Waitlisted at Columbia - How to Proceed Forum

[BigBear]

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I applied under the Columbia ED program and was waitlisted this week. While I am somewhat relieved that I'm not binded into my decision, I am also disappointed because Columbia was my first choice despite my lackluster LSAT of 166. I visited the school for an info session and believe I wrote a compelling Why Columbia and PS. I have a 3.83 GPA so I'm hoping they take notice of that during waitlist deliberation. My main question is, is there anything I can do to increase my chances of being accepted off the waitlist?

I'm going to submit fall grades, which should be all As and A+s, and write a letter of continued interest. I was considering a February retake for my LSAT but at that point I'd rather just sit out the rest of this cycle and retake in June. Any advice on how I could show my strong desire to attend Columbia and possibly get off the waitlist?

Edit: Sorry forgot to mention I'm in a Vanderbilt and have applied to every school in between Columbia and Vanderbilt. Interviewed at Gtown, interviewing at UVA and I am keeping my options open, but Columbia is my first choice.

[Dcc617]

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I applied under the Columbia ED program and was waitlisted this week. While I am somewhat relieved that I'm not binded into my decision, I am also disappointed because Columbia was my first choice despite my lackluster LSAT of 166. I visited the school for an info session and believe I wrote a compelling Why Columbia and PS. I have a 3.83 GPA so I'm hoping they take notice of that during waitlist deliberation. My main question is, is there anything I can do to increase my chances of being accepted off the waitlist?

I'm going to submit fall grades, which should be all As and A+s, and write a letter of continued interest. I was considering a February retake for my LSAT but at that point I'd rather just sit out the rest of this cycle and retake in June. Any advice on how I could show my strong desire to attend Columbia and possibly get off the waitlist?

Can you afford to attend there at sticker? If not, you should probably wait and retake.

[BigBear]

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I applied under the Columbia ED program and was waitlisted this week. While I am somewhat relieved that I'm not binded into my decision, I am also disappointed because Columbia was my first choice despite my lackluster LSAT of 166. I visited the school for an info session and believe I wrote a compelling Why Columbia and PS. I have a 3.83 GPA so I'm hoping they take notice of that during waitlist deliberation. My main question is, is there anything I can do to increase my chances of being accepted off the waitlist?

I'm going to submit fall grades, which should be all As and A+s, and write a letter of continued interest. I was considering a February retake for my LSAT but at that point I'd rather just sit out the rest of this cycle and retake in June. Any advice on how I could show my strong desire to attend Columbia and possibly get off the waitlist?

Can you afford to attend there at sticker? If not, you should probably wait and retake.

Hypothetically yes. My fiance has a good engineering job in the city and would cover living expenses. My parents have agreed to contribute $25k a year and I'm comfortable going $100k+ in debt with Columbia's generous LRAP program or big law options.

[addie1412]

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I applied under the Columbia ED program and was waitlisted this week. While I am somewhat relieved that I'm not binded into my decision, I am also disappointed because Columbia was my first choice despite my lackluster LSAT of 166. I visited the school for an info session and believe I wrote a compelling Why Columbia and PS. I have a 3.83 GPA so I'm hoping they take notice of that during waitlist deliberation. My main question is, is there anything I can do to increase my chances of being accepted off the waitlist?

I'm going to submit fall grades, which should be all As and A+s, and write a letter of continued interest. I was considering a February retake for my LSAT but at that point I'd rather just sit out the rest of this cycle and retake in June. Any advice on how I could show my strong desire to attend Columbia and possibly get off the waitlist?

Edit: Sorry forgot to mention I'm in a Vanderbilt and have applied to every school in between Columbia and Vanderbilt. Interviewed at Gtown, interviewing at UVA and I am keeping my options open, but Columbia is my first choice.

Retaking in February would be the most effective way to get you accepted off the waitlist. I think you can probably squeeze out a few more points in the next two months.

[Mr. Archer]

Hypothetically yes. My fiance has a good engineering job in the city and would cover living expenses. My parents have agreed to contribute $25k a year and I'm comfortable going $100k+ in debt with Columbia's generous LRAP program or big law options.

Instead of taking$100k + in debt and hoping to either get big law or rely on LRAP, why don't you try to increase your LSAT and wait until next cycle? Is there something forcing you to attend law school right after undergrad?

[BigBear]

Hypothetically yes. My fiance has a good engineering job in the city and would cover living expenses. My parents have agreed to contribute $25k a year and I'm comfortable going $100k+ in debt with Columbia's generous LRAP program or big law options.

Instead of taking$100k + in debt and hoping to either get big law or rely on LRAP, why don't you try to increase your LSAT and wait until next cycle? Is there something forcing you to attend law school right after undergrad?

There is nothing forcing me to go straight to law school, however I have taken the LSAT twice and scored a 160 and 166. I've taken the powerscore course and do well on PTs but my testday performance has been lackluster. I'm not sure if I want to devote 3-5 more months of my life studying for a test that I could easily bomb again and turn down offers from good schools that may not let me in a second time around with a small bump in my LSAT score and a year of paralegal or hill experience.

[RamTitan]

Hypothetically yes. My fiance has a good engineering job in the city and would cover living expenses. My parents have agreed to contribute $25k a year and I'm comfortable going $100k+ in debt with Columbia's generous LRAP program or big law options.

Instead of taking$100k + in debt and hoping to either get big law or rely on LRAP, why don't you try to increase your LSAT and wait until next cycle? Is there something forcing you to attend law school right after undergrad?

There is nothing forcing me to go straight to law school, however I have taken the LSAT twice and scored a 160 and 166. I've taken the powerscore course and do well on PTs but my testday performance has been lackluster. I'm not sure if I want to devote 3-5 more months of my life studying for a test that I could easily bomb again and turn down offers from good schools that may not let me in a second time around with a small bump in my LSAT score and a year of paralegal or hill experience.

Do not take this as advice, as I'm pretty uncertain myself with this process, but I have also taken the LSAT twice and have had disappointing admissions results so far.

I plan on taking the June LSAT, but will go to law school next fall regardless. I believe that would allow for plenty of time to study for the test for one more shot at dream schools while not forcing anyone into a gap year.

[Dcc617]

Hypothetically yes. My fiance has a good engineering job in the city and would cover living expenses. My parents have agreed to contribute $25k a year and I'm comfortable going $100k+ in debt with Columbia's generous LRAP program or big law options.

Instead of taking$100k + in debt and hoping to either get big law or rely on LRAP, why don't you try to increase your LSAT and wait until next cycle? Is there something forcing you to attend law school right after undergrad?

There is nothing forcing me to go straight to law school, however I have taken the LSAT twice and scored a 160 and 166. I've taken the powerscore course and do well on PTs but my testday performance has been lackluster. I'm not sure if I want to devote 3-5 more months of my life studying for a test that I could easily bomb again and turn down offers from good schools that may not let me in a second time around with a small bump in my LSAT score and a year of paralegal or hill experience.

Is your goal NY biglaw?

[BigBear]

Hypothetically yes. My fiance has a good engineering job in the city and would cover living expenses. My parents have agreed to contribute $25k a year and I'm comfortable going $100k+ in debt with Columbia's generous LRAP program or big law options.

Instead of taking$100k + in debt and hoping to either get big law or rely on LRAP, why don't you try to increase your LSAT and wait until next cycle? Is there something forcing you to attend law school right after undergrad?

There is nothing forcing me to go straight to law school, however I have taken the LSAT twice and scored a 160 and 166. I've taken the powerscore course and do well on PTs but my testday performance has been lackluster. I'm not sure if I want to devote 3-5 more months of my life studying for a test that I could easily bomb again and turn down offers from good schools that may not let me in a second time around with a small bump in my LSAT score and a year of paralegal or hill experience.

Is your goal NY biglaw?

No. I eventually want to ben an AUSA but with the current competitiveness of the position the only options are Southern District of Manhattan straight out of school (possibly obtainable from Columbia) or get experience (for me I would most likely do big law) and then take an AUSA job.

[ND2018]

My 2 cents: you should retake, with your GPA there is no reason not to.

I do not think you should take in FEB. You seem pretty burnt out, you shouldn't go into your 3d take with your current mindset. My advice would be to wait and sit this cycle out, see what happens.

In the meantime, enjoy senior year of college, find some sort of job for post-grad (or don't, gap years are chill). When you actually find the desire to hit the LSAT hard again, you should study and retake then.

Columbia at sticker is gonna put you in the whole, big time. You won't understand the size of this whole until your in it.

[jbagelboy]

Hypothetically yes. My fiance has a good engineering job in the city and would cover living expenses. My parents have agreed to contribute $25k a year and I'm comfortable going $100k+ in debt with Columbia's generous LRAP program or big law options.

Instead of taking$100k + in debt and hoping to either get big law or rely on LRAP, why don't you try to increase your LSAT and wait until next cycle? Is there something forcing you to attend law school right after undergrad?

There is nothing forcing me to go straight to law school, however I have taken the LSAT twice and scored a 160 and 166. I've taken the powerscore course and do well on PTs but my testday performance has been lackluster. I'm not sure if I want to devote 3-5 more months of my life studying for a test that I could easily bomb again and turn down offers from good schools that may not let me in a second time around with a small bump in my LSAT score and a year of paralegal or hill experience.

Is your goal NY biglaw?

No. I eventually want to ben an AUSA but with the current competitiveness of the position the only options are Southern District of Manhattan straight out of school (possibly obtainable from Columbia) or get experience (for me I would most likely do big law) and then take an AUSA job.

Hmm. This post requires some revision and reflection. It doesn't make much sense.

Columbia is an amazing school and you should absolutely try to go there, but its also just one of a few amazing schools that offer comparable opportunities. I think retaking the LSAT is the way to go here. With applications and medians increasing, a 166/3.83 k-jd isn't looking at the best of options right now; you'll probably be accepting a high scholarship from a regional school or squeeking into a lower T14 at sticker. Columbia isn't in the cards no matter how many letters and personal statements you write.

[cavalier1138]

No. I eventually want to ben an AUSA but with the current competitiveness of the position the only options are Southern District of Manhattan straight out of school (possibly obtainable from Columbia) or get experience (for me I would most likely do big law) and then take an AUSA job.

Please talk to any attorney at SDNY: those positions are not available right out of school, period.

Your second track is what you would have to do, so plan your school choices around getting NY biglaw and/or federal clerkship(s) of some kind. Southern District is one of the most competitive in the nation, so you might need to adjust your goals if you don't end up with the grades to justify getting you in there.

And based on what you want to do, your best options would be HY, Columbia, or NYU (I only leave Stanford out because it makes it harder to work with/meet East Coast AUSAs). And to get in to those schools, you want to retake the LSAT.