As the username was meant to suggest, I've been a fervent, albeit furtive, frequenter of this site and its forums throughout the course of this past year's application cycle, and first of all would like to impart how immensely thankful I am to have stumbled upon this unique online phenomenon; while it has arguably rendered the law school app process even more neurotic than it was just a decade or two ago, at least in my opinion, its benefits overwhelmingly outweigh its detriments. As such, I express my most sincere gratitude to all of you out there on the other side of your computer/smart phone screens, and I eagerly look forward to at the very least posting the details of my cycle here and on LSN in order to "give back," so to speak, once I make a final decision on where exactly I will be matriculating in the fall.
Though I admit to feeling like a bit of a tool/jerk for waiting this long to participate in this virtual marketplace of ideas (...never actually participated in any online forum before, actually...not all that tech-savvy), I nevertheless would like to finally submit a first post; one must learn to swim at some point, and it's probably long-overdue that I dove in (better late than never?). Knowing that the TLS community is comprised of so many talented, thoughtful (as well as humorous/witty
), and helpful individuals, I respectfully defer to any of its members who might feel compelled to provide me with advice at this late stage in the game (either here or PM; both are welcomed).I was accepted off of both Chicago's and Harvard's wait lists over the past couple of months. While I feel both blessed and awe-stricken to be facing this choice between such brilliant institutions, the decision itself is poised to be uniquely challenging, in light of both nature and nurture. Here are a few elements of the situation:
1. Financial aid-comparable between the two schools, with slight (<$10,000 per year) advantage to Chicago.
2. Career Aspirations-I am, at least now, far more intrigued with the prospect of public-sector/non-profit etc. employment than with Big Law employment (and it's worth noting that academia isn't out of the question); ultimately, upon graduating, my "dream 1st job" would be to have attained a federal judicial clerkship (though, looking back to how quickly I would change major(s) during the first year of my undergraduate education, I recognize these pre-1L aspirations are both premature and tentative).
3. Academic Interests-[Law and] economics, [legal/political] philosophy, constitutional law, public policy, politics
4. Desired Places in which to Launch Career-In general, East Coast (with DC taking precedence over NYC/Boston)>Texas>Midwest
5. No significant preference either way with regard to class size, geography, relative level of competitiveness among students, grading system, clinical offerings, or extracurricular opportunities.
...wow; Having reread that list and the paragraph immediately preceding it, I'm suddenly having [oh-NOT-so-pleasant] flashbacks to the LSAT writing sample...well, for what it's worth, I note that just as in the cases of those "prompts," there is no built-in prejudice on my part toward either option; my mind, eyes, and ears are open to whatever anyone has to offer. As such, feel free to throw out whatever arguments/suggestions/advice (of any length) you may have! If you would desire knowledge of any further nuances/details of me/my situation, please PM me.
Sincerely,
Sir Lurks-a-lot
