The George Washington Law School 2010 Forum

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danieltorrey

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by danieltorrey » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:59 pm

Hey, thanks for the kind regards man, I hope I see you there as well.

I don't know about retaking the LSAT though. I already studied 7 months straight for it as if it was a job. I am not very confident I could significantly increase my score. Even the language factor I don't think I could improve, I've studied English at Cambridge University for two years (I've also sent them my Cambridge certificates).
Well, the only GPA I have from a U.S. college is a 4.0 from a community college I took a couple classes from back in the day, but I don't think it will help me much because it was 8 years ago and they are not part of my undergrad degree. I hope they consider that I am already a practicing attorney in my country and that my plans to get a JD from GW is proof that I am not lazy and have a long-term global business strategy.

Thanks for all the good advice and honest opinions, they are really appreciated.

Cheers.[/quote]

did you only take it once? I took a practice test, got a 158, studied really seriously for half a year, was practicing pretty well, got a 158 on the real exam too. took it again a month later with just a little bit of review before the exam, got a 170[/quote]


Yeah, I took it once for real. My problem with the LSAT is that the time constraints are exacerbated because of my non-native English. I guess I read 1/4 slower than native speakers, this was clear on reading comp as most people turned their pages when I was half way through the second page. So that translates into fewer questions attacked and so forth. I took a practice test once giving myself 10 extra minutes and I scored 168. What sucks is that reading any faster hampers my accuracy. I know that it may sound as if I am bitching, but the LSAT, for foreign language purposes, is way more demanding than the TOEFL, in par with Europe's CPE (only that they give you 45 minutes each section instead of 35). Another thing I noticed was that, for the classes I visited at GW, W & M, American and Mason, and because I am a foreign attorney, I pretty much had 50% of all questions the professor asked correct without having done any studying.

I just feel that the LSAT is not a good benchmark for foreign graduated attorneys, its not representative of our capabilities. If I had gone the easy way, I would have applied to an LLM and not have to worry at all about the LSAT. But I like challenges, besides, the JD is more appealing to me than a masters degree.[/quote]
do you need an american jd? I mean.... wanna just take the bar in a state that lets you do that without law school?[/quote]

Nah, my plans require me to stay in DC area. In addition, my research indicated me that passing the Bar in NY or California with an LLM would do me little good, as professionals in those circumstances have limited employment opportunities. My plan is geared towards international law, so getting a JD from a law school with a strong international law reputation is paramount. I already got into American, which actually ranks better that GW in that respect. But I prefer GW.

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uganik

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by uganik » Tue Apr 27, 2010 10:55 am

For those who received a waitlist yesterday, what day was it mailed?

rockstar4488

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by rockstar4488 » Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:46 am

4/22

danieltorrey

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by danieltorrey » Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:28 pm

I was wait listed in February, so what does that mean? Since they didn't wait list me latter on, I guess it may mean that they are not sure my credentials/numbers are strong enough as they would like, correct? Any other possibilities come to mind?

Cheers.

tesoro

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by tesoro » Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:48 pm

danieltorrey wrote:I was wait listed in February, so what does that mean? Since they didn't wait list me latter on, I guess it may mean that they are not sure my credentials/numbers are strong enough as they would like, correct? Any other possibilities come to mind?

Cheers.
I don't think so. Rolling admissions. Apply early = hear early. You must have applied prior to December.

I was waitlisted in either January or early Feb (can't remember). I didn't take it to mean anything particularly negative relative to those who are being waitlisted in April.

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danieltorrey

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by danieltorrey » Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:00 pm

tesoro wrote:
danieltorrey wrote:I was wait listed in February, so what does that mean? Since they didn't wait list me latter on, I guess it may mean that they are not sure my credentials/numbers are strong enough as they would like, correct? Any other possibilities come to mind?

Cheers.
I don't think so. Rolling admissions. Apply early = hear early. You must have applied prior to December.

I was wait listed in either January or early Feb (can't remember). I didn't take it to mean anything particularly negative relative to those who are being waitlisted in April.
I applied late October/early November as I recall. I'll continue to ride it out until they reject or accept me. GW is my no. 1 choice, so I guess by now, since they are putting so much emphasis on GPA and LSAT score (I have no GPA and low LSAT because I am a non-native English speaker and a foreigner) I just expect to put a hell of a fight to get in, that way, even if I don't get in, at least I went down swinging hahaha.
I can only hope they publish my book in my native country in time for it to make a difference. The freaking global financial crisis put it on hold and just now new books are starting to come out.

Aston2412

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by Aston2412 » Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:35 am

Just got a waitlist letter from GW yesterday (which is odd because Fordham rejected me today and I figured that GW waitlist would be = Fordham waitlist...at least). 160, 3.83, religious studies/political science double major, two years of varsity athletics and a past congressional internship.

And now I'm on the waitlist so I guess I need to send in a LOCI and...find something else that makes me special?

GW is definitely where I want to go but obviously I have to get off the waitlist for that to happen.

My brother is graduating from GW in a few weeks and I've sat in on some of his classes before so I thought I might mention that in my LOCI and maybe pull in some LoRs.

I was also planning on letting them know that if a spot in their FT program doesn't open up I'd be happy to take a PT slot if one is available.

My brother went by admissions for me today and he said he was told that initial seat deposits are due May 1 so I could expect waitlist action to begin after that.

Anyway I've been hanging out over in the Fordham thread (because I honestly expected to get WL there and rejected at GW) so I figured I'd move on over here now.

EDIT: Oh and I didn't apply until the deadline, which was March 31 so when you apply really must have NOTHING to do with when they let you know. Sorry for anyone who applied pre-January who's still waiting.

ccs224

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by ccs224 » Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:15 am

Aston2412 wrote:EDIT: Oh and I didn't apply until the deadline, which was March 31 so when you apply really must have NOTHING to do with when they let you know.
Erm... You heard back literally three days before the seat deposit deadline after, I'm pretty positive, ever available seat and then some has been offered. I'm pretty sure when you applied had a lot to do with that

Aston2412

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by Aston2412 » Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:42 am

ccs224 wrote:
Aston2412 wrote:EDIT: Oh and I didn't apply until the deadline, which was March 31 so when you apply really must have NOTHING to do with when they let you know.
Erm... You heard back literally three days before the seat deposit deadline after, I'm pretty positive, ever available seat and then some has been offered. I'm pretty sure when you applied had a lot to do with that

I'm not sure I'm following you completely but I did consider the fact that my late application coupled with the number of admitted students who might have withdrawn by that point may have helped me, if that's where you're going.
Last edited by Aston2412 on Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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ccs224

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by ccs224 » Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:46 am

Yeah, I think we're perfectly in line with each other.

Aston2412

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by Aston2412 » Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:52 am

It's my understanding that some people who applied as early as February or January still haven't heard back - I would have expected them to get a response before me - that's all I was saying.

sibley

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by sibley » Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:52 am

Aston2412 wrote:It's my understanding that some people who applied as early as February or January still haven't heard back - I would have expected them to get a response before me - that's all I was saying.
the admissions process is nutty. I got WL at Fordham, in at GW/WashU/etc. WL at UVA, UCLA, even random schools ranked 40th.

stayway

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by stayway » Sat May 01, 2010 2:58 pm

sibley wrote:
Aston2412 wrote:It's my understanding that some people who applied as early as February or January still haven't heard back - I would have expected them to get a response before me - that's all I was saying.
the admissions process is nutty. I got WL at Fordham, in at GW/WashU/etc. WL at UVA, UCLA, even random schools ranked 40th.
jan or feb is not early

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Mocker21

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by Mocker21 » Sat May 01, 2010 3:14 pm

nooyyllib wrote: jan or feb is not early
He wasn't saying that was early. He was saying it was earlier than when HE applied (at the deadline). HTH.

danieltorrey

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by danieltorrey » Sat May 01, 2010 5:01 pm

MSW8510 wrote:
danieltorrey wrote:Hello my fellow law students/applicants,

I want to ask you all to give your brunt opinion on what are my realistic chances of being accepted off of George Washington's wait list.
I have a bit of an unusual situation.
My LSAT was 160 and I have strong softs. LSAT was a bit low to my capacity because English is my second language, I am also an under represented minority.
In addition, I don't have a traditional GPA because I am foreign graduated; however, my undergrad is in law (LL.B degree, aka Bachelor of Laws) in a civil law country, with strong grade average (8.7 on a 0 to 10 scale)
Since being wait listed, I followed up with a Letter of Continued Interest and arranged another strong LOR to be sent to their admissions office.
I've also submitted a seat deposit at American University, and since schools can see where one submitted a seat deposit after the deposit deadline, do you think this may impact their decision?

What do you guys (and gals) think? Any other ideas on how I can increase my chances? I really, really want to get into GW law.

Cheers.
Just my 2 cents on the situation...

It seems to me that GW is placing a stronger emphasis on raising their median LSAT this cycle (just based on data available on the internet; I don't claim to know for sure). If they dip into their WL to raise LSAT, you might be in trouble, and if they dip in to raise GPA, it won't help that you don't have one. Your URM status is a plus, but I don't know how that factors into getting off a waitlist. I would just let them know how interested you are and continue to ride it out.

If you don't get in though, I would decline American's offer and reapply to GW next cycle. You said you probably underperformed on the LSAT, and a 160 for someone who doesn't comprehend English like a native speaker does is very impressive. I think that directed study (LSAT prep, as well as generally reading to improve English language comprehension) could be especially effective at raising your LSAT score. If you treat LSAT prep like it's a job, I think you can score higher and do very well next cycle . If you were to retake in the 165-170 range, as a URM, you could probably even get merit $$.

You certainly have a unique story to tell. I hope all goes well and I'll see you there in the fall.
I forgot to mention that I have applied for GW's part-time program, sorry, it totally slipped my mind. I was checking out the new rankings at USNWR, and they have a more in depth breakdown of the PT ranking. On that ranking, GW's 25/75th LSAT percentile is 162/167, so that narrows the gap a bit between my 160 and their median LSAT. Putting that together with URM, legal background, English as a second language, do you think the picture is a bit more positive?

Cheers

morg1693

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by morg1693 » Sun May 02, 2010 3:34 pm

Will be attending GW in the Fall!

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NancyBotwin

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by NancyBotwin » Wed May 05, 2010 3:32 pm

Received a couple emails from GW yesterday and today regarding the waitlist and visiting. I withdrew from the WL about, oh, 2 months ago. Apparently someone didn't get the memo. :lol:

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gwuorbust

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by gwuorbust » Wed May 05, 2010 3:38 pm

NancyBotwin wrote:Received a couple emails from GW yesterday and today regarding the waitlist and visiting. I withdrew from the WL about, oh, 2 months ago. Apparently someone didn't get the memo. :lol:
here's to hoping that the other 449 people on the GWU WL already withdrew!! :lol:

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xanderdellus

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by xanderdellus » Wed May 05, 2010 5:10 pm

gwuorbust wrote:
NancyBotwin wrote:Received a couple emails from GW yesterday and today regarding the waitlist and visiting. I withdrew from the WL about, oh, 2 months ago. Apparently someone didn't get the memo. :lol:
here's to hoping that the other 449 people on the GWU WL already withdrew!! :lol:

Here's hoping the 449 top scholarship recipients withdraw (Of course, I'd probably still be the one guy left on the wait list.)

tanogashi

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by tanogashi » Thu May 06, 2010 3:34 pm

NancyBotwin wrote:Received a couple emails from GW yesterday and today regarding the waitlist and visiting. I withdrew from the WL about, oh, 2 months ago. Apparently someone didn't get the memo. :lol:
i thought i was being singled out or something when i received the second email on 5/5, since it was addressed to me by name. did anyone on the WL not receive an email about visiting this friday?

primusux

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by primusux » Thu May 06, 2010 3:44 pm

tanogashi wrote:
NancyBotwin wrote:Received a couple emails from GW yesterday and today regarding the waitlist and visiting. I withdrew from the WL about, oh, 2 months ago. Apparently someone didn't get the memo. :lol:
i thought i was being singled out or something when i received the second email on 5/5, since it was addressed to me by name. did anyone on the WL not receive an email about visiting this friday?

I'm sure we all received it. They're probably just using a script to pull the first name field along with email address from whatever database they're using. Sorry, we are not special snowflakes :)

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Mocker21

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by Mocker21 » Thu May 06, 2010 8:35 pm

I got both e-mails as well. When I got the second one, I had a moment where I thought I had been singled out too, and I thought "oh ****, did they think I was coming on Friday?" before I realized that it couldn't possibly be a personal message.

So, bets on when offers will go out? In the past, it looks like the first offers didn't go out until at least a week after GW began reviewing the wait list.

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gwuorbust

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by gwuorbust » Thu May 06, 2010 9:03 pm

Mocker21 wrote:I got both e-mails as well. When I got the second one, I had a moment where I thought I had been singled out too, and I thought "oh ****, did they think I was coming on Friday?" before I realized that it couldn't possibly be a personal message.

So, bets on when offers will go out? In the past, it looks like the first offers didn't go out until at least a week after GW began reviewing the wait list.
how do you know when they started to review the WL ?

rockstar4488

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by rockstar4488 » Thu May 06, 2010 9:06 pm

They gave a date in the waitlist update email.

aulburch

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Re: The George Washington Law School 2010

Post by aulburch » Fri May 07, 2010 4:40 pm

Admitted from the waitlist this morning! So excited! Good luck to the rest of you on the waitlist!

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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