July 23, 2015

What it's Like to be Waitlisted for a Law School


I'm starting Law School here in 3 weeks and I've been a little nervous so I started searching high and low on the Mecca that is Pinterest for information that could prepare me for it. I was deeply disappointed to find that most the vast majority of pins were memes or cartoons about law school (super unhelpful) or people who graduated at the top of their class in undergrad and also from law school (not the most relatable for me). So I've decided to make my own blog because I feel like I can't find anyone in the same boat as me and it's killing me.

I took the LSAT in September of my senior year, and got an average score. Now, the first two years of my college career I was mostly a C/B student with some glorious A's thrown in; the second two years I was mostly a B/A student. With average grades, I wanted more than an average score and decided to try again in January to see if I could just get 4 points higher. I had already locked in one really good rec letter, so I pushed my application worries aside until the next semester. 


I then ended up making a worse score on my LSAT, playing phone tag with my "solid" rec letter and eventually never got the professor to send it in so I ended up with two rushed and half-assed rec letters, and I wrote my personal statement the day before the first application was due. My results were this:


Dream School - waitlisted

2nd Preference - application was deleted while I waited for my final rec letter
3rd Preference - denied
4th Preference - accepted and a minuscule scholarship offered
(I think I probably got every possible option when applying to a school)

But I found out in the order of 4, 1, 3, 2. After I got my first acceptance letter I got very confident in my chances of getting into other schools so I didn't accept the offer to the school. Then I had a mini heart attack when I received the other responses.


Of course, waitlists suck and even though I finished my senior year with my best grades and submitted a letter of continued interest to my dream school, by June I had still not heard anything so I called up the school that actually was interested in me and was reinstated into their school. I've found an apartment and am registered for class and am going to orientation, but it sucks not knowing if I'll end up getting to go to my dream school. I called them two days ago and unfortunately was told that there was no update on my waitlist status and that at the latest I'll know the first week of August.


The problem with being waitlisted is that it's basically as if you're a guy and go up to an attractive, but not out-of-your-league girl at a bar. You offer to buy her a drink and she lets you know that you seem nice, but she's waiting for better offers and if no hotter guys hit on her, then she'll let you buy her a drink at last call. You're rejected and embarrassed, but also know theres a slight chance that you'll hit a home run. You keep reminding yourself that Wes from How to Get Away With Murder was waitlisted until the last minute and it makes you feel just a tiny bit better about yourself. 


So that's where I'm at now with my law school journey—in school limbo. I'm not quite sure if this is supposed to be a divine test of perseverance and dedication or if this is one of those things that is a blessing in disguise. Hopefully, I'll find out soon enough and can adjust to phase two in this plan: being an actual law student.




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4 comments:

  1. I was scrolling pinterest looking for 2 things: advice for my blog or advice on law school and tah-dah! Pinterest worked it's magic and sent me here! I've been reading all of your posts about law school, dreaming of the day! I am currently a junior in undergrad, and our grade situation sounds the same! Would you ever consider doing a life-before-law-school post or perhaps a post about the process you went through and how you studied?! Just trying to gain more insight! :) Love the blog!!

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    1. Hey Hannah! I'm glad Pinterest helped you find me because I hated the lack of law school blogs on there just 2 years ago! (PS if you ever want to read about law school from more than just my perspective, check out the Law School Blogs group board on my Pinterest. PPS you're more than welcome to add your blog posts there too!) Thank you for that idea! I've been so busy blogging about my current state as a law student that I hadn't thought to write retrospectively about my experiences in undergrad. I'll definitely plan out some posts about those experiences as well :)

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  2. I am so happy that I found this blog! Your story is very similar to what I am experiencing now. Good GPA/Lowish LSAT score. I just sent out all of my law school applications. Fingers crossed! I can't wait to read more of your posts.

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    1. Good luck Liz 🀞🏼🀞🏼 I hope you get into your dream school!

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