Tuesday, March 28, 2006
|And it beeped.|And he's not interested. Not an unfamiliar situation.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 23:50.
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|Waiting for the phone to beep.|So I asked a guy out.I met him at multiple law school events. And I asked him to tea to talk about his experiences as a gay asian and racism. We sipped tea at my favorite West Village cafe and talked until the placed closed. He put his hand on my thigh, only briefly, but it was electric. At 14th and 8th we hugged and went separate ways -- him to the gym, me to the subway.And I sent him a text when I emerged from the subway, actually asking him on an actual date. I had not intended to do that when I asked him to tea. But I hadn't intended to discover that in addition to his overall hotness he was also a really cool and conversational guy.So now I wait. For the phone to beep. And for the little envelope icon to appear on the screen.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 23:25.
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|Damn you, Northwestern. Part II.|No, I did not apply for financial aid when I sent them my application. That pesky married/single question posed a bit of a problem for me and I thought it best to wait. I did, however, apply for financial aid well within the deadline to do so.And today I finally got my package. And all I can say is, "What the fuck, Northwestern?!??!!"Estimate Budget: $63k. My contribution: $3k. Total package: $60k IN LOANS. Nothing but loans.Again, I have to ask, how is it that Northwestern can cost $10k more than a "better" school, like Penn, and Penn can give me total grants of $54k but Northwestern can't shell out a dime? Their response (oh yeah, I called): "When you applied, we'd run out of grant money." WHAT THE FUCK? Is that any way to run a business? People have been coming back from Northwestern with HUGE grants. They have been getting large grants, for sure, and I know at least one girl who got something like $86k in grants.So, what the fuck? I didn't not get grants because I'm not needy. No, Northwestern recognizes that. No, I didn't get grants because even though I applied perfectly on time, by the time I applied give-happy Northwestern had given it all away, and probably to students who won't go.But there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Apparently I have the option of putting my name on the grant waiting list and when all of those kids who don't actually give a damn about Northwestern turn down the offers, then maybe I can pick up some of those crumbs.Uh, how's about I withdraw instead?
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 17:25.
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Monday, March 27, 2006
|What Q said.|(All good things must come to an end.)I received my first rejection today (not counting the Berkeley waitlist), from the University of Chicago.I don't know if it's the fact that I've more or less settled on Penn (after having spent a really great weekend there) or the fact that I realized weeks ago that I had no interest in Chicago or the fact that I was accepted into a "better" (read: higher ranked [NYU]) school, but I really don't care. I mean, I care a little bit, but really, at this point, I feel like I'm just collecting trophies. So that's one less head to mount on my wall -- so be it.And I'm not surprised it happened. The fact that I didn't expect to get in anywhere good notwithstanding, Chicago deferred me and allowed me three options to beef up my application: 1) interview, 2) write an additional essay following one of the 3 prescribed topics or 3) send in an updated transcript. 1) was not doable because it required flying to Chicago, and I wasn't going to shell out money for a trip that would not be reimbursed to interview at a school that I probably was not going to get into -- and the very idea I found wholly offensive because it's yet another one of those measures that allows the wealthy to get a leg up. 2) also offended me because the topics weren't like "write about a challenge" but more like "analyze the death penalty in light of the following hypothetical" and while it was only a 3pp requirement, I could hardly do something like that without putting in some kind of legwork/research but, oh oh, I'm still in school and already have plenty of work that will actually count for something to do. So I sent them an updated transcript, and I wonder if taking the lazy man's way out is worse than doing nothing at all.The world may never know.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 19:40.
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Thursday, March 23, 2006
|Damn you, Northwestern.|Because you sent me a package, "A Progress Report from the Dean." Of course, what I am waiting on from you is the yay or nay to my travel reimbursement request that I faxed in 6 weeks ago so that I can go ahead and book my plane tickets to the Windy City or just plan not to go and finally have a weekend to myself and/or my financial aid package, for which I applied about 2 months ago.The next law school to send me a "package" that tells me more about prof's I don't care about or programs I probably won't involve myself in BEFORE sending me the financial aid information that I applied for 8 weeks (or more) ago is going to get a fat withdrawal from me faster than you can say "jurisprudence."
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 11:00.
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|Wet Dream.|Backstory: I've always tried working out in the AM, but the problem is that I've always thought (read: assumed) that cardio needed to go before weightlifting (to get the heart rate up, I guess? Although I did always question that. Hmm...). But because I can't stand to go to the gym when it's busy, and if I don't get there right at 6 then I miss the window to sign up for a machine that would allow me enough post-cardio time to complete my routine before having to run off to class, I would only go to the gym in the AM if I got there right at 6, so if I looked at my alarm clock and it was 6.05 (the gym is 5min away) I just wouldn't go. And then at night I'd be too busy so I ultimately just wouldn't go to the gym.Recently, however, I've started hooking up with this crazy hot ex-Texan who while now a contractor/sculptor used to be a sculptor/personal trainer. I asked him to make a workout program for me and, lo and behold, the cardio is AFTER the weightlifting. So now I can go to the gym in the AM without having to worry about missing the window to sign up for a machine (the first window is an hour, as opposed to the rest which are 30min, hence the problem).Story: So I was finishing my workout today (this is the first week of the new plan) and I strolled into the locker room, which I don't normally do, to go to the bathroom (I've started drinking more water). And the first thing I notice is that there are a lot of hot guys around me. And then I get jealous and resentful. Stupid bitches who have been working out since high school and know what they are doing and are so hot and get all the guys and girls and t and p and a they want. Stupid bitches.But then... hold the phone! They weren't normal guys. No, they were the football team. And I guess they finish their workout a little before I finish mine because as I turned the corner to head to the bathroom in the locker room, 10 of them came out of the shower, water dripping off their hot, ripped and chiseled bodies. I turned away so as not to look like I gave a damn, but to either side of me were more of them, pecs out, abs out, cocks out, just standing around, talking, hands often on one another. In every row of lockers, there they were.Now even more reason to make it to the gym in the morning.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 08:27.
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006
|"The black physician can never be sure how close he is to disgrace."|I have been in my head a lot recently thinking about going to law school and being a lawyer and affirmative action and these thoughts come back to me when some students ask me why I still care about my grades so much, given that I've gotten into great law schools and it's my final semester.This quote from Frantz Fanon from "Black Skin, White Masks" I think sums up my thoughts pretty well:"I knew, for instance, that if the physician made a mistake it would be the end of him and of all those who came after him. What could one epect, after all, from a Negro physician? As long as everything went well, he was praised to the skies, but look out, no nonsense, under any conditions! The black physician can never be sure how close he is to disgrace."I encountered this text in my seminar on "the stranger." Life can be clever.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 08:56.
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Sunday, March 19, 2006
|Law School Blues (and Greens).|I want to preface this "complaint"/"concern" with the fact that I know my "problems" are really blessings and that life could be worse.So I had started to really get into the idea of going to Michigan after my visit. But then Wisconsin really turned up the charm this week (I asked for firm placement stats and they are sending them; I asked to speak to a gay student and one who happened to be in NYC this week had dinner with me; I then asked to speak to a student who is not from Wisconsin nor plans to live there who got into Top 10 schools but still chose UW and they had one email me [and he happens to have graduated from Columbia, class of 2000] the next day; then, kinda just for the challenge, I asked to speak to a gay, non-white student from NYC and they are having one email me; their responses have been good and immediate; oh, and the Dean of Admissions is picking me up himself from the airport when I arrive in a few weeks) and the idea of going to a awesome school that really wants me where I'd probably be top of the class and come out with literally no debt would be fantastic. And the more and more I've thought about it, the only reason I have for not going to Wisconsin (ignoring all of the hypothetical and counter factual scenarios) is that I got into higher ranked schools. And I'd like to think that's not a good enough reason not to go to Wisconsin, especially since being at the top of the class might mitigate any potential holdup due to the school's not being "Top 20," at the same time given the deference given to the rankings by other persons and institutions, it is still a valid reason not to go.And then today, in sweeps Penn with an aid offer that, while not as nice as Wisconsin's (and no other offer will be, let's face it), includes about $24k in grant money and after federal loans and Penn's only institutional loans, I'd only actually need to take out about $8-9k in private loan money, which I'm pretty sure I could get.And supposedly Penn is not known for being particularly generous.Penn's money is all need-based. Other merit offers are starting to roll in from other schools (like the $22k/yr from Brooklyn and the $15k/yr from USC), and once they include need-based (assuming one doesn't negate the other), who knows what the final numbers will be. Of course, while I know from Penn and Wisconsin, other schools I really care about (NYU, Michigan and Northwestern) still have not said anything. But I'm starting to get hopeful.Suddenly it's starting to look like this might not be a money decision, and that makes everything a whole lot harder. Better, but harder.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 17:26.
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Saturday, March 18, 2006
|What Vending Machines May Come...|More distributeur hijinx.There's a new vending machine in the bottom of Lerner Hall, or at least it's new to me. It's expansive and painted a matte black, with a bright, harsh white light beaming from within. From a distance it looks empty. Because from a distance one can clearly tell that the visually abrassive and peripherally intrusive colors of candy wrappers and chip bags are missing from the machine's window. Move closer and it's clear that the machine is far from empty, and not even devoid of confection.No, there are candy bars and twizzlers and bags of something that appears to be a malt ball-gobstopper hybrid candy. But those are mixed in with a melange of highlighters, pens, binder clips, paper clips, and sticky note pads. And those are in the middle of blank CD-R's, floppy diskettes, mini calculators and empty cd cases. And still those are in the midst of batteries (4- and 8-packs of AA's, AAA's, D's and C's), iTunes $15 gift cards and, oh yes, iPod Shuffles.So if it is 10.30 at night and you find yourself jonesin' for red licorice and a song pops into your head and you want to jot it down on something to remind yourself to download it later and you realize you wish you had a way to hear the music while on the go... Lerner Hall, ground floor: there's a vending machine with your name on it.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 10:34.
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Friday, March 17, 2006
|Dave: "How do you feel [about turning down Jonny Johnson's proposal]?" ||Lisa: "I... I feel strangely... uhm, powerful... in an eeevil sort of way. It's the oddest thing."|This is the part of the admissions cycle that many students relish. They have dreamed about it and schemed about it. Nefarious plans and scenarios litter law school discussion boards from Taipei to Tampa, describing in Poeian detail how admitted students plan to turn down the schools that have accepted them.My stomach, conversely, is in knots. Yes, it's annoying that they took a while to let me in (the ones that took a while, I mean), but many kids didn't get in. I should be happy with that and not seek to exact my revenge, which is really intended for the schools that will take months to reject applicants, but instead goes to those they can actually get: the ones that have accepted them.As of today I've withdrawn from Boston University, Brooklyn, Cardozo and Fordham. BU I actually would have held on to because of the financial aid potential, but I have no strong feelings for the school and the financial aid application is different from all the other schools (CSS Profile vs. Need Access), so it's not just clicking a button and sending it to an additional school -- I'll actually have to fill out one more damned form (which I guess, if I'm going to be a lawyer, I should get accustomed to doing) and it'll cost $23.For the other schools -- I've maintained all along that I would stay in NYC if I thought that going to say Brooklyn instead of Wisconsin would give me a better shot at positions in NYC. But 1) that's probably not true 2) I really really don't want to stay in NYC and 3) at the very least Michigan guarantees that if you can't secure private loans, they will loan you the money, so why would I go to a school in NYC when I don't want to be here and it's (probably) a lesser school than other options I have? To be certain, my whole "it's a cost decision" thing is based on the fact that I fear securing private loans will be difficult.So I've started rejecting schools. It feels good to have this option (so many kids apply to law schools and get into 0-1, so I've been CRAZY lucky), but I just hate having to do it. At the very least, I'm sending each one a nice, complimentary letter (well, e-mail) rather than just saying, as I know some applicants do, "Please withdraw me. Thank you," or worse, saying nothing at all. My letters aren't long, but I think it's important to give the same kind of consideration that I received.And now all of you kids who've been at me to withdraw 'cause you think I'm holding onto "your" seat (the faulty logic of that notwithstanding), I'm out. Have at it.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 11:14.
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Tuesday, March 14, 2006
|Sin Cos, Cos Synchronicity.|The other day I was poking around on IMDb and came across a movie that was filmed by Darren Aronofsky.And I thought to myself, "Wait, isn't that the guy who did 'Pi?'" I downloaded and burned it to disc about five years ago, and I still have not gotten around to watching it.This morning I woke up and thought, "Hmm... I think I'm finally going to watch 'Pi' tonight. I'm on Spring Break. Might as well."And then I turned on NPR, literally minutes later, and just in time to hear them talking about all of things things happening today, 3.14, as it is International Pi Day.Uh...
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 10:02.
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Tuesday, March 07, 2006
|Screw the haters.|I was accepted into NYU today. Uhm, that's super hot shit 'cause it is almost across the board (meaning to say beyond the borders of USNWR) recognized as a top law school program. I know more than one applicant who would trade Harvard for NYU, with the right amount of money.I was accepted into NYU today = I'm awesome and screw the haters.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 16:34.
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Sunday, March 05, 2006
|Law school is going to be a lonely place.|I'm "Jason240": hatersIf you actually read all of that, the post that really got to me was the one left by "John Galt." He's black, goes to an HBCU (I think) and was admitted into Harvard, Yale and Stanford and has gotten quite a lot of Affirmative Action flack for performing so successfully in this law school application cycle, despite having a high GPA and a very good LSAT score. It's not about black "brotherhood," but I would expect someone that fully knows what it's like in my shoes to be a little more understanding.If you can't count on those who know what it's like to not stand against you, then who can you count on?I don't want to go to law school anymore. Only for all of the above reasons, I have to.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 18:15.
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