The "My Cycle Is Almost Over" Nostalgia/Hindsight Thread Forum

[windycity]

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[Geist13]

5-4-6-1

I've withdrawn from all acceptances but one and all waitlists but two. I'm only interested in my MIA school if the scholarship is unexpectedly huge.

To be honest, I really feel like my cycle is just now starting. I've been pretty much set on where I was going to be this fall since mid January. But this past week I got wait listed (or put "on reserve") at my dream-school-reach, totally by surprise. I had really never considered not getting rejected. So now all the waiting and obsessing really begins. Need to hit up people for more LORs write a LOCI visit the school etc. What has been a pretty effortless and smooth cycle is about to turn all sorts of hairy.

please everyone, withdraw from cornell!!

[PDaddy]

6:6:"six":10 (the 10 pending decisions include 3 top-10 schools)

[portena]

5:0:0:1

I wish I had applied earlier than mid-December because I think it possibly could have helped my chances at Harvard. Then again, so would retaking the LSAT, but I'm very happy with my acceptances and to be honest, I don't think it would have been worth the trouble even if it means an eventual waitlist/rejection at H.

I can't believe the number of schools some of you applied to. I only applied to schools I felt I would be truly thrilled to attend, but fortunately for me a couple of those were more or less safeties.

[KG_CalGuy]

My ratio is 5:1:0:2 (thought the 2 are Harvard and Stanford so who knows).

If I did it over again I think I would've visited more schools before applying and I would have definitely made more "strategic applications." I'm pretty sure that my scholly offer at UCLA had to do with my applying as soon as Fall LSAT scores were released. In retrospect I would've applied to schools like Northwestern, Duke, UVA, Chicago, and Michigan since they are more likely to give out money (and this would've helped me leverage at some of the other schools I applied to).

[SaintClarence27]

3:1:0:4

If I had it to do over again, I would have taken the LSAT earlier (June rather than September), giving me a chance to 1) retake it in September if I did as poorly as I ended up doing (~4-6 points below my PTs), and 2) Apply to schools earlier. I think my late applications may have hurt my chances at some places. Also, I think I would have limited my places applied in the same tier, such as *not* applying to Penn, Fordham, and Columbia. There was no reason to apply to Penn and Columbia when I *really* wanted to go to Northwestern, or to Fordham when I really wanted to go to Illinois. I *should* have applied to WUSTL though, and I should have used a fee waiver to apply somewhere that I could have potentially gone for $0 tuition. Not Cooley, though.

[robin600]

Can't think of my ratio off the top of my head, but way more wait lists than anything else.

If I could do anything differently it would be to not compare myself with other applicants and be proud of my accomplishments. As a perfectionist, that's really hard for me, but looking back, my stress level was off the charts and that didn't help my mental health much.

[Pretzel_Logic]

Three acceptances, one scholly, three waitlists (two were reaches for my numbers, so yay?), and one MIA (my safety, wtf Nova?!)--I'm beyond pleased. I just wrote my seat deposit check to Kentucky about five minutes ago and I'm more excited than I would have ever guessed to be in Lexington this fall . . . plus, I won't be drowning in debt (as much) going there, so basically, good things all around.

Really, once I got my apps out, I wasn't stressed at all. In hindsight I wouldn't have worried so much about it before everything got sent out. I applied late (last day of January) but it didn't seem to matter. Also, praise the Lord, I never have to take the LSAT again. This process isn't nearly the bear that everyone told me it was (okay, minus the LSAT part--that was a travail). I think I gained some confidence from all this; I really sold myself short on my qualifications before this and thought I wasn't going to make it in anyplace I applied. Well, false. Plus, I'm about done with the whole being a zero-L thing.

Let the stress begin!

[Ragged]

1:2:3:4

[itsirtou]

9:2:4:3

Only one of the 9 acceptances was a T14, but it was a whammy and completely out of the blue (UVa).

I guess looking back I wish I had applied earlier, and I definitely wish I would have written some of the optional essays at schools like Michigan and UPenn...I had no reason not to, and now I just feel dumb. I was surprised I didn't at least get waitlisted my two "strong considers" -- Berkeley and Michigan -- but such is life. Now I'm just going to try to negotiate some money out of UVa, if at all possible. Otherwise, it's UCLA for me! I may not have gotten in everywhere I wanted to, but I'm happy.

(at this point I've given up on NYU, Chicago, and Cornell, my three MIAs, lol)

[WrappedUpInBooks]

8:1:2:2

Withdrew from one MIA, "deferred" at the other and still waiting, but not holding my breath (you can guess what that one is).

I've withdrawn from all but my top 3 choices, and will probably be making the final decision next week.

[DallasCowboy]

1:2:3:4

get your woman on the floor

gotta gotta get up to get down

Lol. It's got the right cadence and everything

[02122015]

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[starrydecisus]

11:1:3:1 ....

Realizing I applied to wayyyy too many schools, especially since I always knew my heart belonged to GULC!

[Cupidity]

Should have applied before November 11th, aparantly applying early beats out applying on a lucky date (11/11) and hitting submit at 11:11.

Shouldn't have blown off senior semester classes, cost me an acceptance at University of Virginia.

[PlugInBaby]

1:1:2:2

The cycle has been utterly disastrous. I came into the cycle being a bit too "que sera sera" about law school; accepting a meh 161 on my LSAT and only applying to three schools (U of Washington, Seattle U, and Chicago-Kent). I fixated too much on location and ranking thinking I would be happy at any top 100 school. My rude awakening came when Seattle U waitlisted me in February despite being over the 75th percentile in both LSAT and GPA. I came to realize the myriad of errors and mistakes and things that just could have been done much better on my application. In addition, I only applied to three schools (six counting my panicked submissions after the Seattle U waitlisting). My scope was too narrow in terms of the schools I chose to apply to and I found myself unsatisfied.

Only one acceptance (Kent with $$) so far and I expect the two MIAs to be a ding/WL and WL/accept. Either way I don't see myself going to law school this year. I'd much rather retake the LSAT, fix all my mistakes, and apply to a LOT more schools and do it right.

[sandiecohen47]

My cycle is pretty great thus far: 9:0:2:4. I still have yet to hear from my top three reaches (Stanford, Yale and NYU) but I am beyond psyched that it's April and have not received a single outright rejection (yet).

I went into November thinking I'd be lucky to get into a single top-20 school. I ended up getting into 4 top-20 schools (including 1 top-10 school) and was waitlisted at 2 of them. I assumed my LSAT would be a huge hindrance and I've been mostly proven wrong. Lesson learned: high GPAs and decent soft factors (and a lot of luck?) can compensate for a mid-160s LSAT score.

[BioEBear2010]

Couldn't have asked for a better cycle. 7:0:2:2, with Harvard as only remaining decision (I pulled my UVA app). I'm glad that I applied early in the cycle (September/early October) -- getting into Duke in September really removed the stress from the process.

[legalease9]

3:2:1:1

Good: Really happy with scholarships. My naive applicant self expected to have to pay sticker everywhere I applied.

Bad: I shouldn't have drunk-applied to HLS.

Yeah I also thought paying sticker was the norm when I applied, so I was very surprised to receive so many scholarships.

[legalease9]

10:7:4:2

I applied to most of the top 14 and didn't get into a single one, which was somewhat disappointing cause I thought I would get into at least one with a 167 and 3.9. But I did get accepted into t20 schools with great $$$ so I am happy about that.

[Trifles]

As a splitter, my cycle was a lot less predictable then I thought it would be. I got full rides from schools higher ranked then ones I got nothing from, and got rejected from schools law school predictor said I was auto-admit at. I would have mostly ignored rankings in applying to schools if I had to do it over again, because it didn't seem to have much of an effect on which schools were interested in me.

[desertbiker16]

A surreal and interesting cycle for me...
164/3.6 - 2 yrs out and really good soft credentials
My accept/reject/WL/MIA = 2:6:3:0

I got into schools that I felt I would fit in best at (Boalt and Notre Dame, for very different reasons). I'm attending Boalt. Rejections ranged from Columbia (expected) to Illinois (indifferent), with WLs from Vandy among others. God knows that I was a long shot at T14 anyway during this application cycle and economy, so I was ecstatic to get Berkeley (very early on in January no less) and gave me somewhat skewed expectations about what might happen with other schools.

In the end, I'm happy how it turned out. I felt like I bombed LSATs in September and was going to wait another year and retake, but I'm glad I didn't.

[Havaianas]

9:2:0:3

This is a great thread for the next cycle folks

I applied to a lot of schools because:
1) I'm a URM and was worried about my prospects
2) I had a lot of fee waivers
3) I wanted some full ride/almost full ride offers (and have gotten several)

In hindsight:
1) I got into Duke before Thanksgiving via Priority Track and didn't apply to a few schools that I knew I wouldn't choose over Duke. I should've done this with about 5 other schools that I had applied to at the same time as Duke... but I really did NOT think I would get in to Duke.
2) Get my apps in even earlier (end of October)
3) TAKE the June/December before LSAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although I was graduating, traveling, and generally enjoying my life and not having time to study which I dont regret.

[SaintClarence27]

Earlier definitely equals better with LSAT, LORs, PSs, etc. Get your apps done early, then you'll be able to send them out early. Me, I applied later than I should have.

[wiseman]

3/5/8/5

My cycle is not almost over, it's restarting again. Thanks wait lists!

That sucks....

I am still confused how we are supposed to handle waitlists. If I am in at BU and WL at UCLA (just an example I know I am not getting off that waitlist) do I get an apartment in Boston and move cross country only to come back? How long before we should give up? July?

I know someone who got into school in New York, but moved to California after getting in via waitlist in August.
If it's your dream school, I think one move is worth it.