NORTHWESTERN LAW - WAITLIST CREW Forum

[Oddjob787]

I know I shouldn't even be thinking this optimistically, but I have a question and was wondering if anyone could answer it. I was reading about how NU tends to give out a number (~25) of deferred acceptances that hinge on your ability to upkeep a certain GPA or class rank or some other criteria. They are basically automatic transfers as long as you still want NU and you can make the grade. I was wondering if anyone had any more details on this and more specifically, if they tend to give these to the remaining waitlisters after their class fills and the semester is about to start? I apologize if I have inadvertently spread false hope to anyone...

[texchi]

yeah, mine isn't working either it says "The information you entered does not match any of our records. Please allow 72 hours for your information to be added to our database." -Classy.

[texchi]

Has anyone heard anything this week? Any accepts or news on LSN, Twitter, or via email?! :/

[animalcrkrs]

Supposedly someone got off last week (see the USC vs. NU decision thread) but the validity of that person is being debated (probably because they haven't been stalking the NU boards for months lol)

[texchi]

Seems like it has been pretty quiet...Maybe they are full now? No more acceptances?

[waitwatchers]

I was accepted off of the waitlist last Wednesday and after some thought and quick research in terms of what it would take to switch so late in the game, I'm attending.

I wonder if I'll be the last person accepted into the class. I hope not. Best of luck to anyone still hoping for a spot.

[rayiner]

I was accepted off of the waitlist last Wednesday and after some thought and quick research in terms of what it would take to switch so late in the game, I'm attending.

I wonder if I'll be the last person accepted into the class. I hope not. Best of luck to anyone still hoping for a spot.

Congrats!

[chadwick218]

I was accepted off of the waitlist last Wednesday and after some thought and quick research in terms of what it would take to switch so late in the game, I'm attending.

I wonder if I'll be the last person accepted into the class. I hope not. Best of luck to anyone still hoping for a spot.

Congrats!

+1 ... congrats!!!

[vanwinkle]

Received at 2:42 PM today:

Dear vanwinkle:

This letter is to advise you that the Class of 2012 has been filled and that classes have begun. Because of the limited number of openings that became available during August we were unable to offer admission to you for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Please be aware that we have increased our enrollment of transfer students. Should you enroll at another law school and wish to be considered as a transfer applicant next year, we would be willing to reconsider your file with the additional information. If you have questions regarding our transfer policies and procedures, please contact our office.

Thank you for your interest in the Northwestern Law, and your patience with our waitlist process. We wish you success in your endeavors.

Sincerely,
Johann H. Lee
Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid

Oops. I guess I forgot to withdraw from their WL! But still wanted to share for those others of you who are actually still waiting. It sounds like they're done.

[rayiner]

Wait... More transfer students, ITE? What the hell?

[vanwinkle]

Wait... More transfer students, ITE? What the hell?

I think some schools are looking to boost their ranking by boosting their transfer rate. By poaching the very best 1Ls from other schools, those who have already shown exceptional legal reasoning skills, they potentially boost their bar passage rate without affecting their LSAT/GPA medians. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the transfer acceptance numbers several lower T14 schools starts ballooning if this works out.

Of course, that would start having other effects if it happened. To make up for the increase in expected transfers, they'd have to either 1) reduce their admitted class size or 2) increase the overall population of the law school. #1 would have the side effect of making the school more competitive and potentially further boosting their admissions medians while maintaining the same number of graduates every year.

It's a scary thing to think about all the ways schools could game the system if they really wanted to. I hope things don't go nuts in this way.

[rayiner]

Wait... More transfer students, ITE? What the hell?

I think some schools are looking to boost their ranking by boosting their transfer rate. By poaching the very best 1Ls from other schools, those who have already shown exceptional legal reasoning skills, they potentially boost their bar passage rate without affecting their LSAT/GPA medians. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the transfer acceptance numbers several lower T14 schools starts ballooning if this works out.

Of course, that would start having other effects if it happened. To make up for the increase in expected transfers, they'd have to either 1) reduce their admitted class size or 2) increase the overall population of the law school. #1 would have the side effect of making the school more competitive and potentially further boosting their admissions medians while maintaining the same number of graduates every year.

It's a scary thing to think about all the ways schools could game the system if they really wanted to. I hope things don't go nuts in this way.

No school needs to be pumping more graduates into the market ITE.

[vanwinkle]

No school needs to be pumping more graduates into the market ITE.

Unfortunately there's no real way to stop them.

[rayiner]

No school needs to be pumping more graduates into the market ITE.

Unfortunately there's no real way to stop them.

Not trying to stop anyone, just questioning their judgement and their commitment to their students.

[chadwick218]

No school needs to be pumping more graduates into the market ITE.

Unfortunately there's no real way to stop them.

Not trying to stop anyone, just questioning their judgement and their commitment to their students.

Any idea as to the # of transfer students accepted this fall? I only met two or so at orientation.

[rayiner]

No school needs to be pumping more graduates into the market ITE.

Unfortunately there's no real way to stop them.

Not trying to stop anyone, just questioning their judgement and their commitment to their students.

Any idea as to the # of transfer students accepted this fall? I only met two or so at orientation.

30. according to one of the slides at the opening ceremony.

[oakroom]

No school needs to be pumping more graduates into the market ITE.

But taking transfer students isn't increasing the total number of law school graduates, is it? Just changing where they're earning their degrees.

Now, the added challenge for the rest of the students at a particular school that starts taking in a ton of transfers is a different story...

[WassAnch]

Wait... More transfer students, ITE? What the hell?

I think some schools are looking to boost their ranking by boosting their transfer rate. By poaching the very best 1Ls from other schools, those who have already shown exceptional legal reasoning skills, they potentially boost their bar passage rate without affecting their LSAT/GPA medians. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the transfer acceptance numbers several lower T14 schools starts ballooning if this works out.

Of course, that would start having other effects if it happened. To make up for the increase in expected transfers, they'd have to either 1) reduce their admitted class size or 2) increase the overall population of the law school. #1 would have the side effect of making the school more competitive and potentially further boosting their admissions medians while maintaining the same number of graduates every year.

It's a scary thing to think about all the ways schools could game the system if they really wanted to. I hope things don't go nuts in this way.

Bar passage rate only accounts for 2% of the rankings formula, so it is unlikely that a small boost is going to impact the rankings in any way.

[rayiner]

No school needs to be pumping more graduates into the market ITE.

But taking transfer students isn't increasing the total number of law school graduates, is it? Just changing where they're earning their degrees.

Now, the added challenge for the rest of the students at a particular school that starts taking in a ton of transfers is a different story...

That last bit is exactly what I'm referring to.

[vanwinkle]

Bar passage rate only accounts for 2% of the rankings formula, so it is unlikely that a small boost is going to impact the rankings in any way.

Given the overall parity that is being established in the lower T14 (three schools tied for 10th this year?) any kind of edge is going to help distinguish and break that tie. Since there are only a limited number of things that can be improved, it seems inevitable bar passage rate will ultimately be targeted.

But I think this will benefit the school in another way. If a school reduces its 1L admissions and makes up for it by accepting more transfers, they'll up their bar passage rate (by having more students who've proven themselves in legal study already) while also making their admissions class smaller and more selective (potentially making their LSAT/GPA medians higher).

Thus a school could gain in both ways at the same time, and I'm sure schools would gladly take both the LSAT/GPA boost and the bar passage rate boost.

[WassAnch]

Here is an interesting chart pulled from http://agoraphilia.blogspot.com/search/ ... 20rankings
Someone posted the link earlier but I can't remember who is was...



I can definitely see your point that bar passage rates could help settle a very close tie, but It would have to be really, really close. According to his data (and point scale), bar passage rate points ranged from -0.02 to 0.07 (no school outside of Cali received higher than 0.04). So, the highest boost that NU could get from upping its bar passage rate from 0.00 (where it is now) to 0.04 is a 0.08 boost in the point score assigned to it (on a 1-100 scale). NU is currently at 80, so it could be boosted up to 80.08 (which would probably still be rounded to 80, but I'm just guessing as to how they round). However, I guess if NU's total score was something like 80.45 then .08 points could allow their score to be rounded to 81.

I should note, however, that I have no idea how accurate his data and ranking models are. His data could be wrong or I could be reading them wrong. Anyway, it is a pretty interesting site that shows how much school spending impacts the rankings.

[rayiner]

Y'all are missing the obvious one: they like money. 10 more transfer students = $470k/year extra in tuition. QED.

[dreamweaver87]

Just got waitlisted at Northwestern today. Stats: 3.57/170 (multiple LSAT-taker). Anyone else on the WL? Does anyone know what the chances of being admitted off the waitlist are? How many people, roughly, are placed on the waitlist vs. how many they accept off of it?

Does anyone have any good advice on getting in off the waitlist?

Thanks!

[Tweek]

Holy resucitated thread, Batman!

I've been held (not sure if that's the same as a regular WL) and haven't heard anything yet.

[dreamweaver87]

Holy resucitated thread, Batman!

I've been held (not sure if that's the same as a regular WL) and haven't heard anything yet.

Haha yeah, I didn't feel like making a new one. Also, I've been held, too. I'm assuming that's similar to waitlist?