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Brief summary: I have lots of holds, and I'm thinking about scholarship money, so I'm looking for predictions on how the rest of my cycle will play out.

So I've spent the past several months digging through LSN and looking at data, and I'd like the input of other bored people.

Here's my LSN account: http://lawschoolnumbers.com/HuntersClub. You can see there that I've been accepted to five schools, denied at two, WLed at two, put on hold at four, and am still waiting for responses from two. The holds are the reason I'm making this post -- I have no idea what to expect from them, as they aren't consistently recorded on LSN (and it seems holds are up this year).

My GPA, for whatever it's worth, increased from 3.80 to 3.84 due to fall grades. My LSAT is a retake -- the first score was a 173.

Here's my cycle in a more condensed form, with my own predictions in italics:

Yale: Pending (Rejected)
Harvard: Hold (Perpetual WL stay)
Stanford: Rejected
Columbia: Hold (Perpetual WL stay)
Chicago: Accepted (No $)
NYU: Accepted (No $)
Berkeley: Rejected
Penn: WL (Possible acceptance w/ LOCI -- no $)
Michigan: Hold (Possible acceptance w/ LOCI -- no $)
Virginia: WL (Perpetual WL)
Duke: Accepted (Small $ offer -- $5-10k per year)
Northwestern: Hold (Rejected)
Cornell: Pending
Georgetown: Accepted (Small $ offer -- $5-10k per year)
Illinois: Accepted, $$$

I've already written a LOCI to Harvard, and I'll be writing more soon for other schools. I'm very, very debt-averse, so my cycle and the way it's going to play out terrify me. I think UIUC is a great option, but I was really hoping before I applied that I'd have a few offers I could use as leverage for other schools. Michigan's hold alarmed me -- I wrote a Why Mich -- because I was expecting some money from them. Right now, I don't think my choice is going to get any more complicated than "Chicago for full-price vs. Illinois w/ $$$" (which is a topic for a different forum).

How do you guys think this will play out? Any feedback is appreciated.

Bump for a new day. Anyone have any input, especially about the odds on those holds?

I thought Michigan's hold was a soft hold for some reason. As in, people were still being admitted off of it right now. Is it more of a hold like Columbia's?

That's a crappy cycle for those numbers, although I would be happy as hell to be in at Chicago or NYU. Congrats.

yikes, i have no predictions for you but i wouldn't waste those excellent numbers on a full ride at UIUC. i feel like you could do much better, even being debt averse. MVP is clearly YPing you. i really hope you get michigan with some $$ because it sounds like that's what you'd be most happy with.

paulinaporizkova wrote:yikes, i have no predictions for you but i wouldn't waste those excellent numbers on a full ride at UIUC. i feel like you could do much better, even being debt averse. MVP is clearly YPing you. i really hope you get michigan with some $$ because it sounds like that's what you'd be most happy with.

Yeah, it really depends on the root of your debt-aversion. UIUC in the Chicago market is kind of analogous to Fordham in NYC. I have a number of friends who work in Illinois or Chicago government who went to UIUC law too. But you got into U of C (and NYU). Even if you're committed to working in Chicago, U of C is going to open far more doors for you. And if you want to do PI, NYU is supposed to have a great LRAP...

UIUC is a good school, you're just probably committing to working in Chicago (or somewhere else in Illinois), from what I understand.

Did you interview at Northwestern? Submit LORs/CPEs? I have a feeling you can get off that hold list pretty easily, and if you can get some $ while doing so that's probably the best combination of Chicago at sticker vs. Illinois at $$$

Wow I feel like you shouldn't be getting all these holds/waitlists with those numbers and I definitely don't think you should go to UIUC. We're basically number twins except my first LSAT was lower- so I'm gonna go off of what has happened/ what I think will happen with my cycle. I expect to get wait listed at UVa and not get off it. I think I'll get into Michigan with $$ eventually- I don't think a hold from them is the same as from other schools so don't worry. I actually do expect to get some $$ from Chicago. With the Rubenstein offers this year I'm think they'll have a lot more money to give out to those who won't be getting full rides, so you never know. I don't know what to think about Harvard, technically speaking we should get in, but the hold and lack of JR1 is making me less confident so I'm also expecting a wait list. But I do think you will get off the wait list at Penn possibly with money (I was invited to apply for the Levy so you should get something if you show them you're interested), and I think you'll get into Columbia eventually. Also, I think you should send LOCI to all your wait list/holds asap.

Good Luck!

czelede wrote:Did you interview at Northwestern? Submit LORs/CPEs? I have a feeling you can get off that hold list pretty easily, and if you can get some $ while doing so that's probably the best combination of Chicago at sticker vs. Illinois at $$$

If he had grades to update, the he's not getting NU.

Thanks for the input, guys. I definitely expected better from my cycle. Guess I'll get the rest of the LOCIs out and wish really hard for money at one of Chicago/NYU, or a Michigan acceptance/$$ offer. A Harvard acceptance would also be a huge gamechanger, but I don't see it happening.