Time to invoke my inner Frank Sinatra.
In today's Daily Iowan.
Showing posts with label Baylor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baylor. Show all posts
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Ol' Hawk Eyes
Iowa basketball is playing in the NIT championship today against Baylor at Madison Square Garden, in New York City.
Time to invoke my inner Frank Sinatra.
In today's Daily Iowan.
Time to invoke my inner Frank Sinatra.
In today's Daily Iowan.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
MSG
Iowa basketball plays today at Madison Square Garden, in the "NIT Final Four."
Not a brilliant cartoon, but hey, it's something.
In an interesting turn of events, BYU is also in the quarterfinals. So I got to include both Iowa and BYU in a cartoon. And if Iowa beats Maryland and BYU beats Baylor, then my two schools will be playing each other in the NIT championship. Whaddaya know.
When we lived in New York, we never saw Madison Square Garden. Although, when my family came to visit, I went with them to Penn Station to try and figure out how to get them from there to New Jersey to their hotel. Penn Station is directly under Madison Square Garden.
I remember Erin, Allisyn, and I walking by the Flatiron Building and seeing Madison Square, and thinking, "Oh, this must be where Madison Square Garden is." Of course, later I realized Madison Square Garden is above Penn Station, which is eight blocks north. It wasn't until preparing this cartoon did I come across the history and reasons why Madison Square is in two different places.
Not a brilliant cartoon, but hey, it's something.
In an interesting turn of events, BYU is also in the quarterfinals. So I got to include both Iowa and BYU in a cartoon. And if Iowa beats Maryland and BYU beats Baylor, then my two schools will be playing each other in the NIT championship. Whaddaya know.
When we lived in New York, we never saw Madison Square Garden. Although, when my family came to visit, I went with them to Penn Station to try and figure out how to get them from there to New Jersey to their hotel. Penn Station is directly under Madison Square Garden.
I remember Erin, Allisyn, and I walking by the Flatiron Building and seeing Madison Square, and thinking, "Oh, this must be where Madison Square Garden is." Of course, later I realized Madison Square Garden is above Penn Station, which is eight blocks north. It wasn't until preparing this cartoon did I come across the history and reasons why Madison Square is in two different places.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
30/30
It's been a long time since I've heard from a new law school, but after 11 days I finally got news about another one.
I got a congratulatory email from Washington!
So that's acceptance #10. Washington would be cool, because it would be cool to live in Seattle. But, to be honest, I'm not sure how good of a fit it would be for me. None of its curriculum strengths are anything I have a particular affinity for. And I know wherever I go to law school will probably be more liberal than where I got my bachelor's degree, and generally I welcome that (if nothing else to come into contact with more variety of opinions, which is always worthwhile). But when even part of the school's application is a bit of a culture shock to me ... I mean, I still applied, and I'm sure I would love going to school there. When I have 10 schools and counting to choose from, however, I pay attention to any advantage or disadvantage I can.
Washington and Oregon made it on my list because I thought it would be a good idea to include some Pacific Northwest schools -- at the very least to balance the two Texas schools on my list, haha. I find myself increasingly rarer a breed, because I really have no geographic preference for where to go to law school. People talk about wanting to go to a school because it's where they're from or they have family there ... I almost want to rule out a place because I'm from there or I have family there. Erin leans more toward staying near family than I do, but she also would prefer a new adventure in a new place to call our own, that no one claimed before we did. Call us crazy if you want to.
Anyway, I'm still waiting to hear from five others. But I think the only one that has a potential to shake things up is Duke. It would be cool to get into Stanford or Virginia for the bragging rights, but even if I got in it would be out of our price range. (I doubt I would get scholarships at either one, if I was waitlisted at lower-ranked schools. Plus, it takes a fortune just to live in Palo Alto.) And then there's UC Davis and Arizona State.
I also had some news this week about the other 30th-ranked school I applied to: North Carolina. I mentioned before that not only was I offered a scholarship, but a chance for membership in the Chancellors' Scholars. From what I can tell, the Chancellors' Scholars is like a "National Honor Society" for UNC Law and a ready-made alumni network. And, if I become a Chancellors' Scholar, I get a full tuition scholarship too. (Here's a page that gives a little more information on what the Chancellors' Scholars are.)
They pick 20 finalists out of each class (who at the very least get a 75%-tuition scholarship), and then interview them and select 10 to become Chancellors' Scholars. They had a special weekend for the 20 finalists at Chapel Hill, but I didn't travel out there and instead decided to do the interview through Skype.
This is where Erin really saved the day. A UNC admissions dean and I were emailing back and forth about the Chancellors' Scholars weekend, doing my interview via Skype, etc. When I first told him I wouldn't be able to make it to Chapel Hill, but still wanted to be interviewed, I did remind him that I lived in the Mountain Time Zone and that would need to be taken into account whenever my interview was scheduled. The dean responded to that, and after a few more emails told me my interview was scheduled for Tuesday at 11 a.m.
I assumed that meant 11 a.m. Mountain time. But the night before, Erin told me I should check what the email said. Even though I was sure enough that I didn't think it was necessary to check, I did anyway, because I'm a dutiful husband. And, after looking at the emails I realized that the dean and I talked about the Mountain Time Zone, and about 11 a.m. on Tuesday, but not at the same time. So Erin told me I should be ready and waiting on Skype at 9 a.m. our time, just to be safe.
Sure enough, the moment I logged into Skype at 8:59 a.m., Mountain time, there was a Skype call from the dean.
Erin, I don't know what I'd do without you.
The interview went well, I think. They asked me about my mission experience and my journalism experience, which are probably the two things that jump out the most from my resume and personal statement. They also asked me about bringing a family with me to law school. And then I asked them a little about UNC.
It was really cool to talk "live" with people at UNC. There was a 3L student, a 2008 graduate and a dean on the panel, who gave great perspectives. And I really enjoyed just talking about law school with other law school people.
It got me excited about North Carolina, but I'm waiting before I move any schools up or down any notches until I find out whether or not I'm a Chancellors' Scholar. If I'm not, I might still go to North Carolina. If I am, I might still go somewhere else. But I think if that perk is available, it will help me make a decision.
Fortunately, they should let me know their decision by the end of the week.
I got a congratulatory email from Washington!
So that's acceptance #10. Washington would be cool, because it would be cool to live in Seattle. But, to be honest, I'm not sure how good of a fit it would be for me. None of its curriculum strengths are anything I have a particular affinity for. And I know wherever I go to law school will probably be more liberal than where I got my bachelor's degree, and generally I welcome that (if nothing else to come into contact with more variety of opinions, which is always worthwhile). But when even part of the school's application is a bit of a culture shock to me ... I mean, I still applied, and I'm sure I would love going to school there. When I have 10 schools and counting to choose from, however, I pay attention to any advantage or disadvantage I can.
Washington and Oregon made it on my list because I thought it would be a good idea to include some Pacific Northwest schools -- at the very least to balance the two Texas schools on my list, haha. I find myself increasingly rarer a breed, because I really have no geographic preference for where to go to law school. People talk about wanting to go to a school because it's where they're from or they have family there ... I almost want to rule out a place because I'm from there or I have family there. Erin leans more toward staying near family than I do, but she also would prefer a new adventure in a new place to call our own, that no one claimed before we did. Call us crazy if you want to.
Anyway, I'm still waiting to hear from five others. But I think the only one that has a potential to shake things up is Duke. It would be cool to get into Stanford or Virginia for the bragging rights, but even if I got in it would be out of our price range. (I doubt I would get scholarships at either one, if I was waitlisted at lower-ranked schools. Plus, it takes a fortune just to live in Palo Alto.) And then there's UC Davis and Arizona State.
I also had some news this week about the other 30th-ranked school I applied to: North Carolina. I mentioned before that not only was I offered a scholarship, but a chance for membership in the Chancellors' Scholars. From what I can tell, the Chancellors' Scholars is like a "National Honor Society" for UNC Law and a ready-made alumni network. And, if I become a Chancellors' Scholar, I get a full tuition scholarship too. (Here's a page that gives a little more information on what the Chancellors' Scholars are.)
They pick 20 finalists out of each class (who at the very least get a 75%-tuition scholarship), and then interview them and select 10 to become Chancellors' Scholars. They had a special weekend for the 20 finalists at Chapel Hill, but I didn't travel out there and instead decided to do the interview through Skype.
This is where Erin really saved the day. A UNC admissions dean and I were emailing back and forth about the Chancellors' Scholars weekend, doing my interview via Skype, etc. When I first told him I wouldn't be able to make it to Chapel Hill, but still wanted to be interviewed, I did remind him that I lived in the Mountain Time Zone and that would need to be taken into account whenever my interview was scheduled. The dean responded to that, and after a few more emails told me my interview was scheduled for Tuesday at 11 a.m.
I assumed that meant 11 a.m. Mountain time. But the night before, Erin told me I should check what the email said. Even though I was sure enough that I didn't think it was necessary to check, I did anyway, because I'm a dutiful husband. And, after looking at the emails I realized that the dean and I talked about the Mountain Time Zone, and about 11 a.m. on Tuesday, but not at the same time. So Erin told me I should be ready and waiting on Skype at 9 a.m. our time, just to be safe.
Sure enough, the moment I logged into Skype at 8:59 a.m., Mountain time, there was a Skype call from the dean.
Erin, I don't know what I'd do without you.
The interview went well, I think. They asked me about my mission experience and my journalism experience, which are probably the two things that jump out the most from my resume and personal statement. They also asked me about bringing a family with me to law school. And then I asked them a little about UNC.
It was really cool to talk "live" with people at UNC. There was a 3L student, a 2008 graduate and a dean on the panel, who gave great perspectives. And I really enjoyed just talking about law school with other law school people.
It got me excited about North Carolina, but I'm waiting before I move any schools up or down any notches until I find out whether or not I'm a Chancellors' Scholar. If I'm not, I might still go to North Carolina. If I am, I might still go somewhere else. But I think if that perk is available, it will help me make a decision.
Fortunately, they should let me know their decision by the end of the week.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The Erin Scale Redux
Anyone remember "The Erin Scale" I created in December?
Probably not, because the only audience for my dorky charts is probably Erin. And she has to smile and nod, because she's married to me.
Anyway, I came up with a "mathematical formula" to help us reconcile all the different factors in choosing a law school that are beyond the school itself. The "formula" (I use the term very loosely, hence the quotation marks) calculates things like average debt, cost of living, distance from our families in Oregon and Texas, etc.
I'm realizing that these factors are becoming more and more important. Really, every school on my list is going to provide an amazing education and opportunities. Otherwise, they wouldn't be ranked in the top 100 in the country. So it's hard to decide based on only the education. Would I rather be a part of Texas' top-notch judicial clerkship program? Or Minnesota's prestigious legal writing program? Or Iowa's research assistant program? Or UC Davis' emphasis on public interest and service? Really, wherever I end up is going to be enjoyable and take me where I want to go (wherever that may be).
In the old "formula," I ranked each school by cost of tuition,* percentage of students who receive half- to full-tuition scholarships,* percentage of students who receive grants,* average debt after graduation, distance to Mosier, OR (my hometown), distance to Tomball, TX (Erin's hometown), cost of living, and annual premiums for school health insurance.**
In the new "formula," I added two categories: average debt to average salary ratio (I know the average starting salary for law school grads is usually skewed for multiple reasons, which was addressed in this blog post and comments) and annual mean temperature. Because, hey, why not live three years somewhere where the weather is nice? And the annual mean temperature will take into account bitter cold winters that are counterbalanced by paradisaical summers.
I also custom-made the new "formula" even more by personalizing the tuition figures. For example, both Baylor and Iowa offered full-tuition scholarships, so I can edit those tuition figures to simply say $0. I wasn't sure how to alter the average debt amounts, because if I only subtracted three years' worth of tuition, sometimes that average debt would become a negative number, which doesn't make sense. Debt of course comes from more than just tuition. So instead, I just ranked the debt of schools (as well as the debt to salary ratio) where I received a scholarship separate from the schools where I don't have a scholarship.
(And for schools where I was waitlisted, I did the opposite: I changed the percentage of students who receive half- to full-tuition scholarships to 0%. I guess it's not a sure thing, but I assume that barely even getting into the school would also mean there aren't any scholarships for me.)
Finally, I added weight to some categories. In categories that weren't as significant, I added to the rankings. For example, I added five to every score in the "distance to Mosier, OR" category, so instead of giving Oregon a score of 1 it got a 6. Still the best in that category among the other schools, but not as high in importance as Iowa or Baylor which got a 1 in cost of tuition.
Oh, and I also added Stanford, Duke and Northwestern, since they weren't on my list back when I made the old "formula."
(If any of this is confusing, and you care enough to ask me to explain more, just let me know.)
Anyway, want to see what we came up with?
1. Baylor (score: 95)
2. North Carolina (score: 111)
3. Texas (score: 115)
4. Minnesota (score: 116)
5. BYU (score: 117)
6. Iowa (score: 121)
7. Ohio State (score: 145)
8. Stanford (score: 147)
9. Utah (score: 149)
10. Arizona State (score: 150)
11. Duke (score: 151)
11. UC Davis (score: 151)
13. Notre Dame (score: 155)
13. Washington (score: 155)
15. Oregon (score: 156)
16. Virginia (score: 167)
17. Northwestern (score: 173)
Interesting? Ridiculous? Just a mess of numbers and words that don't make sense? What do you think?
Probably not, because the only audience for my dorky charts is probably Erin. And she has to smile and nod, because she's married to me.
Anyway, I came up with a "mathematical formula" to help us reconcile all the different factors in choosing a law school that are beyond the school itself. The "formula" (I use the term very loosely, hence the quotation marks) calculates things like average debt, cost of living, distance from our families in Oregon and Texas, etc.
I'm realizing that these factors are becoming more and more important. Really, every school on my list is going to provide an amazing education and opportunities. Otherwise, they wouldn't be ranked in the top 100 in the country. So it's hard to decide based on only the education. Would I rather be a part of Texas' top-notch judicial clerkship program? Or Minnesota's prestigious legal writing program? Or Iowa's research assistant program? Or UC Davis' emphasis on public interest and service? Really, wherever I end up is going to be enjoyable and take me where I want to go (wherever that may be).
In the old "formula," I ranked each school by cost of tuition,* percentage of students who receive half- to full-tuition scholarships,* percentage of students who receive grants,* average debt after graduation, distance to Mosier, OR (my hometown), distance to Tomball, TX (Erin's hometown), cost of living, and annual premiums for school health insurance.**
In the new "formula," I added two categories: average debt to average salary ratio (I know the average starting salary for law school grads is usually skewed for multiple reasons, which was addressed in this blog post and comments) and annual mean temperature. Because, hey, why not live three years somewhere where the weather is nice? And the annual mean temperature will take into account bitter cold winters that are counterbalanced by paradisaical summers.
I also custom-made the new "formula" even more by personalizing the tuition figures. For example, both Baylor and Iowa offered full-tuition scholarships, so I can edit those tuition figures to simply say $0. I wasn't sure how to alter the average debt amounts, because if I only subtracted three years' worth of tuition, sometimes that average debt would become a negative number, which doesn't make sense. Debt of course comes from more than just tuition. So instead, I just ranked the debt of schools (as well as the debt to salary ratio) where I received a scholarship separate from the schools where I don't have a scholarship.
(And for schools where I was waitlisted, I did the opposite: I changed the percentage of students who receive half- to full-tuition scholarships to 0%. I guess it's not a sure thing, but I assume that barely even getting into the school would also mean there aren't any scholarships for me.)
Finally, I added weight to some categories. In categories that weren't as significant, I added to the rankings. For example, I added five to every score in the "distance to Mosier, OR" category, so instead of giving Oregon a score of 1 it got a 6. Still the best in that category among the other schools, but not as high in importance as Iowa or Baylor which got a 1 in cost of tuition.
Oh, and I also added Stanford, Duke and Northwestern, since they weren't on my list back when I made the old "formula."
(If any of this is confusing, and you care enough to ask me to explain more, just let me know.)
Anyway, want to see what we came up with?
1. Baylor (score: 95)
2. North Carolina (score: 111)
3. Texas (score: 115)
4. Minnesota (score: 116)
5. BYU (score: 117)
6. Iowa (score: 121)
7. Ohio State (score: 145)
8. Stanford (score: 147)
9. Utah (score: 149)
10. Arizona State (score: 150)
11. Duke (score: 151)
11. UC Davis (score: 151)
13. Notre Dame (score: 155)
13. Washington (score: 155)
15. Oregon (score: 156)
16. Virginia (score: 167)
17. Northwestern (score: 173)
Interesting? Ridiculous? Just a mess of numbers and words that don't make sense? What do you think?
Thursday, February 16, 2012
North by Northwestern (and other law school news)
Another tap on the brakes of my Getting Into Law Schools Locomotive: I was waitlisted by Northwestern.
It's not that big of a disappointment, because Northwestern wasn't a school I had on my list from the get-go. I don't have any special inclination toward Northwestern or the Chicago area. The school showed up on my radar because they offered me an application fee waiver way back when I had a 161 on my LSAT. For such a high-ranked school to let me apply for free with only a 161, I was curious. So then when I had a 167, I thought I might as well try.
Oh well. I'm not too down about it. I was more disappointed by being waitlisted by Notre Dame, but even then it's not a big deal. Notre Dame would have been cool for a lot of reasons: a unique education with a Catholic perspective to add to my expertise; Erin, Allisyn and I have been to South Bend; and Notre Dame football. Notre Dame would have been cool, but it was only one among a few cool schools.
And, I might still fill out the paperwork for them to keep me on their list and reconsider me. Notre Dame and Northwestern couldn't tell me anything until May, which is past the deadlines for deposits at other schools. So I would probably decide on one of the schools that accepted me first. But, still, it's not like I was rejected by either Notre Dame or Northwestern.
More than the disappointment, I think, is actually a little bit of relief to still have only eight factors so far in this decision-making process.
That makes the score 8-2, or 8-2-0 if you count the waitlisting as a tie. :)
Well, enough about the schools I didn't get into! You're probably more curious about our final decision.
We are still a long ways off before we know for sure. We've set a deadline for ourselves of April 1, since that's the earliest of the schools' deadlines for paying deposits. And I think we are going to use as much of our time until then as we can.
But I will let you know that the schools I think about the most are Iowa and North Carolina. Iowa has really done a lot to "woo" me: I've received emails from at least five different students who also happen to be members of the Church, all telling me how great Iowa is. I also got a call from a dean who came to the law school fair, who remembered me and my family. The school is also a full-tuition scholarship. And, it's the school Erin is the most excited about.
At North Carolina though, I was not only accepted and offered a scholarship, but selected as a finalist for the Chancellors' Scholars. Which is about as fancy as it sounds. I think of it as a sort of "National Honor Society" at UNC Law. Plus, just for being a finalist I get at least a 75%-tuition scholarship, and if I become one of the top 10 finalists after an interview-by-Skype, I can get full tuition and get into the club.
UNC is on the East Coast and closer to Washington, D.C. and New York City, where a part of me wants to live or at least have another law internship or clerkship or something. Not that I couldn't go to New York or D.C. from Iowa or somewhere else, but it would probably be easier from UNC. Also, I think there are more opportunities at UNC for going into immigration law, which is one of my many ideas for a career. And, the weather is better in Chapel Hill. Plus, UNC basketball.
But whenever I think to myself, "Okay, so it's between Iowa or North Carolina," then I remember, "Wait! I also got excepted to Texas and Minnesota! And Ohio State!" I'm still waiting to find out if I got a scholarship at Ohio State. Minnesota offered half-tuition, and as far as I know I wouldn't get one at Texas. But maybe it would be worth going to Texas, I don't know. And, I shouldn't automatically rule out BYU, Utah or Baylor.
Anyway, that's the thought process we're going through. What do you guys think?
It's not that big of a disappointment, because Northwestern wasn't a school I had on my list from the get-go. I don't have any special inclination toward Northwestern or the Chicago area. The school showed up on my radar because they offered me an application fee waiver way back when I had a 161 on my LSAT. For such a high-ranked school to let me apply for free with only a 161, I was curious. So then when I had a 167, I thought I might as well try.
Oh well. I'm not too down about it. I was more disappointed by being waitlisted by Notre Dame, but even then it's not a big deal. Notre Dame would have been cool for a lot of reasons: a unique education with a Catholic perspective to add to my expertise; Erin, Allisyn and I have been to South Bend; and Notre Dame football. Notre Dame would have been cool, but it was only one among a few cool schools.
And, I might still fill out the paperwork for them to keep me on their list and reconsider me. Notre Dame and Northwestern couldn't tell me anything until May, which is past the deadlines for deposits at other schools. So I would probably decide on one of the schools that accepted me first. But, still, it's not like I was rejected by either Notre Dame or Northwestern.
More than the disappointment, I think, is actually a little bit of relief to still have only eight factors so far in this decision-making process.
That makes the score 8-2, or 8-2-0 if you count the waitlisting as a tie. :)
Well, enough about the schools I didn't get into! You're probably more curious about our final decision.
We are still a long ways off before we know for sure. We've set a deadline for ourselves of April 1, since that's the earliest of the schools' deadlines for paying deposits. And I think we are going to use as much of our time until then as we can.
But I will let you know that the schools I think about the most are Iowa and North Carolina. Iowa has really done a lot to "woo" me: I've received emails from at least five different students who also happen to be members of the Church, all telling me how great Iowa is. I also got a call from a dean who came to the law school fair, who remembered me and my family. The school is also a full-tuition scholarship. And, it's the school Erin is the most excited about.
At North Carolina though, I was not only accepted and offered a scholarship, but selected as a finalist for the Chancellors' Scholars. Which is about as fancy as it sounds. I think of it as a sort of "National Honor Society" at UNC Law. Plus, just for being a finalist I get at least a 75%-tuition scholarship, and if I become one of the top 10 finalists after an interview-by-Skype, I can get full tuition and get into the club.
UNC is on the East Coast and closer to Washington, D.C. and New York City, where a part of me wants to live or at least have another law internship or clerkship or something. Not that I couldn't go to New York or D.C. from Iowa or somewhere else, but it would probably be easier from UNC. Also, I think there are more opportunities at UNC for going into immigration law, which is one of my many ideas for a career. And, the weather is better in Chapel Hill. Plus, UNC basketball.
But whenever I think to myself, "Okay, so it's between Iowa or North Carolina," then I remember, "Wait! I also got excepted to Texas and Minnesota! And Ohio State!" I'm still waiting to find out if I got a scholarship at Ohio State. Minnesota offered half-tuition, and as far as I know I wouldn't get one at Texas. But maybe it would be worth going to Texas, I don't know. And, I shouldn't automatically rule out BYU, Utah or Baylor.
Anyway, that's the thought process we're going through. What do you guys think?
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Baylorama!
So in the same day I found out I was accepted to Texas, the notification letter came from Baylor. And I got in!
It's pretty much what I was expecting for Baylor, so I wasn't surprised. But what did surprise me was that I was offered a full-tuition scholarship for three years!
So with only two offers so far, my decision is already complicated. It's only going to get worse...
Now I'm 2 for 2! Keeping the streak alive!
It's pretty much what I was expecting for Baylor, so I wasn't surprised. But what did surprise me was that I was offered a full-tuition scholarship for three years!
So with only two offers so far, my decision is already complicated. It's only going to get worse...
Now I'm 2 for 2! Keeping the streak alive!
Friday, January 20, 2012
I feel accepted
I got my first acceptance today!
Earlier I posted that Baylor had made a decision, and that their letter was in the mail. But another school beat them.
I got a voice mail message from the University of Texas, saying "Congratulations" and that more details will be mailed to me.
It's pretty exciting news! Texas was a school I was reaching for, and even after my second LSAT score Texas still wasn't a sure thing. So to be accepted there is a good omen.
Even if I got rejected by every other school, at least I have Texas! Which ain't a bad school. So I'm set. Things can only go up from here.
I'm 1 for 1! Only 16 more to go.
Earlier I posted that Baylor had made a decision, and that their letter was in the mail. But another school beat them.
I got a voice mail message from the University of Texas, saying "Congratulations" and that more details will be mailed to me.
 |
| http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/639245/texas-longhorns-vs.-texas-am-aggies-football2.jpg |
It's pretty exciting news! Texas was a school I was reaching for, and even after my second LSAT score Texas still wasn't a sure thing. So to be accepted there is a good omen.
Even if I got rejected by every other school, at least I have Texas! Which ain't a bad school. So I'm set. Things can only go up from here.
I'm 1 for 1! Only 16 more to go.
Monday, January 16, 2012
In Like Flynn
All my law school applications are in!
I spent Saturday morning finalizing them. I still had BYU and Utah applications left over, plus I added Duke, Northwestern and Stanford after my surprisingly high LSAT score.
The BYU and Utah applications took longer because I wanted to write a personal statement from scratch, instead of basically reviving my original Texas and North Carolina statements and adapting them to each school.
The Stanford and BYU processes still aren't completely done. I need to do an ecclesiastical endorsement interview with my bishop for BYU. And for Stanford, I'm still waiting to see if I can get a fee waiver. I'm hesitant to pay the $100 fee for a school I might not get into and might not go to even if I did get in.
Other than those two things, I just sit back and wait.
Most of the schools I've applied to have a handy way to check my application status online. And I just so happened to discover that Baylor has already made a decision and the letter is in the mail! The time has come for decisions to start rolling in!
I spent Saturday morning finalizing them. I still had BYU and Utah applications left over, plus I added Duke, Northwestern and Stanford after my surprisingly high LSAT score.
The BYU and Utah applications took longer because I wanted to write a personal statement from scratch, instead of basically reviving my original Texas and North Carolina statements and adapting them to each school.
The Stanford and BYU processes still aren't completely done. I need to do an ecclesiastical endorsement interview with my bishop for BYU. And for Stanford, I'm still waiting to see if I can get a fee waiver. I'm hesitant to pay the $100 fee for a school I might not get into and might not go to even if I did get in.
Other than those two things, I just sit back and wait.
Most of the schools I've applied to have a handy way to check my application status online. And I just so happened to discover that Baylor has already made a decision and the letter is in the mail! The time has come for decisions to start rolling in!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
On a roll
I said completing law school applications would be one of my main activities this holiday break, and boy has it been. Today I finished application #10!
I finished:
Texas (Nov. 6)
North Carolina (Nov. 7)
Notre Dame (Nov. 27)
Virginia (Dec. 21)
Ohio State (Dec. 21)
Minnesota (Dec. 22)
Iowa (Dec. 27)
Washington (Dec. 28)
Arizona State (Dec. 28)
Baylor (Dec. 28)
All I have left now is UC Davis, Oregon, Utah and BYU. I hope to finish them before going back to Provo, except I might have left my Oregon fee waiver code at home so I'll wait until I'm back before turning that one in.
Whew!
It sure is nice to get those applications and personal statements out of the way. If I could do this process over again I would have done some things differently, but I feel like I'm doing a fairly good job on these.
After finishing those last four applications, the hard part comes: the waiting.
Speaking of waiting, I've been really antsy about LSAT scores this week. If the December results followed the same schedule as the October results, then my score would have come on Monday. Then I remembered that Monday was a federal holiday, so I didn't expect them to come then. But it could be any day now ... but nothing so far. According to some experts, it should be this week.
I've been watching for #LSAT on the ol' Twitter, and there hasn't been much. I guess most of the ripples that are on Twitter have been caused by me:
That anxious dude would be me, haha.
I found this cool Law School Predictor website that takes your LSAT score and GPA and tells you if you'll be denied, accepted or somewhere in between at the top 100 law schools.
Here are the calculations based on my GPA and October LSAT score:
So the only sure thing according to this formula is Oregon, but the only sure rejections are from Virginia and Texas.
Here's what the chart looks like based on other LSAT score possibilities:
So let's hope for good news tomorrow, or whenever my LSAT score comes!
I finished:
Texas (Nov. 6)
North Carolina (Nov. 7)
Notre Dame (Nov. 27)
Virginia (Dec. 21)
Ohio State (Dec. 21)
Minnesota (Dec. 22)
Iowa (Dec. 27)
Washington (Dec. 28)
Arizona State (Dec. 28)
Baylor (Dec. 28)
All I have left now is UC Davis, Oregon, Utah and BYU. I hope to finish them before going back to Provo, except I might have left my Oregon fee waiver code at home so I'll wait until I'm back before turning that one in.
Whew!
It sure is nice to get those applications and personal statements out of the way. If I could do this process over again I would have done some things differently, but I feel like I'm doing a fairly good job on these.
After finishing those last four applications, the hard part comes: the waiting.
Speaking of waiting, I've been really antsy about LSAT scores this week. If the December results followed the same schedule as the October results, then my score would have come on Monday. Then I remembered that Monday was a federal holiday, so I didn't expect them to come then. But it could be any day now ... but nothing so far. According to some experts, it should be this week.
I've been watching for #LSAT on the ol' Twitter, and there hasn't been much. I guess most of the ripples that are on Twitter have been caused by me:
That anxious dude would be me, haha.
--------------------------------------------
I found this cool Law School Predictor website that takes your LSAT score and GPA and tells you if you'll be denied, accepted or somewhere in between at the top 100 law schools.
Here are the calculations based on my GPA and October LSAT score:
So the only sure thing according to this formula is Oregon, but the only sure rejections are from Virginia and Texas.
Here's what the chart looks like based on other LSAT score possibilities:
(click to see closer view)
So let's hope for good news tomorrow, or whenever my LSAT score comes!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The Erin Scale
Although I still have a few more things to do before actually choosing a law school (for example, being accepted into a law school), I came up with a nifty mathematical formula to take into account the side elements in choosing a school. I call it "The Erin Scale."
I'm thinking about the education, prestige and opportunities that each school offers. But Erin, as the worrier of the family, is more focused on tuition costs, debt, cost of living in a new town, etc. Plus, Erin thinks about how far away a school is from our families, whereas for me it's almost a non-factor.
With the list of 14 schools I'm applying to, I found the cost of tuition, percentage of students who receive half- to full-tuition scholarships, percentage of students who receive grants, average debt after graduation, distance to Mosier, OR (my hometown), distance to Tomball, TX (Erin's hometown), cost of living, and annual premiums for school health insurance.* Then, I ranked each school in each category. Finally, I added each school's ranking in each category to come up with the "Erin score."
Ready to see the results?
44 on The Erin Scale - BYU
45 - Baylor
48 - Texas
51 - Ohio State
51 - Utah
53 - Minnesota
54 - North Carolina
62 - Notre Dame
62 - Iowa
63 - Arizona State
69 - UC Davis
69 - Washington
75 - Oregon
91 - Virginia
BYU was #1 in lowest tuition and lowest debt, #3 in health insurance cost and #5 in cost of living, percentage of students who get scholarships and in distance from Mosier.
I'm pretty sure we would still pick some schools before picking BYU, because even though distance from home was one component of The Erin Scale we still want some sort of adventurous unfamiliarity.
But, it's interesting nonetheless.
Here's how all the schools ranked in each category:
Annual tuition:
1 - BYU - $10,280**
2 - Utah - $18,231**
3 - Oregon - $29,953
4 - North Carolina - $31,218
5 - Arizona State - $35,147
6 - Washington - $37,299
7 - Ohio State - $39,418
8 - Minnesota - $40,388
9 - Notre Dame - $40,805
10 - Baylor - $40,904
11 - Iowa - $42,922
12 - Texas - $44,638
13 - Virginia - $47,500
14 - UC Davis - $50,595
Percentage of students who are given half- to full-tuition scholarships:
1 - Baylor - 29.9%
2 - UC Davis - 24.4%
3 - Iowa - 22.4%
4 - Minnesota - 19.2%
5 - BYU - 18.3%
6 - Ohio State - 14.7%
7 - Utah - 13.4%
7 - Arizona State - 13.4%
9 - Notre Dame - 13.0%
10 - Texas - 12.8%
11 - North Carolina - 10.7%
12 - Virginia - 9.0%
13 - Washington - 5.3%
14 - Oregon - 4.2%
Percentage of students who are given grants:
1 - Texas - 91.2%
2 - North Carolina - 85.4%
3 - Baylor - 85.2%
4 - UC Davis - 81.7%
5 - Ohio State - 78.8%
6 - Notre Dame - 77.2%
7 - Minnesota - 62.7%
8 - Oregon - 56.1%
9 - Utah - 54.3%
10 - Virginia - 51.3%
11 - Washington - 48.7%
12 - Arizona State - 48.6%
13 - Iowa - 30.5%
14 - BYU - 30.4%
Average debt:
1 - BYU - $52,315
2 - North Carolina - $60,212
3 - Utah - $61,665
4 - Washington - $63,393
5 - Texas - $78,408
6 - Ohio State - $81,408
7 - Iowa - $87,891
8 - Arizona State - $89,038
9 - Minnesota - $91,314
10 - Oregon - $91,353
11 - Notre Dame - $92,310
12 - UC Davis - $98,179
13 - Baylor - $100,795
14 - Virginia - $107,384
Distance to Mosier, OR:
1 - Oregon - 177 miles
2 - Washington - 234
3 - UC Davis - 576
4 - Utah - 698
5 - BYU - 750
6 - Arizona State - 1,277
7 - Minnesota - 1,661
8 - Iowa - 1,835
9 - Texas - 1,999
10 - Baylor - 2,047
11 - Notre Dame - 2,131
12 - Ohio State - 2,347
13 - Virginia - 2,730
14 - North Carolina - 2,770
Distance to Tomball, TX:
1 - Texas - 139 miles
2 - Baylor - 158
3 - Iowa - 1,057
4 - Notre Dame - 1,157
5 - Ohio State - 1,169
6 - Arizona State - 1,184
7 - Minnesota - 1,185
8 - North Carolina - 1,199
9 - Virginia - 1,321
10 - BYU - 1,413
11 - Utah - 1,457
12 - UC Davis - 1,957
13 - Washington - 2,360
14 - Oregon - 2,419
Cost of living (compared to Provo, UT):
1 - Baylor - -24%
2 - Notre Dame - -19%
3 - Ohio State - -10%
4 - Iowa - -1%
5 - BYU - 0%
6 - Texas - 3%
7 - Arizona State - 4%
7 - Utah - 4%
9 - Minnesota - 8%
9 - Virginia - 8%
11 - Oregon - 13%
12 - North Carolina - 30%
13 - UC Davis - 44%
14 - Washington - 50%
Annual premiums for school health insurance plan:
1 - North Carolina - $2,364 plus summer term***
2 - Minnesota - $4,368
3 - BYU - $4,680
4 - Texas - $4,710
5 - Baylor - $4,864
6 - Washington - $4,908
7 - Ohio State - $5,054
8 - Utah - $5,212
9 - UC Davis - $5,254
10 - Notre Dame - $5,828
11 - Virginia - $5,834
12 - Arizona State - $6,328
13 - Iowa - $6,720
14 - Oregon - $7,164
And, the scores in each category:
Arizona State - 5 + 7 + 12 + 8 + 6 + 6 + 7 + 12
Baylor - 10 + 1 + 3 + 13 + 10 + 2 + 1 + 5
BYU - 1 + 5 + 14 + 1 + 5 + 10 + 5 + 3
Iowa - 11 + 3 + 13 + 7 + 8 + 3 + 4 + 13
Minnesota - 8 + 4 + 7 + 9 + 7 + 7 + 9 + 2
North Carolina - 4 + 11 + 2 + 2 + 14 + 8 +12 + 1
Notre Dame - 9 + 9 + 6 + 11 + 11 + 4 + 2 + 10
Ohio State - 7 + 6 + 5 + 6 + 12 + 5 + 3 + 7
Oregon - 3 + 14 + 8 + 10 + 1 + 14 + 11 + 14
Texas - 12 + 10 + 1 + 5 + 9 + 1 + 6 + 4
UC Davis - 14 + 2 + 4 + 12 + 3 + 12 + 13 + 9
Utah - 2 + 7 + 9 + 3 + 4 + 11 + 7 + 8
Virginia - 13 + 12 + 10 + 14 + 13 + 9 + 9 + 11
Washington - 6 + 13 + 11 + 4 + 2 + 13 + 14 + 6
For all you law school experts out there: what do you think of The Erin Scale? Should I give more weight to certain categories, like more weight to tuition and debt and less to who gets scholarships? Should there be some adjustments for schools that are only a few percentage points or dollars apart?
Also, last night I finished two more personal statements, for Virginia and Ohio State. Five out of 14 applications done! And here's something awesome: for those five, I've only had to pay for two of them and had fee waivers for the rest!
I've learned something that I maybe wish I had known before. My initial strategy was to apply roughly in order from toughest schools to easiest schools, because the head start could be an advantage for those tougher schools. So that also means the most important personal statements are being written and submitted first.
But as I'm borrowing parts from previous personal statements, I'm finding mistakes that I let slip through as the statements were sent to Texas, North Carolina and Notre Dame! Silly mistakes, like saying "As an employee at BYU Multicultural Student Services, I was in charge of the BYU's Celebration of Culture events ..." Oh well. We'll see what happens.
* The number I chose for my calculations was the cost for a student and a spouse, but realistically we would be paying to add child(ren) to the plan or a family plan.
** In-state tuition sure is nice!
*** I couldn't find a figure for an annual cost or for a summer term, just a price for fall and spring terms without summer term.
I'm thinking about the education, prestige and opportunities that each school offers. But Erin, as the worrier of the family, is more focused on tuition costs, debt, cost of living in a new town, etc. Plus, Erin thinks about how far away a school is from our families, whereas for me it's almost a non-factor.
With the list of 14 schools I'm applying to, I found the cost of tuition, percentage of students who receive half- to full-tuition scholarships, percentage of students who receive grants, average debt after graduation, distance to Mosier, OR (my hometown), distance to Tomball, TX (Erin's hometown), cost of living, and annual premiums for school health insurance.* Then, I ranked each school in each category. Finally, I added each school's ranking in each category to come up with the "Erin score."
Ready to see the results?
44 on The Erin Scale - BYU
45 - Baylor
48 - Texas
51 - Ohio State
51 - Utah
53 - Minnesota
54 - North Carolina
62 - Notre Dame
62 - Iowa
63 - Arizona State
69 - UC Davis
69 - Washington
75 - Oregon
91 - Virginia
BYU was #1 in lowest tuition and lowest debt, #3 in health insurance cost and #5 in cost of living, percentage of students who get scholarships and in distance from Mosier.
I'm pretty sure we would still pick some schools before picking BYU, because even though distance from home was one component of The Erin Scale we still want some sort of adventurous unfamiliarity.
But, it's interesting nonetheless.
Here's how all the schools ranked in each category:
Annual tuition:
1 - BYU - $10,280**
2 - Utah - $18,231**
3 - Oregon - $29,953
4 - North Carolina - $31,218
5 - Arizona State - $35,147
6 - Washington - $37,299
7 - Ohio State - $39,418
8 - Minnesota - $40,388
9 - Notre Dame - $40,805
10 - Baylor - $40,904
11 - Iowa - $42,922
12 - Texas - $44,638
13 - Virginia - $47,500
14 - UC Davis - $50,595
Percentage of students who are given half- to full-tuition scholarships:
1 - Baylor - 29.9%
2 - UC Davis - 24.4%
3 - Iowa - 22.4%
4 - Minnesota - 19.2%
5 - BYU - 18.3%
6 - Ohio State - 14.7%
7 - Utah - 13.4%
7 - Arizona State - 13.4%
9 - Notre Dame - 13.0%
10 - Texas - 12.8%
11 - North Carolina - 10.7%
12 - Virginia - 9.0%
13 - Washington - 5.3%
14 - Oregon - 4.2%
Percentage of students who are given grants:
1 - Texas - 91.2%
2 - North Carolina - 85.4%
3 - Baylor - 85.2%
4 - UC Davis - 81.7%
5 - Ohio State - 78.8%
6 - Notre Dame - 77.2%
7 - Minnesota - 62.7%
8 - Oregon - 56.1%
9 - Utah - 54.3%
10 - Virginia - 51.3%
11 - Washington - 48.7%
12 - Arizona State - 48.6%
13 - Iowa - 30.5%
14 - BYU - 30.4%
Average debt:
1 - BYU - $52,315
2 - North Carolina - $60,212
3 - Utah - $61,665
4 - Washington - $63,393
5 - Texas - $78,408
6 - Ohio State - $81,408
7 - Iowa - $87,891
8 - Arizona State - $89,038
9 - Minnesota - $91,314
10 - Oregon - $91,353
11 - Notre Dame - $92,310
12 - UC Davis - $98,179
13 - Baylor - $100,795
14 - Virginia - $107,384
Distance to Mosier, OR:
1 - Oregon - 177 miles
2 - Washington - 234
3 - UC Davis - 576
4 - Utah - 698
5 - BYU - 750
6 - Arizona State - 1,277
7 - Minnesota - 1,661
8 - Iowa - 1,835
9 - Texas - 1,999
10 - Baylor - 2,047
11 - Notre Dame - 2,131
12 - Ohio State - 2,347
13 - Virginia - 2,730
14 - North Carolina - 2,770
Distance to Tomball, TX:
1 - Texas - 139 miles
2 - Baylor - 158
3 - Iowa - 1,057
4 - Notre Dame - 1,157
5 - Ohio State - 1,169
6 - Arizona State - 1,184
7 - Minnesota - 1,185
8 - North Carolina - 1,199
9 - Virginia - 1,321
10 - BYU - 1,413
11 - Utah - 1,457
12 - UC Davis - 1,957
13 - Washington - 2,360
14 - Oregon - 2,419
Cost of living (compared to Provo, UT):
1 - Baylor - -24%
2 - Notre Dame - -19%
3 - Ohio State - -10%
4 - Iowa - -1%
5 - BYU - 0%
6 - Texas - 3%
7 - Arizona State - 4%
7 - Utah - 4%
9 - Minnesota - 8%
9 - Virginia - 8%
11 - Oregon - 13%
12 - North Carolina - 30%
13 - UC Davis - 44%
14 - Washington - 50%
Annual premiums for school health insurance plan:
1 - North Carolina - $2,364 plus summer term***
2 - Minnesota - $4,368
3 - BYU - $4,680
4 - Texas - $4,710
5 - Baylor - $4,864
6 - Washington - $4,908
7 - Ohio State - $5,054
8 - Utah - $5,212
9 - UC Davis - $5,254
10 - Notre Dame - $5,828
11 - Virginia - $5,834
12 - Arizona State - $6,328
13 - Iowa - $6,720
14 - Oregon - $7,164
And, the scores in each category:
Arizona State - 5 + 7 + 12 + 8 + 6 + 6 + 7 + 12
Baylor - 10 + 1 + 3 + 13 + 10 + 2 + 1 + 5
BYU - 1 + 5 + 14 + 1 + 5 + 10 + 5 + 3
Iowa - 11 + 3 + 13 + 7 + 8 + 3 + 4 + 13
Minnesota - 8 + 4 + 7 + 9 + 7 + 7 + 9 + 2
North Carolina - 4 + 11 + 2 + 2 + 14 + 8 +12 + 1
Notre Dame - 9 + 9 + 6 + 11 + 11 + 4 + 2 + 10
Ohio State - 7 + 6 + 5 + 6 + 12 + 5 + 3 + 7
Oregon - 3 + 14 + 8 + 10 + 1 + 14 + 11 + 14
Texas - 12 + 10 + 1 + 5 + 9 + 1 + 6 + 4
UC Davis - 14 + 2 + 4 + 12 + 3 + 12 + 13 + 9
Utah - 2 + 7 + 9 + 3 + 4 + 11 + 7 + 8
Virginia - 13 + 12 + 10 + 14 + 13 + 9 + 9 + 11
Washington - 6 + 13 + 11 + 4 + 2 + 13 + 14 + 6
For all you law school experts out there: what do you think of The Erin Scale? Should I give more weight to certain categories, like more weight to tuition and debt and less to who gets scholarships? Should there be some adjustments for schools that are only a few percentage points or dollars apart?
------------------------------------
Also, last night I finished two more personal statements, for Virginia and Ohio State. Five out of 14 applications done! And here's something awesome: for those five, I've only had to pay for two of them and had fee waivers for the rest!
I've learned something that I maybe wish I had known before. My initial strategy was to apply roughly in order from toughest schools to easiest schools, because the head start could be an advantage for those tougher schools. So that also means the most important personal statements are being written and submitted first.
But as I'm borrowing parts from previous personal statements, I'm finding mistakes that I let slip through as the statements were sent to Texas, North Carolina and Notre Dame! Silly mistakes, like saying "As an employee at BYU Multicultural Student Services, I was in charge of the BYU's Celebration of Culture events ..." Oh well. We'll see what happens.
* The number I chose for my calculations was the cost for a student and a spouse, but realistically we would be paying to add child(ren) to the plan or a family plan.
** In-state tuition sure is nice!
*** I couldn't find a figure for an annual cost or for a summer term, just a price for fall and spring terms without summer term.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Preparing for Round 2
I haven't posted any LSAT updates in a couple weeks, so this is my attempt at catching up.
For the past two weeks in our LSAT prep class, the tests have been extended to five sections, just like the real test. And, just like the real test, one of the sections isn't graded. That means that my practice test on October 29 and on November 5 each have three possible scores, depending on which one doesn't count.
And, on October 29, it just so happened that the practice test on the schedule was one I did on my own in September. I had been trying to avoid practicing with tests that were going to come up later in my class, but I guess I let one slip past. So, of course, I did pretty amazing on that test since I had done it before and remembered most of the questions I got wrong and why.
Anyway, here's what I got:
October 29: 167 or 165 or 164
November 5: 165 or 163 or 162
I'm feeling pretty good about it. And, my average score since the October LSAT is 163.4. If I can get a 164 or 165 for the December LSAT, that will work out pretty well for me.
Charts:
----------------------------------------------
For the past two weeks in our LSAT prep class, the tests have been extended to five sections, just like the real test. And, just like the real test, one of the sections isn't graded. That means that my practice test on October 29 and on November 5 each have three possible scores, depending on which one doesn't count.
And, on October 29, it just so happened that the practice test on the schedule was one I did on my own in September. I had been trying to avoid practicing with tests that were going to come up later in my class, but I guess I let one slip past. So, of course, I did pretty amazing on that test since I had done it before and remembered most of the questions I got wrong and why.
Anyway, here's what I got:
October 29: 167 or 165 or 164
November 5: 165 or 163 or 162
I'm feeling pretty good about it. And, my average score since the October LSAT is 163.4. If I can get a 164 or 165 for the December LSAT, that will work out pretty well for me.
Charts:
----------------------------------------------
In other news, I have officially completed a couple of applications! My applications to Texas and North Carolina are submitted. (Thanks to all of you who helped me with my personal statements.) I think all my other applications just need a personal statement and they're done, so I'll probably send in the rest of mine soon.
Oh, and there have been some changes to the "official" list. Erin and I decided to add Ohio State. And we also figured, hey, might as well replace Willamette and Gonzaga with one Pacific Northwest school that I have a fee waiver for and is ranked higher: Oregon.
So, here's my list as of now:
Saturday, October 22, 2011
The law school fairest of them all
Hey, law school fans,
On Wednesday, there was a law school fair in the ballroom of the Wilkinson Center. The BYU Pre-Law office doesn't do a great job of getting the word out...the way I found out about it was a junk email from Michigan State. Then, all my law school junk emails started telling me about this law school fair, some of them from schools I was actually interested in and a few that said I could get an application fee waiver if I stopped by their table at the fair. Awesome.
Even though I didn't really do that much, for some reason it was really fun. I guess it really is like a fair, or like a carnival. But instead of cotton candy and huge teddy bears, you get to dream about the next phase of your life. Erin and I both became even more thrilled by the idea of a new adventure. And there were so many options!
The ballroom at the Wilkinson Center was full of schools, and there was a pretty good representation. Harvard, Yale and Princeton weren't there. But Cornell and Columbia were. And, it ranged all the way down to the bottom tier schools that send me junk email all the time. It was just cool to see all these great schools from all over the country all at one place.
All of the schools in my narrowed-down list were there, which was a nice bonus. In addition, there were a few more schools that for one reason or another convinced us enough that we'll maybe apply to them too (the fee waivers helped):
Iowa - Because we're pretty much open to moving anywhere in the country, I didn't really know how to choose among all the state schools in the country. I know some state schools stand out, like Michigan and Texas. But I didn't really know the differences among Iowa and Wisconsin and Georgia and New Mexico or most anywhere else. But the guys at the Iowa booth made us feel pretty good about it, especially Erin. Erin, of course, was really big on finding out what family life would be like at each school, and what life would be like for the "law school widows." And she felt really good about Iowa, which means I do too.
Virginia - This school is one of the best state schools, and ranked ninth overall. I've always known it was a great school, and I think it would be cool to live in Virginia. But I wasn't planning on applying because I didn't think I could get in. But, this was one of the schools that had a fee waiver. So, hey, I might not get in, but it's worth $16 for the CAS and $0 for the application. (Plus, Allisyn got some swag from them - a little teddy bear.)
Minnesota - The lady at the Minnesota table was really nice. Kind of a grandmotherly type, and talked about the great family environment there.
We picked up a whole backpackfull of brochures, pamphlets, business cards - plus a pen from Washington and a pen from Notre Dame. And in addition to that Virginia bear, Oregon was handing out rubber duckies holding a gavel and a law book. Pretty clever.
We got stuff from all these schools:
Already on my list
Texas
Notre Dame
UC Davis
North Carolina
Washington
Arizona State
BYU
Utah
Baylor
Gonzaga
Willamette
Will probably go on my list
Virginia
Minnesota
Iowa
Ones I would maybe apply to only if my LSAT is surprisingly higher than I expected
Stanford
Michigan
Columbia
UC Berkeley
Vanderbilt
Ones I got fee waivers for
Utah
BYU
Virginia
Oklahoma
Vermont
Texas Tech
Oregon
Akron (this one I didn't pick up, it was given to me by a desperate University of Akron representative)
(and Baylor and Willamette are already free)
Ones I would maybe apply to only if my LSAT is surprisingly lower than I expected
Florida
Ohio State
Temple
Others I just picked up for fun (either because they make me think of good college sports, or "The Office")
Nebraska
Alabama
Cornell
Syracuse
The guy representing Stanford was none other than Tony Montague, one of my MTC teachers! It was really cool to see him. I've run into him on campus a couple times since being home from my mission, but that's all. I had no idea he was even at Stanford. So that was cool. (Too bad that he can't pull some strings, haha. Even if I could get into Stanford, though, it is super expensive to live there. Tony said the apartment he and his family live in is $1,700 a month. And that's student housing. Yikes.)
Probably the best sales pitch came from Baylor. The girl was super nice, told us her apartment that has three bedrooms and two bathrooms was only $600 a month (that's less than we're paying in Provo for two bedrooms and one bathroom), and that Baylor has a spring term and a summer term, which might be better than finding a job for the nine months between graduating from BYU and moving to law school. Baylor also got me thinking about the benefits of being "a big fish in a little pond." Even if I could get into Virginia or Notre Dame, it might be worth going to a school like Baylor. It would be easier to be in the top of my class (which, one person told me, is noticed by employers no matter what school you went to) or on the law review. So, something to think about.
Anyway, I've got a big stack of brochures to read!
I can't wait for law school.
P.S.: If you want to read Erin's blog post about the law school fair, click here.
On Wednesday, there was a law school fair in the ballroom of the Wilkinson Center. The BYU Pre-Law office doesn't do a great job of getting the word out...the way I found out about it was a junk email from Michigan State. Then, all my law school junk emails started telling me about this law school fair, some of them from schools I was actually interested in and a few that said I could get an application fee waiver if I stopped by their table at the fair. Awesome.
So I was pretty excited to go. I had all kinds of things I wanted to find out, but at the same time I didn't really know what to ask. But I got some advice from my law school pals Bert van Uitert, Erin Kulesus and Aimee Brown (thanks, guys!). Erin and Allisyn were really excited to go with me too.
Even though I didn't really do that much, for some reason it was really fun. I guess it really is like a fair, or like a carnival. But instead of cotton candy and huge teddy bears, you get to dream about the next phase of your life. Erin and I both became even more thrilled by the idea of a new adventure. And there were so many options!
The ballroom at the Wilkinson Center was full of schools, and there was a pretty good representation. Harvard, Yale and Princeton weren't there. But Cornell and Columbia were. And, it ranged all the way down to the bottom tier schools that send me junk email all the time. It was just cool to see all these great schools from all over the country all at one place.
All of the schools in my narrowed-down list were there, which was a nice bonus. In addition, there were a few more schools that for one reason or another convinced us enough that we'll maybe apply to them too (the fee waivers helped):
We picked up a whole backpackfull of brochures, pamphlets, business cards - plus a pen from Washington and a pen from Notre Dame. And in addition to that Virginia bear, Oregon was handing out rubber duckies holding a gavel and a law book. Pretty clever.
 |
| Allisyn at home with her Oregon Law rubber duckie. |
(Skip to 9:11) (If the video isn't loading for you, click here)
| SPIKE | ||||
| THE CONVENTION - 3x02 | ||||
| ||||
We got stuff from all these schools:
Already on my list
Texas
Notre Dame
UC Davis
North Carolina
Washington
Arizona State
BYU
Utah
Baylor
Gonzaga
Willamette
Will probably go on my list
Virginia
Minnesota
Iowa
Ones I would maybe apply to only if my LSAT is surprisingly higher than I expected
Stanford
Michigan
Columbia
UC Berkeley
Vanderbilt
Ones I got fee waivers for
Utah
BYU
Virginia
Oklahoma
Vermont
Texas Tech
Oregon
Akron (this one I didn't pick up, it was given to me by a desperate University of Akron representative)
(and Baylor and Willamette are already free)
Ones I would maybe apply to only if my LSAT is surprisingly lower than I expected
Florida
Ohio State
Temple
Others I just picked up for fun (either because they make me think of good college sports, or "The Office")
Nebraska
Alabama
Cornell
Syracuse
The guy representing Stanford was none other than Tony Montague, one of my MTC teachers! It was really cool to see him. I've run into him on campus a couple times since being home from my mission, but that's all. I had no idea he was even at Stanford. So that was cool. (Too bad that he can't pull some strings, haha. Even if I could get into Stanford, though, it is super expensive to live there. Tony said the apartment he and his family live in is $1,700 a month. And that's student housing. Yikes.)
Probably the best sales pitch came from Baylor. The girl was super nice, told us her apartment that has three bedrooms and two bathrooms was only $600 a month (that's less than we're paying in Provo for two bedrooms and one bathroom), and that Baylor has a spring term and a summer term, which might be better than finding a job for the nine months between graduating from BYU and moving to law school. Baylor also got me thinking about the benefits of being "a big fish in a little pond." Even if I could get into Virginia or Notre Dame, it might be worth going to a school like Baylor. It would be easier to be in the top of my class (which, one person told me, is noticed by employers no matter what school you went to) or on the law review. So, something to think about.
Anyway, I've got a big stack of brochures to read!
I can't wait for law school.
P.S.: If you want to read Erin's blog post about the law school fair, click here.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
LSAT Attack
So, for any of you who have been on J.J. LSAT Watch, you've been disappointed this week. Not to worry, I'm here a few days late to catch you up on all the news.
Last week was crunch time before taking the real LSAT on Saturday. So I decided to take a break from blogging about the LSAT and just practice it. And, Practice Week was a bit of a roller coaster, but overall I got better and better as the week progressed.
It didn't help that I had a nasty sore throat and runny nose at the beginning of the week. One test, I was forced to leave blank 16 out of 23 logic games questions. Not good.
But I still managed to score a 156 that day. And, twice I got 162, my personal best. And one of those times, I got 24 out of 26 right on the reading comprehension section! So that was awesome.
Here's charting the practice week's results:
So, Saturday was the big day. I didn't get quite as much sleep as I wanted the day before, but I still felt pretty well. I rode my bike to campus instead of driving or being driven, to get my blood pumping. There I was at the Wilkinson Center, surrounded by other twentysomethings, mostly men, all carrying Ziplock bags with lunch. We filed in and checked in at about 8:20. The test didn't get started until about 8:50.
I've heard some people talk about how intimidating the BYU Testing Center is. They feel pressure from the huge, silent room full of test-takers arranged in rows and columns. Well, I've never felt that at the testing center, but I did feel that at the beginning of the LSAT. And for some reason, the proctor reading the instructions - even though I already knew the instructions and didn't need to be scared by them - added to the atmosphere.
I usually have plenty of leftover time in the logical reasoning and reading comprehension sections, and therefore have the luxury of checking my answers. But I didn't get as much time to do that on the first section. Then, on the analytical reasoning/logic games question, there were a couple I had to guess before running out of time and a few more that I was rushed through.
But, every section after that I felt pretty good about. I think my Practice Week really paid off. I felt about the same as I did while I was taking the practice tests that got me a 162. So, I'm feeling like I got a 162 or above. Of course, people feel great about the LSAT and end up bombing it, and others feel horrible and end up doing amazing. I'll find out my score on October 26 (but I hope earlier).
In the meantime, I can focus on other aspects of applying to law school. The letters of recommendation and evaluations are coming in, and I need to start writing my personal statements and putting the finishing touches on the forms.
Oh, and, here's maybe the part you're the most curious about: with this rough idea of what my LSAT score will be, I've narrowed down my list of schools I'm interested in applying to.
So, if I get around a 162, here's where I'll apply:
Texas
Notre Dame
These two are the schools I'm "reaching" for. If I get a 162, I could maybe get into these schools, maybe not.
(For any of you who are thinking, "Why would a Mormon want to go to Notre Dame?" read this: "Two faiths - LDS Church News")
UC Davis
I hadn't thought a lot about this school, but after looking at both law school rankings and the probability of getting into a law school with my GPA and my LSAT score guess, this one seems be where those two lines intersect. (And, it's close to Sacramento, so I can stay close to Jimmer, haha.)
North Carolina
A really good state school, and we've heard a lot of great things about the state of North Carolina. And, except for BYU and Utah, it's the cheapest.
Washington
I hadn't really thought of Washington either, until I made this list and realized that Gonzaga and Willamette were the only Pacific Northwest schools on the list, and that I could definitely get into those two schools with even a lower LSAT score. So I thought I should balance that out by finding the highest ranked Pacific Northwest school and including it. (I wanted to include the Pacific Northwest since I'm from Oregon.)
Arizona State
This is mostly Erin's idea, but I could probably enjoy Arizona if we lived there. See, it's all about compromise! Haha. Erin got the idea from her cousin Cara, whose husband is trying to get into Arizona State. It would be great to live nearby them and go through the law school adventure together. And, I wouldn't mind going to a school named after Sandra Day O'Connor.
BYU
To be honest, I feel like I'd rather move out of the state of Utah. Not because I can't stand it here, just because I think I'd be more excited to move somewhere new and have an adventure. (That was part of what made our two months in New York City so amazing. Not just that it was New York, but because it was new for us.) But, you can't argue against the cheap tuition.
Utah
Similar to the reasoning behind choosing BYU, although at least moving out of Provo would be something new. It would be more exciting to live outside of Utah, but the in-state tuition is tempting. And, my friend Bert is going to law school there, and it would be fun to hang out with him and his family.
Baylor
Basically, this is a back-up Texas school in case University of Texas doesn't work out. (Erin's family lives in Houston, in case you didn't know.)
Gonzaga
Willamette
Good schools, but not ranked nearly as high as the rest. Even if I don't get the LSAT score I'm expecting, I have a good chance of getting into either one of these. These are sort of my back-up schools.
I also have other schools to try in case my score is higher or lower than I'm expecting.
Harvard: If I get 170 or higher (And, 'cause, hey, why not?)
Stanford: If I get 168 or higher
Michigan: If I get 168 or higher
Georgetown: If I get 168 or higher
Duke: If I get 166 or higher
What do you guys think?
Last week was crunch time before taking the real LSAT on Saturday. So I decided to take a break from blogging about the LSAT and just practice it. And, Practice Week was a bit of a roller coaster, but overall I got better and better as the week progressed.
It didn't help that I had a nasty sore throat and runny nose at the beginning of the week. One test, I was forced to leave blank 16 out of 23 logic games questions. Not good.
But I still managed to score a 156 that day. And, twice I got 162, my personal best. And one of those times, I got 24 out of 26 right on the reading comprehension section! So that was awesome.
Here's charting the practice week's results:
So, Saturday was the big day. I didn't get quite as much sleep as I wanted the day before, but I still felt pretty well. I rode my bike to campus instead of driving or being driven, to get my blood pumping. There I was at the Wilkinson Center, surrounded by other twentysomethings, mostly men, all carrying Ziplock bags with lunch. We filed in and checked in at about 8:20. The test didn't get started until about 8:50.
I've heard some people talk about how intimidating the BYU Testing Center is. They feel pressure from the huge, silent room full of test-takers arranged in rows and columns. Well, I've never felt that at the testing center, but I did feel that at the beginning of the LSAT. And for some reason, the proctor reading the instructions - even though I already knew the instructions and didn't need to be scared by them - added to the atmosphere.
I usually have plenty of leftover time in the logical reasoning and reading comprehension sections, and therefore have the luxury of checking my answers. But I didn't get as much time to do that on the first section. Then, on the analytical reasoning/logic games question, there were a couple I had to guess before running out of time and a few more that I was rushed through.
But, every section after that I felt pretty good about. I think my Practice Week really paid off. I felt about the same as I did while I was taking the practice tests that got me a 162. So, I'm feeling like I got a 162 or above. Of course, people feel great about the LSAT and end up bombing it, and others feel horrible and end up doing amazing. I'll find out my score on October 26 (but I hope earlier).
In the meantime, I can focus on other aspects of applying to law school. The letters of recommendation and evaluations are coming in, and I need to start writing my personal statements and putting the finishing touches on the forms.
Oh, and, here's maybe the part you're the most curious about: with this rough idea of what my LSAT score will be, I've narrowed down my list of schools I'm interested in applying to.
So, if I get around a 162, here's where I'll apply:
TexasNotre Dame
These two are the schools I'm "reaching" for. If I get a 162, I could maybe get into these schools, maybe not.
(For any of you who are thinking, "Why would a Mormon want to go to Notre Dame?" read this: "Two faiths - LDS Church News")
UC Davis
I hadn't thought a lot about this school, but after looking at both law school rankings and the probability of getting into a law school with my GPA and my LSAT score guess, this one seems be where those two lines intersect. (And, it's close to Sacramento, so I can stay close to Jimmer, haha.)
North Carolina
A really good state school, and we've heard a lot of great things about the state of North Carolina. And, except for BYU and Utah, it's the cheapest.
I hadn't really thought of Washington either, until I made this list and realized that Gonzaga and Willamette were the only Pacific Northwest schools on the list, and that I could definitely get into those two schools with even a lower LSAT score. So I thought I should balance that out by finding the highest ranked Pacific Northwest school and including it. (I wanted to include the Pacific Northwest since I'm from Oregon.)
Arizona State
This is mostly Erin's idea, but I could probably enjoy Arizona if we lived there. See, it's all about compromise! Haha. Erin got the idea from her cousin Cara, whose husband is trying to get into Arizona State. It would be great to live nearby them and go through the law school adventure together. And, I wouldn't mind going to a school named after Sandra Day O'Connor.
BYU
To be honest, I feel like I'd rather move out of the state of Utah. Not because I can't stand it here, just because I think I'd be more excited to move somewhere new and have an adventure. (That was part of what made our two months in New York City so amazing. Not just that it was New York, but because it was new for us.) But, you can't argue against the cheap tuition.
Utah
Similar to the reasoning behind choosing BYU, although at least moving out of Provo would be something new. It would be more exciting to live outside of Utah, but the in-state tuition is tempting. And, my friend Bert is going to law school there, and it would be fun to hang out with him and his family.
Baylor
Basically, this is a back-up Texas school in case University of Texas doesn't work out. (Erin's family lives in Houston, in case you didn't know.)
GonzagaWillamette
Good schools, but not ranked nearly as high as the rest. Even if I don't get the LSAT score I'm expecting, I have a good chance of getting into either one of these. These are sort of my back-up schools.
I also have other schools to try in case my score is higher or lower than I'm expecting.
Harvard: If I get 170 or higher (And, 'cause, hey, why not?)
Stanford: If I get 168 or higher
Michigan: If I get 168 or higher
Georgetown: If I get 168 or higher
Duke: If I get 166 or higher
What do you guys think?
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Square One
Today was my first time really doing something about law school: I gave myself a practice LSAT.
I set aside a few hours today to retreat to the library and take a diagnostic exam from my LSAT prep book. I used the timer on my cell phone to time each section of the test, and gave myself a break in the middle, just like the real thing will be.
And after it was all done...
First, I feel the need to explain something. I now know that one of the biggest boosts I can have for next time is to just pay attention to the clock. On one of the "Analytical Reasoning" sections (that's the one reminiscent of mathematical story problems), I was stuck on the first question, for like half the 35 minutes that is supposed to be meant for 24 questions. Before I knew it, time was up and I had only answered seven questions. There's no penalty for guessing, so if nothing else I should have spent the last minute filling in circles. But, alas, I didn't, and just like the real thing I had to move on to the next question, leaving 17 questions completely blank.
But, even with leaving so many questions unanswered, I still got approximately a 151. Which is exactly average. And if I throw out the blank questions, then my score calculates to 160 - which is the median LSAT score of first-year law students at Baylor* (#56 on the U.S. News & World Report ranking), Florida State (#50), Seton Hall (#61), Florida (#47), Kentucky (#71), Maryland (#42), Miami (#77), Richmond (#67), Tennessee (#56) and Utah (#42). Not that I'm content with 160, but it's nice to know that I'm in that company. That's not half-bad.
So, with some more practice and more clock consciousness, I think I'm on the right track.
*I know my wife and her family would sure be happy about that one!
I set aside a few hours today to retreat to the library and take a diagnostic exam from my LSAT prep book. I used the timer on my cell phone to time each section of the test, and gave myself a break in the middle, just like the real thing will be.
And after it was all done...
First, I feel the need to explain something. I now know that one of the biggest boosts I can have for next time is to just pay attention to the clock. On one of the "Analytical Reasoning" sections (that's the one reminiscent of mathematical story problems), I was stuck on the first question, for like half the 35 minutes that is supposed to be meant for 24 questions. Before I knew it, time was up and I had only answered seven questions. There's no penalty for guessing, so if nothing else I should have spent the last minute filling in circles. But, alas, I didn't, and just like the real thing I had to move on to the next question, leaving 17 questions completely blank.
But, even with leaving so many questions unanswered, I still got approximately a 151. Which is exactly average. And if I throw out the blank questions, then my score calculates to 160 - which is the median LSAT score of first-year law students at Baylor* (#56 on the U.S. News & World Report ranking), Florida State (#50), Seton Hall (#61), Florida (#47), Kentucky (#71), Maryland (#42), Miami (#77), Richmond (#67), Tennessee (#56) and Utah (#42). Not that I'm content with 160, but it's nice to know that I'm in that company. That's not half-bad.
 |
| http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/554636/baylor-bears_medium.gif |
 |
| http://www.sportssystems.com/clients/maryland/Maryland_logo.jpg |
 |
| http://lavonardo.net/wp/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/utah_utes_logo.png |
So, with some more practice and more clock consciousness, I think I'm on the right track.
*I know my wife and her family would sure be happy about that one!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
