A Splitter's Journey Forum

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phillyphanatic

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A Splitter's Journey

Post by phillyphanatic » Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:29 pm

Since these blogs have been a great source of procrastination for me, I thought I would start one so I'm not a free rider.

Need to know info
Numbers: 3.27/173
Undergrad: HYP
Soft factors: Nothing too spectacular. Graduated in 2005 and since then, have worked for a small start-up company and then for a non-profit. Even softer factors include 2 years of varsity athletics in college and Eagle Scout.
LSN account: Username is phillyphanatic
Sports fandoms: All Philly, all the time (Sad, I know)

Obviously I'm a splitter so my cycle is hard to predict. I am hoping that going to HYP will give a small bump to my GPA but general consensus is that that is most likely not the case. Before the cycle started, my main goal was to get into a T14.

I applied to 14 schools and so far, here is how it's gone so far:

Accepted
William & Mary (12/3)
Boston College (12/16)
Georgetown (12/19)
Cornell (12/21)
Washington & Lee (1/4)
Penn (1/14)
Michigan (1/30)

Rejected
Stanford (2/14)
Harvard (2/15)

Waitlisted
BU (3/3)

Pending
Columbia
Chicago
UVA
UCLA

When I got in to G-town and Cornell, I was pretty psyched. After the call from Penn, I was ecstatic. If my cycle ended now, I would be very, very happy.

That's all for now.

Edit: Updated application status.
Last edited by phillyphanatic on Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:10 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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First impressions

Post by phillyphanatic » Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:55 pm

Since I'm bored and started this blog, I decided to write about the first impressions I had for each of the school's that have accepted me. Just to be clear, the grades have absolutely nothing to do with what I think of each school or where they rank in my list. They are strictly a ranking of what sort of impression that admissions material/notification left on me.


William & Mary - Complete 11/21, Received 12/3

As this was the first one and there's not much talk about W&M on the boards, I had no idea it was coming. I came home to find a large Priority Mail package in my mailbox. Opened it up and it was a fairly standard stereotypical acceptance (read: big) mailing. All that was in the package was three different letters from Deans, a printed page from the website, and a page about the ASW. About a week later, I got a small package that had a few sheets about specific programs at W&M. It was a bit odd that they didn't just send that stuff in the first mailing. Since the initial package, they have sent out 4 or 5 emails with new information.

Grade: B+


Boston College - Complete 11/21, Received 12/16

I applied in time to make the Early Action deadline and received an email beforehand saying they would mail decisions out from Boston on 12/14 so I knew when to expect the mailing. It was annoying that it went to my permanent address and not my current one (what's the point of asking for both??). To compound matters, I was leaving the country for two weeks on the evening of 12/15 so I knew that if I didn't get the package on the 15th, I would have to wait until I got back on the 31st. Obviously the mail didn't make it to my house in NJ from Boston in 1 day but when I got back on the 31st, I had a nice large package from BC. It was in a BC envelope and had a letter and a nice looking folder with all sorts of standard information and a Curriculum Overview.

Grade: A


Georgetown - Complete 11/27, Received 12/20ish

When I was abroad, I checked my email and went online every few days. On 12/19, I saw that my status went to Decision. I was nervous because I couldn't check my mail but on about 12/23, I tried logging in to the Admitted Students Site and it worked! That gave me a pretty good idea I was in but I wasn't positive until I got an email from Dean Cornblatt on 12/27 adding his congratulations to the letter I received (but hadn't seen yet). I came back home and had the small, but fancy envelope that everyone on TLS talks about. My note from Dean Cornblatt wasn't as personal as some others have gotten but I figure the later it gets, the more he sends and the less he writes. I also got the holiday card at my permanent address which was definitely a nice touch. Since the initial letter, I've received a package that has a letter, a pamphlet on international programs, and a booklet with a profile of each faculty member, which I really liked.

Grade: B+ (Initial), A- (Follow up package)


Cornell - Complete 12/14, Received 12/23ish

Another case of getting the letter after finding out I was in. I got an email on 12/21 because they "couldn't wait" to let me know I was admitted. When I got back, there was a large package in a Cornell envelope that contained a letter and copy of the alumni magazine. I was surprised that there was no law school specific content. On 1/11, I received a really nice package from Cornell. There was a letter and a really nice looking binder. It was smaller than a standard binder (about 6"x5") and contained all sorts of information for admitted students that I was expecting in the first package. All in all, it was extremely nicely done. Visually appealing and full of the important information that you need. Very impressed.

Grade: B+ (Initial), A+ (Follow up package)


Washington & Lee - Complete 12/5, Received 1/4

Got an email from the Director of Admissions telling me I was in. The email said a letter was on the way. I received the letter on 1/9. It was a standard sized envelope with a single-page letter. Haven't received anything else from them since.

Grade: B


Penn - Complete 12/5, Received 1/14

Got a phone call from an Assistant Dean telling me I was in. He said that something should be coming in the mail soon but I still haven't received it. I got an email on 1/18 saying that I should be expecting a letter soon (or should have already received it) and that in a few weeks, they would be sending me a Penn Portfolio.

Grade: A+ (nothing beats a phone call)

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The Waiting Game

Post by phillyphanatic » Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:05 pm

Let me start off by saying that sometimes, the world works in funny ways. I was all set to write a post about how I've had a lull in hearing from schools but I just got a decision this morning (more on that later).

Anyway, the last decision I heard from a school was 16 days ago. I have 8 more schools to hear from and I know for some, it may be a while. I am a splitter and at some of the top ranked schools I applied to (Harvard, Columbia, Chicago), if I'm not outright rejected I will probably be waitlisted so it will be a while before I hear anything. I also know that 16 days isn't much of a drought in terms of getting decisions. The reason I've been getting anxious is because of how much info is shared on TLS. When schools I applied to are sending out acceptances and I'm not hearing anything, I get nervous. Since my call from Penn, Columbia and Chicago started sending out RD acceptances. These are long shots for me and I'm not expecting to get in but they still caused some excitement every time I went to check my mail. The real confusion for me has been schools like BU and UCLA. They've also started sending out RD acceptances and I thought I was pretty safe at both (especially BU). Obviously admissions committees work in different ways and of course there's no guarantee that I'm getting in but it just adds to the stress when other people are hearing from schools that I think I will get in to.

Which brings me to today. Ever since the deferral from Michigan, I stopped checking the status checker because I thought it would be a while. Then I saw a post of someone else who got deferred and already went to Decision so I started checking daily once again. This morning I went to Decision and thanks to a kind TLSer who sent me the link to the admitted students site, I think I am in. The 16 day wait was definitely worth it. Let's hope Feb. 15 brings more good news.

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Re: A Splitter's Journey

Post by phillyphanatic » Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:31 pm

It's been a while since my last post so I thought I would update a bit. Unfortunately, not much has happened to me admissions-wise since my last post. I officially get my stuff from Michigan which is nice. From perusing TLS, it became quite apparent to me that people really, really love Michigan. It doesn't seem like any other school gets quite as much fawning over it as Michigan does. I have a friend who's at Harvard now and after going to one of Michigan's ASW, she seriously considered going there over the big H. Now that I've been admitted, I can see why people love it so much. Michigan is going above and beyond in trying to woo me. The DVD they sent with the acceptance package was a nice tough. Last night I got a call from a current 2L who asked me if I had any questions and told me a bit about her experience. She gave me her contact information and told me to get in touch with her when I go to ASW. While I do have a ranking of the school's that accepted me in my head, I'm going to keep an open mind going to ASW's and just take everything in and make a decision afterwards.

Speaking of ASW's, I'm looking forward to them. As of now, I think I'm only planning on going to two of them (Michigan and Penn) and I'm really looking forward to both. It'll be nice to meet some faculty and other admitted students. My best friend from high school is a PhD student at Michigan so I get to see him which is a nice bonus. I've also never been to Michigan or Ann Arbor so it will be nice to go somewhere new. Penn is literally right down the road from me but is a school I didn't think I would get in to so being wined and dined by them will definitely feel nice. Both also have some interesting events for ASW. Penn has a karaoke night and Michigan has a chance to go on a morning run with Dean Zearfoss. Both should be a good time.

Like a lot of fellow TLSers, I'm going through the February lull. Over two weeks since my last decision and I'm starting to lose hope of getting any more admits to T14 schools. I've heard from 7 of my 14 schools. I have a feeling I'll be on a few waitlists which will only add to the waiting and frustration. I've pretty much decided that there's only one school for which I would attempt to wait out the waitlist through the summer. For everyone else, I'll probably withdraw after I send in a seat deposit (assuming I get waitlisted). If I'm going to get rejected, I'm in the camp that wants to know earlier rather than later. I don't want to keep hope alive foolishly so the sooner I hear, the sooner I can eliminate someone from the list and get a better idea of where I'll be next year.

It was 16 days between when I heard from Penn and when I heard from Michigan. Tomorrow is 16 days after Michigan. Maybe I'll get some more good news tomorrow...

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Re: A Splitter's Journey

Post by phillyphanatic » Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:31 pm

Sometimes it feels like the law school gods are just toying with me. Literally right after I posted my last blog update, I went to check my mail and got my first ding of the cycle (from Stanford). The next day, I got my second ding (via email from Harvard). The Stanford one didn't affect me at all because I only applied because my mom wanted me to (and she paid for it). Despite being a great school, I really had no interest in going because it's all the way across the country. The Harvard one, while being expected, stung a little bit. I was hoping to sneak on to the waitlist but I guess it was not meant to be. The long weekend/my birthday have helped drown whatever sorrows Harvard caused.

As of right now, it looks like my decision is going to come down to Penn v. Michigan (even with 5 schools still pending). Penn is the heavy favorite for a bunch of reasons but as the Patriots will tell you, being the favorite means squat. I still have a few months before I need to make a seat deposit so at the very earliest, I'm going to wait until after both ASW's to make a final decision. I'm getting more and more excited about going out to Michigan by the day. Only three weeks and two days...

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Twiddling my thumbs

Post by phillyphanatic » Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:39 pm

Not too much news since my last post. I got a "hold" letter from Chicago on the 19th. They said we could submit a new essay and gave three topics to choose from. I guess it's nice to be given an actual essay topic instead of writing a relatively boring LOCI that I'm sure the admissions committee is sick of reading. Despite that, I will not be writing an additional essay. I'm happy with Penn and Michigan right now so I'll just wait out Chicago without putting forth any more effort. If I get waitlisted, I probably won't stay on it and if I get in, then I'll have some thinking to do. In the meantime, I've enjoyed getting mailings from my admitted schools trying to woo me. Georgetown sent a really sweet leather portfolio last week and Dean Cornblatt sends emails from time to time. Cornell sent a calendar magnet that highlights the important dates (ASWs, deadlines for deposits, orientation, etc.) and sent me an email wishing me a Happy Birthday (to show how high my expectations are, I actually thought I would get a few more birthday emails from law schools). Michigan sent a pamphlet outlining their curriculum. It feels good to finally be the woo-ee instead of the wooer.

In other news, I haven't heard a peep from my four remaining schools (Columbia, UVA, UCLA, and BU) other than them notifying me that I am complete. The frustration is not so much that I'm dieing to hear from them as much as wanting to get some closure. I just want to know what schools I need to do more research on and what schools I can forget about. Different sources are saying that overall application numbers are up which has led to more deferrals/waitlists this cycle than normal. Based on that, I'm expecting a few more of those myself from my remaining schools, which is annoying.

Anyway, despite the frustration, now that I've heard from most of my schools I'm a lot less obsessive with checking my mail and email than I was before the decisions started rolling in. I've turned my focus to getting excited about the upcoming baseball season. Despite Brad Lidge's recent surgery, I'm quite optimistic about the Phillies. I bought some single game tickets and also entered the drawing for Opening Day tickets. I find out if I got them on Friday so keep your fingers crossed for me!

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Yield protection?

Post by phillyphanatic » Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:10 pm

Got waitlisted (via snail mail) yesterday at BU. I have to say that I was pretty surprised. Reading the boards, it seems like an index of 200 is their cutoff point. Above usually means you have a pretty good shot and below means it will be tough. My index was 205 so I thought I was in. I'm going to stroke my own ego a bit and say this was a classic case of yield protection. I thought my GPA was too low to be YP'd at any top school but maybe that's not the case. Oh well, I really had no intention of going to BU now anyway so I sent in their response card saying that I don't want to be on the waitlist.

In other news, I still haven't heard anything from Columbia, UVA, and UCLA. Penn or Michigan, here I come! I submitted my financial aid information to Penn two weeks ago so now I'm just waiting to see what comes about. I highly doubt I have any chance at any grants but until I hear for them, I'm going to hold out hope.

In a Philly sports update, it was a good weekend for the Eagles. They signed Asante Samuel and while I think he's a bit overrated, he's still a great player. They also signed Chris Clemons and while he's not a big name, he looks like an up and comer who I think will fit a nice role for the Eagles. Best of all, the Eagles made a run at Randy Moss. While they didn't get him, the fact that they made a real effort shows that the team is being aggressive and is trying to get an elite receiver (something fans have been hoping for for years). I have high hopes for my Eagles and Phils.

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Michigan ASW

Post by phillyphanatic » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:59 pm

I got back from Michigan's ASW yesterday so I thought I would post my thoughts. First of all, I want to give a shoutout to all the TLS people I met. It was great meeting all you guys and putting faces to usernames. All the TLS people I met were really cool and down to earth. For anyone planning on going to future ASW's, I highly recommend planning to meet up with fellow TLSers. It was great to have some "friends" amongst the throngs of strangers.

Now, on to my thoughts on Michigan. Before I went, I was about 95% sure I was going to Penn. After having gone, I'm down to 90% sure. Basically, I loved Michigan. I drank up all the kool aid and it tasted great. The weather was great, the campus is beautiful, and the people (current students, admitted students, and faculty/staff) were all awesome. I had never been to the state of Michigan before so I didn't know what to expect but the law school pretty much lived up to everything I had heard. Some highlights for me included:

-Meeting Dean Z (who is as awesome in person as she is via email/website/etc)
-Professor Sherman Clark's mock Torts class
-Dean Caminker was great and honest in answering our questions
-The professors I met at on Thursday at dinner were all very friendly and were coming up to me to talk to me instead of it being the other way around
-The amazing Reading Room (I snuck in to take a peek)
-The Quad really is as beautiful as everyone says it is
-I definitely felt a vibe from both current and admitted students that I really liked
-Alumni in the different panels just raved about their experience (which was expected but still good to hear)

I could list a lot more things but I'll keep it at that. I know there's a post going around the boards where some people said they felt like the administration was trying to feed us a hard sell. I didn't feel that way and thought everything they said was fair and that they weren't trying to take shots at any particular schools.

Overall it was a great weekend and has definitely made me think twice about Michigan. Financial aid will definitely play a role in my decision so I am still waiting to hear from them about that. Also, this was my first ASW so I have nothing to compare it to. Penn is in two weeks so after that, I can put Michigan into a better context. If Penn doesn't strike me as well as Michigan did, my decision will get really tough.

In other news, I got Hold letter from Columbia last week. They said they will definitely send us a decision by April 15. Still no word from UVA and UCLA. I have no idea what is taking them so long but it looks like they are going to go right up to the deadline. I hope UCLA loses in the first round of the tournament...

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Re: A Splitter's Journey

Post by phillyphanatic » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:09 pm

Man, it's been almost a month since my last blog post. It's about time for another one. I wouldn't want all my loyal readers to worry about me.

Anyway, a lot has happened since my last blog post but at the same time, nothing has really changed. In terms of hearing from schools, here is the update:

Chicago
After being put on hold in mid-February, I received a letter telling me I was waitlisted on April 1. I have until April 25 to send back the response form telling them whether or not I want to remain on the waitlist. I haven't sent it in yet and probably won't do so until next week.

UVA
On March 28, got an email telling me my application status at UVA had finally gone to decision. A few days later, I got the non-resident priority waitlist letter. I promptly withdrew from the waitlist.

Columbia
Still haven't heard anything from them since being put on hold. Unlike with Chicago, I did send in a LOCI. The hold letter said we would be notified by April 15 of a decision. It looks like decisions are being emailed out. If I had to bet, I would say that I'm going to be waitlisted. A flat out rejection wouldn't surprise me either.

UCLA
Still no word from them. This is getting a bit rediculous. I would withdraw but I don't want to give them the pleasure of having their yield protection strategy work. They'll probably waitlist me anyway and I'll withdraw then but until I hear from them, they are not hearing from me.

In other news, I withdrew from Georgetown and Cornell via email today. Right now, that only leaves me with Penn and Michigan as schools that I've been accepted to and haven't withdrawn from.

Speaking of Penn, the ASW was two weeks ago and I never wrote my thoughts. Overall, it went well. It was pretty similar to Michigan's ASW (and most other ASW's I bet) in that it covered the same topics. All the current students they brought in were obviously very gung-ho about Penn. I had been there before and met other students so I was familiar with the buildings and the vibe at the law school. The ASW definitely didn't do anything to make me not want to go to Penn and that was pretty much what I was on the look out for during the ASW. Michigan was great and beautiful but I think Penn is going to beat it out. The one thing that I was surprised about (and I wrote about this in another forum) was that I didn't get that good of a feeling from the other admitted students. At Michigan, the other admitted students were awesome and I felt like I could be friends with lots of them. At Penn, something was off. I'm not too worried about it because I was a little tired during Penn's ASW so I was purposely a little anti-social and probably had less patience for the repetitive getting-to-know-you questions than I had at Michigan. Also, all of the current students I met, both during ASW and on my unannounced visit, were cool and definitely exuded the "collegial" atmosphere that the administration always talks about. So to summarize, barring an acceptance from Columbia (which would definitely make my think about it), it's looking like Penn '11 for me.

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Penn '11!

Post by phillyphanatic » Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:36 am

Just went and hand-delivered my deposit to Penn. It feels great to have this whole process done with. I am very happy with my decision and how my entire cycle ended up. I got waitlisted at Columbia and am staying on the waitlist but I highly doubt that I will go there in the off chance I get in off the waitlist. Also, still no word from UCLA. I really have no idea what's going on with them.

Anyway, I'm just happy to be done with my cycle. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder and now I can start planning on my Penn future. Thanks to everyone on TLS for making the last few months much easier than they would have been without this great site. Hope you all are as happy with where you end up as I am.

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Life is good

Post by phillyphanatic » Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:20 pm

Life is really good right now. Law school is getting closer and closer and I am getting excited. Orientation starts August 28 and until then, I'm just planning on relaxing and hanging out. I joined the Facebook group for incoming Penn students and there is talk of a get-together in Philly before school starts. It looks like the apartment I want to rent which is currently being rented by a graduating 3L is about to fall into place (For anyone still looking for a place, I highly recommend contacting 3L's and looking at their places and renting them before they go on the market. That's how I found my place and it really made the apartment search much less stressful and much, much easier.). The weather in Philly is beautiful right now. The Phillies are in first place. My job as an assistant track coach is winding down and was the best job I ever had. All in all, I really don't have any complaints right now.

In admissions news, the saga of my UCLA application ended last week when I got the waitlist letter. I immediately sent back the response form saying I have no interest to remain on the waitlist. I still can't believe how long it took them to get back to me. I can only imagine how I would have felt if UCLA was the top school on my list.

PS - Ken, if you read this I'm sorry for falling off the face of the TLS earth. I promise that I'm working on that article you asked for and will get it to you soon.

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1L is approaching

Post by phillyphanatic » Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:39 pm

Only about two months until orientation starts and I officially make the change from being a 0L to a 1L. I'm getting pretty excited about it. I set up my email address last week and I'm not going to lie but I think it's pretty baller. My address is going to be [firstname]@law.upenn.edu. I have a very uncommon name so it's a pretty sweet email address if I do say so myself.

In addition to my new email address, last night I hung out with some of my future classmates. We arranged an outing through the Facebook group for the people that were already in Philly. Only four people showed up but in a way, I think that was good because the four of us got to know each other better than we would have if there was a large group. Something I noticed is that we had two people who were straight from undergrad and two of us who had taken some time off. Out of the three of them, the person I could see myself being closest friends with was the other person who had been out of school for a few years. I know it was a small sample size but it will be interesting to see if this trend continues once school starts.

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Elton Brand!

Post by phillyphanatic » Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:21 am

I'm in a good mood. In the biggest move of the NBA offseason, my Sixers snuck up and stole Elton Brand from the Clippers. This is a huge move in a conference where one major addition can immediately vault you to one of the contendors. We all saw what happened with the Celtics last season. I'm not saying the Sixers will be better than the Celtics this season, but I think starting next season we could be the top team in the East. The Sixers were a surprise last season, especially after their dreadful start but an offensively gifted big man is just what we needed. With a young nucleus that will most likely improve, the future looks bright in Philly. Now all we need is a lights out 3 point shooter to replace Kyle Korver and we'll be in business. Ed Stafanski, I like you already.

In law school news, things are moving slowly. For months, Penn has been telling us they will send us an orientation packet in mid-July. We are fast approaching that time so I'm looking forward to getting the much talked-about package. Aside from that, I'm taking care of administrative matters such as getting loans in order, paying my first tuition bill ( :shock: ), and submitting my immunization records. We need to submit a digital photo for the Penn facebook and our ID cards. I don't want to pay anyone to do it so I'm going to have some fun with my camera's timer and see what happens. There is also talk on the facebook group about another get together in July. The first one was fun but there were only four of us. Hopefully more people can make this one as we're closer to the start of school so more people may be in town.

In Columbia news, I was put on the waitlist originally and then placed on second reserve. Some people on the forums have been notified that they are on third reserve but I don't know if I am or not yet (I've been away from my apartment for 4 days so I haven't checked my mail). I also got a weird email telling me that my application is one they are considering for any open spots. What's strange is that not everyone on the waitlist got the email. It makes it seem like I'm on some special list but at the same time, the wording of the email is odd because by definition, everyone on the waitlist is someone they are considering for any open spots. The lesson as always is that it makes aboslutely no sense wasting your time trying to figure out what anything in the admissions process means because it's impossible to figure out.

Well, that's all for now. I'm going to go bask in the Phillies' win last night, the Brand era in Sixerland, and the fact that Eagles training camp starts in a little over two weeks.

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Orientation

Post by phillyphanatic » Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:32 pm

It's been an exciting last couple of days for me. Yesterday, I swung by campus and picked up my brand spankin' new laptop and iPod from the computer store. This was exciting on a couple of levels. First, it's always nice to get new stuff. Second, my Dell laptop died in March and I have been using a friend's laptop since then so it's nice to have my own computer again. Third, I made the switch to a Mac. I'm not going to be one of those Mac users who is a total snob and looks down on non-Mac users but having used Macs a bit, they are just so nice and have so many cool features that I had to make the switch. My Dell lasted almost 5 years so I'm sad to see it go but I am loving my Mac already.

In addition to my laptop, I got a new 16 gb iPod touch. Apple always has sweet back to school sales so I got a $299 rebate for the iPod which cost my $399. I'm going to sell my old iPod on ebay and hopefully get about $70 for it. In addition to hating Mac snobs, I also don't like iPod snobs. You know, the people who wear their iPods for everyone to see and are constantly buying the newest version. My one (and only) iPod up to this point was the 15 gb 2003 version (the one that came with the dock and is not in color and has more than just the wheel). It has done me very well and still works great but the battery life is down to less than two hours so that's a bit of a pain. But this new iPod blew me away. Not only is it in color and can play movies, but I can also access the internet if I am in a place that has wi-fi. That is truly amazing and I think will come in handy. It's basically like an iphone without the phone capability.

In addition to my new toys, we also got our pre-orientation and orientation schedules. The first part of the mandatory orientation is a dinner at The National Constitution Center. I think it's a pretty fitting place to start my career in the law. It's also nice to know that the Liberty Bell will only be a couple hundred yards away. Even though I was born in Philly and grew up in the area, starting orientation in such a historic setting feels good. The rest of orientation is pretty standard. We have seminars on life in law school, financial aid, remarks from the Deans, and our first Legal Writing class meetings. I think I'm most looking forward to pre-orientation. The school has done a great job setting up a large number of events that we can go to before official orientation starts. I've been living here for over a year so I don't need to do some of the stuff like a tour of the city and going to Ikea to apartment shop but I am definitely going to go to the bowling outing, the Phillies-Mets game, Quizzo (basically a trivia game), field day, and the movie in the courtyard. These events are going to be a great way to get to know my new classmates before the grind of classes starts.

Well, that's all for now. Less than six weeks until orientation starts...

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4 weeks to go

Post by phillyphanatic » Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:26 pm

Orientation starts exactly four weeks from today. I'm excited about starting law school and up to this point, I'm not the least bit nervous. I don't know if I'm happy about not being nervous or not. On the one hand, maybe it will hit me as the beginning of school gets closer. On the other hand, and hopefully this isn't just wishful thinking, but maybe all of my time on TLS has mentally prepared me for what to expect. On the third hand, maybe I'm just an idiot and am over-confident and am going to suck it up big time. Who knows. All I know is that I'm not stressing about it and that is just fine by me.

We have about 50 pages to read before our first Legal Writing class (which is during orientation) and one part of the reading is a case of Costanza v. Seinfeld. As a Seinfeld fan, I got a kick out of seeing that. So far, absolutely no reason to complain about my future school. One thing that I'm eagerly awaiting is my section/professor/class schedule assignments. A lot of TLSers are talking about their professors and what books they need to buy and that's making me anticipate finding out about my classes that much more.

That's all for now. Time to go back to relaxing and enjoying the sports scene. The Phils have seemingly righted the ship and are playing better. Nine days until the Eagles' first preseason game. Nine days until the Olympics start. And most importantly, 16 days until Track & Field starts at the Olympics.

phillyphanatic

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Three weeks

Post by phillyphanatic » Wed Aug 06, 2008 10:20 pm

Three weeks until orientation starts. I'm starting to get a little antsy. People on TLS are talking about books and sections and schedules and whatnot but I still don't know anything. It seems that we start a little later than most schools (the day after Labor Day is the first day of classes). I'm the kind of person that likes to have everything done ahead of time (sadly this doesn't apply to school work for some reason) so not knowing my schedule yet is frustrating. Also, I have a friend who just graduated and I want to sit down and talk with him about my professors before he heads out of town to start his new job. Hopefully I'll find out everything before he leaves.

In the meantime, our Facebook group is getting the socializing started. Tonight is the second week of people getting together for trivia at a bar across from school. Apparently it's going to be a weekly thing right up to orientation. I missed last week and tonight so I'm looking forward to going next week. There are also rumblings of a potential trip to Six Flags. If that happens, I am definitely down. Lastly, someone is starting a fantasy football league. I'm already in two other leagues but I think I'll join the law school one as well. Probably a good way to get to know some people and keep in contact with them throughout the first semester.

In sports news, my softball team was eliminated from the playoffs today. While the loss hurt, it was a good showing because we ended up third in the playoffs after finishing only 7th in the regular season. If I get a job in the area for next summer, I will definitely be back. The Phils strong play continues and they have some (relative) breathing room at the top of the division. Everything seems good in Eaglesland and hopefully they can get through the first preseason game on Friday without any injuries. Lastly, two more days until the Olympics officially get underway. Chinatown in Philly is having a big celebration Friday night for the Opening Ceremonies which I may check out.

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Olympics

Post by phillyphanatic » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:05 pm

Two weeks until orientation starts. As school gets closer, the anticipation is rising. They posted the class schedule for each of the sections on the admitted student's website. Normally this would be an exciting development. In this case, however, it's not because they failed to tell us which of the three sections we're in. Hopefully we'll find out before orientation starts but I'm not holding my breath about that. In other case of not hearing what I want to hear, Columbia STILL hasn't decided on my waitlisted application. In an email sent on July 2, they said they would let me know of a decision in a couple of weeks. Orientation has started at Columbia and still no word. What's up with that? Do they honestly think people would go at this point? I'm sure some people would but I certainly would not.

The Phillies are back in a funk, specifically an offensive funk which is not supposed to happen to this team, but thankfully Olympic fever distracting me from that. I've been watching every night and for the first time that I can remember, I've really been caught up in the gymnastics. Watching the US men's team's inspired performance was great. It was awesome seeing them so happy when they won their bronze. After that, watching the US women choke a little the next night was a let down. Like everyone else, I've made sure to catch all of Michael Phelps' races live. While I'm pulling for him and want him to get Mark Spitz's record, I think all this talk of him being the greatest Olympian ever is bogus. He's definitely the best Olympic swimmer ever but it's so much easier to get medals in swimming because there are a ton of events and they are all so similar. Case in point, all of Phelp's medals are from only two Olympics. Someone like Carl Lewis won 9 gold medals in four different Olympic games. That's baller. That may also be my track bias kicking in but I stand by my opinion. Track starts on Friday and I could not be more excited. Oh yeah, the Eagles first team offense looked great in their first preseason game last week. Here's hoping to more of the same in their next game tomorrow.

Ok, time to go. I'm off to a bar across from campus where I'm meeting some future classmates for a night of Quizo. Over 20 people said they would be there so it should be a fun time.

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phillyphanatic

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Single digits

Post by phillyphanatic » Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:54 pm

The number of days until orientation is now in single digits (it's actually down to 6). We got our section assignments on Tuesday and the Facebook group blew up. I don't know that many people going to Penn so I don't have any feelings either way about my section. I did look up the professors on ratemyprofessors.com. Two had not so good ratings (although one is a superstar), one was not rated and according to her bio on the school website, she hasn't been teaching any first year courses recently, and the fourth is a visiting professor who seems to be beloved by his students. We shall see how it turns out. Today, I went and picked up my ID and went to the bookstore to assess the damage. It looks like it will cost me about $750 for the semester. For some reason I thought it would be higher but I am certainly not complaining.

Olympic track is well underway and honestly, I wish it never happened. Watching Usain Bolt has been amazing but pretty much all things US Track & FIeld has been awful (400 hurdles and 400 sweeps aside). Starting with the men's shot put, the first final, the US has underperformed. There has been a mixture of bad luck, injury, and flat out choking. I felt really bad for Tyson Gay because he was clearly hurt and couldn't even make the final. You have to admire him though for saying that he was completely healthy and not giving any excuses.

Anyway, enough with the sidebar. Things really get started on Sunday when unofficial orientation events start. There are a lot of events but I didn't want to burn myself out so I'm only doing one or two events each day, usually the ones at night. I need to move to my new apartment next weekend so I have to deal with all of the annoying things that come along with moving right in the middle of orientation. It sucks but there's not much I can do about it now. Our classes don't start until the day after Labor Day and I'm getting a little antsy because some people on the boards are already done with a week of classes. I should probably enjoy the feeling because a month from now, I'll be wishing I didn't have anything to do.

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1L has started

Post by phillyphanatic » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:45 pm

There's nothing quite like starting law school orientation literally a few hundred feet from where the Constitution was signed...

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And so it begins...

Post by phillyphanatic » Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:47 pm

First day of classes tomorrow. I'm nervous. I did all of my reading but am not sure if I understand it as well as I should. Hopefully after a day or two of classes I'll figure out if my comprehension and retention is as strong as it needs to be. It seems as though all my friends are feeling the same way which makes me feel somewhat better. Anyway, time for a good night's sleep so that I am ready for my first class in over three years.

Wish me luck!

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And so it ends...

Post by phillyphanatic » Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:39 pm

Man oh man, it has been a while. A long while.

My last blog post was the night before my first day of 1L classes. Fast forward almost three years and I'm sitting here 5 days before I take the bar exam. I can't believe how fast time has gone (I'm also a little sad that I stopped writing here since TLS gave me so much information and amusement during my admissions cycle and leading up to orientation). I really don't know what to say since there is just so much to talk about but since I'm procrastinating from studying, I'll keep this relatively short.

I doubt anyone that is reading this read any of my old posts but in case you're too lazy to read through it all, let me give you a quick summary: I graduated undergrad in 2005, worked for three years, then went to Penn and graduated this past May. I even managed to put my degree to use and line up a job in NYC starting in the fall. So much has happened these past three years, both good and bad. I've become a JD, I learned a whole lot of law, my beloved Phillies won the World Series, I've made some great friends that I know I will have for life, I've had romantic heartbreak, I've also met and started dating the girl I'm 99% sure I'm going to marry (not a Penn student, sorry all you romantics), and had way more fun times/memories than bad ones. I am definitely going to miss it when I enter the working world, and not just because of the long hours I'll have to likely put in.

Anyway, that was kind of rambling and stream of consciousness but I'm studying for the bar so I'm cutting myself some slack. Hopefully I'll make a few more coherent posts in the not to distant future. People have asked me questions in the past so if you have any specific questions or want some advice or something, feel free to send me an email (assuming, you know, people actually read this). 7 days from now I'll have nothing to do but sit around and watch a lot of TV/Netflix.

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