A Woman in Law School

We are currently visiting the metropolis which includes my law school. Our goal is to find housing in six days that will allow two beefcake dogs AND is within an hour bus ride of school. The latter is proving to be harder than we anticipated. The city is large, like a million large, which will be a huge change from the university towns I've lived in. Actually, the idea of living in such a large city is intimidating, however law school grads have informed me that I will rarely step into the citylife and instead stay close to the library for the next three years.
Tomorrow I am actually visiting my school for the first time. I didn't have the money to travel and visit law schools when I applied. There is only one law school in a 300 mile radius and I knew enough about it to not have to visit. I'm hoping that my gut feeling, you know-that feeling you get when something just feels right or wrong, tells me THIS is the school for you! I'll fill you in on my gut reaction later...

The June LSAT is coming up and I'm happy to say that I don't care! I never have to look at that exam again! However, I bought this book while I was studying for the LSAT and thought I would post my two cents on it. I was looking for a book that would question my thinking about law school and this helped. There are quizzes with a scoring system. There is a breakdown of different areas of the law. The book is divided into three sections: before, during and after law school. I think it's a great resource for anyone having questions. I like how the authors talk about how it's alright to learn, to admit that law school isn't for everyone. Afterall, life is a learning process.

I recently heard that an acquaintance of mine was waitlisted at Stanford. Does a waitlist here mean anything? I don't know if she is holding out for it but I can't imagine many applicants turning Stanford down. Maybe I'm wrong. Any thoughts?

I came home to an e-mail congratulating me on my acceptance to my first choice school. I was shocked! It was a follow up e-mail; one meant to be received after the acceptance letter. This made us wonder if my acceptance letter really was lost in the mail but sure enough it came the next day. The best part is that I was offered a very nice scholarship! I was hoping for one but thought it was a long shot. So our weekend was spent looking at housing, the employment market for The Janitor (my loving partner who is an attorney) and reviewing the school's program. And now onto the little things. We are planning on flying down to visit the school next week. I have several questions regarding student life and the city in general. It's a large city with a population of approximately 500,000, much larger than where we currently live. One aspect that bothers me is that there are no images of students on their website. It is important to me to see students interacting with each other and have some idea of the academic environment that I wish to partake in.

So these are my questions:

• What are your thoughts regarding your first year?
• Is the faculty friendly, open, and available for questions?
  
• On a scale of 1-10 how competitive do you feel the environment is?
• Do you have any recommendations for new students to this school? Any thing you would do over again?
• Where will you be working this summer? Were there several opportunities to choose from?

I've been playing this game for the last two months and it's not fun. I am still waiting to hear from two schools, one of which is my top pick. I have had to withdraw from some schools and send in a seat deposit to my second choice. Everyday I eagerly check the mail only to find nothing. There are some who say that this year is a crazy one in terms of the application process and waitlists. I don't know what I think.

Some things you should know about me: I applied to only five schools due to a very tight budget. I am strongly leaning toward my state school due to in-state tuition and the growing legal market in the area. I'm not sure whether I'd prefer the public or private sector but I do know that having less student loans upon graduating would be wonderful. I'm also aware that most of the law school experience comes from what you make of it; what you strive to achieve and the opportunities that you work to create for yourself.

What I would really like now is to have closure with my application process. I'd like to move forward in my number 2 choice, secure housing, and notify friends and family of my decision. I'd also like to do this so I can begin my next steps, which involve pre-1L reading, setting up mentorships, and relaxation. As I tell remind my students daily maybe I should "just exercise my patience!"