Almost Done

Classes ended yesterday - I've completed my first term of law school! Now I have five exams and a paper standing between me and three weeks of vacation in Manitoba.

Law school is turning out to be a very "pushme-pullyou" - for those of you familiar with Dr. Doolittle - sort of experience. On the one hand, I'm learning loads of things factual, doctrinal, methodological, historical, and at an amazing pace, and I feel as though I'm retaining it and can apply it. On the other hand, I'm not getting all of it, and the penalty in an examination setting for overlooking an issue in a hypothetical fact pattern, or misstating a legal principle, is significant. The highest marks given are in the low-mid 80s, generally, and the bulk of the class scores between 70-80%, often with an average of 72-75%, and so in law school a person who really learns the material, and is capable of writing a decent exam answer under pressure with few errors, will receive a mark in the mid-to-high 70s - as will at least half of her classmates.

I've never simultaneously felt that I was doing so well, and doing as well as I can do, and also felt so average.

Portrait of a Procrastinator

Friend who has completed law school: So, how do you feel about the 100% exams in the spring?

What I said: Well, I think all you can do is learn for the sake of learning, of really knowing your stuff, and treat the exam as the chance to prove what you know. I mean, all exams (and assignments) add up to 100% anyway, right? I suppose it becomes harder to gauge how you're doing, but again, if you're really applying yourself, I think you'll have a good sense of how you're doing, just from how well you understand and navigate the material.

What I thought: Cool! No December exams!!

EDIT: It turns out that there are December exams - but they don't count for anything. Like a dry run.

Wonderful News!

I got a Law Foundation Scholarship for $6000. I am, of course, thrilled, especially considering that tuition is going to run me well over $9000 per year, not counting other university fees.

What I've Been Waiting For

I got an email last night telling me that I'd been accepted at UBC. Only two days earlier, I'd received word that they finally had my LSAT score and had forwarded my application on for review.

It feels so wonderful to have this over with, and just be looking forward to the next step. I feel like looking into picking up textbooks ahead of time so I can get studying before the school year starts. That's gotta be a good sign!

Oh, the Glitches . . .

So, I finally followed up on the file status issue. It turns out that they were under the impression that my LSAT was not to be taken until February. I cringe when I think of the office staff rolling their eyes at the twit who wants to know if her file is complete, when she hasn't even written the test yet . . .

So I emailed with my score and my LSAC ID number, but got no response. For five days. So I phoned and talked with an administrator who was very sweet and friendly but not at all helpful - basically she told me not to worry, and that my file was not complete but that everything would be fine.

Today I called the woman with whom I'd been emailing, directly, and asked her about it. She said that when they try to get my score from LSAC, they get a "results unavailable, future test date" message, or something to that effect. So, it looks as though the problem is on LSAC's end, not mine (as in, mistake on application), or on the university's. So, I guess that's good? She said she would look into it, took my SIN and LSAC ID again, and said she'd let me know what she digs up.

At least I'm on their radar now, right?

The Waiting Game

We've all been there. The work is done, the effort put in, the application complete, and now we just sit back and wait. And wait. And wait.

I have no idea when the school's acceptance committee meets, although I do know that people who had submitted complete applications in October (mine was complete then except for the LSAT score) got responses in December. So, if we're thinking a two-month gap for them, I might not hear back till the beginning of March, if not later.

And the waiting is already driving me crazy. I finally broke down and emailed yesterday to see if my application is complete (a thinly veiled plea that they not forget about me), but of course I haven't heard back yet. And won't, now, till the weekend is over.

*sigh*

That won't stop me from obsessively checking my email, though.

They Want Me!

Well, I'm not that impressed with emailed fee waivers for law school application anymore. But I've gotten two fee waiver packages in the mail - here in Peru - that made my day. The one I got from Golden Gate University was nice, but my numbers are way higher than even their 75th percentile. Today, however, I got one from the University of Virginia School of Law - which is ranked 8th in the USA!!

So, I'm all happy now!

Solicitations

One of the things I really wasn't expecting after getting my LSAT score back was the steady stream of emails from universities I've never heard of, inviting me to apply to their programs. Many of them offer a waiver of their fees if I choose to apply.

I'm flattered, or I was at first, but now I'm just frustrated because the one place I *want* to hear from has remained mum.

I'm considering contacting them and asking if my file is complete, which is just a backhanded way of saying, "do you want me? Have you made a decision? When will you make a decision? Don't forget about me!" Which is desperate, pushy, and lame. Plus, and this might be overthinking it, if I draw attention to myself, I make it clear that I really want to go there, which might mean they won't offer scholarships to entice me. They're the only school I applied to, but they don't know that - mightn't it be nice to be wooed?

Or is that a pipe dream?

169

Yay!!!! On December 23, I was informed that my score was 169. That's 97th percentile of all test takers, and it feels good.

Guestimate

I will probably look foolish for doing this, but I'm going to guess my LSAT score:

167

This is based on my past performance on practice exams, and how I felt about the real deal when I wrote it. I figure I got about 86-88%, and I'm hoping that that translates to a score between 165 and 170, and 167 just feels like a good solid number.

Boy, if I got a 159 I'm going to feel sheepish . . .

Phase Two Complete

Well, I wrote the LSAT on Saturday. It was a near miss, actually. I heard from the good folks at Universidad Nacional de San Agustin in the morning on Tuesday that the test materials hadn't arrived yet. Wednesday morning, they told me the package should arrive Thursday, Friday at the latest. I'm not much of a panicker, so I failed to panic. I remained firm in my conviction that between the LSAC, UPS, and the good people at UNSA, my test materials would arrive on time.

Ha! I went to UNSA Friday morning for a dry run - time the cab ride over there, scope out the testing location, etc. When I arrived, I was told that the test materials had still not arrived. We used the UPS tracking number on the package to check its status, and it was still stranded in Lima - as it had been since November 8th!! Much frantic phoning and emailing ensued, with me contacting my husband to see if their expediter (is that word?) could expedite the shipment . . .

When I went to bed Friday night, I still had no idea whether the test materials would arrive. The woman at LSAC had told me that even if it arrived late, I could start at 2 pm or earlier - I was supposed to start at 8:30 am. Second son woke up at 3:30 am and kept his dad and me up for quite a while, but I was compensated for this by being allowed to sleep in until 6:55 am. Still no sign of the package at 7:30. Or at 8:30. By this time, I was convinced that I would not be writing the LSAT. However, a phone call at 10:15 am confirmed that the package had arrived, and I raced across town to UNSA.

I must have had a wildly different experience than most LSAT writers. I was the only person taking the test, I had the supervisor's office to write in, and since he had never heard of the LSAT and had only a moderate grasp of English, it fell to me to read the Supervisor's Manual and assist him in filling out the necessary paperwork and keeping me in line. It took me about four hours to write the LSAT and the writing sample, including a 15-minute break, and for the most part it sailed by.

So, now all I have to do is wait until January to get my results. Oh, and this is Phase Two because Phase One was submitting my application to law school, which I did in September.