Michigan v. Pursuing Waitlist for Penn/UVA Forum

[emaytch]

Hi guys, I was accepted to Michigan several weeks ago and though I haven't visited, I have become really enamored with the idea of attending. However, I was recently waitlisted both at UVA and Penn. I was wondering if it is worth actively pursuing either of those schools instead of just committing to Michigan. I have a decent chance of getting in off the waitlist if I commit a large amount of time to my supplements, but again, I really love Michigan.

To pre-empt a response I've seen, I'm aware no one has attended all of these schools.

[jk148706]

I have a decent chance of getting in off the waitlist if I commit a large amount of time to my supplements.

Tell me how.

I'm in the same situation. In a Mich, WL at UVA/Penn.


If I can just get off that WL for Philly...

[nothingtosee]

It would be worth it if for no other reason than scholarship negotiation. It's still possible to get money, even off a waitlist. If you put in 100 hours, and can get a $10,000 boost, you're looking at $100 an hour.

[jk148706]

If you put in 100 hours, and can get a $10,000 boost, you're looking at $100 an hour.

Put in 100 hours doing what? Writing a LOCI?

[deadpanic]

Where do you want to practice and what are your goals?

[emaytch]

@jk148706: I believe that I have a decent chance off the waitlist for two reasons. First, people with numbers both similar and lower to mine have gotten in to especially Penn and given my track record so far this cycle, I'm fairly confident my softs are pretty strong. Second, my alma mater (according to my school's pre-law adviser, who is typically fairly conservative) has a strong relationship with both schools in terms of admissions.

@nothingtosee: Awesome prof. pic. That is very helpful way to think of it, though according to Michigan, they are not matching scholarship offers this year, so that would only help if I go to the school I get into off the waitlist.

@deadpanic: Honestly, I'm not sure yet where I want to practice. I'm from California and I'm interested in public interest/government law, so chances are, I'll probably end up in D.C.

[emaytch]

@jk148706 again: In addition to LOCI for Penn, you can visit and meet with an admissions officer I believe in late May (?). They also suggest you send them that additional essay, updated grades and resume, and an addition LOR.

[cron1834]

If you put in 100 hours, and can get a $10,000 boost, you're looking at $100 an hour.

Put in 100 hours doing what? Writing a LOCI?

[phillywc]

If you put in 100 hours, and can get a $10,000 boost, you're looking at $100 an hour.

Put in 100 hours doing what? Writing a LOCI?

Better be a damn good LOCI.

[BigZuck]

Retake

[yadiermolina]

Retake

TITCR. I'm retaking in June to get more $ or H and if I don't then--->class of 2018.

[emaytch]

Retake

Lol. If I retake at all, it's for scholarship money or waitlist leverage. Michigan's a phenomenal school and honestly, I'm not up for another admissions cycle. Thanks for responding, though.

[envisciguy]

Hi guys, I was accepted to Michigan several weeks ago and though I haven't visited, I have become really enamored with the idea of attending. However, I was recently waitlisted both at UVA and Penn. I was wondering if it is worth actively pursuing either of those schools instead of just committing to Michigan. I have a decent chance of getting in off the waitlist if I commit a large amount of time to my supplements, but again, I really love Michigan.

To pre-empt a response I've seen, I'm aware no one has attended all of these schools.

How can you "really love Michigan" if you've never even visited? I'd suggest visiting before making your final decision - it'll either definitely confirm that you love it or you might find that it's not entirely what you were expecting. Also, if you want to be in DC, I imagine that both Penn and UVA would be better options for that than Michigan.

[TheodoreKGB]

.

[emaytch]

Hi guys, I was accepted to Michigan several weeks ago and though I haven't visited, I have become really enamored with the idea of attending. However, I was recently waitlisted both at UVA and Penn. I was wondering if it is worth actively pursuing either of those schools instead of just committing to Michigan. I have a decent chance of getting in off the waitlist if I commit a large amount of time to my supplements, but again, I really love Michigan.

To pre-empt a response I've seen, I'm aware no one has attended all of these schools.

How can you "really love Michigan" if you've never even visited? I'd suggest visiting before making your final decision - it'll either definitely confirm that you love it or you might find that it's not entirely what you were expecting. Also, if you want to be in DC, I imagine that both Penn and UVA would be better options for that than Michigan.

I'm visiting Michigan in late March and I'm hoping that will clarify my decision, but given the research I've done on Michigan (including quality of life, academic quality, clerkship opportunities, and job placement statistics in places I'm considering living) I think it would be a really good fit for me. I am debating the waitlist situation right now because if I am going to be a serious contender for a place at either school, I can't afford to wait until April to start working on application supplements. Even if UVA and Penn would be marginally more useful for placement in DC, I could still envision picking Michigan over either or both based on other factors. Since I don't have time to visit and vet all three before it's time to send out LOCIs, I'm hoping I can get some first hand accounts/recommendations from people who have had to make the Penn v. UVA v. Michigan decision or from people who go to any of those three schools.

[BigZuck]

Retake

Lol. If I retake at all, it's for scholarship money or waitlist leverage. Michigan's a phenomenal school and honestly, I'm not up for another admissions cycle. Thanks for responding, though.

Don't let the kids who post "retake" in every thread get to you. There seems to be a positive correlation between # of posts and pretentiousness. (Excluding Nova and a few others)

Congrats on your cycle so far!

"Pretentiousness?" I'm not sure that word means what you think it means.

Anyway OP, what are your numbers? I'm smelling a strong reverse splitter vibe, or like someone with a 168. I mean, Michigan is a pretty good school but Michigan for cheaper or a better school is even better.

Plus, you asked about how to handle waitlists. I gave you a phenomonal answer, the best one someone could give you in fact. The best thing you can do is show them a higher LSAT score.

I didn't say anything about waiting out a cycle. Although now that you bring it up, you should do that if it would be the most advantageous thing to do.

[nothingtosee]

If you put in 100 hours, and can get a $10,000 boost, you're looking at $100 an hour.

Put in 100 hours doing what? Writing a LOCI?

bro do u even a fortiori?

[emaytch]

Retake

Lol. If I retake at all, it's for scholarship money or waitlist leverage. Michigan's a phenomenal school and honestly, I'm not up for another admissions cycle. Thanks for responding, though.

Don't let the kids who post "retake" in every thread get to you. There seems to be a positive correlation between # of posts and pretentiousness. (Excluding Nova and a few others)

Congrats on your cycle so far!

"Pretentiousness?" I'm not sure that word means what you think it means.

Anyway OP, what are your numbers? I'm smelling a strong reverse splitter vibe, or like someone with a 168. I mean, Michigan is a pretty good school but Michigan for cheaper or a better school is even better.

Plus, you asked about how to handle waitlists. I gave you a phenomonal answer, the best one someone could give you in fact. The best thing you can do is show them a higher LSAT score.

I didn't say anything about waiting out a cycle. Although now that you bring it up, you should do that if it would be the most advantageous thing to do.

If you're the BigZuck from LSN, I actually have very similar numbers to what you had last cycle: 168/3.73. Unless I crush the LSAT after not looking at/thinking about it for more than a year, I don't think that I would be in a significantly better position. I know that I do not want to go to school in Chicago or New York so some of the "better" schools do not appeal to me and I likely still would not be a real contender for HYS. I'll grant that a retake would help for waitlists/scholarships and I am therefore considering it, but my question was more what are the tangible differences between those three schools than how do I get into Penn/UVA. Sorry for misunderstanding your advice- normally when I've encountered "retake" on this website, it has meant "take off a cycle and focus on studying," which I'm not open to.

[BigZuck]

I would still definitely retake June and see what happens. I would take a big scholarship at Chicago over Michigan any day of the week and twice on Sundays. At the very least squeeze some money out of the school you're committed to.

[TheodoreKGB]

.

[envisciguy]

Hi guys, I was accepted to Michigan several weeks ago and though I haven't visited, I have become really enamored with the idea of attending. However, I was recently waitlisted both at UVA and Penn. I was wondering if it is worth actively pursuing either of those schools instead of just committing to Michigan. I have a decent chance of getting in off the waitlist if I commit a large amount of time to my supplements, but again, I really love Michigan.

To pre-empt a response I've seen, I'm aware no one has attended all of these schools.

How can you "really love Michigan" if you've never even visited? I'd suggest visiting before making your final decision - it'll either definitely confirm that you love it or you might find that it's not entirely what you were expecting. Also, if you want to be in DC, I imagine that both Penn and UVA would be better options for that than Michigan.

I'm visiting Michigan in late March and I'm hoping that will clarify my decision, but given the research I've done on Michigan (including quality of life, academic quality, clerkship opportunities, and job placement statistics in places I'm considering living) I think it would be a really good fit for me. I am debating the waitlist situation right now because if I am going to be a serious contender for a place at either school, I can't afford to wait until April to start working on application supplements. Even if UVA and Penn would be marginally more useful for placement in DC, I could still envision picking Michigan over either or both based on other factors. Since I don't have time to visit and vet all three before it's time to send out LOCIs, I'm hoping I can get some first hand accounts/recommendations from people who have had to make the Penn v. UVA v. Michigan decision or from people who go to any of those three schools.

Well if you're just looking for opinions of people who go to any of those three schools, I can give my extremely biased opinion as a UVA student. I think UVA is just as good or better than Michigan in terms of quality of life - there's a lot of similarities in the cities and the student populations from my understanding, though Charlottesville has much better weather. Academics are comparable I'm sure, but I believe UVA has better clerkship and job placement statistics. I'm sure Michigan has a lot going for it, but I think most of the "soft" factors for picking a school are at least as strong in UVA's case as they are for Michigan. Again, this is all my opinion as a UVA student.

[cron1834]

If you put in 100 hours, and can get a $10,000 boost, you're looking at $100 an hour.

Put in 100 hours doing what? Writing a LOCI?

bro do u even a fortiori?

Blah, blah, blah. When everyone who is srs about WLing writes a LOCI, the marginal utility of the time is low. You should still write one, but your attempt to quantify was irrelevant and hilarious. That's why I echoed JK.

OP, sorry for sidetracking. I'm out.

[BigZuck]

BigZuck should've retaken. He clearly wanted Chicago/higher and settled for Duke. Hell, I don't think anyone who scores below 170 should be a lawyer anyways. The old "my advice is better for you, than it is for me" rings true here.

I don't go to Duke.

I seriously contemplated taking it a 4th time but didn't really want to sit through a 3rd cycle and figured that ending up with low debt at the strongest regional I could go to was good enough.

Chicago would have been far too rigorous for me anyway.

[rebexness]

BigZuck should've retaken. He clearly wanted Chicago/higher and settled for Duke. Hell, I don't think anyone who scores below 170 should be a lawyer anyways. The old "my advice is better for you, than it is for me" rings true here.

You seem mad.

[gnuwheels]

As a current michigan student who is not on Dean Z's payroll: pray to get off one of those waitlists