Waitlist Championships- class of 2018 Forum

oaktown · Post by **oaktown** » Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:03 pm

Lunaluna wrote:
oaktown wrote:Excuse the ignorance, but doesn't the LSAC service put grades on a 4.0 scale? How did you apply with >4.0 GPA?
Nope, their highest is 4.33, since they take A+ into account. My college didn't, so that's why I had a 4.0 UG GPA and a 4.14 LSDAS.

WHAAAAAAATTTTTT

Mannn, I had probably half-a-dozen undergrad classes where profs refused to give out A+'s because we were on a 4.0 scale. The GPA I could/should have

monkeyKT · Post by **monkeyKT** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:12 am

NoBladesNoBows · Post by **NoBladesNoBows** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:16 pm

OhBoyOhBortles · Post by **OhBoyOhBortles** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:19 pm

NoBladesNoBows wrote:
Lunaluna wrote:Yup. 160/4.14
Whoa dude, that's a frickin' Yale GPA. This might be the first time I've said this because it's so overused/annoying, but retake retake retake retake retake.

HS (who knows about Y) but yes. Definitely retake.

NoBladesNoBows · Post by **NoBladesNoBows** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:39 pm

Lunaluna · Post by **Lunaluna** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:46 pm

OhBoyOhBortles wrote:
NoBladesNoBows wrote:
Lunaluna wrote:Yup. 160/4.14
Whoa dude, that's a frickin' Yale GPA. This might be the first time I've said this because it's so overused/annoying, but retake retake retake retake retake.
HS (who knows about Y) but yes. Definitely retake.

Thanks for your support everyone! In these times of WL crisis, it really does help to have some allies. I have considered retaking in June so I can reapply really early in the cycle, but it would mean finding a job within the next few months and committing to it, so I would have to withdraw from the WLs

OhBoyOhBortles · Post by **OhBoyOhBortles** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:47 pm

Lunaluna wrote: Thanks for your support everyone! In these times of WL crisis, it really does help to have some allies. I have considered retaking in June so I can reapply really early in the cycle, but it would mean finding a job within the next few months and committing to it, so I would have to withdraw from the WLs

Worth it, imo

tuxedocat · Post by **tuxedocat** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:50 pm

Lunaluna wrote: Thanks for your support everyone! In these times of WL crisis, it really does help to have some allies. I have considered retaking in June so I can reapply really early in the cycle, but it would mean finding a job within the next few months and committing to it, so I would have to withdraw from the WLs

If you care about $$ at all, you probably won't get any off WL but could get significant $$ if you waited until next year. And if you don't care about $$ then you shouldn't have to worry about finding a job

I know you got money from UCLA but you should probably think of that as an outlier. I think the general consensus for Michigan was that last year they gave people off the wait list $5k/year.

Lunaluna · Post by **Lunaluna** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 2:07 pm

tuxedocat wrote:
If you care about $$ at all, you probably won't get any off WL but could get significant $$ if you waited until next year. And if you don't care about $$ then you shouldn't have to worry about finding a job

I know you got money from UCLA but you should probably think of that as an outlier. I think the general consensus for Michigan was that last year they gave people off the wait list $5k/year.

This may sound idiotic, but at least right now I have a foot in the door. Giving up my spot on WLs and hoping for a better cycle next year might just land me in the same situation, and lose me a whole year chasing pipe dreams.

@tuxedocat, what's your plan B if WLs don't work out?

NoBladesNoBows · Post by **NoBladesNoBows** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 2:14 pm

tuxedocat · Post by **tuxedocat** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 2:18 pm

Lunaluna wrote:
tuxedocat wrote:
If you care about $$ at all, you probably won't get any off WL but could get significant $$ if you waited until next year. And if you don't care about $$ then you shouldn't have to worry about finding a job

I know you got money from UCLA but you should probably think of that as an outlier. I think the general consensus for Michigan was that last year they gave people off the wait list $5k/year.
This may sound idiotic, but at least right now I have a foot in the door. Giving up my spot on WLs and hoping for a better cycle next year might just land me in the same situation, and lose me a whole year chasing pipe dreams.

@tuxedocat, what's your plan B if WLs don't work out?

Oh I'm going to Wash U, just riding the WLs for fun. I guess it depends if you feel like you could do better on the LSAT. If you couldn't, then take the money from UCLA and run. Forget about Harvard/Michigan/Duke, move to LA, and enjoy your life. Seriously.

But I concur with NoBlades, as someone who is an extreme splitter, it's painful to think how different my cycle could have been with your GPA. Some people just aren't good with standardized tests though, and you know yourself better than we do. I guess it depends if there are weak areas you can identify, like that you could have studied more on logic games or managed time better or there was an annoying cougher sitting next to you.

NoBladesNoBows · Post by **NoBladesNoBows** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 2:26 pm

buckiguy_sucks · Post by **buckiguy_sucks** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 2:29 pm

Post removed.

tuxedocat · Post by **tuxedocat** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 2:32 pm

buckiguy_sucks wrote:
NoBladesNoBows wrote: I would not rule out retaking even if you feel like you couldn't do any better.

Yeah random chance of scoring higher is enough to take the test again.

Take the test again, yes. But to take a whole year off and give up a scholly at UCLA? Seems like there should be more justification there, since that UCLA scholly is unlikely to be repeated without a significant score increase.

NoBladesNoBows · Post by **NoBladesNoBows** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 2:46 pm

Lunaluna · Post by **Lunaluna** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 2:58 pm

tuxedocat wrote:
buckiguy_sucks wrote:
NoBladesNoBows wrote: I would not rule out retaking even if you feel like you couldn't do any better.

Yeah random chance of scoring higher is enough to take the test again.
Take the test again, yes. But to take a whole year off and give up a scholly at UCLA? Seems like there should be more justification there, since that UCLA scholly is unlikely to be repeated without a significant score increase.

I have talked to admissions counselors there and at other schools where I was WLed and they basically said that the issue was my LSAT score (unsurprisingly). My current CV and softs are as good as one could hope, so my greatest worry is the LSAT. I went to Montessori-type schools all my life, from elementary school to college, so I was not only never exposed to standardized tests... we had almost no tests at all. So I truly don't know if I can do better. I prepped for about 6 months and my score went from 163 in my diagnostic test to 168 at the end to.... 160 on test day.

NoBladesNoBows · Post by **NoBladesNoBows** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 3:06 pm

buckiguy_sucks · Post by **buckiguy_sucks** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 3:21 pm

Post removed.

Lunaluna · Post by **Lunaluna** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 3:31 pm

NoBladesNoBows wrote:The fact that you haven't been exposed to standardized tests before just strengthens the argument that you can improve. Sure, it's better if you've been taking them your whole life, but there is still a large aspect that is just familiarizing yourself with the style/format of a test. This is not something that you can only learn in middle/high school. Hit the books, take every practice test you can get your hands on, and spend a lot of time (probably even start your own thread listing your specific situation ie lack of standardized testing experience) here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=6

Do not psych yourself out about this. You can absolutely do better. This is the rest of your life that we're talking about here.

ETA: Missed your statement about dropping 8 points on test day. Again, this further reinforces the argument that you can do better. Some drop on test day is to be expected, but an 8 point drop is almost certainly due in some part to anxiety about the fact that you aren't familiar with the standardized testing process. Retake retake retake!

Thanks for your encouragement, @NoBlades! I was not even considering that possibility, so this conversation might very well change my life

I hope you get into your dream school(s)!!!

NoBladesNoBows · Post by **NoBladesNoBows** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 5:41 pm

architecturas · Post by **architecturas** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:33 pm

WL:
Iowa
Emory
Minnesota
Washington and Lee

Reserve:
Cornell

Hold:
WUSTL

Still waiting for Vandy, Illinois, and 'Bama.

All significantly deep in District 5.

architecturas · Post by **architecturas** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:38 pm

Anyone else well below medians? How are you faring?

pancakes · Post by **pancakes** » Tue May 05, 2015 9:09 am

**second update

Got off one waitlist (UC Hastings), only to be added to another (UNC), but I finally made a decision so best of luck to those still waiting!

18/28 Accepted
1/28 Pending
2/28 Denied
7/28 Waitlisted (ASU, UofA, William&Mary, UC Davis, Colorado/Boulder (priority&interview), Wake Forest, UNC)

Hikikomorist · Post by **Hikikomorist** » Tue May 05, 2015 6:07 pm

FirmBiz · Post by **FirmBiz** » Wed May 06, 2015 1:20 pm

pancakes wrote:**second update

Got off one waitlist (UC Hastings), only to be added to another (UNC), but I finally made a decision so best of luck to those still waiting!

18/28 Accepted
1/28 Pending
2/28 Denied
7/28 Waitlisted (ASU, UofA, William&Mary, UC Davis, Colorado/Boulder (priority&interview), Wake Forest, UNC)

Just got waitlisted by UNC myself

Anyway, best of luck, glad you got yourself out of this "game", hope all goes well at your school of choice!