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brooklynboy wrote:Haha, here's hoping this will prompt YLS to start calls tomorrow

“You receive your eighty folders,” Carter said, “and you look through them, and you realize that every one of these people would do just fine.” His usual method, he said, is to look for something “different or exceptional or unusual” about each candidate, rather than trying to find reasons to reject them. “But, then, I still worry sometimes,” he said. “If I realize that I’ve given good scores to a bunch of applications in a row, the next one is in big trouble.

"In a perfect world,” he continued, “I would go back and read all the folders again, but who has the time? It’s easy to see why people fall back on grades and L.S.A.T. scores.” One year, as time ran out, Carter still had roughly a dozen folders to go. “I ended up rating those files at random: 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4.”

salander wrote:“I ended up rating those files at random: 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4.”

GrayGamut wrote:

salander wrote:“I ended up rating those files at random: 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4.”

see: definition of black box

salander wrote:Reading this and trying to scrub a horrified look off my face, lol...

From a 2002 New Yorker article about Yale Law professor Stephen Carter:

“You receive your eighty folders,” Carter said, “and you look through them, and you realize that every one of these people would do just fine.” His usual method, he said, is to look for something “different or exceptional or unusual” about each candidate, rather than trying to find reasons to reject them. “But, then, I still worry sometimes,” he said. “If I realize that I’ve given good scores to a bunch of applications in a row, the next one is in big trouble.

"In a perfect world,” he continued, “I would go back and read all the folders again, but who has the time? It’s easy to see why people fall back on grades and L.S.A.T. scores.” One year, as time ran out, Carter still had roughly a dozen folders to go. “I ended up rating those files at random: 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4.”

Ensalada wrote:Oddly enough I got a sense of peace from this? At least if I get rejected I can hope/assume that it was due to the totally random act of a professor running behind and assigning a 2 without even reading my application, and not due to a carefully thought out assessment and rejection of my 250.

brooklynboy wrote: is right. I'm stunned that he would admit to doing that! I hope he has earned Asha's scorn.

nicknar wrote:Also my UG was not on that list of schools represented. I feel like no one from my UG has gone to any of the schools I'm applying to, ever. So, hurrah!

nicknar wrote:Also my UG was not on that list of schools represented.

brooklynboy wrote:Hey, every year Yale takes people from schools that aren't represented there now--don't let that discourage you!

KissMyAxe wrote:

sanibella wrote:

brooklynboy wrote: is right. I'm stunned that he would admit to doing that! I hope he has earned Asha's scorn.

Asha wasn't the dean yet. I'm sure she doesn't allow that! She would likely notice that some files that were consistently given 4s by all professors were receiving 2s from this guy, or vice versa.

But honestly, this is all pointless worrying.

brooklynboy wrote:This is clearly baseless speculation and a total waste of time, but why not: any predictions on when the first calls will go out? My guess is sometime this weekend, I'm thinking Sunday the 13th.

KissMyAxe wrote:

sanibella wrote:

brooklynboy wrote: is right. I'm stunned that he would admit to doing that! I hope he has earned Asha's scorn.

Asha wasn't the dean yet. I'm sure she doesn't allow that! She would likely notice that some files that were consistently given 4s by all professors were receiving 2s from this guy, or vice versa.

LOL. Asha is Dean of Admissions. But honestly, I doubt even Robert Post could change how professors choose to grade applications. Law schools are basically run the same way as law firms. The tenured faculty are your "partners," who have to vote on every major decision. And of course they want to grade applications how they want to grade them. And she won't override any professor's decision as she's said before. If an applicant has a 4-4-2, they're probably not going to get in. Heck, there are professors out there who scrutinize LSAT essays because they feel the others are doctored so much they're no longer representative of the student's writing. Making three different professors individually agree on what makes a good candidate is what makes YLS have the best admissions out there, even if there is a definite element of luck to it. There's a famous legend (that I'm sure isn't true) that there was a professor who would throw all of his applications down the stairs and only give those who reach the bottom a 4.

But honestly, this is all pointless worrying. It's not worth getting so hung up on what does require some luck. And look on the bright side, if Yale were not holistic and just went after numbers like HLS, with their 80% retention rate, they would easily have medians of 3.97+, 175+.

KissMyAxe wrote:

brooklynboy wrote:No idea. I think I posted this before, but it could really be any day now. Last year it was the 6th. The year before it was the 17th. a couple years before that it was after Christmas. It could even wait until January. If I were to make a complete guess, I'd guess either Monday(the 14th) or next Friday (the 18th). Don't worry about it, you're getting in, everyone here is getting in. I feel it in my bones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygQtml-Xsog

Also, don't forget, a lot of people were accepted via email last cycle, so it might not necessarily be calls.

lemondrop wrote:hey all, I'm a long time lurker but I figured I would finally register now that the cycle is in full-swing. this might seem like a silly question, but for the 250 does that mean EXACTLY 250 words? I submitted in November, so I don't know why I'm bothering to torture myself at this point, but I suddenly realized mine was 247 and got paranoid...

chayatshuva wrote:This might be literally THE dumbest question of all time. But I feel very compelled to ask it and because I just want to know ahead of time if I did something stupid or if it's okay and I shouldn't panic.

So for my Yale 250, I submitted part of a paper I had written. It is pretty scientific and dry.. not something I composed for Yale specifically. Is that okay? Or have I already totally ruined my chances at admissions?

KissMyAxe wrote: And to the other person, yeah, 250 is just the maximum length. I usually wouldn't go below like 150 or something, but I expect very few people use exactly 250 words (mine was like 239).

sanibella wrote: No, that's the limit.