Law School Admission Blog

My truck died two weeks ago. I need a new engine or a new car.

Why is this important? Because every jolt to my finances affects my law school status. That's why.

Here's the deal. April 1 or April 15 are the deadlines for five scholarships I've received from the Univ. of Denver, Seattle Univ., New York Law School, the Univ. of the Pacific and Vermont Law School. Each scholarship requires a signature and a tuition deposit between $150 and $300. Without the signature and deposit, I forfeit the scholarships, which range from $8,000 to $10,000.

Throw in Univ. of Miami, who recently gave me a $16,000 scholarship. And the Univ. of Georgia, a tier one school with insanely cheap tuition for in-state students. It's about $7,000, I think.

Now back to the truck. I need $2,500 to rebuild my engine. I need $1,500 upfront to initiate the process. I'm a reporter by trade, so I'm not rolling in money.

I just got paid so I've got about $2000 total. That leaves $500 for the tuition deposits, rent, bills, occasional servings of alcohol to drown my sorrows, etc.

I have a few options. I could rank the schools and just pay my top choice. I could rank the schools and pay as many deposits as I can. Or I could pick the feasible choices and pay those.

I'm hesitant on paying the top choice only, mainly because, I don't know which one that is. UOP has really been showing me a lot of love. Their recruitment department is phenomenal. When you send an email to the Dean at 3 a.m. and she returns it 15 minutes later, that let's you know somethin'. They are serious.

I guess the Univ. of Miami would be my top choice, all things considered. They've offered me more money. They have an established entertainment law society, curriculum and faculty with relevant experience. Miami has a vibrant arts and entertainment community. Not to mention the fact ... it's Miami, for Christ's sakes! After spending six months in the Midwest, who wouldn't want to spend three years in South Beach?

The Univ. of Georgia would be my 1a. choice for the reasons I've just explained. This is dependent on my residency status, though. I spent almost two years in Georgia for employment, not school, purposes; I still receive mail at my Georgia address and I've only been gone for six months. If I'm deemed a Georgia resident, I'd cut my expenses almost in half. Instead of going into law school looking to pay more than $100,000, I'd prolly pay about $50,000 or $60,000.

UGA is also the first and only tier one school I've been accepted to. Their credentials are legitimate in and out of state.

The problem with just paying the top choice is, I lose all of my leverage. Every chance I get I remind these schools I've received admission and scholarships from other schools. It's a negotiation tool. Seattle Univ. even increased my scholarship from $8,000 to $9,000.

And what happens if the scholarship is rescinded? Then I'm up a creek, having forfeited my other scholarships.

I decided to pay as many deposits as I can. Some are refundable, but most aren't. That's OK, though. At least, I'll have my bases covered.

Speaking of bases covered, something has been bothering me of late. I wonder why don't schools cover their bases more and allow applicants to check their status online.

This is how I found out I'd been accepted at UGA. Just type in the social and the last name and ... viola!

You see, there's this underlined tension between admission officers and applicants. We need each other. But we don't necessarily like each other all the time.

Applicants who are waiting on a decision have all got the funky admissions officer with the attitude. They don't have time to talk to us because their law school is SOOOO important. The level of applicants is too large for individual checks. Who are we to ask silly questions like, "Is my file complete?" or "Has a decision been mailed yet?"

All admissions officers have heard of the impatient or uninformed applicant. Do you have your LSAC number? No. Do you know your social? No. Did you get all the information we sent you? I haven't checked. Won't you quit wastin' my time please?

There's seems to be an easy way to alleviate this. Online status checks. Boom. Problem solved. Many schools have this. Loyola Law School. UC Davis. Univ. of Houston. Shoot. I learned I'd been rejected at the Univ. of Texas online. But many don't. Unfortunately.

My suggestion is, if your school has online status checks, please utilize them. It will cut down on the time you have to call or email the admissions office. This doesn't mean don't communicate with them from time to time. I suggest doing that, regardless if you need to or not, just so they're familiar with you. Email them a question about student organizations or maybe ask them to point you in the right direction for campus visits. People are more willing to answer questions like that. It's easier to give you a phone number or a name, than to give you their mandatory spiel about why they can't tell you if you've been accepted on the phone or via email.

This also shows you know how to follow directions. And if studying for, taking and enduring the LSAT tells you anything about law schools, it's they value people who follow directions.

Not only am I facing my truck and deposit dilemma, but I'm also facing a summer prep program dilemma. Basically, a summer prep program is a university-sanctioned program where admitted students are prepared for the upcoming year. They're given law school materials, law school literature, they may even take a class or two. It usually lasts for a month or so. Some schools make you pay all, part or some of the cost. Others pay it for you.

Several of the schools I've been accepted to offer these. Some have even implied applying makes your application more attractive, particularly if you're on the borderline like me. It lets them know you're serious.

My problem is, I'm trying to save as much money as possible. I'm working to save. The less I work, the less money I'll have to start school. Seems like an inherent conflict.

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