Categories: Advice, Financing a Legal Education, LSAT, LSAT Prep, Law School Admission Trends, Law School Rankings, Wait lists, waitlist
Tags: LSAT Prep, success stories, US News Rankings, waiting list
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Yes, I miss Glee. But in the meantime, it’s been an exciting few weeks and I want to share a few highlights with you. Here they are, in no particular order:
1. I was interviewed for US News’ article, “As Law School Tuitions Climb, So Does Demand.” It’s worth a read, just don’t get to caught up in the negative comments about law school. You know how I feel about those. But I do hope that the article inspires more of you to consider scholarships over rank, at least to some degree. (The article was even picked up by Above the Law).
2. Speaking of US News…. are you sitting down? This may shock a few of you who’ve been following my blog for a while. I am going to be the Law School blogger for US News. Starting August 1st, I’ll be writing weekly columns on all things related to the law school admission cycle. Pretty exciting stuff. And, yes, I’ll even be sharing my thoughts on rankings : )
3. Another waiting list success story: One of my favorite clients, (ok, they’re pretty much all favorite clients), just found himself at a crossroads. After working on law school applications with me for two years (he wasn’t happy with his LSAT the first time around and decided to wait), he was in his car, followed by a moving truck, on his way to Tulane Law. He was excited about Tulane: great school, nice scholarship, near his girlfriend’s family. Then, he was somewhere near my hometown in Alabama when he got the call – he was pulled from the waiting list at Emory!!! He called me, totally panicked, excited about the opportunity but feeling like this was a major curve. After asking what his girlfriend thought he should do (go to Emory) I told him, “You’re three hours from Atlanta- GO!” Here’s a situation where ranking prevailed - Emory is #20 and Tulane is #45, and he really loved Emory when he visited. I offer this story as encouragement for all of you who are still on wait lists: Fight, fight, fight!!!
4. I’ve been talking to a lot of people who are wondering whether it’s too late to get started studying for the October LSAT. The answer is my favorite of all answers – it depends. Are you working full time and going to school? Then, yes, it’s too much to start fitting LSAT prep into that mix. But if you have time to dedicate, give it a shot! If a month from now, in mid-August, you find you haven’t been able to dedicate yourself to the effort then put it off until December. But if you have time to really start concentrating on it, do it! I told one of my clients this week that, come Monday, I expect her to have a study schedule set up. If you take my advice on this, you won’t have to call me (or ask on the blog) telling me you didn’t prepare adequately for the October LSAT, terrified that December is too late in the game to be competitive.
Ok, that’s about it for today. I had a wonderful week in Maui, and this weekend we’ll be going to my husband’s 20th reunion for high school. I hope your summer is going well!
Categories: Advice, Application Timeline, LSAT Prep, Law Careers, Law School Admission Deadlines, Law School Admission Trends, Law School Location; Law School Rankings, Law School Rankings, Law School Resume Tips, Low LSAT, Uncategorized, Wait lists, waitlist
Tags: applying to law school, insider secrets getting into law school, law school podcast, LSAT Preparation
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I recently did a podcast interview for Insider Secrets : ”Getting Into Law School” - you can listen to it or read the transcript. In it, I discuss how to choose an LSAT prep program, choosing a law school, taking on debt, putting together your applications, resumes, wait lists, low LSAT scores, and about a thousand different things related to law school admission. I’m happy to take questions here and/or entertain your comments and thoughts.
Categories: Law School Rankings, Wait lists, waitlist
Tags: choosing a law school, law school waiting list, location versus ranking
5 Comments »
Success Story #1: Law School Waiting List Dreams Do Come True
I get a lot of comments on the blog asking whether a waiting list is a “soft-reject.” My response: only if you do nothing to follow up and campaign for yourself. Today, one of my clients called me with wonderful news – she was admitted off the WL into her dream school (a top 10 law school) with both an LSAT and GPA at the 25th percentile for that school. How does this happen? She didn’t take “no” for an answer. Even though the school said in its WL letter that they didn’t want additional materials and no follow-up was necessary, she followed up. She visited. She wrote persuasive, professional letters. She had additional, relevant letters of rec sent. She convinced the school she was a sure thing. Even though she wasn’t in the priority ranking of the WL, today, on June 15th, she was admitted to her dream school. Lawyers are advocates. Start by being your own advocate. Take action and you’ll never have to wonder “what if?”
Success Story #2: Choosing Your Right School, not U.S. News’ Right School
I have another client, let’s call him “Steve.” Steve applied to law school a year ago (without my help) and wasn’t happy with his results. He really wanted to go to Law School X (a top 25 USNWR law school). He didn’t get it. So about a year ago, we started working together. He ended up getting in to School X (with a scholarship) and also into a Top 15 law school. He has spent two months struggling with his decision. Top 15 school is far away, but sounds fun and prestigious. School X is close to home and a great fit for his career goals and social life. He visited both campuses. He talked to local prospective employers. He learned that they would rather hire someone locally who clerked with them during law school than someone from a more highly ranked law school. As I say in the book, “Don’t be a snob. Think about where you want a job!” Choosing his original dream school, right in his backyard, where he is already hooked into the legal community, is the right decision for Steve (no matter what USNWR might say).
Categories: Wait lists, waitlist
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Still waiting to hear from some law schools? Many law schools have deposit deadlines in the next few weeks, and it can be frustrating for people who are still in limbo with other schools. The short answer to this issue is that you are going to have to send a deposit somewhere and just risk losing it if a better option comes along
Here’s a pretty thorough post on this issue from last year’s blog. I call it April Angst:Deposits are Due and I’m Still Waiting.
Schools are, on the whole, slower to respond this year because of the huge influx of applications. Law schools are also using waiting lists to hedge their bets. If you are on a waiting list (or ten!) take 23 minutes to listen to this great podcast “Getting In From A Waiting List” and read this post about How Law School Waitlists Work.
Remember – fight your way in. (In my book, I call it “Launching Your Campaign to Get In“).
Categories: Advice, Wait lists, waitlist
6 Comments »
Law School Podcaster just released a great 23 minute podcast with advice for those of you on law school waitlists. I’ll admit, I was among those interviewed in the podcast and I have really enjoyed the content at Law School Podcaster lately, so if you haven’t checked out this site, I highly recommend it.
Categories: Advice, Wait lists
Tags: law school campus visit
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One of my clients sent me this e-mail over the weekend:
“I think you mentioned that the point of visiting a law school was to follow up about what you liked about the school. If during a visit, you aren’t able to see an admissions counselor, does that defeat this purpose (i.e. the ability to follow up), since the admissions counselor doesn’t have a face to the applicant, and there really isn’t a specific person you could write a follow up letter to? Also, does the admissions committee keep track of who visited to take a tour/class visit to guage the student’s interest in the law school (for admissions purposes)?”
The point of visiting a law school (before being admitted) is to show the school you are likely to actually attend. Due to yield rate concerns, schools are more likely to admit someone whom they believe likely to actually attend the school. Even if you don’t get to meet someone face to face, you should be able to work it and talk to students and take notes and follow up with a letter explaining what impressed you about the school. You can send it to the Dean or Director of Admissions at the school.
A smart law school keeps track of who is visiting; a smart applicant takes steps to make sure the school knows about the visit.
Categories: Advice, Wait lists, waitlist
Tags: law school waitlist
43 Comments »
A client just sent me this e-mail:
I was wondering if you could give me (or blog about) a little more insight about how wait lists usually work. Is there a weighted order in which applicants are ranked and then applicants are taken off according to that? Is the ranking based on their admissions index number or the order in which they received apps? Would retaking the LSAT in June and getting a higher score give them more of a reason to take an applicant off the WL?
As a director of admission for a law school, I looked at my waitlist for a combination of the following:
1. Likelihood of attendance if offered admission.
2. Numbers.
I didn’t have time to make phone calls going down the list – I wanted to make one call to an applicant who I knew would be thrilled to hear from me and who would commit to my school practically on the spot.
This is why Letters of Continued Interest are so important. This is why likeability is a factor. Whose day do I want to make? That’s what I would think about.
Now, not every school uses its waitlist in the same way, and not every school uses its wait list the same way from year to year or week to week. Some do place people in quartiles or priority lists. Others use numbers only or residents first or perhaps even take diversity factors back into account depending on how it seems the class is shaping up so far. You can’t predict what will happen, and nothing I tell you will change that.
The key thing to keep in mind is that, yes, people get into their dream schools off the waitlist. Absolutely. So, if it’s important to you, then pursue it. If you’re staying on the waitlist just to get another acceptance letter in your portfolio, then perhaps consider a polite bowing out in favor of that applicant who would be thrilled at the acceptance. (Just because the law schools play games doesn’t mean you have to : )
Lastly, I have seen people improve on the June LSAT and be admitted off a waitlist as a result. Yes. I had a client with a 165 waitlisted at Northwestern. He came back with a 170 on the June LSAT and was admitted.
I’m sure there will be a few comments on this post, and I’m happy to answer questions. Just keep in mind I can’t give individual advice about your personal “waitlist campaign” in this format.
Categories: Wait lists
14 Comments »
Is opening up. One of my clients just was asked via email to re-confirm his interest and within 5-minutes he had an acceptance letter (and 24 hours to submit a deposit).
Categories: Wait lists
10 Comments »
Anna Ivey, fellow member of AIGAC, has a great blog post about (1) why schools waitlist and (2) what to do about it.
Categories: Wait lists
2 Comments »
Did a law school put you on a waitlist? What does that mean and what can you do to boost your chances of being admitted to that law school?
First, why were you waitlisted? Simple Answer: U.S. News & World Report Rankings.
Schools are very concerned with their rankings and an easy way for them to control things from an admission standpoint are (a) watching the LSAT/GPA for admitted students; and (b) keeping acceptance rates low. What this means is that if you are at or below their median LSAT/GPA, they may waitlist you and make you fight your way in to make sure (before having to count you as an “admit”) that you are actually fairly likely to attend their school.
So, how do you demonstrate that your attendance is likely? Here are some ways:
1. Visit the law school. Schedule a visit through the admissions office and ask to sit in on a class and go on a tour. You may even have the opportunity to meet with someone in the admissions office. This shows your interest and likelihood to attend a school in the geographic region.
2. Follow up with a thank-you letter reiterating your interest in the school based on what you learned during your visit. Be specific!
3. If you can’t visit, write a letter with an update about what you’ve done since submitting your application.
4. Write a letter stating the reasons for your specific interest in that law school and highlight things from your background that tie into those interests.
5. Send an additional Letter of Recommendation if they will allow it.
Good luck! And thanks so much to everyone who voted on topics – I will try to address the other requests in the next week or so.
Categories: Wait lists
4 Comments »
It’s July. And I know many of you are still on waiting lists. Those calls are coming in every day so don’t lose hope. But many schools will go to a wait list once Orientation has already started. It makes for some hectic changes, but no one will ever know you were a waitlist admit – you get the same degree and the same opportunities as everybody else.
For those of you still waiting, if you haven’t sent a letter expressing your continuing interest in the school then now is the time. If you can schedule a time to visit the school and meet an admissions officer, even better. The follow-up after that visit is crucial. I’ve also had clients offered a place in the class during a campus visit (Duke is one of those schools, btw).
Congratulations to T.M., one of my clients who was just pulled off the waitlist at UCLA this morning!
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Ann K. Levine, Esq., former director of law school admissions for two ABA law schools, is a law school admission consultant and owner of Law School Expert,
