171/3.08 Terrorism Killed My Friends and Family Forum

[dmstewar]

So I have since come to terms with the problems I faced during my youth, but I am a rather extreme splitter with a 3.08 gpa and a 171 LSAT. I got a 0.5 my freshman year (.....). Frankly I'm amazed I went back and finished my degree.

I was on the front page of the Wall St. Journal last year for a co. I created and sold.

I've come to terms with what happened in the past and I have resolved to move onward with my life, and to over come whatever future challenges may come

Most of my problems were the result of agoraphobia as I mentioned in my addendum. Odds on Harvard? Pepperdine? Chapman?


Here's a mission statement I wrote for Pepperdine if you want to read it, it's about life in the Middle East, Islam and Christianity:


I have an interesting background as I grew up in the Middle East in Bahrain. I lived there my entire life except for a short time in England. It’s unusual to say the least. For most of my life I had a closer relationship to Islam than Christianity. Very few non-Muslims have heard the Call to Prayer over 20,000 times.

I really identify with Jimmy Carter when he said that life has changed more in the decades since he was born than in all the time after Christ.

When I was growing up we didn’t have a lot of the things that people take for granted in America, like drinkable tap water or television. It may seem strange to put those on par with one another but I think it makes sense. TV is something which binds people in America and gives us a common point of reference. Tap water is equally essential. In Bahrain, we had other things bind us.

When I look back it sometimes makes me extremely happy. There are few things more charming than driving alongside a donkey-pulled cart driven by two boys on the island’s petty equivalent of a freeway, or learning to harvest dates by scaling trees with cloth tied to your waist as a support.

Regarding matters more spiritual, when I was very young, my family would attend Ashura in solidarity with the villagers. I wore black to remember the martyrdom of Ali.

Since 1994 or so, we could never do this. I still remember the riots and rebellions, the Black Flags of the Shia villagers and how dangerous Ashura became. A part of my past was lost forever then.

The country had changed. It was a terrifying time for me. My neighbor’s house was burned to the ground, villagers set off tire-bombs to scare people, mobs marched in the streets placing boards with nails across the roads.

Worse things happened in the years since, but I mentioned them at another point in the application.

I look back on my experiences with the Arab world differently now. I don’t feel fear. I only feel a resolve to strive for myself, to constantly improve even through times of immense difficulty. Suffering has become a blessing.

In the words of John Paul II, “In the Cross of Christ not only is the Redemption accomplished through suffering, but also human suffering itself has become redeemed… In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ has raised human suffering to the level of Redemption.”


Thank You,
Duncan Stewart

[imjustjoking22]

...a slightly too late contender for thread of the year?

[dmstewar]

Or 362 days to be beaten....?

[SchopenhauerFTW]

Why Pepperdine?

[dmstewar]

Oh I work in Malibu. And I love the campus. Also I like their ethos. And I want to live in LA. Hence Chapman lol.

[dmstewar]

Is the real way to get feedback on my topic to create a situation where two people can argue about how smart they are? Because if so, I will gladly oblige.

[dmstewar]

Fuck it.

I'm applying as URM at Harvard...

BLACK

[omninode]

I don't know what just happened but I like it.

[dmstewar]

And since I applied to all the colleges I care about. I changed my personal statement to include, "I've wanted to be a lawyer since I read Dracula as a child".

Hello Michigan, thank you for that waiver.

[MrKappus]

feedback on my topic

What you wrote above doesn't seem to have a topic.

[dmstewar]

Close reading in a what's my chances forum:

"Most of my problems were the result of agoraphobia as I mentioned in my addendum. Odds on Harvard? Pepperdine? Chapman?"


EDIT: I understand your avatar if that helps!

[MrKappus]

Apologies. I thought you wanted some reactions to your mission statement. You seem like a bright chap, so I'm sure you realize that w/ a 171 you're likely in w/ $$ at Pepperdine and Chapman[, and in at Pepperdine]. As to H, LSN and hope for the best (but an earlier app might have helped) probably not. I'd suggest UCLA.

Whoops. Checked LSN. Edited.

[dmstewar]

Thank you for advice, after two hours of lurking I found this and it made me laugh.

--LinkRemoved--

I guess I wanted to know to what extent Harvard, or Pepperdine, or some other school would weight profound suffering as part of your application. (As if such a concept could exist for someone not in a gulag). You should see the unbowdlerised version of this mission statement where my relative frees his slaves and my family friend is culpable of torture and the murder of thousands of people.

Sent that to UCLA and regret it....

I have no idea though as my freshman GPA is that fucking bad. FFFDFFCB.

SO BAD!!

[omninode]

[dmstewar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Henderson

The policeman ^^

[dmstewar]

Ah life's wonderful. What does Harvard matter, all my friends at Oxford were fools anyway! Haha!

[soitgoes9]

USC UCLA and Irvine and Loyola all need to be on your list. WASHU may be the 'best' place that is easy to predict that the op has a good shot.

[Borhas]

So did terrorists kill your friends and family or not?

[kalvano]

What in the fucking fuckity-fuck is going on in here?

[charliep]

weird...

[thederangedwang]

So did terrorists kill your friends and family or not?

+1

[Ludo!]

USC and UCLA used to be very un-splitter-friendly. Is that no longer the case?

[soitgoes9]

I know UCLA still is but its a high number if the OP wants LA they are the best choices, might as well try.

[desertlaw]

Do you want Biglaw? Chapman doesn't place well, if I remember correctly. And it's not in LA whatsoever - it's in Orange/Anaheim. Pepperdine, Loyola, UCLA, USC would all be better for an "LA atmosphere"

[Waterman47]

Is this a joke or not? I don't post much so my sarcasm/troll meter may be completely shot.

If this is serious, yes, I think losing your family to terrorism at some point while you were earning that crap GPA may help you draw attention away from its crappiness and towards the glamorous shine of your LSAT score. Without the actual facts of what happened it's tough to know how much it could help though. Was this your immediate family? Were you studying in Bahrain or was it just people you knew getting killed while you were in the US?

Maybe I'm naive as to the extent of law schools' emphasis on numbers, but it seems that a compelling case could arise out of this situation.

But the "other things have happened, see addendum" thing is ill-conceived. Ideally you want to make the admissions people feel some sort of sympathetic emotion while reading your PS. Don't break the flow of your movement towards achieving that emotion by putting a cliffhanger in the PS and leaving out the most important details. Don't make me change channels right before the climax of the plot, you know?