Harvard 2011 Applicants Forum

[oxford_don]

[]

[MM326]

Had mine today. Short (7 minutes), I wish I said more but I can imagine that he doesn't people to talk his ear off.

But I have to reiterate everything that has been said. He is very nice, its a low-stress conversation, he asked me a specific question about my application (though not that specific), why law school, why harvard, do you have any questions.

Time to wait and keep replaying a 7 minute phone conversation in my phone over and over and over

There's no need for a follow up email right? Like a thanks for the interview kind of thing? Just curious about the etiquette of these things.

Consensus here is "no need."

I sent a brief email. Why not.

To the Harvard admissions office or as a reply to the interview email?

[bedefan]

Had mine today. Short (7 minutes), I wish I said more but I can imagine that he doesn't people to talk his ear off.

But I have to reiterate everything that has been said. He is very nice, its a low-stress conversation, he asked me a specific question about my application (though not that specific), why law school, why harvard, do you have any questions.

Time to wait and keep replaying a 7 minute phone conversation in my phone over and over and over

There's no need for a follow up email right? Like a thanks for the interview kind of thing? Just curious about the etiquette of these things.

Consensus here is "no need."

I sent one as well, also figuring "why not," also figuring it is genuinely nice of them even to bother interviewing people... They certainly don't have to.

And I got a kind little note back!

[Fresh]

Was just stepping into a public restroom when JR called. Ended up being a little flustered. Talked too much at one point.

He ended the interview saying that they'll send my application to the faculty review committee and I'll hear after Thanksgiving. Is that normal, or does that mean, "We need to think about this?"

That means that he didn't like talking to someone who was pooping

[thecilent]

Oh woops. Okay, I guess people do send a thank you. My bad!

[bedefan]

Was just stepping into a public restroom when JR called. Ended up being a little flustered. Talked too much at one point.

He ended the interview saying that they'll send my application to the faculty review committee and I'll hear after Thanksgiving. Is that normal, or does that mean, "We need to think about this?"

That means that he didn't like talking to someone who was pooping

lol... I was just stepping in the door of the restroom, and then my phone rang and I scurried across the hall to my office while we said our hellos and how are yous.

I intended to calmly await the call in my office, but I think he called at exactly the start of the hour slot he'd given me. And I think the clock in my office is a little slow. So I thought I had two minutes, which explains the trip to the bathroom.

The thing that flustered me was that as I stepped into the restroom I took my phone out of my pocket to make sure the ringer was on, and accidentally answered the call before the phone even started ringing. No opportunity to look at the number, take a deep breath, and give my most charming hello. Just--oh crap! I'm in a public restroom and I just accidentally answered a call from Josh Rubenstein without the phone even ringing!

But, as everyone says, he really has a low-key demeanor. So I calmed down and probably gave an average performance in the interview, I think.

[sarahh]

Oh woops. Okay, I guess people do send a thank you. My bad!

I sent one to the jdadmiss e-mail and got a reply from an Andrea. Dean Rubenstein himself probably does not read it, and they probably do not put a note in your file saying you sent it, so I don't think it is a big deal to not do one - I just have it ingrained in me that you send thank you notes for everything!

[MM326]

Oh woops. Okay, I guess people do send a thank you. My bad!

I sent one to the jdadmiss e-mail and got a reply from an Andrea. Dean Rubenstein himself probably does not read it, and they probably do not put a note in your file saying you sent it, so I don't think it is a big deal to not do one - I just have it ingrained in me that you send thank you notes for everything!

Yeah I just sent one, figuring that there isn't really any harm.

[Calla Lily]

Had JR1 today. It was about 10 minutes long (but it went by so fast it felt like three!). I had the standard why law, why Harvard questions, and asked him a couple of questions. I think it went fine. Like everyone said, he is a nice guy and the conversation was pretty casual.

[supahstahxruv]

According to my status checker I went UR 10/29 but I got this email today --

As of today, your application to Harvard Law School is complete. This means that we have received and assembled all required materials and submitted your application for review.

Is this normal? Does this mean a continuation of my hope against hope of a JR1 soon...? Waaaah.

[jd2014!]

According to my status checker I went UR 10/29 but I got this email today --

As of today, your application to Harvard Law School is complete. This means that we have received and assembled all required materials and submitted your application for review.

Is this normal? Does this mean a continuation of my hope against hope of a JR1 soon...? Waaaah.

I believe this question has been answered repeatedly on this thread. Yes, it is normal to go UR and then recieve your complete email. The complete emails are sent out in batches. They are nothing but a heads-up to those who never check their status checkers. Some people get a JR1 before the complete emails, some people get one after.

[mgoblue11]

So, thinking ahead a little bit -

For those of us who have had a pre-thanksgiving JR1 but find ourselves, 2-3 weeks from now, rocking back and forth in the fetal position on the floor as all of our TLS brethren have received their JR2s and we're still waiting for the call... when is an appropriate time to start inundating Harvard with more stuff? Additional LORs, resume updates, LOCIs, etc.

Also, if your stats and/or softs were good enough to warrant the JR1, but the JR1 wasn't good enough to warrant the JR2, is there any hope that sending them more stuff would make any difference at all?

[sarahh]

So, thinking ahead a little bit -

For those of us who have had a pre-thanksgiving JR1 but find ourselves, 2-3 weeks from now, rocking back and forth in the fetal position on the floor as all of our TLS brethren have received their JR2s and we're still waiting for the call... when is an appropriate time to start inundating Harvard with more stuff? Additional LORs, resume updates, LOCIs, etc.

Also, if your stats and/or softs were good enough to warrant the JR1, but the JR1 wasn't good enough to warrant the JR2, is there any hope that sending them more stuff would make any difference at all?

Way to think positively! At the very least, I would wait until you are officially held, but even then, I probably would wait for the waitlist unless they asked for something earlier. But that is just me.

[oxford_don]

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[Calla Lily]

Alright, well I took it for the team and did some LSN data mining. (Yes, I acknowledge that all this data is self-reported and that LSN is likely an unrepresentative sample of the entire applicant pool. Take it all with a grain of salt.)

The total applications on LSN for HLS represent about 10% of HLS's total applicant pool.

There were 142 admits, which represent 17% of the total admits to Harvard. There were 16 people who got in off of the WL. If you add those to the regular admits (not sure if WL, A are included in the # of offers ABA data or not), that represents 19% of the total admits.

The median and average LSAT for the regular admits were 175 and 174.4. The median and average GPA for regular admits were 3.93 and 3.91. The median and average LSAT for WL admits were 172 and 171.88. The median and average GPA for WL admits were 3.89 and 3.85.

Now for JR1 stats. There was less data here, given that people had to supply this data beyond just choosing an application status. I have not looked at all the rejection data yet, but I assume the incidence of JR1 then rejection is low (I could be wrong, though).

I counted a total of 148 JR1s. There were 61 people who were accepted in the first batch of acceptances. There were four people who noted that they had a pre-Thanksgiving JR1 and subsequently got waitlisted but not accepted.

There were 76 regular admits that got in post-Thanksgiving, 3 admits off the WL that got in who previously had JR1s, and 4 people with post-Thanksgiving JR1s that got waitlisted and were not admitted. There were some people who had pre-Thanksgiving JR1s, but got accepted in a later batch, though I don't have the specific numbers at the moment.

The median and average LSAT of the 61 admits in the first batch were 175 and 174.84. The median and average GPA of the 61 admits in the first batch were 3.94 and 3.91.

The median and average LSAT of the 76 regular admits in later batches were 175 and 173.83. The median and average GPA of the 76 regular admits in later batches were 3.92 and 3.9.

So the first batch admits had slightly higher stats than those in later batches, but not significantly. The regular admits overall had better stats than those who got in off of the WL, unsurprisingly. The percentage of people who had JR1s who later received JR2s is extremely high for both pre-Thanksgiving and post-Thanksgiving JR1s (around 94%). There were only 8 people total who reported JR1s but no JR2s. If only that were representative!

I hope that some of you find this interesting. Enjoy!

[sergeantpzr]

Interesting. Those stats are intimidating as hell.

[cardinals1989]

Interesting. Those stats are intimidating as hell.

Yeah, the LSAT scores are what truly kill me. Ughh.

[r6_philly]

Interesting. Those stats are intimidating as hell.

Yeah, the LSAT scores are what truly kill me. Ughh.

Retake

All of us.

[WestOfTheRest]

Retakes don't get into harvard. hth

[CapHillLove]

.

[WestOfTheRest]

My LSAT is above those medians but my GPA definitely isn't! Is there hope for me?

Hope, but probably not early in the cycle.

[r6_philly]

Retakes don't get into harvard. hth

That's not true, if they average my 180 they get 175.

[cardinals1989]

Interesting. Those stats are intimidating as hell.

Yeah, the LSAT scores are what truly kill me. Ughh.

Retake

All of us.

The thought of doing the LSAT process again just gives me a headache.

[WestOfTheRest]

Retakes don't get into harvard. hth

That's not true, if they average my 180 they get 175.

It's not about averaging, its about them not liking retakers. It has nothing to do with averaging. IMO, averaging is a myth. They don't look at you in context of your average LSAT score.

[r6_philly]

Interesting. Those stats are intimidating as hell.

Yeah, the LSAT scores are what truly kill me. Ughh.

Retake

All of us.

The thought of doing the LSAT process again just gives me a headache.

I've been tutoring. (and thankful that I am already over that stage. But... those numbers make me want to retake)