I’m going to law school! WOOOOOOOO! I can’t possibly thank you enough. I don’t mean that as a euphemism – I mean I do not think I am physically capable of communicating via e-mail how thankful I am. If I ever get out to California, I’ll buy you a steak dinner, or a house, or push someone in front of a car for you, whatever’s your fancy!!!”
– Judd S.
UPDATE: Email from Judd after being admitted to George Mason University School of Law:
I’m a 1L at George Mason University School of Law. I had a good LSAT, but a terrible GPA – I don’t mean “okay,” I don’t mean “sub par,” I mean a little under a 2.5. I’d thought this would have been prohibitive to going to law school whatsoever, -certainly- to a first-tier school; I was wrong. I’m certain it’s because of Ann’s advice. Not only am I positive her help was instrumental in my acceptance(s), but if I were ever inclined to transfer schools, I’d seek her out again in something less than a heartbeat.
As to her availability – it took me about seven hours to get back to you on this e-mail. By Ann’s standards, that’s a very long time. I don’t think it ever took her more than 24 hours to reply to any question of mine, no matter how inane or repetitive (and some were both, I guarantee you, on my part), and I’d say the average response time was overnight if I sent the note after around 10 CST (I lived in Texas at the time), and within 3-6 hours if it was sent during anything approaching reasonable operational hours. Obviously there are exceptions to this, but for the most part, Ann’s responses were frighteningly rapid (inside of six hours), and the ones that weren’t were still within a day, at absolute most.
Here’s the thing about Ann, and about law school applications, that I’d like to add – you’re going to make mistakes on them. 3/4 of the time, when I wrote or formulated something, Ann thought it was great, and made some small edits so that it flowed better or that it sounded slightly more appealing. 1/4 of the time, I completely botched it up, and she saved me from a (retrospectively clear) disaster. The problem is that we, seeing it from the first person, more or less are completely unable to distinguish the former from the latter.
Ann has a certain demeanor about her that makes it exceptionally clear that she’s willing to take as much time as required with you to perfect your applications, but that you won’t need to obsess needlessly over them; she’s reassuring, but never gives you the impression that you’re being somehow flattered or, for lack of a more cordial word, BS-ed. She will give you realistic projections based on everything you tell her for where you can go, should go, and what might be the best fit for you – and most of all, in that grueling few months between when you apply and are accepted, she’ll still be there…and that was worth every cent, in and of itself.
I apologize that this ran a bit long; however, as you can tell, I simply can’t speak well enough of Ann, and I absolutely credit her with my success in the application process – and, as a result, my enjoying embarking on this experience (which is what law school is, to put it mildly) just as much as I am.
Final piece of advice that might save you some heartache: if she tells you you’re fine…you’re fine. It’ll save you worry. :)”
– Judd
UPDATE: Ann assisted Judd in transferring to a Top 10 school, where he graduated #1 in his class.