Georgetown c/o 2016 Applicants (2012-2013) Forum

[amonthofsundays]

I got put on the preferred wait list yesterday. I guess that line at the end of the group interview email about "noting being able to attend will have no negative impact on your application" was a little disingenuous.

[SteelPenguin]

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[kraffcook]

"The Scholarship Committee has just finished the initial selection process for our limited amount of scholarship funding and we are unable to offer you merit based aid at this time."
Well, at least they finally got back to me after more than a month

At least you got asked to apply!

I actually wasn't asked. I called them and asked for consideration then got the same e-mail asking for additional info as everyone else

[kraffcook]

So here is my story of GULC shenanigans.

I applied in September and was admitted either September/October. Didn't hear anything from them for forever.

When other people started getting scholarship emails, and then being told that they weren't finalists, it made me think I wasn't even being considered.

I tried to withdraw and received a reply email later that day asking me if I was sure and telling me that I would be considered for aid and should write a little note about why I liked the school.

I said sure and wrote a nice little email about how much I value gov't etc. (all true. Wish other schools had programs like their National security program).

Received the "no scholarship for you" email today telling me if I waited I might get reconsidered and they hope I still come in the fall.

You kidding? I said I withdraw if you don't give me money, you reply telling me not to and then don't do anything about it? I realize this comes across as entitled. I don't care. GULC is easily the worst at the admissions process/ finaid of the T-14. I really like some of the schools programs, but between the employment stats and their tiny scholarship amounts and numbers how are they still ranked so highly?

Sounds a lot like what's happened to me. Now, they're not even giving me any financial aid grants, so I called and argued with them until they agreed to review my file. At this point though, I'm not sure I could deal with them for 3 years.

[kraffcook]

Anyone responded with scholarship offers from higher ranked law schools?

Every higher ranked school wait listed me. Best offer I have is $80k from Vanderbilt, which is starting to look very appealing

[PRgradBYU]

I got put on the preferred wait list yesterday. I guess that line at the end of the group interview email about "noting being able to attend will have no negative impact on your application" was a little disingenuous.

No kidding. I'm absolutely shocked that you weren't an auto-admit with your numbers. I would have declined the group interview, too, though... it just seems so inevitably awkward.

I did do an in-person interview yesterday, though.

[txdude45]

So I missed my fin aid deadline. Was this a hard deadline, or a soft one? Unless I get off that f'ed-up "alternate" list for merit aid and it's substantial, theres a very low chance I attend, but I'd at least like to know what my need-aid would look like.

[Wvuanna]

I was put on the preferred wait list on Friday.. I had an in person alumni interview and applied early decision. Not the best lsat (156) and 3.9 gpa. I'm happy to at least be wait listed with my lsat. Does anyone know about what the chances of getting in off the preferred wait list are?

[BigZuck]

I was put on the preferred wait list on Friday.. I had an in person alumni interview and applied early decision. Not the best lsat (156) and 3.9 gpa. I'm happy to at least be wait listed with my lsat. Does anyone know about what the chances of getting in off the preferred wait list are?

Definitely retake the LSAT. Preparing for that needs to be your primary focus.

[PRgradBYU]

I was put on the preferred wait list on Friday.. I had an in person alumni interview and applied early decision. Not the best lsat (156) and 3.9 gpa. I'm happy to at least be wait listed with my lsat. Does anyone know about what the chances of getting in off the preferred wait list are?

Seriously, retake the LSAT. Don't waste that beautiful 3.9 GPA of yours on anything below 165.

[Wvuanna]

I was put on the preferred wait list on Friday.. I had an in person alumni interview and applied early decision. Not the best lsat (156) and 3.9 gpa. I'm happy to at least be wait listed with my lsat. Does anyone know about what the chances of getting in off the preferred wait list are?

Seriously, retake the LSAT. Don't waste that beautiful 3.9 GPA of yours on anything below 165.

Wouldn't it be too late to take it again since I wouldn't get my score until close to July?

[BigZuck]

I was put on the preferred wait list on Friday.. I had an in person alumni interview and applied early decision. Not the best lsat (156) and 3.9 gpa. I'm happy to at least be wait listed with my lsat. Does anyone know about what the chances of getting in off the preferred wait list are?

Seriously, retake the LSAT. Don't waste that beautiful 3.9 GPA of yours on anything below 165.

Wouldn't it be too late to take it again since I wouldn't get my score until close to July?

Just go to law school next year. Going to law school with a 156/3.9 would be a travesty when there are still points to be earned. Definitely retake June.

[Wvuanna]

I was put on the preferred wait list on Friday.. I had an in person alumni interview and applied early decision. Not the best lsat (156) and 3.9 gpa. I'm happy to at least be wait listed with my lsat. Does anyone know about what the chances of getting in off the preferred wait list are?

Seriously, retake the LSAT. Don't waste that beautiful 3.9 GPA of yours on anything below 165.

Wouldn't it be too late to take it again since I wouldn't get my score until close to July?

Just go to law school next year. Going to law school with a 156/3.9 would be a travesty when there are still points to be earned. Definitely retake June.

I honestly can't imagine taking a year off. And I studied standardized tests just aren't my thing.

[Aawaldrop]

I honestly can't imagine taking a year off. And I studied standardized tests just aren't my thing.

I've heard this so much. You most likely won't get off the waitlist and if you do, you'll be paying sticker. Also, the LSAT is a learnable test and the resources on this forum alone are staggering. Taking a year off could not only net you real world work experience, but also time to consider whether being a lawyer is what you want.

Slightly tangential, if you have poor performances on tests like the LSAT, I don't know if you will have the best aptitude for the long exams that count for most if not all of your grade for law school courses. Note, I do not want to imply heavy correlation between LSAT and law school grades but a 156 does beg the question.

[MacB]

I honestly can't imagine taking a year off. And I studied standardized tests just aren't my thing.

I've heard this so much. You most likely won't get off the waitlist and if you do, you'll be paying sticker. Also, the LSAT is a learnable test and the resources on this forum alone are staggering. Taking a year off could not only net you real world work experience, but also time to consider whether being a lawyer is what you want.

+1 to this.

How much would you ideally like to earn in your first year out of law school? 160K? Because scoring significantly higher on the LSAT could literally get you that much in scholarship $$ from a better school than Gtown, making the year of prep as lucrative as a year as a new attorney starting at the top of the private sector pay scale. Think about it.

I would be interested to know what exactly you mean when you say "I studied." When I prepared for the LSAT, I studied eight hours per day for a month straight, and in retrospect I was probably halfway prepared for the test. IMO, the LSAT requires a modicum of intellectual ability and a mountain of prep... prep prep and then more prep. It will make a HUGE difference. Think about that too. Ok, I'm done now.

ETA: Begging the question is actually a logical fallacy in which the truth of one of the premises of an argument would require the truth of the conclusion, to the best of my recollection. It does not mean what it appears to if taken literally.

[Wvuanna]

I honestly can't imagine taking a year off. And I studied standardized tests just aren't my thing.

I would be interested to know what exactly you mean when you say "I studied." When I prepared for the LSAT, I studied eight hours per day for a month straight, and in retrospect I was probably halfway prepared for the test. IMO, the LSAT requires a modicum of intellectual ability and a mountain of prep... prep prep and then more prep. It will make a HUGE difference. Think about that too. Ok, I'm done now.

I took a 2 mo kap class last spring, studied about 8 hours 4 days a week from June until the October test. My tests scores barely improved after an initial improvement. I know I want to be a lawyer and Georgetown isn't the only school I applied to. Although it is my top pick, I would probably go to somewhere like William & Mary that offered me scholarships before taking a year off and retaking the lsat

[MacB]

I honestly can't imagine taking a year off. And I studied standardized tests just aren't my thing.

I would be interested to know what exactly you mean when you say "I studied." When I prepared for the LSAT, I studied eight hours per day for a month straight, and in retrospect I was probably halfway prepared for the test. IMO, the LSAT requires a modicum of intellectual ability and a mountain of prep... prep prep and then more prep. It will make a HUGE difference. Think about that too. Ok, I'm done now.

I took a 2 mo kap class last spring, studied about 8 hours 4 days a week from June until the October test. My tests scores barely improved after an initial improvement. I know I want to be a lawyer and Georgetown isn't the only school I applied to. Although it is my top pick, I would probably go to somewhere like William & Mary that offered me scholarships before taking a year off and retaking the lsat

Hm, well that sounds like sufficient prep to perform in the ballpark of as well as you're able to perform. I think you might be the exception to the "RETAKE RETAKE RETAKE!!!" rule here on TLS, haha.

[elterrible78]

I took a 2 mo kap class last spring, studied about 8 hours 4 days a week from June until the October test. My tests scores barely improved after an initial improvement. I know I want to be a lawyer and Georgetown isn't the only school I applied to. Although it is my top pick, I would probably go to somewhere like William & Mary that offered me scholarships before taking a year off and retaking the lsat

Look, you can do what you want, because it's certainly your life. But I guarantee you that if your prep revolved around a Kaplan course, it was FAR from as effective as it could have been. As others have pointed out, even if you don't want to take a course (and there are several that are so much better than Kaplan that it's hard to for me to even quantify the difference), there is an absolute treasure-trove of help on this site. With that GPA, you could be looking at very substantial scholarship money at a fantastic school if you increase the score, and there's really no reason that you can't. I put in about 300 total hours of prep, guided primarily by advice on this site, and it has paid off to the tune of about $500/hr of prep time for me. One year is really nothing, in the grand scheme of things.

[TexasAggie13]

Officially withdrew my app, hope it gets somebody here in!

[smdpnp]

Nope.

[jbagelboy]

I was put on the preferred wait list on Friday.. I had an in person alumni interview and applied early decision. Not the best lsat (156) and 3.9 gpa. I'm happy to at least be wait listed with my lsat. Does anyone know about what the chances of getting in off the preferred wait list are?

Two things for the record:
1) kaplan is terrible. Why did you ever do that. Completely useless. Powerscore and blueprint are the obvious choices for lsat prep, but even they are flawed. Which brings me to my next point:
2) the lsat is not aceable by everyone, thats a test prep false marketing ploy. If you know within that you truly applied yourself to the task, dont convince yourself you can always improve. If you didnt study, obviously thats a different story. You may just be someone who scores 156: there has to be students every percentile. you're probably a brilliant student who has many other talents and skills that will serve you well in law.

So Im sure you've played to your other strengths and had the best cycle you could hope for this round (your gpa is not "wasted"): dont wait if its a heavy financial or practical burden. Keep in mind though that you will have to pass the bar, and law school is heavily test based.

[kraffcook]

I was put on the preferred wait list on Friday.. I had an in person alumni interview and applied early decision. Not the best lsat (156) and 3.9 gpa. I'm happy to at least be wait listed with my lsat. Does anyone know about what the chances of getting in off the preferred wait list are?

Two things for the record:
1) kaplan is terrible. Why did you ever do that. Completely useless. Powerscore and blueprint are the obvious choices for lsat prep, but even they are flawed. Which brings me to my next point:
2) the lsat is not aceable by everyone, thats a test prep false marketing ploy. If you know within that you truly applied yourself to the task, dont convince yourself you can always improve. If you didnt study, obviously thats a different story. You may just be someone who scores 156: there has to be students every percentile. you're probably a brilliant student who has many other talents and skills that will serve you well in law.

So Im sure you've played to your other strengths and had the best cycle you could hope for this round (your gpa is not "wasted"): dont wait if its a heavy financial or practical burden. Keep in mind though that you will have to pass the bar, and law school is heavily test based.

As an LSAT tutor, I do believe anyone can improve at the LSAT and score in the mid-160s. The prep classes and books aren't for everyone, but there are other ways to study that can be explored. I hated my class and my prep books and only improved by doing repeated practice tests and reviewing every missed question in depth. Never give up, never surrender

[jbagelboy]

As an LSAT tutor, I do believe anyone can improve at the LSAT and score in the mid-160s. The prep classes and books aren't for everyone, but there are other ways to study that can be explored. I hated my class and my prep books and only improved by doing repeated practice tests and reviewing every missed question in depth. Never give up, never surrender

This topic has surely been discussed all over tls lsat forums. While I agree that mid-160s is technically achievable by every intelligent person given unlimited practice in a controlled environment, they may never perform that score on test day, and if so at what cost? Some people don't have the financial and temporal luxury of devoting so much to one test. As an LSAT teacher, your profession depends upon convincing others to spend substantial cash upon the pedantic notion that you can "always improve", so naturally you treat it as your motos operandi, its how you justify the process to a concerned and financially/cognitively burned out kid (I taught SAT prep wkends throughout college, lied straight to peoples faces for $). Test prep is elite high priced charlatanism, talk therapy whose placebo sometimes produces sufficient results to prey on the hope of others

[hinakas]

Did any other people who received the merit scholarship finalist email get a phone call from someone in admissions this morning wanting to discuss the merit scholarship process? I missed the call and am trying to get back in touch with them, but not sure what to expect. Anyone else out there?

[turn left]

Did any other people who received the merit scholarship finalist email get a phone call from someone in admissions this morning wanting to discuss the merit scholarship process? I missed the call and am trying to get back in touch with them, but not sure what to expect. Anyone else out there?

Scholarship finalist, did not receive this phone call.