The Septimus Notes

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

|It's a Wonderful Law School Life|

163.

At first I was devastated and wanted to die. I'm starting to recover from that feeling. I did better than most people (89% of people, to be more precise), but I just really wanted to knock it out of the park, you know? Hopefully the rest of my application (not my GPA) is strong enough to support me. I'll see if my advisor back at school thinks I should apply to still more schools.

While I was away in the east of France, I was not on the law school forum that I post on a million times a day.

And, evidently my presence was missed. A thread was started all about me. For days people wondered where I'd gone and if my score was so terrible I was in hiding. Some hoped I'd received a bad score and was knocked down a few pegs for all of my posts on affirmative action and giving law school admissions advice as if I know what I'm talking about. Others came to my aid. "Likeable" came up a lot, in both camps. They ultimately came to the conclusion that I'm a God, with both Old and New Testament aspects. Some recalled I'd be gone and said that if they were vacationing in France, why would they be on a lame ass website. Others took that and ran with it, saying that if I'm so poor, how is it that I'm off hiking in Switzerland (I didn't go hiking in Switzerland -- it's basically a game of "Telephone" that these kids were playing).

All of this without one word from me.

And it's the greatest thing I've ever read.

And here it is.

promulgated by SWS2.1 at 17:09.
2 comments

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Monday, October 17, 2005

|7|

Seven days until the official release date of the LSAT scores. But, evidently, in the past the scores have been known to be released several days earlier. What will the future bring? Destruction or ecstasy? A quick scramble to get out more applications because I did not apply to schools where I have a shot, or some regret over sending out as many applications as I did because some of them may be relegated to the position of "safety" schools?

It's an exciting time to be alive, isn't it? One thing we know for your, in about 9 days I'm going to start getting spam mail from every would-be law school and law center from here to Guam. Let the games begin.

promulgated by SWS2.1 at 02:15.
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Thursday, October 13, 2005

|The Girl Who Cried Admissions|

So a friend of mine emailed me (and others) about our plans Friday. The first thing that I look for in emails these days is if it's from a law school. I saw the "@wm.edu" and I immediately thought, "Is William and Mary inviting me to apply? Are they giving me a fee waiver! That would be cool, because applying for free is the only way I'd apply to a school in VA." Then I realized, no, it's from my friend. And I told my friend this. And to make up for it, she emailed me the following:

"Dear Jason,

We here at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law of the College of William and Mary in Virginia are always looking for talented, motivated students. On the basis of your strong academic and leadership record, we think you would be an excellent candidate for our class of 2006. The Marshall-Wythe School of Law offers you the chance to attend classes taught by professors who are experts in their fields while enjoying the eighteenth century charm of historic Williamsburg, Virginia. Please check out our website for more information about our program. We hope to see your application soon!

Best regards,

Neal Wixson
Assistant Dean for Admission
Marshall-Wythe School of Law
www.wm.edu/law

(so sorry to disappoint you the first time)"

And no, she did not off the top of her head know the name of the Asst. Dean for Admission. She had to take time to find that out.

And I said I wouldn't make friends in France.

promulgated by SWS2.1 at 17:06.
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Sunday, October 09, 2005

|::breathes, but only for a minute::|

Well, I did it. It took all weekend, but really only 12 hours, as I was sick and sleeping and coughing and sexing (because it helps to raise your body temperature and help your body's defenses do their job and I told him and he didn't mind and perhaps more on him later because something just may be there) all of Friday and Saturday.

My first real paper (not just a small composition) in French. Well, semi-real. It was only 6pp, but that's more than I've ever done before and on a very new topic to me: an analysis of Governor-General Olivier's "Politique d'assimilation ou politique d'association ?" written in 1931.

And now I can start on my second real French paper (due the day before the one above): a commentary on three street/civic plans for Paris pre-Revolution that never came to pass. What is their social significance, if anything? What does it mean that they weren't build? How does the plan of one differ from those of the others? Why is this kind of assignment not what you thought you were getting into when you signed up for this course and why were the photocopies of the layouts that your Prof. handed out the worst photocopies of all time? Why is it that this "RUE NEUVE" could easily be both "new road" and "New Road" and why do you feel that knowing which could be the key to unlocking this urban planning mystery?

Break's over.

promulgated by SWS2.1 at 16:56.
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Saturday, October 08, 2005

|If wishes were horses...|

Then beggars would ride, and I'd be this guy.

promulgated by SWS2.1 at 19:49.
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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.

promulgated by SWS2.1 at 12:38.
1 comments

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Saturday, October 01, 2005

|The test.|

I do not want to talk about it. I did what I did, be that well or poorly, for better or for worse. The floor will be open for discussion when there is more than conjecture at hand -- when the score is released.

promulgated by SWS2.1 at 14:03.
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