Columbia Reserve 2010 Forum

[chanchito]

I was put on reserve in early March and I haven't written my LOCI yet. I thought it didn't matter because they said they weren't going to review them again until the end of May. Or will they think I don't care enough to send it write away? :O

[shanemahsa]

Reserve letter dated 4/19. Hi everyone, sorry I'm late to teh party.

[legalnoeagle]

Checking in, reserve on 4/21. Not expecting much out of this process, though. Seems like getting in off the WL is akin to winning the lottery.

[jsarna1]

Checking in, reserve on 4/21. Not expecting much out of this process, though. Seems like getting in off the WL is akin to winning the lottery.

+1. Waiting out here and Chicago, but not expecting much at all.

[cyh]

I am stressing out. If I start Northwestern's AJD program in the summer and it just so happens that I get struck by lightening and get off of Columbia's "reserve" list during the summer, can I attend Columbia? or am I screwed?

I want to call and ask.

[lta]

everyone seems to say the list is so giant and that no one gets admitted off the list... is this all based on LSN? Or are there other sources?

[odiero]

Everything I've read seems to be based on LSN. I figure: LSN numbers aren't representative of the larger applicant pool, but we can at least use the LSN numbers to compare schools. So, more of a chance getting off NYU's list than CLS's (probably, although NYU's a bit erratic), but still no idea what that chance is. But I don't know things.

For T14 waitlist action in the 07-08 cycle (based on LSN numbers), see the NYU 2009 waitlist thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 8&start=50

...Can anybody explain me the differences between the First/Second/Third Reserve groups? I've seen these ordinals used on TLS, but I don't think my letter (from way back in Feb) had one... just said "Reserve group" I think.

Love and flowers.

[Corinne]

I'm hoping a whole bunch of admitted students get together and decide to take a year off and go backpacking through Europe or something fun like that. That way, we all get spots and everybody wins. I'd help pay their airfare hahaha

What are all of your back up plans?

[xokel87]

Everything I've read seems to be based on LSN. I figure: LSN numbers aren't representative of the larger applicant pool, but we can at least use the LSN numbers to compare schools. So, more of a chance getting off NYU's list than CLS's (probably, although NYU's a bit erratic), but still no idea what that chance is. But I don't know things.

For T14 waitlist action in the 07-08 cycle (based on LSN numbers), see the NYU 2009 waitlist thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 8&start=50

...Can anybody explain me the differences between the First/Second/Third Reserve groups? I've seen these ordinals used on TLS, but I don't think my letter (from way back in Feb) had one... just said "Reserve group" I think.

Love and flowers.

What I've seen suggests that the numbers refer to chronological batches of waitlists - when I got mine, the web address ended with "first reserve" and so did, I think, everyone else who received the waitlist as of yet. After they review us in mid-May they'll accept some, reject some, and place others on 'second reserve.' I imagine the same process goes for third, then you get the final final answer. If you look up the Columbia waitlist thread from last year you can follow how they got their news and when.

[odiero]

Everything I've read seems to be based on LSN. I figure: LSN numbers aren't representative of the larger applicant pool, but we can at least use the LSN numbers to compare schools. So, more of a chance getting off NYU's list than CLS's (probably, although NYU's a bit erratic), but still no idea what that chance is. But I don't know things.

For T14 waitlist action in the 07-08 cycle (based on LSN numbers), see the NYU 2009 waitlist thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 8&start=50

...Can anybody explain me the differences between the First/Second/Third Reserve groups? I've seen these ordinals used on TLS, but I don't think my letter (from way back in Feb) had one... just said "Reserve group" I think.

Love and flowers.

What I've seen suggests that the numbers refer to chronological batches of waitlists - when I got mine, the web address ended with "first reserve" and so did, I think, everyone else who received the waitlist as of yet. After they review us in mid-May they'll accept some, reject some, and place others on 'second reserve.' I imagine the same process goes for third, then you get the final final answer. If you look up the Columbia waitlist thread from last year you can follow how they got their news and when.

Ah. This helps. Thanks.

So we're all "first" reserve for now. And CLS doesn't (officially, explicitly) put anybody in a "preferred" reserve group (as GULC does)?

[Sakura3210]

So we're all "first" reserve for now. And CLS doesn't (officially, explicitly) put anybody in a "preferred" reserve group (as GULC does)?

As far as I'm aware, no.

[swampthang]

Just withdrew this morning. I'm already getting money at Chicago so I figure better to focus my attentions there/on the HLS WL. Maybe my example will inspire others to drop out at H in droves. Good luck to all!

[SanBun]

I'll be joining you fine people

Reserve via e-mail (as requested since I'm abroad)

Well, at least I'm not a Columbia reject- yet. Haha.

So what have we concluded, how minimal are the chances of getting off the waitlist??

edit: Also, can someone explain to me what this whole "first" reserve business is about? TAHNKS

[calicocat]

On reserve. This is weird.

[holybartender]

Also on reserve. Hahahahaha none of us are getting in.

[MeredithGrey]

Also placed on reserve today by snail mail.

Does anyone know if you get in off the reserve/wait list, can you ask for a deferral?

I am on three WLs- DUKE, UCLA, Columbia. Dukes WL FAQ says thats you cannot ask for a deferral if you get in off the WL, but Columbia and UCLA dont mention it.

Basically Im totally stuck on what to do.

I will be at Harvard in the fall for an MPH. I am still waiting on a decision from HLS to see if I can pursue the JD-MPH there which is my number one choice. On the other hand, Georgetown granted my deferral and is asking me for a binding commitment to attend in 2011. I think I have to let them know by Monday. Georgetown is an awesome school but I definitely feel like it's a tough situation when I havent heard back from all my schools.

HELP!

[odiero]

Also placed on reserve today by snail mail.

Does anyone know if you get in off the reserve/wait list, can you ask for a deferral?

I am on three WLs- DUKE, UCLA, Columbia. Dukes WL FAQ says thats you cannot ask for a deferral if you get in off the WL, but Columbia and UCLA dont mention it.

Basically Im totally stuck on what to do.

I will be at Harvard in the fall for an MPH. I am still waiting on a decision from HLS to see if I can pursue the JD-MPH there which is my number one choice. On the other hand, Georgetown granted my deferral and is asking me for a binding commitment to attend in 2011. I think I have to let them know by Monday. Georgetown is an awesome school but I definitely feel like it's a tough situation when I havent heard back from all my schools.

HELP!

Would you consider reapplying next year? You'd have more experience, more professors to ask for LORs and possibly a higher LSAT (if you decided to retake... and assuming you're not one of those 180 people). Doesn't seem to me like you would have lost anything in the meantime -- I mean, you're studying for the MPH regardless, right? Reapplying could give you a stronger shot at CLS, HLS and company.

If you were OK with reapplying, you could decline the GULC offer, withdraw from the Duke waitlist (and possibly CLS's and UCLA's, if they don't allow deferrals off the waitlist -- I'd call them) and stay on the HLS waitlist to see what happens. Then, if you don't get in off HLS's waitlist, you just reapply next cycle.

Depends on what you want, though, obviously. If it's not that important to you to go to a school that's fancier than GULC, it may not be worth going through the application cycle again (retaking the LSAT, etc.). Reapplying just to give HLS another shot (so you can stay in Cambridge the whole time) might not be a great idea, since the odds of being admitted are never good (unless you're not a mortal like me). Seems like you'd have to know you'd be satisfied with CLS (for example) for it to make sense to reapply hoping for better results (i.e. acceptances and waitlists you can ride out).

Any possibility of doing a joint JD/MPH with the MPH at Harvard and the JD elsewhere? A number of schools do cross-university joint degrees with international affairs / public policy programs -- e.g. Columbia JD / Princeton MPA. If you could do such a joint degree at Columbia, for instance, then you could ride the waitlist. You'd still have to decline GULC's offer, of course.

Fun times. Good luck!!

[SanBun]

Also placed on reserve today by snail mail.

Does anyone know if you get in off the reserve/wait list, can you ask for a deferral?

I am on three WLs- DUKE, UCLA, Columbia. Dukes WL FAQ says thats you cannot ask for a deferral if you get in off the WL, but Columbia and UCLA dont mention it.

Basically Im totally stuck on what to do.

I will be at Harvard in the fall for an MPH. I am still waiting on a decision from HLS to see if I can pursue the JD-MPH there which is my number one choice. On the other hand, Georgetown granted my deferral and is asking me for a binding commitment to attend in 2011. I think I have to let them know by Monday. Georgetown is an awesome school but I definitely feel like it's a tough situation when I havent heard back from all my schools.

HELP!

I called Columbia asking the same thing- whether they allow deferrals for waitlisted admits, and they said no. It makes sense, since they
have so many waitlisted people each year to choose from and they simply don't know how/whether you will fit into the next class as a presumably borderline applicant. I'm considering reapplying next year, sounds like you should consider that as well. Good luck!

[Core]

If anyone would not mind critiquing my final LOCI, please PM me. Thanks!

[MeredithGrey]

Also placed on reserve today by snail mail.

Does anyone know if you get in off the reserve/wait list, can you ask for a deferral?

I am on three WLs- DUKE, UCLA, Columbia. Dukes WL FAQ says thats you cannot ask for a deferral if you get in off the WL, but Columbia and UCLA dont mention it.

Basically Im totally stuck on what to do.

I will be at Harvard in the fall for an MPH. I am still waiting on a decision from HLS to see if I can pursue the JD-MPH there which is my number one choice. On the other hand, Georgetown granted my deferral and is asking me for a binding commitment to attend in 2011. I think I have to let them know by Monday. Georgetown is an awesome school but I definitely feel like it's a tough situation when I havent heard back from all my schools.

HELP!

Thanks for the info. My wl's have increased to five. Ucla, nu, cornell, columbia and duke. At least now I know duke and columbia don't allow deferrals. *sigh* decisions.

I called Columbia asking the same thing- whether they allow deferrals for waitlisted admits, and they said no. It makes sense, since they
have so many waitlisted people each year to choose from and they simply don't know how/whether you will fit into the next class as a presumably borderline applicant. I'm considering reapplying next year, sounds like you should consider that as well. Good luck!

[jd/mph prospect]

Also placed on reserve today by snail mail.

Does anyone know if you get in off the reserve/wait list, can you ask for a deferral?

I am on three WLs- DUKE, UCLA, Columbia. Dukes WL FAQ says thats you cannot ask for a deferral if you get in off the WL, but Columbia and UCLA dont mention it.

Basically Im totally stuck on what to do.

I will be at Harvard in the fall for an MPH. I am still waiting on a decision from HLS to see if I can pursue the JD-MPH there which is my number one choice. On the other hand, Georgetown granted my deferral and is asking me for a binding commitment to attend in 2011. I think I have to let them know by Monday. Georgetown is an awesome school but I definitely feel like it's a tough situation when I havent heard back from all my schools.

HELP!

Would you consider reapplying next year? You'd have more experience, more professors to ask for LORs and possibly a higher LSAT (if you decided to retake... and assuming you're not one of those 180 people). Doesn't seem to me like you would have lost anything in the meantime -- I mean, you're studying for the MPH regardless, right? Reapplying could give you a stronger shot at CLS, HLS and company.

If you were OK with reapplying, you could decline the GULC offer, withdraw from the Duke waitlist (and possibly CLS's and UCLA's, if they don't allow deferrals off the waitlist -- I'd call them) and stay on the HLS waitlist to see what happens. Then, if you don't get in off HLS's waitlist, you just reapply next cycle.

Depends on what you want, though, obviously. If it's not that important to you to go to a school that's fancier than GULC, it may not be worth going through the application cycle again (retaking the LSAT, etc.). Reapplying just to give HLS another shot (so you can stay in Cambridge the whole time) might not be a great idea, since the odds of being admitted are never good (unless you're not a mortal like me). Seems like you'd have to know you'd be satisfied with CLS (for example) for it to make sense to reapply hoping for better results (i.e. acceptances and waitlists you can ride out).

Any possibility of doing a joint JD/MPH with the MPH at Harvard and the JD elsewhere? A number of schools do cross-university joint degrees with international affairs / public policy programs -- e.g. Columbia JD / Princeton MPA. If you could do such a joint degree at Columbia, for instance, then you could ride the waitlist. You'd still have to decline GULC's offer, of course.

Fun times. Good luck!!

Is Harvard allowing you to pursue an MPH this fall if you do not get into HLS? My understanding is that, unless you already have another professional degree, you cannot do the Harvard MPH on its own. You would have to be accepted to HLS to do the joint JD/MPH or you would have to complete a JD degree elsewhere first and then do the Harvard MPH. (Unlike other public health schools, I believe that Harvard SPH does not allow you to do the MPH without a professional degree and does not allow you to do a joint degree with other law schools) Correct me if I'm wrong.

Since you got into Georgetown, have you considered doing the joint JD/MPH with Johns Hopkins? (Johns Hopkins actually allows you to do a joint JD/MPH with any accredited law school, but they are formally/originally affiliated with GULC)

I'm in a similar situation, I'm waitlisted at a few law schools, but in at Mailman (Columbia MPH does allow starting MPH first without professional degree). Planning to ride out the law school waitlist and hopefully get in. But if things don't work out, I'll probably start with the MPH this fall and reapply.

[ShibaDan]

ED Deferral --> Hold here. (aka soft reject) I'm riding it out, but I'm not sure what I'd do if I got off. I'm really really excited about where I think I'm going.

[MeredithGrey]

Also placed on reserve today by snail mail.

Does anyone know if you get in off the reserve/wait list, can you ask for a deferral?

I am on three WLs- DUKE, UCLA, Columbia. Dukes WL FAQ says thats you cannot ask for a deferral if you get in off the WL, but Columbia and UCLA dont mention it.

Basically Im totally stuck on what to do.

I will be at Harvard in the fall for an MPH. I am still waiting on a decision from HLS to see if I can pursue the JD-MPH there which is my number one choice. On the other hand, Georgetown granted my deferral and is asking me for a binding commitment to attend in 2011. I think I have to let them know by Monday. Georgetown is an awesome school but I definitely feel like it's a tough situation when I havent heard back from all my schools.

HELP!

Would you consider reapplying next year? You'd have more experience, more professors to ask for LORs and possibly a higher LSAT (if you decided to retake... and assuming you're not one of those 180 people). Doesn't seem to me like you would have lost anything in the meantime -- I mean, you're studying for the MPH regardless, right? Reapplying could give you a stronger shot at CLS, HLS and company.

If you were OK with reapplying, you could decline the GULC offer, withdraw from the Duke waitlist (and possibly CLS's and UCLA's, if they don't allow deferrals off the waitlist -- I'd call them) and stay on the HLS waitlist to see what happens. Then, if you don't get in off HLS's waitlist, you just reapply next cycle.

Depends on what you want, though, obviously. If it's not that important to you to go to a school that's fancier than GULC, it may not be worth going through the application cycle again (retaking the LSAT, etc.). Reapplying just to give HLS another shot (so you can stay in Cambridge the whole time) might not be a great idea, since the odds of being admitted are never good (unless you're not a mortal like me). Seems like you'd have to know you'd be satisfied with CLS (for example) for it to make sense to reapply hoping for better results (i.e. acceptances and waitlists you can ride out).

Any possibility of doing a joint JD/MPH with the MPH at Harvard and the JD elsewhere? A number of schools do cross-university joint degrees with international affairs / public policy programs -- e.g. Columbia JD / Princeton MPA. If you could do such a joint degree at Columbia, for instance, then you could ride the waitlist. You'd still have to decline GULC's offer, of course.

Fun times. Good luck!!

Is Harvard allowing you to pursue an MPH this fall if you do not get into HLS? My understanding is that, unless you already have another professional degree, you cannot do the Harvard MPH on its own. You would have to be accepted to HLS to do the joint JD/MPH or you would have to complete a JD degree elsewhere first and then do the Harvard MPH. (Unlike other public health schools, I believe that Harvard SPH does not allow you to do the MPH without a professional degree and does not allow you to do a joint degree with other law schools) Correct me if I'm wrong.

Since you got into Georgetown, have you considered doing the joint JD/MPH with Johns Hopkins? (Johns Hopkins actually allows you to do a joint JD/MPH with any accredited law school, but they are formally/originally affiliated with GULC)

I'm in a similar situation, I'm waitlisted at a few law schools, but in at Mailman (Columbia MPH does allow starting MPH first without professional degree). Planning to ride out the law school waitlist and hopefully get in. But if things don't work out, I'll probably start with the MPH this fall and reapply.

I already have another professional degree. My screen name probably gives away what that is! The unique part of Harvards program is that its only three years for the combined program--saving time and money. I did not apply to jhu mph because it was in a different city than the law school. For MPH I only applied to Yale Michigan and Harvard and got into all three. Ive already turned down the other two given the deadline was April 15th to decide on MPH schools.

I really want to do the MPH at Harvard so thats not an option at me. I will be at HSPH 2010 -2011. So either by some miracle I am waitlisted at HLS (still waiting), one of my WL schools (or Georgetown, I guess I have to decide this soon) lets me defer, or I reapply next year.

If youre in Columbia MPH program and youre already waitlisted at Columbia law, I would say that your odds are a little better. Is there an option for you to take summer school for the MPH program? If so does Columbia MPH allow you to cross register for law classes (I know HSPH allows that)... maybe you can do that and try and make a good impression on the law profs and get an additional lor from a columbia law faculty during the summer. And I definitely would write it in all your LOCI... since youll be at Columbia anyway, you can even join their class if they have a last minute withdrawl. I would continue to remind them of this throughout the summer.

[happyhopes]

I received my Reserve letter on 4/30 or 5/1 (I was out of town, so I'm not sure.) I don't have any life-updates, but I'm going to write a LOCI anyway, it seems like it's standard.

Right now, I've paid my deposit at U of Michigan. They offered me $$$, I turned down Gtown $$$ after negotiations for more money stalled, and turned down Northwestern $$. (It was a tough decision, so now is not the time to tell me that I made a huge mistake picking Michigan. I'm really pretty excited about going there!)

I'm going to wait out Columbia and Penn, but probably take my name off the lists at Duke and UVA. Is there a strategy? I just don't see the point in sitting on lists at places I won't attend.

BTW, I plan to work in international humanitarian law. I'm 3.5/175. (Different #s in other posts/LSN to protect identity )

[ConMan345]

The title of this thread sounds like the name of a bottle of wine.


Jus' sayin'.