10 Waitlists in T14 Forum

[bagelofthedamnd]

Hey guys! I’ve had some supremely annoying results and I’d love some advice. Basically I’ve gotten into every school in below the (former) T14 and waitlisted at almost every single T14 (10+ including Harvard). I had a 3.64/168(3rd try) and I already included ‘Why X’ essays along with each of my initial applications. What should I be doing to get off these waitlists?

[grades??]

retake is the actual answer. Take 2 years off, go get work experience, get a few more points on lsat, then profit

[kingpin101]

Reapply next September (or later Septembers). You should get bites then. Even if you get now, it will almost certainly be at sticker.

[goldenbear2020]

What are your career goals? If you got big money below T14, that might not be a bad option compared to a T14 at sticker.

[bagelofthedamnd]

Already took that advice, last year. Retook and waited a year. Now I might be starting school at 28.

I'm planning to do something tech related, so likely IP, maybe regulatory. I'm a few classes from being able to sit for the patent bar too. Plan is togo into Big Law after I graduate, at least for a while. Currently looking at 60 from UCLA and 120 from Emory, and the rest is in between. But I've got 2 waitlists in the T5 and I'd take them at sticker over those.

[goldenbear2020]

60 from UCLA isn't a bad option, but it's at best a coin flip to land biglaw.

[Redfactor]

60 from UCLA isn't a bad option, but it's at best a coin flip to land biglaw.

I wouldn't exactly call it a good option, either.

OP: This whole situation seems a bit weird. If you're waitlisted at at H and two CCNs with your numbers, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your applicantion materials.

So then the question becomes why haven't some of the lower T13 + GULC bitten yet....

Did you happen to apply late in the cycle?

Did you apply to WUSTL any they just didn't give you money or something?

[bagelofthedamnd]

60 from UCLA isn't a bad option, but it's at best a coin flip to land biglaw.

I wouldn't exactly call it a good option, either.

OP: This whole situation seems a bit weird. If you're waitlisted at at H and two CCNs with your numbers, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your applicantion materials.

So then the question becomes why haven't some of the lower T13 + GULC bitten yet....

Did you happen to apply late in the cycle?

Did you apply to WUSTL any they just didn't give you money or something?

I applied to schools between November and January, mostly because I was trudging through those Why X essays that I really didn't need to write. Thought I'd be more likely to get in by getting that out of the way but I guess I was wrong. At first I thought the lower T13 were YPing, but literally no one has taken me and I don't know why. I break 75th percentile LSAT for several of them.

Didn't apply to WUSTL at all. It's just not where I want to be, and it didn't come up on my radar. Thought I was a shoe-in for T13 and didn't care much past that.

[grades??]

60 from UCLA isn't a bad option, but it's at best a coin flip to land biglaw.

I wouldn't exactly call it a good option, either.

OP: This whole situation seems a bit weird. If you're waitlisted at at H and two CCNs with your numbers, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your applicantion materials.

So then the question becomes why haven't some of the lower T13 + GULC bitten yet....

Did you happen to apply late in the cycle?

Did you apply to WUSTL any they just didn't give you money or something?

I applied to schools between November and January, mostly because I was trudging through those Why X essays that I really didn't need to write. Thought I'd be more likely to get in by getting that out of the way but I guess I was wrong. At first I thought the lower T13 were YPing, but literally no one has taken me and I don't know why. I break 75th percentile LSAT for several of them.

Didn't apply to WUSTL at all. It's just not where I want to be, and it didn't come up on my radar. Thought I was a shoe-in for T13 and didn't care much past that.

Just reapply the first day apps open in the fall. Have all your materials ready.

[dbalkaran]

Since you've already taken a year off and taken the test three times I'm not going to push the sit out a cycle thing again. I don't think UCLA is a bad option with the scholarship.

[Lawschool305]

OP not much advice but I was 168 and a GPA only slightly higher than yours and had 7 waitlists in the T12 I did not apply to HYS. I think the numbers you are at is waitlist city, from personal experience as well.

[grades??]

OP not much advice but I was 168 and a GPA only slightly higher than yours and had 7 waitlists in the T12 I did not apply to HYS. I think the numbers you are at is waitlist city, from personal experience as well.

The reason being is OP is so close to being at the 50% of t13 school numbers, but neither number gets OP over the hump. That fact means OP isn't bringing something really strong to each app as far as numbers wise (unlike a 3.5 and a 174 for example).

[bagelofthedamnd]

The reason being is OP is so close to being at the 50% of t13 school numbers, but neither number gets OP over the hump. That fact means OP isn't bringing something really strong to each app as far as numbers wise (unlike a 3.5 and a 174 for example).

True, but is there anything I can do at this point to help myself out of this mess? Since I already wrote Why X essays for all these schools I feel like I've written myself into a corner as far as the Letter of Continued Interest. And I'm so not looking forward to writing 10 of those...

[grades??]

The reason being is OP is so close to being at the 50% of t13 school numbers, but neither number gets OP over the hump. That fact means OP isn't bringing something really strong to each app as far as numbers wise (unlike a 3.5 and a 174 for example).

True, but is there anything I can do at this point to help myself out of this mess? Since I already wrote Why X essays for all these schools I feel like I've written myself into a corner as far as the Letter of Continued Interest. And I'm so not looking forward to writing 10 of those...

At this point, you are unlikely to get off any waiting lists. Even if you did, you aren't getting any $$$. I wouldn't recommend having to pay back 300k in loans to attend Georgetown for example.

I know you don't want to wait, but a lot of people at law school don't start until they are 28,29,30.

Truthfully, you have two options.

1- Reapply the first day apps go out. Hope next year is different.

2- You can still do option 1, but start studying for a retake. 4 more questions right on the lsat and you get some money at the t13. I know it sucks waiting, but it is objectively what you need to do.

And I base this off your statement that you want biglaw. Neither UCLA or Emory gives you a good chance at biglaw. On top of that, you didn't say where you wanted to practice. UCLA will limit you to the SoCal area and Emory to the Atlanta market. Both aren't good biglaw choices, especially when you are literally 4 more bubbles being right from getting a 70%+ chance at biglaw with a discount from a t13. If you took one of these options, its like you finished the marathon at 26 miles exactly, giving up that last .2 miles.

[foregetaboutdre]

Did you get $$$ at Vandy? Going to Vandy for cheap and being committed to the SE isn't a bad option.

[Redfactor]

Huh,

If it were me, I would write schools letters of continued interest and engage with some of their administration on some level. It's not too late to get an acceptance from a quality school at this point.

If you're okay with UCLA as a school I would negotiate with them for additional money, knowing that if they don't raise it you'll sit the cycle out and reapply for better $$$ or a better school.

What did USC give you?

Otherwise, if an acceptance to a desired school at a price you're comfortable with doesn't come around, then don't go this year.

I know you've put off law school already and I know it's not what you want to hear, but if it's not a good deal then it's not a good deal. Apply early next cycle and the additional year of work experience or interesting volunteering may change your luck.

[bagelofthedamnd]

Got 60 at UCLA, 100 at Vandy, and 120 at Emory and Fordham. No one is playing ball with negotiation like they did last year and I'm not sure why. Did not apply to USC.

I'm worried about waiting another year. My LSAT is 75th for Cornell and I applied before December and I'm still only waitlisted. If I don't get a better LSAT in June, I don't see why they'd be more likely to take me next year.

Any thoughts on what my shortcomings might be? I'm at a loss for what to address in my Letter of Continued Interest. Any advice on how to engage with Admins?

[carsondalywashere]

100k at Vandy sounds pretty good tbh. Why not deposit there and retake in June?

Btw, I don't mean for this to come across as negative, but I am shocked you got on the waitlist at Harvard with your numbers. Clearly there isn't something wrong with your app, you're just in a murky number zone (like me lol).

[HarveySpecterr]

Did you get $$$ at Vandy? Going to Vandy for cheap and being committed to the SE isn't a bad option.

Agree. Vandy gives you a shot at BigLaw, $100K ain't bad, and the south is nice and warm. Plus, have you ever been to Nashville? If I were you, I'd have already accepted Vanderbilt's offer.

[cheaptilts]

$100 at Vandy > $60 at UCLA anyday. Worst case scenario, I would take that.

[UVA2B]

Is the Vandy love ITT due to its one year employment numbers for C/O 2016? That seems silly.

OP, you've had a frustrating cycle, and that's unfortunate. But where do you want to end up? How did we go this far without establishing goals for the degree?

[cheaptilts]

Is the Vandy love ITT due to its one year employment numbers for C/O 2016? That seems silly.

OP, you've had a frustrating cycle, and that's unfortunate. But where do you want to end up? How did we go this far without establishing goals for the degree?

No, at least not in my case. Your assumption was pretty silly--and that's not tit-for-tat sass; I mean it. Vanderbilt with $100,000 in scholarship money is, at least to me, an objectively better outcome than UCLA with $60,000. Especially when you factor in interest. Vanderbilt's BL + FC numbers were near 50% the prior year, too, and better than UCLA's. So I don't understand your confusion/assumption.

[UVA2B]

Is the Vandy love ITT due to its one year employment numbers for C/O 2016? That seems silly.

OP, you've had a frustrating cycle, and that's unfortunate. But where do you want to end up? How did we go this far without establishing goals for the degree?

No, at least not in my case. Your assumption was pretty silly--and that's not tit-for-tat sass; I mean it. Vanderbilt with $100,000 in scholarship money is, at least to me, an objectively better outcome than UCLA with $60,000. Especially when you factor in interest.

Without goals, that's insufficient. Vandy for $100k wanting CA Biglaw or CA PI is not better than UCLA with $60k.

I understand your underlying intent that Vandy at $100k>UCLA at $60k because the outcomes are equal or better at Vandy compared to UCLA, but that's assuming there is no preference for a specific job outcome.

The greater point was that goals absolutely matter in making this decision, not that Vanderbilt isn't the right choice. Vandy for less is a financially safer decision, but that's not the entire calculus. Without goals, no one can give quality advice about the best option on the table.

[carsondalywashere]

Is the Vandy love ITT due to its one year employment numbers for C/O 2016? That seems silly.

OP, you've had a frustrating cycle, and that's unfortunate. But where do you want to end up? How did we go this far without establishing goals for the degree?

No, at least not in my case. Your assumption was pretty silly--and that's not tit-for-tat sass; I mean it. Vanderbilt with $100,000 in scholarship money is, at least to me, an objectively better outcome than UCLA with $60,000. Especially when you factor in interest.

Without goals, that's insufficient. Vandy for $100k wanting CA Biglaw or CA PI is not better than UCLA with $60k.

I understand your underlying intent that Vandy at $100k>UCLA at $60k because the outcomes are equal or better at Vandy compared to UCLA, but that's assuming there is no preference for a specific job outcome.

The greater point was that goals absolutely matter in making this decision, not that Vanderbilt isn't the right choice. Vandy for less is a financially safer decision, but that's not the entire calculus. Without goals, no one can give quality advice about the best option on the table.

I believe generic big law/IP work are the goals

[cheaptilts]

Is the Vandy love ITT due to its one year employment numbers for C/O 2016? That seems silly.

OP, you've had a frustrating cycle, and that's unfortunate. But where do you want to end up? How did we go this far without establishing goals for the degree?

No, at least not in my case. Your assumption was pretty silly--and that's not tit-for-tat sass; I mean it. Vanderbilt with $100,000 in scholarship money is, at least to me, an objectively better outcome than UCLA with $60,000. Especially when you factor in interest.

Without goals, that's insufficient. Vandy for $100k wanting CA Biglaw or CA PI is not better than UCLA with $60k.

I understand your underlying intent that Vandy at $100k>UCLA at $60k because the outcomes are equal or better at Vandy compared to UCLA, but that's assuming there is no preference for a specific job outcome.

The greater point was that goals absolutely matter in making this decision, not that Vanderbilt isn't the right choice. Vandy for less is a financially safer decision, but that's not the entire calculus. Without goals, no one can give quality advice about the best option on the table.

Your post is correct in general, but your original post--which assumed that other posters in this thread had some silly obsession with Vandy--was weird considering OP's earlier post, where OP conveyed a interest in biglaw anywhere:

Already took that advice, last year. Retook and waited a year. Now I might be starting school at 28.

I'm planning to do something tech related, so likely IP, maybe regulatory. I'm a few classes from being able to sit for the patent bar too. Plan is togo into Big Law after I graduate, at least for a while. .

Of course, I don't disagree with you in a general sense. I assume you just overlooked OP's post.