In at Richmond - 2014 Forum

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aknecht

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by aknecht » Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:26 pm

aknecht wrote:
Bless wrote:
Kainmacbeth wrote:I'm 99% sure I'm going to Richmond. They've been the absolute best law school to deal with during the admissions process.
HUH?

They have no status checker, they sent out acceptances to students who weren't accepted yet, and they have taken forever to make decisions.


I'm not trying to put out your fire, because that's great that you are excited about where you'll be going to law school, but saying Richmond has been the best school to deal with during the admissions process is madness, at least based off of my experience.
I have to echo this. I applied to 25+ schools and UR has been by far the worst at dealing with. Huge amount of worthless marketing mail, no status checker, the fake out with the acceptance e-mail, the mailings that look like acceptance packets, etc. and, to top it all off, I still have not heard back from them and I applied in December.

must have jinxyed myself as I was waitlisted today. kinda surprised as I went there for undergrad and got a 161. Well I guess I won't be donating any more money to UofR. For a school that is SUPER concerned about their image with grads and their donation rate, was not the smartest move.

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crossarmant

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by crossarmant » Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:28 pm

I got waitlisted by U of R today. Though, not surprising. Actually, mildly because I was expecting a straight rejection. I think it was the fact that my LORs were from faculty at U of R that kept it from being a straight rejection. I guess we'll see come mid-April if it turns into an acceptance.

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crysmissmichelle

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by crysmissmichelle » Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:19 pm

checks wrote:Just a head's up to JMS alternates: They've begun redistributing offers. Got my call today and have until April 1st to decide.

Anyone know if they're doing JMS for sure? I'm really torn between Richmond with the JMS (living at home with no room and board expenses) and William and Mary with 16k a year. I feel totally lost and would appreciate any advice or insight...
That is definitely a difficult decision. They are both great schools. What are your career goals? Where do you hope to permanently settle? Have you visited WM yet?

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by checks » Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:19 pm

crysmissmichelle wrote:
checks wrote:Just a head's up to JMS alternates: They've begun redistributing offers. Got my call today and have until April 1st to decide.

Anyone know if they're doing JMS for sure? I'm really torn between Richmond with the JMS (living at home with no room and board expenses) and William and Mary with 16k a year. I feel totally lost and would appreciate any advice or insight...
That is definitely a difficult decision. They are both great schools. What are your career goals? Where do you hope to permanently settle? Have you visited WM yet?

At this point, I'm interested in a mid-size firm experience, working primarily in family law. I'm also really interested in intellectual/cultural property, specifically art law. In terms of location, I would love to end up in Richmond but could probably be happy anywhere in Virginia or D.C.

I visited W&M this weekend and came away excited and impressed. I had hoped to visit Richmond on April 8th but now have to make a decision earlier so no help there. Have any of you visited Richmond? How was it? Can anyone who's visited W&M and Richmond compare the two?

Sorry to be a pain. I didn't think I'd have to make such a rushed decision and am officially going crazy....

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by limelightwave » Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:43 pm

I know the feeling! I got offered a JMS today too, and now I'm deciding between Richmond and Georgia, but I am in even more of a bind because I'm still waiting on hearing about money from Georgia.

As far as W&M vs. Richmond, I've visited both and enjoyed both. At Richmond, the law school is much more integrated into the main campus than at W&M. I didn't really get a chance to see the main campus at W&M, but the campus at Richmond is GORGEOUS. The law school facilities are a little dated though.... They could certainly do with some renovation. The facilities at W&M are really nice.

As far as classes, I went to contracts at both and I enjoyed both classes, but they were very different. W&M students seemed much more willing to answer questions and more people seemed to be talking... at Richmond people were answering, but it seemed to be a smaller number of people, possibly because the professor seemed to rely more on volunteers than calling on people. Richmond also seemed much more focused on creating practitioners- as in the prof. referenced the bar exam multiple times, whereas the W&M class seemed more academic. Both good, just different.

If you want to work in Richmond though, I think you'd be fine with either.

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crysmissmichelle

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by crysmissmichelle » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:53 am

My experience visiting both. . . .just comparisons:

Admissions staff: Richmond beats all. . . .but they were recruiting me, whereas WM didn't really care one way or the other.

Moot courtroom: Richmond's reminds you of the old style. . .something out of "To Kill a Mockingbird" whereas W&M is very modern, lots of technology. . .they're really proud of being the most technological in the country.

Campus beauty: Richmond's architecture, much more beautiful, great campus, etc. W&M of course has Colonial Williamsburg so nothing too shabby, but a more brick construction whereas Richmond is just breathtaking because of the older/worldly styles to the buildings.

Students: W&M students seemed more confident and serious. My guide at Richmond was friendly and nice, but couldn't talk about scholarships and things of the like. W&M the students were engaged in the discussions and seemed to have a real grasp of things. . . .my kids at Richmond seemed unsure and didn't really want to volunteer. . . .my trip to Richmond was much earlier in the semester, so this may not be representative. . . . .but there was a definite difference to the attitude of the students.

Library: W&M was much busier, separate computer rooms and ease of printing. I just got info from Richmond where you have to have your own printer, BUT it gets stored in your own cubby. Each student has an assigned cubby where they are able to keep their own things permanently.

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crysmissmichelle

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by crysmissmichelle » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:57 am

Professors: At W&M I was not able to speak to any professors at all. At Richmond, my guide was able to just drop by his own professors' offices and they immediately came, greeted him by name, met me, asked my background, answered any questions I had and were just all around friendly. I really came away with the feeling that they were accessible and helpful. . .and cared about the prospective students as well as this student that they obviously had a vested, serious interest in for his own success.

I have heard that W&M is a better bet if you're set on DC, but UR staff swears this is not really the case. . .they have grads all over the world.

The guide at W&M already had a high paying 2L summer position lined up though. . . .and swore that a few of his friends did too.

If I were you, and having this difficult a decision, I would spreadsheet the costs before making a final decision.

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crysmissmichelle

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by crysmissmichelle » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:02 am

limelightwave wrote:I know the feeling! I got offered a JMS today too, and now I'm deciding between Richmond and Georgia, but I am in even more of a bind because I'm still waiting on hearing about money from Georgia.

Congratulations!

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NCtoDC

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by NCtoDC » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:26 am

checks wrote:
crysmissmichelle wrote:
checks wrote:Just a head's up to JMS alternates: They've begun redistributing offers. Got my call today and have until April 1st to decide.

Anyone know if they're doing JMS for sure? I'm really torn between Richmond with the JMS (living at home with no room and board expenses) and William and Mary with 16k a year. I feel totally lost and would appreciate any advice or insight...
That is definitely a difficult decision. They are both great schools. What are your career goals? Where do you hope to permanently settle? Have you visited WM yet?

At this point, I'm interested in a mid-size firm experience, working primarily in family law. I'm also really interested in intellectual/cultural property, specifically art law. In terms of location, I would love to end up in Richmond but could probably be happy anywhere in Virginia or D.C.

I visited W&M this weekend and came away excited and impressed. I had hoped to visit Richmond on April 8th but now have to make a decision earlier so no help there. Have any of you visited Richmond? How was it? Can anyone who's visited W&M and Richmond compare the two?

Sorry to be a pain. I didn't think I'd have to make such a rushed decision and am officially going crazy....
If you haven't seen this already, you should check out these graphs for the two schools. You may be a bit scared to choose Richmond over W&M after looking at them. http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=150681

I understand the need/desire to minimize debt, but in doing so you may be shutting yourself out of career prospects in the future. I was in the same boat trying to choose between Wake and FSU for monetary reasons. I decided to go with the better school over the money...

EDIT: I just wanted to add that I really loved FSU and the atmosphere there much more than Wake but thought in the end my career was more important than how comfortable I would be for 3 years of school.

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suspicious android

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by suspicious android » Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:02 am

Withdrew today, so there's another JMS offer available. I asked for an extension, since I'm still waiting on some long shot acceptances/scholarships, but they wouldn't go for it. Understandable, but frustrating. I'm not aware of any other scholarships with such an early deadline.

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crysmissmichelle

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by crysmissmichelle » Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:06 am

suspicious android wrote:Withdrew today, so there's another JMS offer available. I asked for an extension, since I'm still waiting on some long shot acceptances/scholarships, but they wouldn't go for it. Understandable, but frustrating. I'm not aware of any other scholarships with such an early deadline.
I'm sorry to hear that, but I really do hope that you get your dream school.

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kch3684

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by kch3684 » Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:25 am

For those JM alternates I asked the office about how many of us are there, is it ranked etc, very vague about those questions other then to say that it wasn't a lot and there was no rank rather a pool for the admins to pick from. They did say that if you would absolutely attend given the JM you should tell them. They want to offer it to people who are truly serious about attending and since most people offered it have numbers that probably got them into higher ranked schools I think that telling the office you WILL GO if offered will put your name in front of someone with better numbers but more wishy washy on going to Richmond

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by limelightwave » Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:26 am

Yeah, the quick response on the JMS is killing me. I was only notified Saturday and I have to decide by Friday... seems a bit crazy....

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crysmissmichelle

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by crysmissmichelle » Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:54 am

kch--
That is very interesting information. I would feel really funny admitting to them that I probably won't be able to go to law school if I don't get this scholarship.

. . . .but I couldn't sign up fast enough if I got this scholarship.

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by jtkhsc » Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:27 pm

There was some discussion earlier about Richmond having two waitlists in years past. A "priority" and a regular. Did anyone receive a WL letter that specifically mentioned priority this time around?

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by emm » Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:48 pm

jtkhsc wrote:There was some discussion earlier about Richmond having two waitlists in years past. A "priority" and a regular. Did anyone receive a WL letter that specifically mentioned priority this time around?

My waitlist letter didn't mention priority or regular waitlists.

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by nkra » Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:46 pm

I just received my wait list letter today too. Mine didn't mention anything about priority/regular either. Maybe they aren't doing that this time around.

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by checks » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:28 pm

limelightwave wrote:Yeah, the quick response on the JMS is killing me. I was only notified Saturday and I have to decide by Friday... seems a bit crazy....
Yeah, it's really frustrating. I am 100% okay with being a "second choice," but I think it's only fair that they give the alternates the same amount of time to decide that they gave first choice JMS candidates, who I believe had at least 15 days... Now we have six?

I'm also not sure why they didn't hold their Admitted Students Open House(s) earlier if they need to know JMS answers so soon. Why not give themselves a chance to really show off their school/program before making people decide?

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by flgator10 » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:30 pm

nkra wrote:I just received my wait list letter today too. Mine didn't mention anything about priority/regular either. Maybe they aren't doing that this time around.
Also waitlisted today. The letter does sound pretty optimistic though. "The Dean asked the Committee to carefully choose a limited number of highly qualified students for the Waiting List with the expectation that many of those chosen will be offered a place in the class." Probably the most positive waitlist letter I've gotten so far.

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Bless

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by Bless » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:35 pm

Adding today's letter to my waiting list pile.
Last edited by Bless on Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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crysmissmichelle

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by crysmissmichelle » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:36 pm

checks wrote:
limelightwave wrote:Yeah, the quick response on the JMS is killing me. I was only notified Saturday and I have to decide by Friday... seems a bit crazy....
Yeah, it's really frustrating. I am 100% okay with being a "second choice," but I think it's only fair that they give the alternates the same amount of time to decide that they gave first choice JMS candidates, who I believe had at least 15 days... Now we have six?

I'm also not sure why they didn't hold their Admitted Students Open House(s) earlier if they need to know JMS answers so soon. Why not give themselves a chance to really show off their school/program before making people decide?
I think they kind of expect people to have already visited their top choices this late. A lot of schools are requiring seat deposits by April 1 whereas Richmond is later at April 15. Remember also, that it is a key recruiting tool and they need to offer it to students before they deposit somewhere else that first week of April.

I think they're also kind of hoping that they were one of your top choices.

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Flett

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by Flett » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:55 pm

crysmissmichelle wrote: I think they kind of expect people to have already visited their top choices this late. A lot of schools are requiring seat deposits by April 1 whereas Richmond is later at April 15. Remember also, that it is a key recruiting tool and they need to offer it to students before they deposit somewhere else that first week of April.

I think they're also kind of hoping that they were one of your top choices.
Most of the schools I'm still considering have an ASD on April 1st and/or April 8th with deposits due from Aprith 15th to May 20th. I don't think it's too late to visit schools at all. I'm not a JMS, but if I were, I would be very afraid/worried of accepting without having the chance to visit and being forced to make such a huge decision in six days as opposed to fifteen (or w/e the dates were). Not everyone is 100% certain that Richmond is perfect for them.

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by suspicious android » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:00 pm

Flett wrote: Most of the schools I'm still considering have an ASD on April 1st and/or April 8th with deposits due from Aprith 15th to May 20th. I don't think it's too late to visit schools at all. I'm not a JMS, but if I were, I would be very afraid/worried of accepting without having the chance to visit and being forced to make such a huge decision in six days as opposed to fifteen (or w/e the dates were). Not everyone is 100% certain that Richmond is perfect for them.
They basically told me if they're not my #1 choice they weren't interested in waiting around for me to decide. So I guess they're willing to lose out on some applicants.

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crossarmant

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by crossarmant » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:08 pm

It definitely seems like more people are being waitlisted than being straight-up rejected. Maybe it's just that TLS is a poor cross-sample, but that seems odd.

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Re: In at Richmond - 2014

Post by NCtoDC » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:47 pm

checks wrote:
limelightwave wrote:Yeah, the quick response on the JMS is killing me. I was only notified Saturday and I have to decide by Friday... seems a bit crazy....
Yeah, it's really frustrating. I am 100% okay with being a "second choice," but I think it's only fair that they give the alternates the same amount of time to decide that they gave first choice JMS candidates, who I believe had at least 15 days... Now we have six?

I'm also not sure why they didn't hold their Admitted Students Open House(s) earlier if they need to know JMS answers so soon. Why not give themselves a chance to really show off their school/program before making people decide?
In years past Richmond hasn't actually had ASD. They usually have a deposited students day later in the summer. However, because of construction this summer they chose to have ASD this year. Dean Rahman told me that when I got my acceptance call.

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