Pure Imagination

Facebook is coming to Iowa.

This reminded me of Google coming to The Dalles, Oregon, sometime around when I was graduating high school It was so exciting and mysterious - I remember thinking about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory back then, too.

So here it is, my last cartoon of the year, and probably ever, for The Daily Iowan. It was a lot of fun, and a very cool opportunity to continue drawing. I'm grateful to The Daily Iowan for being yet another outlet for me to share my ideas and expressions.

To prepare for my next year of law school though, I have to cut out some of the things I'm involved with, as enjoyable as they are. So I don't think I'll submit any more cartoons.

But thanks everyone for checking them out and being my audience.

Missed the Bubble

An update on the state of Iowa basketball in today's Daily Iowan:

Iowa ended its regular season with two wins, and heads to the Big 10 Tournament this week. Unless Iowa wins the tournament, I think they'll fall short of making it to the NCAA Tournament.

I am way out of the loop on college basketball this year, I'll have no idea how to fill out my bracket. Oh well, such is law school. The idea is that someday I'll have a comfortable enough job where I can watch more college basketball.

Everything's Coming Up

(or "J.J.")

I have an announcement to make: I have a job this summer!

I'll be working in the compliance office of the University of Iowa Athletics Department. It's going to be awesome. I think it's going to be really cool, and different from a typical legal job. I like that I'll be working with college sports again, and kind of returning to my Daily Universe sportswriting days a little bit. Of course I won't be writing articles, but I'll be working more behind-the-scenes of running a college athletics program under the NCAA.

Erin is of course especially excited, because I'll be staying here in Iowa City this summer. Part of me (maybe most of me) really wanted to do a big adventure and spend the summer in D.C. or New York or something. I think having an internship in New York City a couple of summers ago really spoiled me - it kinda set the standard, and now almost everything else pales in comparison, haha. There wasn't really a whole lot in Iowa City that sounded interesting to me. But then I thought of working at the compliance office, and it was my favorite out of all the people who responded to my job applications. And Erin is happy that she'll have her husband around this summer to help her with our three kiddos.

One thing that will be great about this job is what it might set me up for. After working with NCAA compliance, I'll be on a track for lots of different jobs with the NCAA or any college or university. I think it would be awesome to stay connected with college sports and make a living out of it. I'm still interested in other areas of the law, but we'll see where this takes me.

The way I found the job is kind of interesting too. For my Summer 2013 Job Hunt, I basically applied for any job that came up in Symplicity (the online service that Iowa uses for posting jobs for law students) that looked interesting, including pretty much any judicial externship that came up. But I did think of some places to apply to on my own, including a Utah Supreme Court justice I met last year and a federal district judge in Houston who Erin's family knows. I asked my friends with connections in the baseball world, Dylan Higgins and Lakia Holmes, for any resources or ideas they had for finding a baseball legal job. I also applied for a couple of internships I discovered through the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.

But this one was totally my own initiative. There was a panel at the law school last semester with Dan Matheson and Monica Mims about the NCAA, college sports, and law. It was really interesting and got me more excited about working in sports law. (Of course, every time I come into contact with one of the areas of law I'm interested in, I think, "Yeah, that's what I want to do!" and that option rises above the others. So I change my mind a lot.) Dan Matheson used to work in NCAA enforcement, and used to work for the New York Yankees. Now he teaches sports business for undergraduates at Iowa. Monica Mims ran track for Iowa, then she got her juris doctorate here, worked in the USC compliance office, and now works at the compliance office here.

I emailed Monica, telling her I really enjoyed that NCAA panel and that I was interested in any internship opportunities at the compliance office this summer. I didn't even know if they regularly had interns or if that was even a thing. But she told me to come in for an interview, and at the interview she sounded like she was really interested in having me work there. Then a couple of weeks later I got an email from her, basically asking, "When can you start?"

I'll start at the end of May. Go Hawkeyes!

----------------------------------------------------

Oh, and I should mention something else in the world of employment.

A lot of law students here start during their second year working as research assistants, or R.A.s. There are a lot of perks to being an R.A.: since you have a job in Iowa, you qualify for in-state tuition, and since you work for the university, you qualify for their health insurance. More importantly, you get to work one-on-one with a professor and help him or her with whatever research projects they are working on, or scholarly articles they are writing, or that sort of thing.

My professor for Foundations of International Law, Professor Burns Weston, invited me to apply for an R.A. position with him this coming school year. And then he offered me the job! So I'll be making some money during the rest of law school. It's only 10 hours a week, but it will be a great experience to be on the more academic side of law. And working with Professor Weston will be amazing. I really enjoy his class, and he is a leading expert in the field of international law, especially environmental law.

I'm lucky and very grateful to have these opportunities, and I'm looking forward to what I'll learn and do the rest of the year and beyond.

Viernes negro

Another cartoon in today's The Daily Iowan:

Not all that original, but topical.

This week will be my last week of cartoons for the year. My last day of class is Friday, then it's all finals. And Christmas. Oh, and getting ready for my son and daughter to come.

Keep Out

My prediction from yesterday was correct. Today The Daily Iowan published one of my cartoons about the Wagner v. Jones case in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Just to recap from my post yesterday:

The federal case is between Teresa Wagner, a part-time employee at the University of Iowa law school, and Carolyn Jones, the former dean. Wagner claims she was denied a full-time job because of her conservative ideology.

The case has attracted a lot of media attention.

Verdict could alter hiring in higher education

This week, the jury reached a ... non-verdict. Hung jury, mistrial.

Judge calls mistrial in conservative's lawsuit claiming liberal bias in hiring at U. Iowa law

I had drawn two cartoons in anticipation of the verdict: one if Wagner won, another if she lost. Even though it was a mistrial, the cartoon of Wagner losing still can apply, I think.

To see the other possible cartoon, click here.

Performance Review

Today's cartoon is another cartoon about the judicial retention election.

Here's an update on that story, by the way: New poll shows more Iowans plan to vote against Wiggins' retention

Now, there's another big news story going on in right here at the law school. There's a federal case between Teresa Wagner, a part-time writing adviser at the law school, and the old dean of the law school, Carolyn Jones. Wagner applied for a full-time instructor position, but was denied the job. She claims it's because of the law school's anti-conservative bias.

Verdict could alter hiring in higher education

It's a really interesting story.

Anyway, the verdict was expected to come this week. So, being the cartoonist who goes above and beyond, I provided The Daily Iowan two cartoons: one if Wagner wins, and another if Wagner loses.

But I didn't draw one specifically for a mistrial!

Judge calls mistrial in conservative's lawsuit claiming liberal bias in hiring at U. Iowa law

I found out about the mistrial at about 6 p.m. yesterday, which was too late to draw a new cartoon. But I did email the opinion editor to suggest that my "If Wagner loses" cartoon could still work. I never heard back from him, and this morning I found the judicial retention cartoon instead.

But, lucky for you blog followers, you can see both of my Wagner v. Jones cartoons right here!

If Wagner wins

If Wagner loses

The paper could maybe still use the "If Wagner loses" cartoon tomorrow. In that case, you just got an exclusive sneak preview of tomorrow's edition.

One Day Down

Well, I did it. I'm here in Iowa City, with Erin and Allisyn, and I'm going to law school.

My first day of school!

At the University of Iowa, 1L students start nine days earlier than the rest of the law school. It's for more than just orientation or "welcome freshmen!"-type activities. I had some of that yesterday. (Yeah, on a Sunday. Weird.) But I also actually take a course, Intro to Law and Legal Reasoning. It's a week-long class, with an exam on Saturday. It counts for one of my 15 credits this semester. It seems like a pretty good idea. I feel like with this "mini-semester" before the real semester starts, I get a lot of the "first time" stuff out of the way. Law school is challenging, and different from any type of education I've had before. But a lot of the jitters that 1Ls get is simply because they haven't been 1Ls before.

I've heard from multiple sources that this first week at Iowa is the worst week ever, and the rest of the semester is a breeze by comparison. But from what I can tell so far (admittedly, it's only been one day), it's nothing I can't handle. Where the exhaustion comes is that I'm in class all day, and in one class all day. When the real semester starts, I'll have four classes that are more spaced out through the week.

The reading takes more effort than what I'm used to, but it's interesting so far and it doesn't usually go over my head. For this first class, we read "The Case of the Speluncean Explorers." Have any of you read it? It's a fictitious case that takes place in the year 4300 in a made-up country and made-up judicial and legislative system. It was written in 1949 and published in the Harvard Law Review. Besides being an allegory of the law and how ambiguous it can be (and how flawed it can be in the hands of the judges charged with interpreting it), it has a real dystopian, dark humor kind of feel to it. It actually reminded me a lot of Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

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I'd even recommend it to someone outside of law school.

Another reason this intro course isn't overwhelming is because I was lucky enough to have a professor who's more benign than average when it comes to the Socratic method. For those of you who don't know, the Socratic method is what law students will tell you is the most terrifying thing about law school. In the most nightmarish scenario, a snobby professor will choose a student at random to interrogate about the reading assignment, in front of the whole class.

I'm sure I'll have a real run-in with the Socratic method later on, when my real semester starts. But for now, I have a professor who simply calls on students in order of where they are sitting, starting with the back row. I sit in the middle, so I haven't been called on yet. But so far, every question I've been able to answer pretty well in my head. And a few times, I felt like I could give a better answer than the student who was called on. (One observation: if the reason someone gets nervous about being called on is because he or she wants to sound confident in front of the professor and not mess up, don't you think that person would want to not answer with an upward inflection in his or her tone, like he or she is asking another question? It seems like a lot of classmates did that today.) I think as long as I come to class prepared, I won't feel like I'm handcuffed to a chair under a dangling light bulb.

"We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way." 
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Again, it's been just one day. So I'm no expert and I still don't know what I've gotten myself into. We'll see if I change my tune a little later in the semester.

One thing I was not prepared for was the information session about the bar exam. I don't know how it is in every state, but at least for the Iowa bar exam I'm supposed to sign up for the bar exam before November 1 of this year, even though I wouldn't be taking the bar exam until 2015. (I can register later, but the fee will double every so often.)

I didn't expect to even think about the bar exam before my third year. Part of what made choosing a law school difficult for us was that we don't know where we want to settle down long-term. We thought we were putting off that decision for at least three more years, and that with a high-ranked school like Iowa I would still be likely to land a job where I wanted, wherever that may be. But if I need to plan for the bar exam now...

What I might do is just register for the Iowa exam, as a back-up at least, and because it's less expensive to pay the registration fee without taking the test than it is to pay late fees when it turns out I want to take the Iowa bar exam after all. After a couple of summer internships, maybe one will lead to a job out of state, in which case I'll forget the Iowa exam and chalk the Iowa registration fee up to just another education expense (it's cheaper than buying another textbook). And passing the bar in Iowa could count for other states (although it costs a lot of guita), and some of my scores could transfer to other states, so taking it here wouldn't rule out the other 49 states automatically. And I could always take more than one state's bar exam. (Although, after learning more about the bar exam's format, I wonder how the whole exam can fit into a single day. It seems so intense. Two bar exams in proximity to each other might give me a heart attack.) And, who knows? Maybe I'll want to spend the rest of my life in Iowa and I'll want to take the bar here anyway.

Any other ideas, fellow law students?

Anyway, time to get to tomorrow's homework!

Oh, I almost forgot...

... a few weeks ago I finally received a letter from UC Davis. I got in!

So, even though I had already decided on Iowa well before the news came, it was still pretty cool.

Here's the final count:

12 accepted
3 waitlisted
2 rejected

Whoo hoo!

On the side

Even though we decided on Iowa a little while ago, that didn't stop me from taking advantage of some cool opportunities at other law schools.

Before "The Decision," I was invited to a lunch with a few other people admitted to BYU Law School and Justice Thomas Lee from the Utah Supreme Court and his clerks and externs. Justice Lee is also an part-time professor at the law school. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting him, and his clerks. A clerkship is definitely something I want to do, maybe even after getting my J.D. In the case of Justice Lee, his externs get the first crack at writing opinions, then the clerks, then he works on them. So these twentysomethings get a lot of input in the judicial process. Maybe not every judge works that way, but I think I would still like being a clerk for just about anybody.

Plus, the Matheson Courthouse is beautiful. I could get used to working in a place like that.

http://www.sharpfotos.com/Portfolio/Salt-Lake-City/0909659798990205HDR2/644697977_wxS7q-L-7.jpg

There were a couple more local events, after my decision, that I was invited to: a dinner with Ohio State alumni at the Holland & Hart law firm office in downtown Salt Lake, and the Admitted Students Day at the University of Utah.

I went to both even though I already knew I wasn't going to those schools. Since it would be hard to go to events at North Carolina, Iowa, or other schools, I wanted to at least get to the more convenient ones. And, I learned from lunch with Justice Lee, that I just loved talking and learning about law school in general. I figured what I learned at these events could apply to the University of Iowa, and give me ideas for questions to ask when I do visit Iowa sometime in May.

But, at the same time, I wanted to be a sneaky. I didn't want these schools discovering that I already had my heart set on Iowa and had no intention of going to their school but coming for the free food anyway. Maybe they would have been fine with it, but I still didn't want to broadcast that I was going to Iowa.

The Ohio State dinner was really fun, because I got to bring Erin and make a date out of it. We got all dressed up for a night on the town and dropped off Allisyn with Erin's grandparents. It just so happened that the dinner was the same night as the grand opening of the City Creek Center, so we strolled through there too. And, I enjoyed learning more about law school, law as a career and Ohio State. Ohio State would have been a great option, but not getting a big scholarship there kept it from being a main contender. But of course, Erin and I put on the guise of still deciding between Iowa, North Carolina and Ohio State.

The open house at the University of Utah was especially fun, because my good friend Bert was there. I saw him at breakfast, and then ate lunch with him and he gave me a tour of the campus. And with him, I didn't have to pretend I was still deciding on a law school, haha. I was able to catch up with him, and learn a lot about law school in general. And I even played a couple games of ping pong with Bert and some of his classmates.

I also really enjoyed the professor panel, who talked about some of the work they are doing with students. One professor, Erika George, and a group of students had just finished writing a recommendation for a United Nations subcommittee's Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regards to Human Rights. I would have loved being involved with that.

There was also a mock civil procedures class, taught by Amy Wildermuth, that gave a little taste as to what first year classes might be like. Professor Wildermuth was a little silly, but entertaining. And the two cases we talked about were very interesting. Some of the discussion went over my head. But, of course, when I have only law school to focus on instead of two jobs, moving from Utah, graduation, etc., I'll be better able to handle it.

I'm really excited to go to law school.

The same day as the open house, I heard from two more law schools.

I got into Arizona State! I wasn't interested enough for it to make me waver in my decision to go to Iowa. But it's still a great school, and I'm sure I'd get over the dry heat before too long. It also jumped way up in the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings, from #40 to #26.

I did not, however, get into Stanford. I didn't really think I would, I just thought I'd try since it was free to apply. And if I did get in, I'd have bragging rights forever.

So, that's the update on law school. There won't be much else to say until my visit to Iowa sometime in May.

The Decision

We held a special press conference to announce our decision of where I will attend law school. Here is some some exclusive footage:

DON'T SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU'VE SEEN THE VIDEO!
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We know what you're thinking. "Iowa?! Isn't that just corn fields and pig farmers?"

http://www.legaljuice.com/pig%20farm%20pigs%20mud%20dirty%20snout.jpg

Well, yes. But:

• It's ranked 27th in the nation.
• I got a full tuition scholarship.
• During my 2L and 3L years, I can be paid as a part-time professor's research assistant, which will qualify me for in-state tuition and subsidized health insurance.
• The cost of living in Iowa City is lower than in Provo. One of the grad students there I talked to is renting a three-bedroom house for cheaper than our two-bedroom apartment here.
• A dean we met at the law school fair remembered us and personally called me after he found out I was admitted. Then he recruited several students who were BYU grads and members of the church to call me and email me, and talk about the law school and answer any questions. A couple of the students' wives even emailed and called Erin. I know that's not reason enough to go to Iowa, but one of the wives told Erin that the dean had told her to work really hard to get me to do there, because my credentials were really good and they really wanted me there.
• Because of that, I think I could be a "big fish in a little pond" there, and at a #27 law school to boot.
• I was a little worried about it being a regional school, meaning I would be most likely to end up working somewhere near Iowa. Not that we don't want to settle down and raise our family in the Midwest, maybe we do. We're just not ready to decide that now. But, I learned that students from Iowa have worked at jobs and internships in New York City, Washington D.C., London - so we won't be stuck in Iowa if we don't want to be. It might take some extra effort in the job search, but if I do well at Iowa then I should be able to find a job wherever we want to live in three years. And, who knows, maybe we'll want to stay in the Midwest anyway.
• Every law school brags about their professors, but Iowa's professors seem especially accessible. They make it a point that most of their professors' offices are located at the same floor as the student center. Maybe that isn't some magic solution to make the professors amazing, but I like the philosophy that it symbolizes.
• Iowa City seems like a really great town. It's a small, family-friendly town. And because it's a college town there are museums, plays, cool restaurants and other cultural attractions.
• Big 10 Conference sports will be cool. Iowa football finished in the top half of the conference or division every year since 2007. And I've heard from a lot of sources that Iowa basketball is going to be really good next season and beyond, so it will be exciting to be there for that. And, even if Iowa loses, it will still be cool to see Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, etc., and experience what it's like to be in a BCS/Power Six conference. 
• We'll be fairly close to some big cities that we've never been to or don't know very well, like Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis and Milwaukee.
  
• And, we'll be two hours away from Nauvoo, and we'll be in the Nauvoo Temple district.
• We fasted and prayed a lot and felt like going to Iowa made the most sense and was the best decision for our family.

The only downsides I could think of are cold winters and humid summers (nothing we can't handle), and that the state of Iowa isn't "cool" according to stereotypes and pop culture, like California or New York. But if Iowa not being "cool" was the only thing holding us back, it seemed like a silly reason to cross it off our list. Besides, it probably is cool. And if it isn't, we'll make it cool. :)

(And, like my mom said, "Anyone who doesn't think Iowa is cool has never seen Field of Dreams!")

We can't wait to start our new adventure. And we can't wait for you to come visit us in Iowa City!

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Bluedeviled

I got word from Duke University: waitlisted.

I'd say that's still an accomplishment.

So Cavalier

I got my first law school rejection today, from Virginia.

Not a waitlist, just a plain old "no."

That's okay though. I wasn't thinking too seriously about Virginia because I wasn't sure if I could get in. I was mostly just taking advantage of the application fee waiver they offered.

And we did get a little teddy bear from them at the BYU Law School Fair. So I got my swag, I'm good.

That means I still have yet to hear from Stanford, Duke, UC Davis and Arizona State.

We're getting close to crunch time on deciding a school. I know it's a self-imposed deadline, and that I could pay a deposit at more than one school and buy myself more time. But Erin and I want to have a firm decision soon, and keep the waffling time to a minimum. It would help us plan the rest of our summer better, we can have more time to find an apartment at wherever we go, etc.

I made some cool pros and cons charts that we're going to fill out tonight. A fun family home evening activity!

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.

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?

Orygun

Acceptance number nine came in the mail today, from Oregon.

It's the lowest ranked school (#79) that I applied to, so I expected a substantial scholarship. But I only got about about a third of tuition, compared to full tuition from #27 Iowa and #56 Baylor, and either 75% or 100% from #30 North Carolina.

So I've heard back from 11 schools now, which means I have six left. But really, I'm only anxious to hear from Stanford, Virginia and Duke, especially Duke. The other ones left are UC Davis, Washington and Arizona State.

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?

Kryptonite

Alas, I am no longer invincibile.

I got my letter from Notre Dame today. And I've been waitlisted.

So I'm not definitely out. But I probably won't keep pursuing Notre Dame. I wouldn't find out if I got in until the spring or summer, and by then it will past deposit deadlines at other schools. And I'm guessing that if I barely got into the school in the first place, then I probably shouldn't be expecting any scholarship.

I'm a little bummed about it, but in a way it helps. One less factor in this decision-making process.

Tar Heels and other Law School News

North Carolina emailed me today with yet another acceptance!

That's #8!

In other law school news, my envelope from Minnesota came today. They are offering a scholarship that amounts to about half-tuition!

Then, I got an email from an associate dean from Iowa who came to the BYU Law School Fair. In his email he said, "I was very pleased to see that you’ve been admitted to the Iowa Law School – and been offered a full merit scholarship."

Whoa, full scholarship? I wasn't aware of that!

So not only have I been accepted into eight schools, I so far have scholarships at four of them.

You can say things are going pretty well these days.

Seventh Heaven

My hot streak of law school acceptances increased to seven today.

I got a call from the University of Utah telling me I got in!

http://jtothe2ndpower.blogspot.com/2010/01/november-23-2009.html

Whoops, I meant this logo:

:P

I would feel like I'm behind enemy lines for the first few days, probably. But I know it's a good school, and I already have a lot of friends there. It wouldn't be quite as adventurous as leaving the state of Utah, but it would still be a change in scenery after living in Provo for 3 1/2 years.

Just another factor thrown into this huge decision we have to make!

A cheer from the hometown team

I got an email earlier this week from a woman at the BYU Law School admissions, asking me to come in for an appointment with Dean Carl Hernandez. And that was all the information she gave me.

I made an appointment, not really sure what it was for. I guessed that maybe it was part of the admissions process, that BYU liked to interview any of its candidates who happened to live nearby. Maybe it was to tell me in person what the committee's decision was, but I didn't know for sure.

Well, it turns out it was to tell me the decision. I was accepted! And with a scholarship!

The interview was great. Dean Hernandez had some great wisdom, and he shared it in a way that seemed like he knew me pretty well. One thing that I liked was toward the end of the interview, he said something like, "Ultimately, you should go to wherever is best for you." He knew that BYU Law School is great for some people, but for others who have already "entered to learn" should then "go forth to serve."

I'm not ruling out BYU yet. Leaving Provo would be a great adventure, but BYU has a lot of benefits. Thanks to the "Mormon Club," it has a wider influence and unique network that makes the school more advantageous than a lot of higher-ranked schools. And, even without the scholarship, you can't beat the price.

If we did stay in Provo, we would probably still progress in that we would move from our apartment and maybe rent a house. And we would maybe move to a regular, family ward. So we would still have a new adventure.

So, even though I thought of BYU as a "backup school," we're still keeping our options open.