Frat Boy Goes Legal

2007-07-08T01:43:00.001-05:00

Well in case you haven't noticed, this blog has run its course. The purpose of this blog was to detail my journey from frat boy to law student. That journey is now over.

I will be starting this fall as a Harvard Law School 1L.

I will once again restart my blogging experience at a new blog,
http://wentlegal.blogspot.com/

Good Luck everybody.

School Are Actually Deciding!

2007-01-28T13:20:00.000-06:00

More news!

Today I went to check my mail box and I received a letter of acceptance and additional materials from Columbia. I do not think I will be accepting, however each acceptance is a nice feeling!

The next step is to draft and send my first round of withdrawl letters. Currently I am planning on withdrawling from the following schools:

Indiana
Cornell
Boalt

I am also considering withdrawling from the following schools:

GULC
Columbia

I am waiting on scholarships from the following schools before I withdrawl (assuming the offer isn't enough to sway me)

Penn
Chicago
U Va
Michigan

I will keep everybody updated and of course I will post a copy of the letter I send as well!

Chicago

2007-01-25T21:08:00.000-06:00

Heard from the University of Chicago in an odd way.

I went to see a movie, and when I got out, I had a messege on my cell phone. I checked the messege and it was from EIGHT HOURS EARLIER and it was from the University of Chicago. I called during business hours the next day and asked her to cal me back. I walked away from my computer for three minutes and missed her call. I then called back and she notified me that I was accepted.

After this had occured, I went downstairs to check my mail. Sure enough, there was an envelope from the University of Chicago containing an acceptance letter. If I had read my mail first, I would have been able to save myself the trouble of playing phone tag with the admissions office.

Oh well, such is life.

I hear Chicago gives nice things during ASW so I fully plan on visiting.

Jimmys Makes Good Drinks

2007-01-20T02:42:00.000-06:00

The title has absolutely nothing to do with this post, it is just a statement of fact. That said, this week I received a letter of notification from U Va that I was accepted. The letter went on to tell me that they would be considering me for scholarship funds and notifying me once the scholarship committee makes a decision (they said I would be notified in March or April).

So that is some good news.

I hope to hear from Chicago this week!

So

2007-01-11T15:16:00.000-06:00

After returning to school I have some more news worth updating:

I was accepted to Indiana with a decent but not full ride scholarship. I was debating if I should just withdrawl now when.....

I was also accepted to UIUC with a full ride scholarship. I will let Indiana know when I get back to school. other than those two, nother earthshattering, mostly updates from schools I have already heard of.

Harvard's binder is TIGHT.

Also, UVa emailed me to tell me they sent my package, Im guessing its good newsbut who knows.

I will keep everybody updated.

XMAS Break

2006-12-28T16:40:00.000-06:00

Well, as admissions offices are on break just like everybody else, it appears as if there will not be any new news for a while.

So while admissions takes a break, let me review my current situation:

In With Money:
Duke (20K/Year)
Notre Dame (20K/Year)

In With No Money:
Harvard
Penn
Michigan
Georgetown
Boalt
Cornell

No Word:
Yale
Chicago
Northwestern
Stanford
Columbia
Virginia
UIUC
UIB
Washington University

We shall see what the new semester brings!

More News

2006-12-20T15:11:00.000-06:00

After I posted yesterday I received an Email from Notre Dame welcoming me into their 1L class. They said a formal notification was being mailed and that I should receive the information at my home address in a few days. This is very exciting news! Notre Dame wasn't at the top of my list, but if they offer big money, I could easily move them up quickly. We will see.

Have your Penn-cils and Score Cards Ready

2006-12-19T14:58:00.000-06:00

So today I received some good news from a school that is still on my short list, Penn.

At about 9 AM my cell phone rang from an area code I did not recognize. I didn't answer since I was still sleeping. When I woke up I proceeded to google the area code and discovered it was Pennsylvania. I think searched the whole number and it came up U Penn. At this point I was excited and decided to look on the messege boards to see if anybody had received an admissions call from Penn. There were no postings so I called back and they told me that I had been accepted to their class.

I was told that a formal acceptance letter was already mailed (so I guess that will be waiting when I get back to school) and that an email with more details would be sent later.

Hopefully the formal package includes some information about scholarships. We will see!

Stupid Parents

2006-12-14T16:58:00.000-06:00

In a post that has nothing to do with law school, the following article appeared on ESPN today:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2697379&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

Seriously parents, cut the cord, let your kid fight his own battles and be happy that you are winning. Would you rather go 3-10 and have your son's team throw the ball a ton? This is pathetic.

Update

2006-12-12T12:16:00.000-06:00

I finally received some new mail today. Over the last few days I have received the following new decisions from law schools:

Cornell Law School: A letter of acceptance and notification of the opportunity to apply for the 35K per year Dean's Scholarship by writting an additional 500 word essay. I wont attend Cornell, but I think I will write the essay anyway. The opportunity to have the choice to take a big scholarship at a great school is tempting.

Duke Law School: A notification that I have been awarked a 60K (20K per year) Dean's Scholarship. This was good to see, but after looking at the awards Duke gave out last year, I was honestly hoping for something a little bigger. I know how greedy this sounds. I am still glad to have the offer, but it definately is not enough to sway me to put Duke among my top choices.

There have also been some disappointments this week:

I have been hoping all along to have the option to attend Northwestern with a reasonable amount of scholarship money. Unfortunately, Northwestern has started to accept students and I have not been one of this. This is what happens when you don't schedule an interview with a school I guess. Even if I do get accepted later, I doubt I will be getting the significant money I was hoping for.

Similarly, Notre Dame has been admitting students and I have yet to hear a peep.

And of course, Stanford has started calling, again, no word from them.

I confess

2006-12-07T12:06:00.000-06:00

I haven't been very active lately. This is for two very legitimate reasons:

1. It is the end of the semester and I am trying to salvages grades in each of my classes so that the schools that were nice enough to accept me do not call back and say just kidding.

2. I haven't heard from any additional schools.

As many of you know, Columbia started sending out ED decisions this week, I have of course not received one since I am not ED. On the plus side, because of my HLS acceptance, I haven't stressed about this much yet. In addition, Stanford has started calling people for admissions this week. Again, my stress level is lower because of the HLS acceptance, however with stanford I want to get in as a matter of pride, but I don't think I will. Either way, I am content, I prefer the Northeast to the West Coast anyway.

I'll let you know if I hear anything!

Nada

2006-11-28T13:11:00.000-06:00

No new news, still celebrating the Harvard acceptance. I will be having some sort of "I'm really happy the weight of the world is off my shoulders because I got into my top choice" party within the next few weeks, details to follow.

Its About Time To Post

2006-11-25T12:47:00.001-06:00

Now that I have told most of the people that would be angry if they found out from my blog and not from me, I got some more good news earlier this week.

About two posts ago (Tuesday, the same day I got the Michigan letter) while I was at work I received a phone call from a certain East Coast Area code. I left work to go downstairs and check it out, and sure enough it was Mr. Toby Stock calling to let me know that I was admitted to Harvard Law School.

Thats right, after two year of trying to get into law school, I have the opportunity to study at HARVARD LAW SCHOOL.

Sorry for the caps, I am still very very excited.

When you tell people, there first question is always: So are you going to go?

My response thus far has been: Unless I get a gigantic scholarship from a top school that I also happen to fall in love with when I visit, I will be at Harvard next year.

Some people understand this logic, others simply state: You have to go to Harvard, its Harvard.

Anyway, as far as I am concerned the following schools could still convince me to attend:

Yale
Chicago
Penn
Michigan
Northwestern
Notre Dame **

Notre Dame gets two ** because they really couldn't convince me to attend, but my mom is pushing VERY hard for Notre Dame if I get money. In reality they are close to being out of the running, but I guess there is an outside chance it could happen, so I'll leave them up here.

The others are all possibilities IF I bet a large scholarship and love my visit. By large I am talking something close to the Darrow at Michigan, the Levy at Penn, that full tuition offer Northwestern has been making, and Big Money at Chicago (which I do not believe they give too often).

Yale I would attend if 1. some odd chance of fate had me get in, and 2. Financial aid made it cheaper to attend Yale.

Basically, I'm going to Harvard, even if I get into Yale.

Its About Time To Post

2006-11-25T12:47:00.000-06:00

Left Coast

2006-11-22T04:16:00.000-06:00

A quick read of my blog reveals that I completely left out an entire acceptance.

Monday morning I woke up, stretched, and looked at my phone, only to see that I had missed a call from about two minutes earlier. The number was unframiliar - a 510 area code. A quick google showed Oregon (odd) and California. When I added law school to the area code (out of curiosity) it turned up Boalt Hall. I then did a quick check of my favorite law school messege board and sure enough two people had reported acceptance calls from Boalt that day. By this time I had a messege on my cell phone. Rather than checking it, I called the Admissions Director back and spoke with him. He informed me that I had been accepted to Boalt Hall and to look for a follow up email.

So at this point, my law school application process has gone fairly well, I hope the rest of the cycles continues on like this!

Michigan

2006-11-21T12:48:00.000-06:00

So today I received my package from Michigan notifying me that I have been admitted to their Fall of 2007 law school class. This is exciting news and I am glad to have it since this decision comes from a school I consider a cut above the rest of the schools I have currently received acceptances from. Unfortunately, I did not receive a scholarship offer. Hopefully I will receive one later.

I am thrilled to be in at Michigan, and their marketing materials are top of the line. I can already tell that this could shape up to be a VERY difficult decision (unless Harvard comes through with an acceptance).

In addition, I have been freaking out today because Harvard started calling students last night to admitt them. I really really really want to be admitted to Harvard (not that everybody doesn't). Since I am a worry wart, I have been freaking out with every online post of a person being accepted. TOBY, PLEASE CALL ME!!!!

We will see, but waiting sucks.

Grapevine

2006-11-18T13:16:00.000-06:00

Oh the online Grapevine. I wake up this morning thinking I will have a weekend without having to think about law school things and I stop in to check LSN for the day (because its more addictive than crack) and I notice that somebody is claiming to have gone to "decision" today (Saturday). I I do a quick check of my status checker and sure enough, I have gone to decision. Now I am wondering what the decision is and when it was coming. So much for a weekend without law school thoughts.

The great thing about on-line messege boards featuring students applying to many of the same schools that I am is the ease with which we can share information. Had I need been posting on the boards, I definately would not have checked my status checker today. Moreover, had I not been actively reading the board I would not have been checking my status checker compulsively at all since I would not have known that decisions started going out this week. I love the fact that the board lets me know what to expect and takes out some of the randomness from the law school application process. I also like that it lets me know what is normal and what is unique. For example, the note on my acceptance letter from GULC would have seemed like a big thing to me, except I knew from people online that they do this for everybody.

Additionally, football has always provided me with a weekend releif from all things law school. I wake up and do some quick channel surfing and what is the first football game I find? Yale v. Harvard. No releif there, the only reason these two schools are on my radar are because they have excellent law schools. Great.

So much for a relaxing weekend.

Well.....

2006-11-16T12:27:00.000-06:00

Michigan started sending out decisions and I have yet to have my status change. Given the fact taht schools seem to send good news first, this doesn't seem like it is a good sign. Hopefully I'll see my status change to "decision" sometime soon and hopefully the decision will be good news.

Other than that, nothing new. Harvard still hasn't started sending out decisions and nobody else's decisions seem to be getting much talk on the messege boards I read.

Also, it seems like Harvard is making a lot of calls, I hope a Harvard call is still a really good sign. We will see!

No News and Predicting the Future

2006-11-14T12:58:00.000-06:00

Today is Monday and I have nothing new to report in the law school application process. At this point the only thing I am doing that relates to law school is my homework to make sure I graduate. I had a PLS exam due today which I completed late last night. I may or may not start an essay in the same class for which rough drafts are due Thursday, and of course I have meetings for things I regret being involved in.

Recently I have been trying to predict what schools will send out the next round of acceptances (which I hope to receive). As of now, I am guessing the next set of schools to send out acceptances will be:

Michigan
Stanford
Harvard
Washington University

I would love to get accentances to each of those schools, but I would be falling down thrilled if I was accepted to any three of them. I am hoping that letters from these schools come out next week, but who knows, history isn't always an accurate predictor. Lets hope for the best!

GULC

2006-11-10T19:36:00.000-06:00

Today I checked my mail to find a very small, plain envelop from Georgetown University Law Center. I had heard from Law School Discussion that they are sending out acceptances so I was excited, though worried about the size of the envelope. I opened the letter and was fortunate enough that it was an acceptance. The letter also invited me to one of their admitted student receptions in, among other places, Chicago. I intend to go if I receive a scholarship offer from them.

In addition, the letter had a hand written note complimenting me on my grades and extracurriculars. Nice touch, even though they do this for everybody!

Call

2006-11-08T17:27:00.000-06:00

Today I received the Harvard admissions phone call. The call was very short, less than five minutes in length. In this time I was asked to explain what I do with my time and to elaborate on several of the activities that I am involved in. Toby also clarified some information from my resume and asked me to elaborate on what I do at my job. Overall the call was quick and easy though I do not feel all that confident and I feel as if I may have weakened, not strengthened my application as a whole.

At the end of the call Toby asked me to clarify which area I was interested and gave me the opportunity to ask him questions about Harvard. I asked about the new program and was very excited about his answer.

I will update you as things progress in the law school appliation process.

Still no word from Georgetown :(

Waiting and Working

2006-11-07T12:18:00.000-06:00

I had hoped that by now I could post that I received the admissions phone interview from Harvard law school and that it went very well. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I have yet to received "the call" from Toby Stock and since I listed work today as a bad time to call, I will apparently have to wait untill AT LEAST tomorrow and probebally longer to hear from Mr. Stock.

I hope things go well. I have talked to others that received the call and they have all said that it basically consists of going over your resume and better explaining the things that you have done. I hope this call goes well, I really want to attend Harvard (my and half of the world).

Additionally, I have a project due Friday on US policy towards weapons of mass destruction. I am currently researching the hippie peacenick solution on no weapons for anybody for me group...... ya, good luck.

Reason to Clerk

2006-11-04T15:56:00.000-06:00

On a forum I post on, the following case's language and footnote was posted:

United States v. Murphy, 406 F.3d 857 (7th Cir.2005)

The test of this decision that is most entertaining reads:

On the evening of May 29, 2003, Hayden was smoking crack with three other folks at a trailer park home on Chain of Rocks Road in Granite City, Illinois. Murphy, Sr., who had sold drugs to Hayden several years earlier, showed up later that night. He was friendly at first, but he soon called Hayden a “snitch female dog hoe” FN1 and hit her in the head with the back of his hand. He said he saw her name in discovery materials from his son's criminal case and that she was responsible for putting him in jail. He put a gun-a small chrome-plated one-to her head and said he was going to kill her for putting his son in jail. He said this would be her last night and her body would be found in a ditch. Murphy then placed several calls, telling Hayden he was calling his people to get someone to dispose of her car.

FN1. The trial transcript quotes Ms. Hayden as saying Murphy called her a snitch female dog “hoe.” A “hoe,” of course, is a tool used for weeding and gardening. We think the court reporter, unfamiliar with rap music (perhaps thankfully so), misunderstood Hayden's response. We have taken the liberty of changing “hoe” to “ho,” a staple of rap music vernacular as, for example, when Ludacris raps “You doin' ho activities with ho tendencies."

In other words, considerable time was spent discussing the meaning of "ho" and Ludacris is cited as a source or the common usage of a word. Hi-lar-i-ous.

Sadly, this is not the most humorous pop culture reference by a judge in an opinion. In response to a motion that a judge clearly thought lacked any merit, the judge proceeded to borrow a rant form one of my childhood movie favorites by stating:

Or, in the words of the competition judge to Adam Sandler’s title character in the movie, “Billy Madison,” after Billy Madison had responded to a question with an answer that sounded superficially reasonable but lacked any substance,

“Mr. Madison, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I’ve ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response was there anything that could even be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

Deciphering motions like the one presented here wastes valuable chamber staff time, and invites this sort of footnote.

(Judge Leif Clark, Bankruptcy Court for Western Texas)

Some Updates

2006-11-03T22:35:00.000-06:00

So I got home and read the details of the Duke acceptance letter. Pretty standard fare, congrats, we look forward to seeing you, here is the way to log onto our accepted students community, so on and so forth. They also sent another viewbook (number 4 for those counting at home) and another book that seems to be a peroidical.

No scholarship info/offer though. I hope to hear from them about this at some point.

Additionally, this evening I received an email from Toby Stock, the admissions director at Harvard saying that he would like to speak with me next week. I don't think this would be a sign of automatic rejection so I am VERY excited!

I can go to law school!

2006-10-30T20:12:00.000-06:00

So I'm at West Point and will add more details later, but today I got an IM saying that my mail came and I was accepted at Duke Law School. Go priority track! I will post more details when I get back and receive them!

Automated frustration

2006-10-27T16:55:00.000-05:00

Early this morning I received an email from Duke saying that they mailed my decision. After reading the letter more carefully, I noticed something odd. The email was sent at 2:23 AM. This means that either their automated mailing system was very slow and they sent it on Thursday (this is my hope), their Director of Admissions was working very late into the evening on Friday (EST is an hour ahead of me), or they sent an automated email before they sent the letter and it came VERY early. I doubt 2 is a realistic option, which leaves 1 or 3. I'm hoping for 1 which would mean one less day to wait, but the point is, if you are going to have an automated system, set it to send emails at realistic times!

Update

2006-10-25T18:31:00.000-05:00

After a day spent calling around, I have confirmed that I am complete at all but the following schools:

Yale (hasn't even ordered my report)
Harvard
Northwestern (received but not complete)

And I believe I am complete at but cannot confirm:

Wash U-STL

I was hoping to get an email from Duke today saying the letter is in the mail, but that didn't happen so it looks like I will need to work something out to find out how I did (assuming they mail within the time they said they would). Wish me luck on that. I hope my C&F problem didn't sink me there.

I'll update again when I have a decision! I wont be posting much this weekend since I am going to be getting things in shape for my trip to West Point. Look to see an update around the end of next week, hopefully then I will have at least one (and hopefully two) decisions..... (and HOPEFULLY they will both be good news).

Well

2006-10-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

Funeral is over and I'm back to obsessing about law school application things. Everything is done and all I can do is wait. my hatred of waiting is leading me to consider applying to other schools.

I leave for an ethics camp at West Point this weekend which is about when I am thinking/hoping for the Duke notification to come. I am so OCD I am going to arrange for somebody to check the letter for me.

I hate waiting.

Also, Sept. LSAT scores just came out and it is fun to watch somebody else obsess over scores for a change. Even more gratifying is watching the entire process that I was recently a part of (the heres my score, here is my list, how should I change it process) from the outside looking in.

A Decision to Anticipate

2006-10-20T23:01:00.000-05:00

Today I received notification from Duke Law School that my file was complete. This means that I should be hearing from them within 10 business days (thanks to the priority track). Assuming this starts next Monday, they should have their decision by two weeks from today. Add two days to mail it and I should know around the end of the first week of November. Because I took forever this isn't much sooner than when Georgetown sends their first round of acceptances, but such is life. Hopefully I will have some good news within the next few weeks. I will keep you all updated.

Waiting is Hard

2006-10-17T13:03:00.000-05:00

When I started this process two years ago I had no idea what a large portion of my life would be spent learning about, preparing for, and applying to law school. Now, as I sit with my applications submitted, I realize just how much time I spent going through this process.

Though I am thankful to be done, waiting is almost as hard as doing. I have put a lot of time and effort into my application cycle and now I have nothing to do but hope for the best. I find myself checking my email 4-5 times a day in hopes of receiving a notification that my application is complete. I find myself angry that my Duke priority track application is taking so long. I find myself checking the Georgetown status checker every few hours in hopes that mabye this year they will send out decisions earlier than ever before. Mostly, I just wait and read online.

Ethics

2006-10-13T10:44:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted about this yet, but last week I was invited to participate in a conference on ethics at West Point Military Academy at the end of the month. Though I am extremely nervous about being in a world that is NOTHING like the world I am used to, I am also very excited. I will be attending with one other Bradley student and the University will be footing the cost of attendance.

Though I am uncertain what we will be discussing, I have spoken to people that attended last year and it sounds like they both had a wonderful experience. I cannot imagine anything better for somebody about to enter into a profession that presents as many ethical issues as the law than by attending conference put on by the military academy.

As a side note, at work there have been rumors of me assisting the associates in some legal research which would be an exciting opportunity.

I Love You More, Than I Did The Week Before

2006-10-10T21:39:00.000-05:00

So I don't really "love" any law school, but I wanted to rip of the song lyric for the title of this post.

As many of you know, since the beginning of the application process Harvard has been my distant first choice school. I know it is a reach, but I a guy can hope. A few days ago the following article appeared all over the internet:

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514774

What does this mean for me? It means a school I was already very interested in just got better. A class that I would want to take anyway (Regulation and Legislation) just became required of all 1L students.

This is a great change and a nice symbolic nod to the fact that the major issues in law have changed from 100 years ago. In addition, I can only imagine these changes will help first year students land summer employment.

I hope too many students don't get excited about this and attend as a result, I need all the help I can get!

One Left

2006-10-09T15:43:00.000-05:00

I sent off my Yale application today which means I have one application left:

Stanford.

For Yale I used a modification of my diversity statement as the 250 and then sent my normal personal statement. Was this the best plan? I doubt it, but at this point it was tough to get motivated to completely rewrite another statement for a school that I have no chance at getting into.

I will be adding to my diversity statement and sending it to stanford shortly.

Also, BIG PROBLEM:

In reworking my diversity statement I noticed a typo in the conclusion. After looking at the apps I sent, it turns out this typo was in EVERY APPLICATION I SENT WITH A DIVERSITY STATEMENT.

Hopefully since its at the end of an optional essay it won't hurt me too bad.

Lets hope.

Home

2006-10-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

I am home for four days. I hope to take advantage of my free time to finish my Stanford and Yale essays. If I don't, I will regret it and my apps may not get sent out till December.

I am beginning to see why they tell people to take a year or two off in between Law School and Undergrad. Being an active undergraduate with a personal life and applying to law school are almost mutually exclusive goals.

And Then There Were Two

2006-10-05T15:12:00.000-05:00

With the majority of my applications out, I am starting to feel like the time intensive part of this process is coming to a close. At this point all that is left for me to do is to finish my Stanford and Yale applications and mail them off. After these applications are complete and mailed it will be a long Fall and Winter of waiting.

Judging my how nervous I was waiting for the LSAT, I can only imagine how my stomach will turn waiting for my applications to be decided on. I hope the first decision comes quickly and is positive because this will help me relax for the rest of the cycle.

App update

2006-10-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

Nothing really new in law school world other than I am still cranking out applications.

Since my last post I have applied to:

Cornell
Notre Dame
Penn
Columbia

That leaves only four schools that I am 100% applying to:

Stanford
Yale
Duke
Berkely/Boalt

Once again, I have dropped NYU because it doesn't seem worth the money to apply (and they haven't offered a fee waiver) to a school that I really doubt I would go to even if I was accepted. If the cycle gets rough I will apply, but until then, no thanks.

Application update

2006-09-30T13:26:00.000-05:00

After writing my why Michigan essay I now only have one more origional essay to compose (the Duke essay) and perhaps one to rework (Yale 250 will be a version of my diversity statement). Hopefully things will go well. I can't wait to finish my Duke essay and then take advantage of the priority track thing.

Sunday night will be an application fest, and hopefully by the end of the week I will have all of my applications out.

Wish me luck!

Dog Bite

2006-09-28T17:04:00.000-05:00

Ok, so before I update my law school application process, I ran across a website that I feel obligated to share:

http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/meet_kmp.htm

Now clearly this man is very good at what he does and I know that we live in the age of specialization, but come on, bodily injury was too hard, he has to focus on just dog bite law? This is so overspecialized, its almost comical. After reading about this guy I have decided that I am going to specialize in insurance law and only take on cases involving a tree falling into a neighbor's yard but not damaging any property.

Come on people, this is silly.

Additionally, the current list of submitted applications looks like this:

Washington University (sent, though they haven't received it)
Indiana
Illinois
University of Chicago
Harvard (send only after some serious prodding)
Georgetown

After my why Michigan essay gets proofread I will be sending that out as well.

I still need to work on the Duke essay and Sunday will mark the beginning of the second waive of applications.

Update

2006-09-25T23:51:00.000-05:00

More exciting law school developments today. Today I picked up both a waiver that excited me and sent some big name appliations.

The waiver was from Penn, a school that I am extremely excited about applying to.

After receiving the letter of recommendation that I was waiting for, I also started sending applications to some big name schools. These applications include:

Harvard (this was a big deal)
Chicago
Virginia
Hopefully Georgetown (I am waiting for the documents to convert)

If I ever get the Duke and Michigan essays done I will send those as well. Hopefully things will go well.

Character an Fitness

2006-09-24T15:55:00.000-05:00

My character and fitness letter is done. This hasn't mattered because until Friday I was still waiting on a letter of recommendation, but now that the letter is written, I felt it necessarily to complete my character and fitness letter.

Just so everybody knows, here is what happened:

When I was 14 I was shooting paintballs in my backyard with a friend. My backyard is wooded in the back and the property line ends with a four foot high stack of firewood from when our oak tree fell down. We were shooting near this woodline and a paintball that I shot (that missed horribly) struck a person mowing the grass behind our house. The paintball was red and they thought they were shot. They called the police and an ambulence. Later that afternoon the Sheriff called and said I needed to come to the Sheriff's office. I did and was arrested and charged with battery. After we explained what happened, I was asked to write a letter to the victim appologizing and explaining what happend. I was given a "station adjustment" which I was told would dismiss the case as long as I was not convicted of another crime before my 18th birthday. When I called to clarify I was told I had no convictions. I still need to declare this event for schools that asked about being "charged" with crimes.

Interesting Concept

2006-09-21T17:10:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day to be a law school candidate with good numbers. Today was the Christmas for fee waivers. After checking the LSAC website and finding out that I got the "hidden" Columbia fee waiver, I was notified that I also received a fee waiver at Northwestern and Duke. Better yet, Duke said that if I fax in a form they will decide on my application (non binding) within ten days of when it is received. This might be the coolest deal ever. I will definately be applying at Duke!

It is going to stay short today, mostly because I woke up at 6:45 and am VERY tired.

Committee Committee Committee

2006-09-14T12:19:00.000-05:00

My resume is littered with lots of random involvement that I am not sure will help me get into law school anywhere. As far as undergraduates go.... I'm ok, not great, but not bad. What I am really uncertain about is how I should lay out my information. I have served on several Bradley University committees in the last year and a half and I am unsure if I should put these on my resume, or use the space to better explain some of the things I have done.

The problem is, given the amount of time I put into these various committees I feel like I should at least make it known that I was involved in them. On the other hand, I could be using the same space to lay out more details of what I do in my other activities.

Also, I'm a little annoyed that different places ask for different amounts of information on your resume. Most annoying is the "please indicate the number of hours involved" statements that appear on some applications. My layout is pretty tight as it is, another 7 characters on a line (Xhrs/wk) makes a big difference.

Waiting

2006-09-12T12:35:00.000-05:00

At the moment I am waiting on one letter of recommendation and then I will begin mailing out my applications. As soon as the letter hits LSDAS I'm sending out the following:

Harvard
Yale
Stanford
Wash U
Minnesota

These aren't the only schools on my list already accepting applications, but they are the ones for while I will be applying the day the letter hits. The rest I will send out after recruitment.

Also, I'm starting to get tired of junk fee waivers. I wish there was a button that said "Only release my information to the top 50" or something like that.

Fratty

2006-09-07T12:39:00.000-05:00

Today I want to digress from my normal "this is how applications are going" and "this is where I am in my editing" or "the process is good/bad because of X" and instead talk about something that bothers me.

Fraternity is a noun. Frat is slang that bothers some people, but would still be a noun. These are the ONLY two forms of the word that are acceptable and should be used in every day language. Some things that are not possible:

You cannot "get your frat on." This isn't possible. It isn't a verb. You might say "I'm going to get my groove on" but you wouldn't say "I'm going to get my car on." Deal with it.

"Fratty" though useful is not a term to describe a way people dress. They are called tools, d-bags, metros, femine hygene products, or anything similar. Wearing a popped collar, wanting to make out with yourself and taking longer to get dressed than your girlfriend does not make you "Fratty" it makes you annoying. Don't attach this negative notion to all of us.

"Frat it up" is also not acceptable. Frat is not a substitute for the word party. If you want to "close brotherhood bound by a ritual that contains values" it up, feel free to use "Frat it up" but that isn't what people say, so don't use the term.

Well.....

2006-09-05T17:20:00.000-05:00

Its past September 1 and my application package still isn't complete. As soon as my next LOR goes active I will be sending apps to my saftey schools. I have also been slacking off on geting my essays edited, so that is a task for the upcomming week.... oh and I should probebally figure out "why Mich" huh?

Not a productive could of weeks, but recruitment is going on, so I feel as if I have an excuse.

Wish me luck!

Good Stuff

2006-09-04T16:49:00.000-05:00

Two bits of good news arrived today.

First, I received a fee waiver from the University of Michigan. This does two things that make me happy. First, it confirms that I am a legitimate applicant at Michigan, and more importantly, it saves me a decent amount of money since I was certainly applying there in the first place.

Also, I heard from my primary LOR writer that she sent in my letter last week. This is exciting because it puts me one step closer to having my applications ready to send. Two LOR writers and a little editing and I will be finished!

Running Away

2006-09-02T03:14:00.000-05:00

Its been a rough couple of weeks for me as I try to finish the application process, start school, and direct recruitment. The good news is that we have not had any major, earth-shattering recruitment things happen yet. The bad news is that I am overworked and beginning to get burned out.

I have two months left. I will get through it no doubt and I hope to do a good job, but right now, there is a lot of stress in my life and I am being pulled in a lot of directions.

This is good practice for the study of law. From what I can tell stress, constant pulling, and the feeling that you are working your butt off just to keep your head above water are all common feelings for law students.

I can't wait until the middle of September. Its all downhill from there!

Waiting

2006-08-29T12:57:00.000-05:00

So at this point I am waiting for LOR's. This is really stressful because this part of my application is out of my hands. Add to this that one of my writers is having the busiest time of his life and I am fairly nervous that something might get forgotten.

In the spirit of this I have made a list of 5 things to do to pass the time at college while waiting for LOR writers to get your stuff in.

5: Watch every episode of Family Guy.... twice. I am convinced that college students keep tv show box set profitable. Need to pass the time? What better way than watching 30 hours of the same tv show. Sure the jokes aren't related to the plot, but what better way to pass the time then the random collection of punch lines that is Family Guy?

4: Watch 24 in real time: Similar to the family guy marathon, watching a season of 24 in real time (one full 24 hour day) adds a new level of authenticity to the show. Large supplies of sugar are needed and bathroom breaks are recommended during the time that was supposed to be used for commercial. Do this and you have knocked a day off of your wait.

3: Actually do homework for a class. Sure your grades have already been sent, but if you end up on waiting lists wouldn't it be nice to show a GPA improvement? After completing #4 you will no doubt be behind in at least one if not all of your classes, so why not take some time to catch up, open the books that cost you $500 + and overachieve a little.

2: Hit on somebody of the opposite gender. From what I hear law school isn't super condusive to dating, so take this time to go out to a bar or other place of interest and chat up an attractive male/female. With any luck you will get a phone number and develop a new way to kill even more time. Don't get too attached however, in a few months you will be leaving for the ultimate relationship killer, law school.

1: Exercise. I'm sure will all your worrying and application polishing you probebally haven't gotten outside to go for a jog. Take this time and enjoy the outdoors before the weather turns horrible. Play a game of touch football, go for a jog or find some friends for sand volleyball. Whatever your activity of interest is, go out, get some sun, and exercise!

Disappointments and Karma

2006-08-28T00:07:00.000-05:00

This week hasn't been the most exciting. It has been extremely busy but it hasn't been very exciting. It also hasn't been the most uplifting. I was talking to a friend from home about this very thing today and he said: man, if karma isn't your friend this week, you better hold of on law school appliations.

Obviously this is a comment made in jest but he has a fair point. Things haven't been falling my way recently and with law school (the most important results I have had in my life to date) on the horizon it seems to make sense to wait for karma to be on my side.

Does anybody have any karma suggestions? How do I put myselves back on the good sides of the fates just in time for decisions (hopefully postive) to arrive?

Obviously this is in jest, but I wasn't home much this weekend and I've had a crazy week, plus, it is something worth thinking about.

Please leave any suggestions for improving karma!

Classes (continued)

2006-08-26T14:28:00.000-05:00

Since I have a few minutes, I will continue the discussion of what I expect from my upcoming classes for the semester that I started a few days ago.

PLS419, Introduction to Public Administration: Ok, so the material seeks like it could go either way and the testing method (4 take homes) seems like it should offer an opportunity for success, but the professor makes me rethink this. To begin with, he seems dry. More importantly, he has a reputation as being a VERY tough grader when it comes to his exams and I am not sure how much I will be able to benefit from the "Take home" aspect. At least it knocks off one class that I will need to cram for. His test questions also seem odd. Hopefully I can do well and get on his good side. I plan to see him twice per exam, hopefully this is a good strategy.

ELH: These classes will be tougher than I expected but I still think they will be enjoyable.

ENG 301: After one class all I have to say is WOW. The teacher is pretty funny which is good, but this class is going to be WORK. I am glad that I am in the honors program, and I don't mind doing some where, but after 1 day of class I already regret not sucking it up and taking the evening class that wasn't honors with the rollover teacher. Hopefully I am making more of this than it is, but daily writing assignments = scarey.

Classes

2006-08-23T15:54:00.000-05:00

Classes started today, here are my impressions so far:

My EHS class could go either way. The students seemed like they could be a good time, hopefully we will let them have some fun. I heard a great line from a freshmen guy today. When asked what he wanted to be in five years he said: "A father." All the girls couldn't help but go "awww."

PLS 302 should be interesting with a though grading scale. A 10-15 page paper, a group project, and two tests = a hard class. Throw in the fact that this is Aspin and the other students are all very solid/inteligent people and this could be my most (or at least one of my most) competitive classes. At least the topic should be interesting.

ELH: Easy......

I will update you on the others later in the week!

Also, with law school applications coming up soon I will be checkin in about those often. Good luck to everybody applying in this cycle!

Update: I talked to the professor writing my main academic LOR and she said that she knew about it, would do it, and was going to complete it right at the end of the month.

Thanks so much to her!

An equality rant that has nothing to do with affirmative action

2006-08-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, so before I start with a rant from this afternoons activities, I would like to qualify it: this has nothing to do with AA. I don't mean that in a sarcastic way, I mean I am ranting about something I saw happen here on campus, nothing more.

So something drove me crazy today: people that play both sides of the fence. This surfaces every year during welcome week and bothers me every year. Here is the thing that I can't stand: if you want to be a part of something, and you want everything to be equal, then act like it. Don't say "we want to be treated like you" most of the time, then turn around fifteen minutes later and go "oh, but you have agreed to conceed something here in return for benefits and I don't want to conceed that, so I wont, but I still want the benefits." Get over it. You are either in or out, there is no middle.

On the flip side, groups that celebrate their "elite" or "unique" status, shouldn't then pretend to be "one of the rest" in order to enjoy those benefits. This is stupid. Be what you want, but don't have your hand out if the others can't.

Sorry for that having nothing to do with law school. On a more law related note, tomorrow is my first full day of work for the semester. More importantly, Wednesday starts classes and I begin meeting with professors to fine tune my application package.

Liability?

2006-08-20T01:34:00.000-05:00

Today I had to ponder an interesting question: Is it capable for somebody to approve something (an act that would assume liability) contingent on the fact that liability is removed from them? Isn't this essentially "you can do it if it doesn't come back to bite me in the butt?"

Here are some more details. To insure ethical behavior and that a proper image is presented an organization I am a part of requires all members to submitt what they will be doing for certain activities. We were presented with an activity that we believed to carry a high degree of liability.

After reading the waiver (which I believe to be solid, but I still lack advanced training) I informed them that we would approve it "contingent on the fact that we were completely absolved from liability." Is this possible? It failure to completely deny the request consent? I am still not sure, this is why I need law school.

On a side note, why did I sign up for this stuff? I just angered LOTS of people tonight and had to listen to 20 minutes of complaining from some student about something that doesn't even relate to him.

Work

2006-08-17T18:06:00.000-05:00

So much to my suprise, I started work today. I had myself written down to start next Thursday, but apparently I made a mistake and was supposed to begin today. I was getting lunch during work week when I received a phone call askign where I was. I quickly got dressed and went in, but the damage was done. Thankfully that experience is over. What a crappy way to start a day.

Also, I had some Greek drama today, but I think that is resolved, at least until tomorrow.

Finally, I was speaking with our office manager and learned something interesting about the legal market I currently am in (Central Illinois). Apparently, starting salary for an associate in central IL is between 40 and 50 K... kind of makes it seem like the DA's office isn't a terrible option. Anyway, that pretty much seals the deal for me not wanting to work out here after graduation.

Missed Goals

2006-08-14T15:20:00.000-05:00

Well I didn't reach the goal I set for myself. Instead of having all of the simple stuff done, I only completed two small tasks which leaves me with some heavy duty writing and proofreading to complete between now and the end of the week.

On the plus side, I did get some things done.

My activities and awards sheet is as complete as it can be. The only event remaining is the committee that I was appointed to, but I won't be filling that out until I have a better grasp of what it is (thank god I have 4 weeks until I start submitting applications.) In addition, my resume is edited and ready except for adding that activity.

The next big task is lining up proofreaders. I have four criteria for proofreads that I will be using:

1. Good as english. This includes both the ability to write in ways that make sense and skills in grammar, which is where I will need the most work.

2. Somebody that I see often. I will need to keep on them and I am hoping for a quick turnaround.

3. Somebody that will have enough time to get it done quickly.

4. Doens't know me too well. They need to know me enough to not have a problem doing it, but I don't want them to bring enough outside knowledge to the reading because I do not want them to read between the lines.

Hopefully I will be able to find somebody. I will update when I do!!

Back at School

2006-08-12T13:15:00.000-05:00

I'm back at school for a while which means its back to reality pretty soon. My goal was to be ready by now, and thought I didn't complete it, I am going to try and take the weekend (since not many people will be around until tomorrow) to catch up and get stuff taken care of. Hopefully everything will work out!

The goal for the end of my today is to have all the simple stuff (for example awards lists and a touched up resume) complete. I will be putting the awards and involvement list into application folders (which I have talked about before) but will wait on my resume.

In related news, I was appointed to a university committee to work on a putting together the details for a joint-venture between a local federal center and the university. This could be a really neat experience once I figure out the details.

Not much else new here. I don't have internet access in my room which is a pain, but I will try to continue posting as often as possible. I am not to worried, computers are not hard to find around here.

One Step Closer

2006-08-11T00:05:00.000-05:00

So today I took one more small step towards setting up my application cycle. Today I finished organizing my documents into what I need for each school. I have put each document in a digital folder for every school that needs it along with changing any school specific references. This doesn't sound like much, but for some schools it was the difference between needing to figure out what all I needed and being 100% ready to apply.

Speaking of ready to apply, I heard from a recommender yesterday that she just sent of my targeted LOR's. This is big news! I am now one step closer to having a complete application! I give her major kudos for being the first of my recommenders done. When I get back to school Friday I will begin knocking on doors to remind the others that time is running out for my LOR's to get written and submitted. (2 weeks left if I am going to do this right!) Hopefully everybody else will be this on the ball. I found out I have a few more documents, but they are mostly recompiling and not as much about writing new documents.

Wish me luck!

In Related News: Your an Idiot

2006-08-10T01:07:00.000-05:00

So Maurice Clarrett was arrested.... again. This time he was being stopped for an illegal U turn when he led the cops on a chase for a while, then pulled into a parking lot. When the cops asked him to get out of the car he refused. They taser'd him but he was wearing a buller proof vest so it didn't work. Then they used the wonderful happy fun spray to get him down. Inside the car was a riffle, handgun, and bottle of vodka. I dunno what he was doing, but I can TOTALLY see how whatever it was beats playing professional football, or even staying in college, on a free ride, and enjoying life. Smart guy. Really. Smart guy.

Additionally, he hasn't played a down of professional football. He had a 1 year college career. Thats it. It doesn't look like he will ever play again soooooo.....

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CAN THIS MAN BEING AN IDIOT PLEASE STOP BEING NEWSWORTHY!!!!

He is constantly an idiot..... its not news anymore.

And yes to both of you that emailed me, You're is spelled the way Maurice would spell it.... Your
That is all.

LSAC and GPA

2006-08-09T13:46:00.000-05:00

Today I am going to continue an online argument that I joined in on earlier and finally touch on a point that I have been meaning to touch on (read: rant about) for a while.

LSAC recalculates your GPA. They tell you how they do it, they post the scale they use, the rules are online, and your university can tell you how they display varioius things on your transcript. All these things together mean one thing: There is no excuse or reason to complain about LSAC unfairly recalculating your grades.

Now to qualify that statement. First, if you go to a school that uses written evaluations instead of grades, you can complain. Additionally, if you were out of school for a long time and decided a legal career was for you, then you are also excused because, as we have said earlier, your work experiences tops (doesn't replace but tops) your grades, so any recalculation should pale in comparison to your work experience. As for the rest of you, get over it. Notice that I didn't say people that didn't know how LSAC recalculated your GPA or who didn't know they wanted to be lawyers. If you didn't know LSAC recaclulated your GPA, shame on you. You are making a gigantic life decision, the least you can do is find out the details of how you will be evaluated. As for those who didn't know they wanted to go to law school, you don't get to complain. First, your GPA is probebally a good indicator of your academic ability since it is "ungamed" and shows how well you perferm without the bias created by people doing what they can to up their GPA. Additionally, there is a good chance these people are going to law school because they 1. couldn't find a job or 2. have an unmarketable major, so these people by definition I don't feel bad for since these are terrible reasons to go to law school. Also, if you started pre-med then went pre-law cause you couldn't hack it in pre med and your transcript is a mess because of it, you get no sympathy. You are probebally pre law because you want a professional degree thats carries a big salary and respect, you get no sympathy here.

Now that my ad hominem arguements are over here comes an actual analysis of why LSAC recalculating is necessary:

Before I can do this, it is necessary to note the GPA is a flawed measurement (which is why I believe the LSAT is a good tool for assessing candidates) and that the system isn't perfect but it is an attempt at takign SOME of the variation out of grades.

Ok, so first and foremost, different schools have different grading systems. LSAC is not a substitute for understanding an institution and a major, but it does a nice job of taking out a few biases that result from institutions using various policies. If one school lets students retake at will and the other counts each against you, clearly it is easier to get a good GPA from school 1. If one school coulds A+'s different from another, clearly the more generous one gives students an advantage. LSAC standardizes so that adcomms can look at a GPA and have a general feel for how the student did. Thats what it tries to do. To that end, rigid rules are necessary. I dont care what your school said, I care how well you did compared to what my school did, and every other school did and for that reason LSAC is necessary.

One exception: I feel for anybody who took college classes while in high school and did not do well. You are the only people getting screwed in this system (with the above exceptions noted). To the people that are upset because their W's came back to bite them: Get over it, you shouldn't have dropped the class, you should have done better! Do the people that are angered by the fact taht they couldn't replace that D- with a B+, why did you get a D the first time? I believe we can all agree that there is a big difference between gettting a D than a B and getting a B the first time.....

In total, get over your GPA recalculation. It standardizes. If it bothers you to think that somethign was "taken away" then think of it like this: Your school gave you a bonus for going there, they raised your GPA over what it "should be" on this standardized scale.

And most importantly, everybody, stop acting like you "deserve" something and stop acting like something in the process going against you is somebody "taking something away from you."

Easy for me to say, I have started receiving rejection letters yet.

A Minority Law Professors View on AA

2006-08-08T23:11:00.000-05:00

Today somebody that I have a lot of respect for sent me the following link:

http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2006/the-biggest-mistake-of-her-life/

I read through the article and had several thoughts which I will refrain from sharing here. I hope you all read it, it provides a unique look into the side of Affirmative Action that often gets overlooked. I hope you read the comments, they are a good example of what a hot button issue this is, very few actually address the article, they all just address the idea of being pro/con affirmative action. I would be interested to see some empirical data to show to what degree the author's experience is representative and to what degree he is relying on unrepresentative personal experiences.

As I said, I am refraining from comment, but its an interesting read.

Apps are out... finally

2006-08-08T00:14:00.000-05:00

So LSAC posted applications today. Needless to say I spent several hours going through applications and trying to get things ready. For the most part the applications were automatic, and my goal was only to get to the point where I just had to go "ok, I'm basically done with the application part, time to attach essays." I got through about 3/4 of the schools I plan on applying to, so it was a solid first day. Hopefully I will finish up tomorrow. In filling out applications, I noticed a few annoying things about the way information transfers from the common info form to the real form:

1. I go to Bradley Univ...... it took me a long time to catch this, and I have to triple check applications to make sure this doesn't show up repeatedly.

2. I am an econ major. This is true, except that the form automatically shortends the work to econ when I want it to read economics. This didn't seem like a big deal, but after I started correcting it, it got annoying in a hurry.

3. My parential information transfers all sorts of odd ways. LSAC really struggles to grasp the idea that my father is not living.

Also, I wish schools took more care to include instructions on what they want sent seperate from the application. To this end University of Chicago does the best job, major props to them.

I hope to finish this project tomorrow and mabye to write a needed addenda. Also, I would like to finish my SOP this week if possible.

How We Teach Our Lawyers

2006-08-07T00:59:00.000-05:00

I dont have any deep thoughts today, just a link to some ideas posted by an academic. Here is the link:

http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2003/10/the_socratic_me.html

For anybody that doesn't know Brian Leiter is the person who does the strength of faculty rankings, which I consider to be the second most often cited rankings (after USNews of course). It is an interesting article. Normally I find Leiter overly negative, but this particular article interests me.

An Interesting Read

2006-08-06T02:04:00.000-05:00

http://sptimes.com/2006/01/22/Floridian/In_his_own_defense.shtml

I found this and thought it was interesting. If you have some time to kill, give it a read.

Arguments That Are Pointless

2006-08-06T00:49:00.000-05:00

So there are lots of arguments in the world that are pointless. In almost any walk of life you can find a debate over which people are divided: Mantle v. Joe D, VHS v. Beta (mabye not anymore), DVD v. Whatever that Blueray thing is, Public v. Private control, auction v. snake draft (I'm in a fantasy football mode) or countless other arguments that are industry and interest specific.

For law students there are plenty of these. Today I want to take the time to put three of them to rest. I am sure that I will repeat this again, but for new, we have three arguments that are pointless finally put to bed.

Columbia v. NYU
If I had a dollar for every time I saw somebody post about which of these schools is better, where they should go, or if the rankings are incorrect in their assessment, I could pay for law school without any loans. They are basically identically ranked schools in the exact same legal market. Columbia is the old blood Ivy, NYU is the high spending upstart. Both produce top level law students that take top level firm jobs. If you want to go into academics is Columbia better? Yes. If you want to go into International Law is NYU better? Sure. If you want to go into Public Interest will NYU kids tell you they are better? Ya. Are they? I can't really tell, the sample sizes are too different. The point is this: at either school you will get a top rate education and have the opportunity for top flight jobs. Stop arguing, its pointless.

LSAT or GPA
The only semi-official study I have seen is that using a combination of LSAT and GPA is a better predictor of law school success than flipping a coin and that the difference is statistically significant. To my knowledge there is no evidence one way or the other that one is "right" and the other is "wrong." What I do know is that law schools consider both, but that LSAT seems to determine "where you can go" and GPA seems to determine "if you will get it." Even this isn't an exact science. Which is better? Having high numbers for both is better (unless you go someplace that does a straight 1-500 ranking, in which case low numbers rule!) Do well on both. If you dont, oh well. The LSAT is a one day test. GPA's are easy to game and very too much (not to mention there is an unlimited number of 3.8 +, especially compared to 170+. This debate is stupid and only adcomms opinion matters, and in reality, they are forced to care by USNews.... so get over it. The argument is pointless.

PowerScores or Testmasters
They are the same course. They cover the same course material. They both strive for 10 point increases. The only difference is that one is an offshoot of another and that they use different copywriten terms to describe things in an obvious way. They will both help. You should take one. I tried PowerScores and will always recomend it because it was successful for me. I bet testmasters would have worked just fine also. Take the one that is closer or has a better teacher, but don't argue about it.

Dear People that Put Together Law School Applications:

2006-08-04T13:55:00.000-05:00

Dear people that put together the applications I am filling out this fall:

Can you please tell me something? Why on earth are you having me write a diversity statement? University of Michigan, you can feel free to ignore this, since you gave me 6 choices and I just happened to selected the diversity statement because I am lazy. For the rest of you, why do you specifically ask me for a diversity statement? I mean, even when its optional, its not really "optional." When you specifically ask for one, or say you can also submitt a diversity statement, what you are really saying is "ok white kids, time to come up with 250 words on how you are different than the majority, lets see how creative you can be in coming up with things that we really don't care that much about." If somebody really had a super unique trait that they felt you wouldn't know from their application, they would have/should have written it in their personal statement. Now you get a few thousand "Im unique because I went to X on vacation and really understood how my nation is viewed oversees" and other similar, unimportant, contrived essays.

If somebody really is diverse, they would write it in their personal statement. The diversity statement is a waste.

Here's another option: use ONLY the diversity statement as your judge of diversity. When somebody is considered diverse because they check a box (without explaining the significance or importance of that box and how it gives them a perspective to add to the classroom) you take away the entire value of the diversity statement. If we toss out the boxed for traditional race based diversity and instead say everybody have to write a statement stating what they will bring or add to the law school class...... oh wait, thats what a personal statement is supposed to do.

The diversity statement is garbage. Either make the diversity statement the ONLY way to be considered for diversity factors (including URM status.... you only get it if you demonstrate how it has impacted you through a diversity statement) or, better yet, USE THE PERSONAL STATEMENT, THATS WHAT IT IS THERE FOR!

I feel better now.

Dont say that

2006-08-03T13:50:00.000-05:00

Ok, so there is one sentence about law school admissions that bugs me above all others: he/she doesn't deserve to get in. This sentence has a slightly less but still very annoying counsin that goes something like "I deserved to get in but didn't because of X criteria for admission."

Look, adcomms look for what they look for. Don't rant about how the LSAT or you college GPA shouldn't count. They do. You know this when you apply. Get over it and get over yourself.

Here are some common claims along with my thoughts:

Why should one test count for more than four years of academic performance?: Oh I don't know, mabye because its the only tool available to fairly match one person against another. This comment usually comes from somebody with a 3.9 from a XY state. The LSAT is the only part of the process where everybody is given the same/a very similar shot. GPA's are easily played with. Inflation is different between schools and majors have a huge impact on what your final GPA is. The LSAT is the only element where everybody is competing on the same or a similar test. Get over it. If you dont do well, study harder. Now, if you were working for two years and are complaining because the LSAT overshadows your WE, that I feel for, but to complain because the LSAT is weighed more than GPA.... no. Stop talking.

My GPA is old, it shouldn't matter:
It does, mabye you should have done better in college. Remember, law school is still school. This is the only indication of how you perform in an academic setting

My GPA was bad, but I got a 4.0 for my MBA:
Grad school grades are a joke. Accept it. They are really really inflated.

I should be URM because I am (Jewish, Asian, etc.):
You are over represented as it is. In my opinion, if we are going to stick with the idea of AA balancing things you, you should be put at a DISADVANTAGE, not an advantage. Stop looking for a handout. If you really did struggle because of this factor, congrats, you have the perfect personal statement topic.

I have work experience:
This is great, and it definately will help you get into law school, but when people claim that their work experience is so good that both their LSAT and GPA shouldn't matter.... well..... I don't buy that. There are lots of candidates with good work experience, you shouldn't expect this to be the ONLY factor that gets you in.

My awsome EC's didn't help:
Mabye they wheren't as awsome as you thought. There are tons of student body and fraternity presidents applying to law school and lots of people do community service things.

A wee bit closer

2006-08-02T15:22:00.000-05:00

So I finished cutting my diversity statement down to one page today. It is very short and to the point, I don't know if it will help but I don't think it will hurt. I am not sure how many schools that I am applying to will request a diversity statement, but if they want one, I've got one. At this point I now have the following tasks left:

1. Get letters of recommendation into LSAC
2. Decide 100% for sure on what my personal statement will be
3. Edit the heck out of my personal statement
4. Finish my statement of purpose
5. Write a Why Michigan essay
6. Edit resume

Things that I have completed:
1. Study for the LSAT
2. Take the LSAT
3. Compile a resume
4. First run through of applications
5. Diversity statement
6. Why Penn
7. Get LOR info to writers

So I would say when my LOR's get in, I will have the most difficult parts of the application process out of the way and will be ready to begin applying.

I am thinking that my targeted letters and one of my LOR's will be in in the next few weeks. I have no idea when my two academic letters well be complete.

Its starting to get to crunch time.

Mail Call

2006-08-01T22:44:00.000-05:00

I got back from vacation today. I was able to do a little bit of productive work on the plane, including putting together a personal statement choice (which I may have mentioned before) but nothing too exciting.

When I got home, I had received a decent amount of law schoo mail including the following:

University of Tennessee viewbook
Albany Viewbook
Georgetown Viewbook
Wash U Viewbook and fee waiver

I fully intend to flip through the Georgetown Viewbook as well as apply. I am glad to have the updated version. I was also already applying to Wash U so the fee waiver is appreciated. The only problem is, I DONT KNOW HOW YOU USE THE FEE WAIVER. It is just a few sentences at the bottom of a letter pitching the school that says "based on your academic record we are waiving your application fee," but doesn't say if I should include the letter or if I can apply through LSAC and just check a box or what. Frustrating, but I'd rather have this fustration than have to pay the fee. I will not be applying to Tennessee and was going to put the viewbook straight into the trash but something caught my eye. On the first page was a picture of Howard Baker, a very important Pi Kappa Phi that is the namesake of an important Pi Kapp award. Out of some silly sense of respect I read the viewbook so I could make the educated decision that Tennessee wasn't for me.

Albany didn't have a famous Pi Kapp alum near the beginning and as a result went straight into the garbage can.

A book that doesn't help

2006-07-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

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

2006-07-26T00:25:00.000-05:00

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.

Flight Write

2006-07-25T13:49:00.000-05:00

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.

Bonus Reading

2006-07-21T01:01:00.000-05:00

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

2006-07-21T00:52:00.000-05:00

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.

Things that don't count

2006-07-19T11:53:00.000-05:00

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.

An Open Letter to Sports Law and Sports Management Students

2006-07-17T23:15:00.000-05:00

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

2006-07-17T21:53:00.000-05:00

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.

Clerkships

2006-07-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

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.

Three Down

2006-07-15T16:33:00.000-05:00

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.

A reminder

2006-07-14T01:33:00.000-05:00

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."

Baby Steps

2006-07-12T16:15:00.000-05:00

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.

A hurdle jumped?

2006-07-11T22:40:00.000-05:00

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).

LOR Update

2006-07-10T15:06:00.000-05:00

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!

This could help....

2006-07-08T22:52:00.000-05:00

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.

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

2006-07-07T15:29:00.000-05:00

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

2006-07-07T00:15:00.000-05:00

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.

Hiring Depth

2006-07-06T00:17:00.000-05:00

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!

The Dog Days of Summer

2006-07-04T01:25:00.000-05:00

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.

Scaling Down the List

2006-07-03T02:28:00.000-05:00

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.)

Organizing

2006-07-02T16:50:00.000-05:00

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!

Schools

2006-07-01T22:17:00.000-05:00

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

Good Problem to Have

2006-06-30T23:41:00.000-05:00

An interesting this happened when LSAT scores came out: my list of schools that I was applying to got turned upside down. Don't get my wrong, I've very excited about this, but at the same time I feel I jumped the gun in visiting some schools that I will now not be applying to.

I spent the last day trying to decide where I will apply to (of course the list with change if I get any exciting fee waivers) and it is tough. I have been married to the idea of applying to some schools for so long (for example American) but there is no point on applying to a school I wouldn't go to (especially one that will likly ding me out of yield protection).

I dont mean to sound like I'm complaining, this is an exciting problem, but it certainly means I will need to spend a bit more time getting myself ready for the fall.

Joy and Sorrow

2006-06-30T03:13:00.000-05:00

Today was the biggest rollercoaster ride I have been on in a LONG LONG time. Even though I have refused to ever come close to using this blog as a diary, I feel like today the topics I want to discuss can be best explained by retracing my day for everybody.

10 AM: I wake up. The plan was to wake up at 11, but I couldn't sleep so I got up, washed my face and signed online to mass hysteria about scores. Apparently LSAC started scheduled updates later than planned and people freaked out.

11:20: I head to lunch, getting away from the boards for a while.

12:30 I return only to see that scores have not been released and people are starting to get upset. It appears as if scores may not be coming today afterall (*sigh*).

3:00: It is now 4 PM at LSAC, scores still aren't out, the common thinking is that if they are not out by 4 they are not coming out.

3:01: I head out for a jog to release some stress.

4:30: I get back all sickly sweaty and check the messege boards: SCORES ARE UP!!!!

4:31: I debate showering to be all clean when I check my score or immediate knowledge.

4:31.5: I quickly go to LSAC to see my score.

4:32: Deep breath

4:33 I check me score, AWSOME.

6: I talk to a good friend, she is not having the best of evenings and sounds generally not happy, I feel terrible.

9: Start getting drunk, all feelings other than giddyness leave.

12: Friend is still upset, moreso now, I feel even worse, I really want to help but do not know what to do (damn being a boy). We talk for a while, I hope I helped at least a little... I feel bad again. Now my feeling bad is combining with guilt, my day is good and my friends is terrible... I have to cut the convo short and feel even worse.

1:30: I get home and check my email and notice an odd email from Bradley, I check it and the Firm I have worked at in the falls has awarded me a $2000 scholarship for the Fall, I am once again super excited!

So there you have it, my day was a roller coaster, but scores did come out.

Days remaining till LSAT Score is released: ZERO!!!
Score: 174!!!! (99.3 percentile!)

Judgement Day

2006-06-29T00:54:00.000-05:00

Well today MIGHT be judgement day. It appears as if there is a decent chance that LSAT scores will be released later this afternoon meaning that three weeks of nightmares and worries will finally come to an end (or at least, the truth will be known, it is very possible that nightmares will continue as I will retake in September).

First, wish me luck. I need it. I have never been less confident about the results of something I worked very hard on.

Next, here are some of the reasons that have been used as evidence for a Thursday score release:

1. Tonight people that had already taken the test had their percentiles change meaning that LSAC is done refiguring the percentiles.

2. Scheduled updates until noon. Each score release in recent memory has been preceeded by these updates.

3. This was the origional release date given to some people.

4. We really really really want it to happen tomorrow.

Of course, it is very possible that scores could be released Friday, in which case we all get to do all of this over again (and be even crazier the second day). Lets hope for tomorrow, but me getting a good score is of a higher priority.

I don't have any new content, I just wanted to post on the hysteria.

Also, there is a raging debate on wether a percentile drop in the high 160's means a tough scale, easy scale, or does not reveal info about the scale. In my mind, it doesn't reveal info about the scale, just says that more students scored above that number than the percentile was origionally representative of. Thoughts?

Days Left: (0-1 Depending on LSAC)
Mood: Nervous as heck

Final Camp Debrief and an ironic twist on life

2006-06-27T23:38:00.000-05:00

So I just wanted to post a few quick notes about the leadership camp. Now that I have had a few days to reflect, I can honestly say that this was a very positive experience. I learned some things and got to function in a role I do not normally act in. Additionally, I met some awsome high school students and a couple awsome Bradley students (a few of whom I hope to continue to socialize with).

The big value of this camp to me is that I am used to the role of a leader as setting direction, leading change, managing organizations. I am not used to the leader as motivating a small group and dealing with personal problems, but I was able to step into this role this week. If anything this will help me more in the study of law because often clients are coming in with either 1. A goal or 2. A problem to resolve and are looking to you for help. This is essentially what my role was at camp: take materials and help students get where they want to go or resolve problems/misunderstandings so that students can get the most out of camp.

In an ironic on my future plans, I had a discussion today with a friend going to grad school in student affairs. He was trying to convince me that student affairs, not law school, is what I should dedicate my future study towards. I have typically used three arguments again why I don't want to be involved in student affairs and he made an interesting argument for how each of them is the same in the study of law.

Argument 1: Student affairs is a cult, I don't want everybody across the nation knowing me and the job I do and refering to me as "Chris the X at Y university." He pointed out that this is what a bar association is that that you will always be "Chris the X associate and Y firm." He also reminded me that I love greek life and we routinely are refered to as "chris from x chapter."

Argument 2: I want to have a broader impact than just college students. Here his argument was easy: if you dont do public interest you really aren't having a broad impact. He pointed out that no matter how much I say I want to get involved in public policy, when the time comes I may take a firm job and have a very narrow scope. He also reminded me that if you mold students that mold the world, you are molding the world.

Argument 3: $$. Here he pointed out that he is going to school for free and I will almost certainly be in a huge amount of debt and that by the time I pay my debt off there is a very good chance he may have been promoted a few times and earning at least as much as me. Interesting argument.

I still want to study law. At the end of the day, I like the career path of a lawyer and if I wanted to be in college administration is would be in a capacity that a law degree would help me secure a job. I am confident in my decision to go to law school and feel I have an opportunity to succeed. The only question left is where I will go and if I will have an opportunity to attend a school that I am really excited about, which brings us to:

Days remaining until the LSAT is released: 3
Mood: Tired

Interesting article

2006-06-27T00:14:00.000-05:00

This article offers an interesting history of the LSAT and its development and application. It does a nice job of addressing some common complaints and suggesting a path for the future. I dont agree with some of what it says (specifically the statement that using it as a sorting tool is a mistake) but overall it is an interesting read.

http://www.lsacnet.org/publications/history-lsac-lsat.pdf

But Alas, She Was In Baltimore

2006-06-26T13:15:00.000-05:00

Today I leave school and return home! While I was packing today I realized a sad truth: No matter how much I pretend as if I am in good shape to apply by the fall, I am not. The following is a list of things I need to accomplish before application season:

1. Letters of recommendation: I need to get the info to the writers and have the writers get them turned in
2. Diversity Essay
3. Why X essay
4. Why law essay
5. Finish resume

Short post today, waiting on the LSAT, get excited!

Transition

2006-06-25T19:13:00.000-05:00

This week is going to be a week of transitions for legalfratboy.

First and foremost I am going back home tomorrow. This means a transition from "holding onto the school year, prepping for the LSAT, hanging out" to working lots. Thankfully I have a trip to Vegas to keep me entertained!

Additionally, my LSAT score is (supposedly) coming out this week! This means that my transition from "looking at schools and studying for the LSAT" to "applying" is about to begin. This is going to be an interesting few months, hopefully the LSAT gods will be kind and smile on me!

Another transition is the transition to a senior. This seems small and never dawned on my until yesterday afternoon when we were having an afternoon keg and talking about college and we relaized that at this time next year it would all be over and that we are much different peole than we were as freshmen. This is exciting but also freaking me out!

Tomorrow is my last Greek Life presentation, hopefully things will go well and scores will be high. You never know!!

The LSAT is looming and my heart skips when I think about it.

Days remaining until the LSAT is released: 5
Mood: Transitioning

End of Camp

2006-06-24T13:20:00.000-05:00

Today is the end of camp. More specifically last night was my last involvement with Summer Enrichment camp. Overall the camp went well. The students seemed to have fun and the peer mentors all enjoyed themselves. Not only did we have a good time interacting with the students and with each other, we learned a few things ourselves.

On a personal note, I really enjoyed lots of the students I met and found the other peer mentors to be awsome people that I hope to continue interacting with in the upcomming year.

A few days ago I posted about my fears of camp. None of them were realized. Though the classroom stuff was a little dry at times, the social stuff and the random fun more than made up for it. At the end of the week I think the students all learned something and enjoyed themselves. I will be interested when the reviews of camp are accumulated.

Now that camp is wrapped up its back to the real world and more specifically, back to worrying about my LSAT score. There is (supposedly) only a week left until scores are released! I will keep you posted with my score (and likly preperation to retake the test).

On an unrelated note, I received word this week that I was selected as a Pi Kapp scholar for this year. Pi Kapp scholars are selected through a nataional application process and represent the top 5-8 scholar-leaders in the fraternity. This year 7 were awarded and I will be receiving one of them. The prize for this is not only recognition, but a $1000 academic scholarship. This is really exciting news.

My tasks for this week are as follows:

1. Tie up some greek community loose ends.
2. Arrange transportation to Texas
3. Start Work

Fun stuff huh?

Days Remaining until LSAT score released: 6
Mood: Drained

To resume or not to resume, that is the question

2006-06-21T12:48:00.000-05:00

I like many law school applicants have done a variety of things during my undergrad and feel that many of them are meaninful. I have attempted to get involved in as wide a variety of ativities as possible and consider myself successful in most of them. WHile I have done these activities only for the purpose of bettering the organizations that I have become involved with, I am now faced with the issue of assessing which of my activities are and are not important.

I have begun putting together a final draft of my resume and it is much harder than I thought. Career services suggested a 2 page resume but this seems to contradict what I was taught (your life on a page). My plan is to make a one and two page version and then see how much I loose. The following are activities that I am unsure about the importance of:

Taught freshmen introducation class
Facilitated summer leadership camp
Speaking engagements
Contributing research (cited at conference) for a professional presentation by a PhD professor
Advisorary committe to the provost
Budget review committee
various honors societies (Phi Kappa Phi, Order of Omega, etc.)

I will post a like to my online resume when I finish it. In the mean time I still sit and wait for LSAT scores and am still facilitating camp. It is halfway done and so far so good however today will be the most trying time!

Rant on Personal Statements

2006-06-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

Ok, so here is something I doubt many people say: I hate personal statements, I think that they should take a back seat to numbers (even though I do not currently know mine) and I honestly believe they should be eliminated and replaced with either 1. a formal writing sample or 2. a broader scope of what constitutes an acceptable addendum.

This isn't just blind complaining because my personal statement isn't any good (though I am not looking forward to writing one) it is something I have thought about and honestly believe.

First, personal statements do NOT show how well you write. They show how good you are at having people edit and how well you can assume a narrative voice (which is used exactly never in business or legal writing) and how well you can fit an interesting story into a limited amount of space. If a school claims they want to see how well you write, they should give you a stock topic and stock sources and ask you to construct an essay from them. To make this easier on the student, schools should agree to use the same topic and sources for a given year. Of course this will never happen, but then, schools don't REALLY use the personal statement to see how well you write.

Next, it could be that they want additional information to consider with your application. This could be true, but in that case why not ask for addendums for a variety of reasons instead of an open Personal Statement in addition to a more limited amount of addendums. Instead, they ask students to pretend that vacations and small experiences shaped their life. In addition, a diversity statement that is optional would cover a lot of what they seek to gain from the personal statement.

Lastly, as any good debater knows, there is no problem without harms in the current system. First, the current system forces students to make two page productions out of things that really are not that important to them. Next, the current system essentially says "we are going to make a judgement about your application, if you are average, by how well you pretend to have some worthwhile story, or how important we preceive your random experience to be.

Thats my rant on personal statements.