck on what you accomplished in high school. What you did in college should be WAY more impressive than what you did in high school, you have more opportunities. Additionally, nobody cares. It was easy to succeed in high school. I hope you turned those accomplishments into a nice college acceptance or five, because that was the last time they ever mattered when applying for things. Finally, this sends the exact wrong messege. It says "i'm closer to high school than the working world" which is precisely what you DONT want to do.

4. A list of school activities you went to: Great, you went to every concert, football game, lecture series, roundtable, and personal development program that your university offered. Congrats, you are super college guy. Attending events doesn't mean you took anything out of them, developed any skills, or positively contributed in any way. If some event changed your life, write about it in your personal statement, I am sure it will be very unique, but other than that LEAVE IT THE HECK OUT OF YOUR APPLICATION. Nobody cares. Now if you PLANNED these events, thats a different story.

3. Intramural Sports you just played: I'm glad you were active in college. Playing intramurals is a great time, but it isn't something that matters to law schools. It doesn't really matter at all, thats the point. If you won something, I still wouldn't list it, but that is up to you. DONT list ever sport you ever played intramural. It makes you seem like a meathead and it sends the messege that all you care about is intramurals. Your application is better off blank that with a list of intramurals you played.

2. Fraternity Sweetheart, Sorority Dream-Man/Boyfriend of the Year: Ok, look I am sure you were proud when you won this award. You might have even been sung too, given gifts, or even free meals, but if this makes it onto your law school resume, you should kill yourself. Seriously, at one point I thought this would be pretty funny to put on, then I thought about it. This is a popularity contest, a vote for who is cute, or an award for dating somebody very seriously. Think of how silly you will feel filling in the "please describe the criteria for this award" section of an application that asks for it. "I was selected over the other 30 girlfriends of boys in Kappa Epsilon Gamma for being super cute, really nice, well dressed, and being the life of their Heaven and Hell party..." Yup, real impressive, definately makes you sound mature. How exactly does this demonstrate your ability to succeed in law school? How does it show characteristics that a law school would want in a student? It doesn't. Get over it. You may have been thrilled when your boyfriends fraternity said you were their favorite girl on campus, but it should not have been the greatest achievement of your life. If it was... kill yourself, your life is sad.

1. Sorority pledge mom: I would include fraternity pledge dad, but I haven't seen this one. Apparently only women think this is important enough to list. This is very similar to numbers 2 and 6. There are several reasons why this is silly but let me name a few. Now, I love my chapter and I think Greek life is awsome, but in the grand scheme of positions available, being a pledge mom is NOT near the top. In many chapters girls HAVE to be pledge moms. Not impressive. Additionally, when you say "pledge mom" the first thing that I think of is "official drink buyer." Sure you may do some things that matter, you might be great at it, but really, it makes you sound childish and silly. Being a pledge mom is "being a friend." Whats next, listing "I was a close friend to X,Y, and Z younger girls in my soroity Phi Alpha Tau, and I loved it and them soo much, yea PA-Tau......" as a personal statement? I'm not hating on greeks. I am a greek. I love greeks. I hope the woman I marry is a greek, but seriously, this is too much.

Monday, July 17, 2006

An Open Letter to Sports Law and Sports Management Students

Get ready to work for the PGA, NCAA, or a college's compliance office. You will not be an agent. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but seriously, letting people say "I'm going to be a Major League Baseball Agent" and acting like this will happen is the law school equivelent of letting a college student go "I'm going to be president."

Unless you have a relative that owns or is a high ranking member of an agency or a relative/close family friend that is a pro athlete, you have no chance. Get over it now. Its not going to happen. Call me negative if you want, but seriously, I'm right, we will meet again in 10 years, I'll buy you a drink and you call tell me about the anti trust issues related to the NCAA's latest regulation of players lives and schools mascots.

File this goal right next to win to lotto and move on.

End Rant.

Wasted Time and Mail Call

Well today was a waste. I spend an extra evening in Peoria with the intention of presenting my final letter or recommendation packet to a letter writer in person however she was not in her office today. After 3 hours of waiting I finally gave up, left the packet with her secretary, and went home. The fustrating part is that I could have done all of this on Friday and left Sunday afternoon. Hopefully things will go well and she will be not only willing to write a letter, but will have time to complete it before classes start. She leaves again at the end of this week. I hope she stops in the office before then.

Additionally, I got some mail today! The University of Virginia and the University of Michigan viewbooks and applications arrived while I was gone. I read through the Michigan book already and will be doing a dry run at the application later. I plan to start the U Va book as well.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Clerkships

So yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine that is heading so Seton Hall in the fall (and hoping to transfer up) and the topic quickly turned to the idea of clerkships. He seems very set on trying to clerk for at least a year after his legal education. I have also considered clerking, if I could land a good clerkship (federal appeals or state supreme) but am definately not set on doing this.

In our discussion we both agreed that a year clerking beats a year of 80 hour weeks in terms of quality of life, but we didn't know how it translated to the job market. Do students that clerk have the ability to slide easily into big law? Do students that clerk mainly end up working at DoJ or a similar government agency? Is a student that clerked more desirable than a student coming straight from undergrad? Less desirable?

These are questions that I will have to find the answers to while in law school. Hopefully my friend will figure them out first and then pass the answers along.

I don't think I will consider strength in placing students in clerkships in my decision, I figure if I attend a strong school and do ok, I should be able to find something in whatever field I decide to become involved in.

The current plan is for tomorrow's post to include the more trim list of schools that I am applying to.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Three Down

So after a stressful day of driving (more like speeding and sitting at a standstill) I got to school ten minutes late for my meeting with the professor I was going to ask (read: beg) for a second academic Letter of Recommendation. I had called to see about pushing back the meeting but he could not. Thankfully I arrived in his office just as he was leaving and although we didn't have time to meet and talk about the letter, I was able to hand him the packet of information and he agreed to write it.

Along with this, I gave my information packet to two other instructors that had already agreed to write letters which means that of the four packets have I have get to the writers, three of them are taken care of. My final packet is for the primary academic writer who is expected back Monday. Unfortunately, nobody seems to know when on Monday she will be in, so I am going to hang out around the business building until I get an opportunity to speak with her. Hopefully she gets back at a reasonable time, either way I am giving up another day of work.

Other than that, no new ground on my personal statement. I have also altered my list of schools (read: shortened, hopefully this doesn't bite me in the ass) to better reflect schools I would be happy to attend.

Its Greek Weekend so posting will be erratic at best.

Friday, July 14, 2006

A reminder

That rankings aren't everything:

http://www.cooley.edu/rankings/NYTstory.htm

One this this article fails to mention in the importance of "reputation" scores in ranking applicants. I point this out because these have a high correlation to US News rankings and are directly related to the market for jobs after graduation.

Once again people, stop complaining about the rankings. The system is what it is: Students care too much about 1 publication, Deans' jobs are based on getting good students, Deans must care about rankings. Blame the students, not the publication or the Deans. On a related note, if you want to fix the system the answer isn't in the methodology its in the idea of a "ranking." List schools in terms of the natural cutoffs (two three, next three, another chunk, the rest of the top 14, the semi nationals, the rest of the T25, etc.

Yes I realized I said scrap the rankings in favor of something largely related to rankings, but it makes sense if you think about the effect droping numbers and sticking to ranks would have. Nobody refers to divisions of T3 schools, they are just "T3."

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Baby Steps

So last night I had an idea for what I thought would make an awsome personal statement: A story about a project I completed at work and the difficulties of convincing employees to change in their ways.

Today I began to write it, and as of now I have three pages of personal statement do cut down. The problem is.... I don't really like it. I don't mean, I don't think its perfect and it needs to be tweaked, I mean I don't think it is a very good personal statement.

I am going to continue working on this statemet to trim it down to two pages, but I really don't want this to be the statement I turn in. Mabye my trips will afford me an opportunity to get something better on paper and completed. Only time will tell, but until then, at least I finally have SOMETHING.

Baby steps.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

A hurdle jumped?

So today I got some more things done in the sage that is law school admissions.

As I mentioned before, I have been searching for another academic to write another letter. I had set up a meeting to ask (read: beg) a professor to write me a letter and today I finalized the packet that will be passed out. Outside of correcting one typo on one professor's cover sheet, all I have to do is compile the binders.

This may not seem like a lot of progress from what I have reported earlier however I had an added document to create: a law school statement of purpose. I essentially had to boil down my intents (which I am not yet certain of) into a page that is stated in the affirmative. I completed this and may upload it later if I am so inclined. I was led to do this by three factors:
1. The Ivey guide says good writers will demand them
2. A LOR writer that will not be in town this weekend asked for one. I plan to drop off a packet for her and it makes sense to include everythign she asked for.
3. It seemed like if I am searching for another academic writer, I should make my file academic friendly.

I will be putting the packets together tonight. I hope that my writers all agree to write and that they all get the letters in fairly quickly (though I would understand if the academics do not since summer is the time for conferences).

Monday, July 10, 2006

LOR Update

So this is my least favorite part of Letter of Recommendation searching: finding professors that are willing to write, asking them to write, and then hoping for them to get the letter in on time.

I spent a lot of time this week trying to think about what professor I thought could write a successful letter and came up with two names. I contacted the one I felt was a better option and set up a meeting for Friday. I am hoping that he will be willing to write me a letter. If he is, I have dodged a major bullet. If he says no, its back to the drawing/begging board. I believe my second academic writer will finish the letter in a timely fashion, however this letter worries me. I am hoping that by contacting him over the summer I increase the liklyhood of success.

I will keep you posted.

But together the cover and topics sheet for my origional academic letter writer.

I also talked to my boss about writing targeted letters and he said that would not be a problem.

If this professor agrees I will have my letters taken care of and will be left with no choice but to work on my personal statement.

Wish me luck!

Saturday, July 08, 2006

This could help....

So today I was reading on a messege board that I post on very frequently and I saw an email from LSAC posted that says applications will be placed online at the very beginning of August. This is VERY good news for a variety of reasons. First, this means that I can have my applications complete/close to complete before I head off to Bradley and thus I will not be given the opportunity to "put off" completing my applications. This way, (assuming I complete my personal statement while in Texas) the only things I really have to wait for are my letters of recommendation to be submitted to LSAC and for September 15 (the latest date I have seen that schools start accepting applicants and thus the day I plan to send my applications off in mass) to come. This lull combined with the OCD I will be experiencing this close to application time will hopefully convince me to fine tune my essay (along with any why X essays) and I should be set for the application cycle.

So far I for sure need the following statemetns:
1. A generic personal statement
2. A diversity statement
3. A "statement of purpose" (this may overlap with 1)
4. Why Michigan
5. Why Penn
6. A Yale 250*

*Not certain about Yale at this point. The odds of application are so slim that it seems it might be worth me holding onto my $. That said, it is Yale we are talking about and I probebally should apply. My Yale 250 will probebally be a shortened version of my normal personal statement.

Friday, July 07, 2006

"She" might be in Baltimore, but we are in Chicago

Tonight I'm going to the White v. Red Sox game. Before I begin my normal post let me say that I hope keep up the small winning streak we built the last three days against Baltimore and take this first one from the Bo Sox and the filthy rookie they are throwing tonight.

As for my real post, today I did some productive Law School stuff. Specifically, I have been working on getting things ready for my LOR writers so I can (hopefully) drop off the materials at school on Friday.

Thus far I have put together a list of schools that I will be applying to, I have submitted a semi-final version of my resume for review and I have put together writer specific cover sheets and suggestions for LOR writers 3 and 4 (see my previous post for more info on who these are). I need to get one together for writer 1, but I also do not know if I will see her so it may be a mute point.

Here are the seven things I am including in the packets for my recomendation:
1. A resume
2. A list of the schools I will be applying to
3. A cover letter with directions about how to submit the letter
4. A list of some suggestions for things they can write about if they get stuck (to keep them from sumarizing my resume).
5. A sheet summarizing the tips for LOR's I have gleamed from Ivey's book and other sources.
6. The LSAC cover sheet
7. A pre addressed, postage paid envelop

Hopefully my LOR's will turn out ok and will give my application a little boost.

I am still working on an additional academic writer, but I haven't made any headway.

Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation are my most recent hurdle to overcome (the enxt will be a personal statement, which I have been dreading since I thought about it and have been putting off until my vacations in a few weeks).

Based on an analysis of the people near me I have the following options/planned recommenders:

1. My Economics advisor, had me in class as a sophomore in a 300 level econ class, I earned a very high A (I believe the highest grade in the class) I participated a lot, we have spoken numerous times and seem to get along. I believe that she respects me as a student. She has talked to me about pursuing a PhD in economics and has already said she would write a letter.

2. I already have a general letter submitted to LSAC from an administrator that has written me letters of recommendation for school awards and fraternity awards before. I have had her in class for an honors seminar (Grade: A) but this class wasn't academically challenging. She also sat on a board that I was a part of. I have seen the letter (I waived my right, she showed it to me anyway) and it is solid.

3. The Director of an area of student affairs that I have been really involved in. He cotaught 6 hours of classes that I took and is the sole teacher for another 4-6 hours that I am taking this semester. These classes are not super academic however I believe that he will testify to my academic promise and skills. He also has a good understanding of things I do on campus and me as a person. He ran the camp that I worked at this summer as well. He has said he would write me a letter.

4. Another administrator is the advisor for my largest EC's. I speak with her very often and she has a good understanding of my personality and my life. Like recommender #3 she understands who I am. I have not had her as an instructor however I believe she can probebally testify to my non-academic qualifications (mediation, ability to understand problems and seek solutions, leadership skills, etc.) and is the most likly to "show not tell" meaning that she has the most specific examples to draw from. I think she can probebally testify to some of my academic abilities just from our conversations and interactions as well. She is a good writer and has said she would not mind writing me a letter.

5. My current boss at the insurance company said he would write as many letters as it takes to help me out. He sought me out and I honestly believe that he would write the best letter possible that a boss can write for somebody doing non-legal work. He can talk about how I interact with clients, funtion in an office, my research skills, dedication, problem solving skills, etc. I am confident he will write a good letter.

Review: I have a solid stable of people to pull from for letters of recommendation but I need to develop a more solid plan. 2,3, and 4 all know me the best out of any possible writers however they are all in a similar general field. I plan to use these letters in combination depending on the school and the theme of my application package for a given institution. If 3 writes a letter that is half-academic half extra curricular I would be in good shape.

I also lack a second pure academic recommendation. Online advice seems to be that if you are coming from undergrad you should have academic letters. I am hoping that the fact that these people legitimately know me (more than a professor I had for a class and got a good grade from) will make up for this defect. Despite this, I do plan on looking for another academic LOR writer to boost the application. I think that with this list I can put together a solid 3-4 letters per school and can mix and match to meet what I am trying to show to each school. I will also have an additional targeted letter for Northwestern from another administrator.

Considering that you are only allowed 4 general letters, the current plan is this:

#1 is clearly going to every school as a general letter

#2 will has already been submitted as a general letter

#3 is going to be a general letter hoping to mix academic and EC's.

#4 Will be a "targeted" letter that is actually several copies of a general letter. I will be targeting this letter towards all schools that mention leadership in what they are looking for (lots) as well as schools that act for a demonstration of values/ethics (only a few, but two schools I am super interested in), this should have been a general letter but necessity made #2 a general and it will be easier to get multiple copies from #4. This is the most complicated one because it will be sent to a majority of schools but will be targeted individually.

#5 Will be targeted to schools that care about work experience. 5 will not be going to schools that only take three letters (except for mabye Northwestern) and is more likly to be used as a waitlist letter.

I will save my fourth general letter for an academic recommender if I can find one. The others will be getting information by the end of the month.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Hiring Depth

So as I have started to rank schools in my head and come to terms with my preferences I have been constantly asking myself the same question: how deep into the class at this school will firms hire, what areas can I get a good job, what doors will be closed because of this?

I am consistently finding myself unsure. Is there a big difference between how deep into U of I's class a firm will go and how deep into Cornell's class a Chicago firm will go? Does it pay to spend the extra money? Would Vandy place well in Chicago if I chose to go that route instead of staying in the South like many Vandy grads?

I have plenty of time and of course I will get a large number of rejections which will help narrow the list of schools I need to choose from, but I honestly believe in addition to quality of life factors how deep into classes good jobs hire and where I can work will remain the two top concerns as I decide between schools. Hopefully I will have lots of schools to decide between!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

The Dog Days of Summer

The way I see it there are 5 distinct phases to applying to law school:
1. Researching schools and laying out a list of possibilities that correspond to various LSAT scores that are withing your liklyhood.

2. Studying for and taking the LSAT as well as getting your score.

3. Preparing the various essays that are needed to apply for law school, selecting letter of recommendation writers, and putting together Letter of Recommendation writer packets.

4. Getting letters of recommendations written and submitted within the desired time frame.

5. Completing and sending out applications.

A furter look at this simplifies the process. Schools can be researched and selected as far in advance as one has a reasonable grasp of possible LSAT scores. For me, this was done LAST summer and finalized last winter (of course my LSAT score changed this but it was an easy/quick change because I had already done enough research to know my general opinions about schools).

Having others write letters isn't really a great stress on me, other than patrolling them, and if the essays go well and I do a good enough job of addressing all topics then putting together applications should be a matter of clicking the browse and then attach buttons.

That means that I have hit the last major stretch before the final push to apply. In other words, I am entering the middle and important part of my application process that will determine the success of my application overall. To burrow a baseball term, I have entered the dog days of applying to law school.

Over July I will have to:
1. Finalize who I will ask to write letters, for directed letters this includes where they will be writing letters to.
2. Put together packets for them
3. Inform/ask them to write the letters.
4. Write three general personal statements (something about me, diversity, and why law school) along with a variety of why X essays or at least why X segments.

Complicating this is that my application packet is BEGGING for an additional academic letter of recommendation and I don't know who to ask. More on selecting letters later this week.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Scaling Down the List

So after some thought (and I good online discussion) it has become clear that I need to reduce the number of schools I am applying to. Once I sat down and thought about it, this is probebally true. I have looked at my list, chosen some schools that I would be happy with as saftey (and that I thought had the possibility to offer decent scholarships/had reasonable tuition) and have come up with my new and improved 20 school list of schools to apply to.

Here is the new list:

Harvard
Notre Dame
Yale
Stanford
University of Chicago
Michigan
Pennsylvania
Northwestern
Berkeley (Boalt)
Duke
Virginia
NYU
Cornell
Columbia
Georgetown
Illinois
Washington University - St. Louis
Iowa
Vandy
Minnesota

If I get fee waivers from them, I will also apply to:
Indiana University - Bloomington (More on this later)
Loyola
George Washington

Re: Indiana University
So for those of you who have been pointing out that it called it "University of Indiana" and not "Indiana University" I appologize. Jeez, Hoosiers get pretty angry about their school considering they can never explain what a "Hoosier" is. Also, I am from the Big Ten, the where we refer to schools as "University of ____." (Northwestern fans, you guys are a private school in a public school league, hold your insults. Ohio State fans, you start the name of your school with the word "The" so you dont get to comment about ANYTHING.)

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Organizing

Today I did something I have not done in a long time, got organized.

I have listed every school I will be applying to and gone to their websites to try and find the following information:
1. Application Fee
2. If they require a dean's certification
3. Letters of recommendation (how many, generally feeling towards non academic LOR's).
4. What PS they accept, what addendum they allow/prefer.
5. Any other info about applying

I am about halfway through, I expect to finish tonight. Hopefully things will go well tonight!

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Schools

So I have pondered and pondered and thought and thought and here is what I have come up with for my list of schools that I will be applying to this Fall. If I get any good fee waivers I will probebally use those as well.

My final decision will be based on four factors:
1. Job prospects/pay possibilities
2. Cost/scholarships offered
3. Location
4. Availability/possibility of joint degree programs.

I will of course keep you updated through the entire process. Here is the list (I will order them in a later post, as of now these are in no particular order).

Harvard
Loyola Chicago
Notre Dame
Duke
Yale
Stanford
Cornell
Columbia
University of Chicago
New York University
Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
University of California-Berkeley
University of Michigan
Northwestern
Georgetown
Vanderbilt
University of Minnesota
University of Illinois
University of Iowa
University of Texas
George Washington
Washington University - St. Louis
University of Wisconsin
University of Indiana