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

[tintin]

my only regret is applying to some of the lower ranked schools that I did. I could have cut 3 safeties off the list and been fine.

3 waitlists, 1 rejection, 1 withdrawal before a decision, 10 acceptances, still waiting on 1....

[FunkyJD]

25 schools: So far 10 admits, 2 dings, 5 WL's, 8 MIAs. Of those: So far, WD from 4 admits, 2 WLs, and 1 MIA.

Lessons learned, in retrospect: Apply early, apply early, apply early. Learned this lesson too late to help me this cycle, but I'll sure remember it when applying for summer gigs as a 1L.

Schools I regret not applying to, in retrospect: Wake Forest, Fordham, Cornell.

Schools I regret applying to: There are a few. Let's leave it at that. You can probably guess two of them.

[extempore88]

.

[GermX]

I regret fucking up and ending up with a 3.4 gpa. I wish I had studied just a bit more for those classes I got Bs in and pushed them into A territory. Would have gotten into some dream schools. Ah well, here's hoping for Cornell to save me.

[GordonBombay]

4 admits 3 waitlist 8 MIA (I think)

-I regret not taking the LSAT last June/ Sept, then botching the DEC and retaking in Feb, thus applying at deadlines

-I regret not applying to Wash U STL, UNC, Wake or any school in Boston

However, I did end up with some decent options if I decide not to retake and re-apply. Tough call though. More than anything right now I'm struggling to decide if I want to leave NY or stay here long term

[keg411]

6:0:5:10

One of my acceptances is actually a WL->Accept due to Feb LSAT. My cycle has been wacky due to sub3 splitter-ness, WE, and a Feb re-take - so while I'm glad I applied to a whole ton of schools, waiting on them is starting to get to me. However, the only thing I sort of regret is being pressured into applying this cycle with the lower LSAT instead of waiting until '11 when I could have applied the first day. At least I had Fee Waivers for most of those apps .

[Shellbelle]

2 admits (to safties), 4 wl, 1 hold, 3 denials

Splitter out of school for a few years so def. to be expected...but in hindsight, would've EA to Northwestern and called it a day instead of heeding advice to keep my options open.

damn.

[beef wellington]

3-6-9-2

One of those 3 admits was a WL until yesterday (GULC), and I'm counting my 2 holds as WLs.

I'd advise future applicants to take the June LSAT instead of the Sep/Oct one, although I found the June test harder so I wouldn't change this about my cycle. The only thing I'd do differently would be ED NYU, although I seriously doubt it would affect the outcome. I wouldn't change the schools I applied to.

[GordonBombay]

6:0:5:10

One of my acceptances is actually a WL->Accept due to Feb LSAT. My cycle has been wacky due to sub3 splitter-ness, WE, and a Feb re-take - so while I'm glad I applied to a whole ton of schools, waiting on them is starting to get to me. However, the only thing I sort of regret is being pressured into applying this cycle with the lower LSAT instead of waiting until '11 when I could have applied the first day. At least I had Fee Waivers for most of those apps .

Im with you on the time thing. I remember you from the great "waiting for Feb LSAT score forum" The snow also made everything about that test worse

[adrib]

i applied to waaaayyyy to many schools. i told myself that, if Texas, my dream school, rejected me, maybe I could talk myself into going somewhere else if they gave me money. in the end, Texas admitted me 3 weeks after I applied, and I wasted around $900. Even if they hadn't admitted me, I shouldn't have overapplied, because I wouldn't have been willing to go anywhere else, besides maybe SMU. I would say, don't apply anywhere you really don't see yourself living. I guess you might do it for scholly negotiation, but my numbers are at the low end at UT, and I doubt I could negotiate for much, anyway.

also, apply early. i applied in january and ended up waitlisted at places where my numbers twins got money if they applied early in the cycle.

[Grizz]

In at 5, WL at 2.

I did a lot worse on my LSAT than I thought, and didn't have a ton of time to prepare for my retake. A year off was not an option. My retake was 1 point higher, which almost assuredly got me into a couple schools, but I was WL at my top choice, UVA. I got into a couple great schools (Vandy, Texas) and got lots of scholarship money from various places, so I'm happy. I'm excited to start law school in the fall.

If I could do one thing differently, I would have set my sights higher and maybe applied to a couple of the lower T14. No guarantee I'd go, but just to keep the option open. Also, I would have believed in myself more; up until I got my Vandy acceptance I was content with UGA.

Oh, and I would have applied earlier, like in Nov. instead of Dec./early Jan.

[FunkyJD]

I can relate with your sentiments, adrib. I way over-applied. I could have applied to 10-12 fewer schools and ended up with the same results as I have obtained. But I figured, what the hell, you only apply to law school once. Plus, I was bored over the holidays.

[84Sunbird2000]

I think I overapplied because I had become attached to schools with lower medians during the time after I took my LSAT but before I got scores back (when I believed I had bombed it due to no sleep/food poisoning) and I still applied to all those schools afterwards. Thus about 15 safety school apps.

[342848386278]

Lessons learned, in retrospect: Apply early, apply early, apply early....

+180. I really shouldn't complain too much about my cycle, as I've gotten some good $$$ offers from my target schools. That said though, I've been completely shut out of the t14 so far and it's infuriating knowing that if only I'd gotten things in a few weeks earlier, some of those WLs might be accepts (I'm looking at you GULC)...

168 / 3.85 / interesting but not stellar softs
accept : reject : wl : mia
6 : 4 : 1 : 4

[clevinger33]

5:0:0:0

Then again, I applied ED and withdrew a couple of probable rejects/WLs after getting in. Still, I went through the college and law school application process w/o being rejected by a single school.

[blue5385]

I regret fucking up and ending up with a 3.4 gpa.

I also really, really regret screwing up my GPA. I think I might have locked down a T3 acceptance if I had taken school more seriously my freshman/sophomore years. But at least I had fun in college...right...?

[Stryka]

I regret fucking up and ending up with a 3.4 gpa.

I also really, really regret screwing up my GPA. I think I might have locked down a T3 acceptance if I had taken school more seriously my freshman/sophomore years. But at least I had fun in college...right...?

ha..if you don't have fun in college and aren't happy, you're wasting your life

[blue5385]

I regret fucking up and ending up with a 3.4 gpa.

I also really, really regret screwing up my GPA. I think I might have locked down a T3 acceptance if I had taken school more seriously my freshman/sophomore years. But at least I had fun in college...right...?

ha..if you don't have fun in college and aren't happy, you're wasting your life

definitely true, at least some of us enjoyed the last carefree part of our lives, haha

[johnstuartmill]

1:0:0:0

Better than my 0:4:5:0 showing last year.

[violinst]

5:5:1:0

I am having an above-average cycle. The school that gives me the most scholarship is also the highest-ranked, but I really want to attend the school that is waitlisiting me.

[Bikeflip]

15/4/5/4

Thank you LSAC fee waivers. Considering my retake was 8 pts higher, I'm pretty stoked. Biggest lesson I learned, while applying early is very important, the best LSAT score you can achieve is paramount.

[horriblegb]

8:3:2:1 hold

I really thought at the beginning of this I was not going to get into any school. Because I am ridiculous and maybe spent too much time on here. But I am glad I paid attention to my fee waivers, because I might end up going to a school I had never seriously considered before. I am happy everything worked out the way it did, considering my numbers, and all though I did pay a good amount of money applying, I am glad I did. And I am beyond ready for the fall!

[JOThompson]

My cycle turned out far better than predicted. Still, I wish I had retaken the LSAT though, as I might've cracked the T14 then.

[smov_operator]

11:0:2:1 Having probably the best cycle I could hope to have.

[somewhatwayward]

5:1:0:3, and i applied in november (except for chiacgo, which i appled to on an impulse in january and have not heard a single word from? not even application received)

i think taking an LSAT prep course would've been good for me. i probably screwed myself out of some acceptances and a decent chunk of scholarship money. i probably didn't need to apply to gerogetown as i also applied to vandy as a safety, and vandy is a school that i am much more likely to attend for personal reasons. i just didn't know what schools would do with my app, so i played it safe.

the other thing i think would've been helpful is perhaps hiring one of those admissions consultants bc i red flags on my transcript, and i don't know that they way i chose to explain them was the best way. i basically gave as little info as possible. however, i am pretty happy with my choices.