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
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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
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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, waitlist
Tags: law school waitlist
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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: Advice, waitlist
6 Comments »
I have been very busy assisting clients through the application process and have not had as much time as I would have liked to share my thoughts on the blog and/or respond individually to as many comments. I am reading everything and responding when I am able, and I do not want to post fluff, but only share information that will truly be useful to law school applicants. I have some fairly random thoughts for this time in the admission cycle that I would like to share.
Some housekeeping:
First, this is my 250th blog post. Thank you for reading with me along the journey, and thank you especially for telling your friends about the blog (especially friends considering applying to law school for the Fall 2010 admission cycle).
Second, I just re-launched a new design of www.LawSchoolExpert.com and would love any thoughts you have about the new look.
Third, I will soon be migrating this blog onto my own domain. Please don’t be afraid if you come to read the blog and it suddenly looks professional and/or “pretty” – I promise it’s still me, just a version of me planning to join 2009.
Fourth, many of you ask very specific questions about your situations – schools to apply to, your chances for admission, etc. I know these are the questions most pressing on your minds, and I do my best to answer them to the extent that I am able. Please be understanding about the fact that these are not questions that are amenable to simple answers; responding appropriately would require significant time to evaluate and consider all of the relevant issues. The blog format is not conducive to this, and -after all – I do give this kind of advice for a living and my clients must continue to be my first priority. Thanks so much to everyone who takes the time to leave positive feedback about the blog being helpful to you; that means a great deal to me and is the reason I spend the time to do this.
Lastly, I do want to tell you I am working on a book based on this blog and it will feature (anonymously) many of the questions I’ve been asked throughout the last 250 posts. Please stay tuned. It may not come out in time to help Fall 2009 applicants, but Fall 2010 applicants will benefit from all of your experiences and any kernels of wisdom I might have shared in response. Keep an eye out for that announcement in the next few months.
Ok, Now let’s talk about law school admission trends/recent observations:
1. Applying late. It feels like more of you are applying later than ever before. This might just be because the December LSAT was a week later (and hence scores were a week later being released) but it definitely concerns me that so many people are still working on applications in mid-January. This is especially true for those of you retaking (or taking) the LSAT in February. I don’t want anyone to panic reading this, but I do want you to have a Plan B in the back of your head. Plan B is retaking the LSAT in June/October and applying in September/October of Fall 2010. Of course, this only works if you have gainful employment or no need for gainful employment, but I just want to put this out there.
2. The waitlists haven’t gone crazy yet, but they will. Don’t get upset about a waitlist decision, just do something about it! If you sit around twiddling your thumbs instead of campaigning to get into a school, then you don’t deserve the precious acceptance letter in the first place.
3. General impatience is an unfortunate trend. Please be polite to people who work at law schools. Most of them are not paid well, they are overworked, trying to do a good job, but mistakes do happen. Be professional in all of your dealings; remember that if you act like a jerk (or spoiled brat) these people have the power to walk right into the Dean of Admissions and share a story about the unkind applicant. (An important lesson for aspiring lawyers- treat secretaries/assistants very, very well.)
4. Overestimating your soft factors. I have heard from a lot of people this year touting their extensive, impressive work experience that – after reading 20-some-odd-thousand law school applications- is just not that impressive. This happens with diversity factors too – people who write diversity statements about things that have very little to do with the diversity they bring to the table and more about their parents, grandparents, brother, or best friends or neighbors.
The good news:
1. Law schools are acting predictably, and not crazily, this year.
2. Application rates are not as crazy as people predicted either.
3. I will still be here in the coming months to write about these issues, to share the trends I’m seeing, and to entertain your comments, questions and concerns.
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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,
