Minutes to Memories

The New Hillary (With Contacts, Not Glasses!)

LAW SCHOOL BLOG

To confirm all rumors of my goofiness, I have now applied to a seventh law school.

To explain, I checked the little box in the Law School Data Assembly Service application that allowed them to release my information to other law schools. I did this on purpose. My GPA (from a long time ago) was high, and now my LSAT score is decent, so I thought there might be doors opened that I hadn’t considered. I’ve had emails asking me to consider applying to schools from Yeshiva (New York City) to LaVerne (Southern California).

Yesterday, however, I had an interesting one. Now, I’ve applied to SEVEN schools.

Saint Louis University is considered a second tier law school (as are two others on my list: UT-Knoxville and Pepperdine; Virginia and Florida are top tier, and Arkansas/Ole Miss are third tier). Their email yesterday informed me that I would be a strong candidate for their 1843 Scholars Program, which would provide full-tuition for all three years. That was interesting. They waived my application fee, and all I had to do was write an essay, which I did this morning. So, there.

I did a little math and figured that I’d be a top fifty candidate or so for these scholarships. They award ten. So, I don’t expect to get one, but there are definitely worse odds out there.

So… for all of you grading at home, here is where things stand for me in this crazy process (in alphabetical order):

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: This is the only school I know I will be accepted at so far (based on their simple mathematical formula of admission). But the only real chance for UA in my book is if they waive out-of-state tuition and offer me a big scholarship. I doubt that will happen, but you never know.

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA: Florida is the overall frontrunner right now. I don’t expect any scholarship money from Florida, but I would go there anyway. Big scholarship offers from Arkansas, Ole Miss, Pepperdine, or Saint Louis would be worth considering. Acceptance from Virginia would be very interesting. And the wildcard, Tennessee, keeps flip-flopping with Florida in my mind, so anything could tip that balance back toward Big Orange Country (Tennessee Orange, that is).

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI: Scholarship money would make Ole Miss very interesting, particularly if I was named one of their Eastland Scholars. Ole Miss is the most affordable choice for me already, and if that gap widened I would strongly consider going there.

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: I still really, really like Pepperdine. Jody’s job opportunities there and the fact that we’d be living and working and going to church on campus is just super cool. Going there, however, depends on scholarship money - specifically the President’s Award (for active members of Churches of Christ).

SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY: I would only consider Saint Louis if I was named an 1843 Scholar. Period.

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE: This is the frustrating one for me. Because I like it a lot. It is grouped with the University of Florida in my mind in so many ways, and as of now I’m just leaning toward Florida. But that can change. Lots of factors could tip the scale.

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: This is by far the best school on my list. I do not think I will be accepted there. I would be at the bottom of their barrel. However, they make a big deal about the fact that they don’t base their offers solely on LSAT scores, so there is still a remote chance. And if they accepted me, I’d have a LOT of thinking to do. Because UVA is one awesome school.

If you can’t tell, I’ve been thinking about all this a lot. It is hard not to think about it all the time. I sort of suspect that I’ll hear from all the schools sometime in February (maybe not Virginia, but the rest). And February will be here before you know it.

I’ll keep you updated.

# posted by Al Sturgeon @ 12:53 PM