Thursday, October 06, 2005
|The Impotence of Being Over-Seas|
(I only just realized it sounds like an allusion to a certain play, but it's not.)
The various faculty and staff members at Columbia have stopped responding to my emails and my requests.
I received an email today from Columbia Law stating that my file is still incomplete because I have not supplied my LSDAS report (out of my hands -- they'll get it automatically as soon as my LSAT score is calculated), my letters of recommendation (they are sent with the LSDAS report, so, again, out of my hands), and my Dean's Certification.
I gave my Dean's Certification materials to my dean in July. And she's literally about 20 feet away from the law school. So, why hasn't it gotten there yet? NYU requires a Dean's Certification (mind you, not all schools require them, but about half of the schools to which I'm applying do, and they are all the "top" schools) but only after you've been accepted. However, if you were on academic probation, then they require one when you apply. So, I emailed my dean pointing this out to remind her that with the other DC's that are required with the application, NYU would have to be included as well. She has not reponded. I've emailed her, per her request, each time I've sent out an application. No response. She's also the pre-law advisor, and it is therefore her job to read my essays and so when I emailed her my last draft did she respond? No. I'm sure her excuse is that she's really busy 'cause now the other 7000 students who are applying to law school are all constantly coming at her, and it's harder to ignore someone who's sitting in your office. But, I don't care, because knowing she'd be busy I gave her all of my stuff in JULY and she was the one who kept insisting that there's plenty of time and no need to rush. She's the one who insisted that I could email her back and forth to work on my essays from Paris.
I have not yet fully applied to Stanford or Yale. I have been waiting a month for a letter from Financial Aid telling these schools why I am considered Independent and why I cannot afford to pay the application fees. I asked them to scan and send it so it'd get here faster. They responded, "We have the letter, we'll scan it tomorrow." A week later, when I wrote back asking what was going on, "Scanning seems to be having trouble. Will get it out by the end of the week." That end came and went. Realizing that it had then been longer than it would have taken to snail mail it, I said, "Since scanning does not seem to be working, could you just mail it. Since you already have the letter put together and signed, that might just be the easiest thing to do." Did I get a response? No. A week later, I emailed again, "Are there any updates with the letter? I'm trying to apply to these schools early because I have a much better chance of getting in with my GPA if I apply early, but I cannot apply until I have that letter." Still nothing.
I understand they are busy. I do. But if I were there, in their offices, they could just give me the stuff and I could mail it myself.
I understand they are busy. I do. But this is their job -- my pre-law advisor's job is to help me (and the other students) get into a (good) law school, and it would really help if she actually did that, or at least didn't stand in the way.
I've been very understanding this whole time. I am not the only student. It's a big school. But I've been trying to get all of this stuff together for MONTHS. I have given them MONTHS to get their end in line. So why aren't they done?
And why am I now suddenly crazy afraid that I'm going to lose my "early edge" because they could not simply get around to getting all of this done and I'm not going to get into any law school.
(I only just realized it sounds like an allusion to a certain play, but it's not.)
The various faculty and staff members at Columbia have stopped responding to my emails and my requests.
I received an email today from Columbia Law stating that my file is still incomplete because I have not supplied my LSDAS report (out of my hands -- they'll get it automatically as soon as my LSAT score is calculated), my letters of recommendation (they are sent with the LSDAS report, so, again, out of my hands), and my Dean's Certification.
I gave my Dean's Certification materials to my dean in July. And she's literally about 20 feet away from the law school. So, why hasn't it gotten there yet? NYU requires a Dean's Certification (mind you, not all schools require them, but about half of the schools to which I'm applying do, and they are all the "top" schools) but only after you've been accepted. However, if you were on academic probation, then they require one when you apply. So, I emailed my dean pointing this out to remind her that with the other DC's that are required with the application, NYU would have to be included as well. She has not reponded. I've emailed her, per her request, each time I've sent out an application. No response. She's also the pre-law advisor, and it is therefore her job to read my essays and so when I emailed her my last draft did she respond? No. I'm sure her excuse is that she's really busy 'cause now the other 7000 students who are applying to law school are all constantly coming at her, and it's harder to ignore someone who's sitting in your office. But, I don't care, because knowing she'd be busy I gave her all of my stuff in JULY and she was the one who kept insisting that there's plenty of time and no need to rush. She's the one who insisted that I could email her back and forth to work on my essays from Paris.
I have not yet fully applied to Stanford or Yale. I have been waiting a month for a letter from Financial Aid telling these schools why I am considered Independent and why I cannot afford to pay the application fees. I asked them to scan and send it so it'd get here faster. They responded, "We have the letter, we'll scan it tomorrow." A week later, when I wrote back asking what was going on, "Scanning seems to be having trouble. Will get it out by the end of the week." That end came and went. Realizing that it had then been longer than it would have taken to snail mail it, I said, "Since scanning does not seem to be working, could you just mail it. Since you already have the letter put together and signed, that might just be the easiest thing to do." Did I get a response? No. A week later, I emailed again, "Are there any updates with the letter? I'm trying to apply to these schools early because I have a much better chance of getting in with my GPA if I apply early, but I cannot apply until I have that letter." Still nothing.
I understand they are busy. I do. But if I were there, in their offices, they could just give me the stuff and I could mail it myself.
I understand they are busy. I do. But this is their job -- my pre-law advisor's job is to help me (and the other students) get into a (good) law school, and it would really help if she actually did that, or at least didn't stand in the way.
I've been very understanding this whole time. I am not the only student. It's a big school. But I've been trying to get all of this stuff together for MONTHS. I have given them MONTHS to get their end in line. So why aren't they done?
And why am I now suddenly crazy afraid that I'm going to lose my "early edge" because they could not simply get around to getting all of this done and I'm not going to get into any law school.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 12:38.
1 comments
1 Comments:
Welcome to NYU. Don't let the door hit ya where the administration bit ya.
Oh, that's right...
Welcome to Columbia.
tout va bien, chou chou
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