One Year

It was a year ago this week that I downloaded the free LSAT from the LSAC website. My journey to law school started when I realized that I could do well on the LSAT. A good LSAT score could get me into a good law school, which, coupled with my experience, should allow me to make the transition from the laboratory to a leadership position in a pharmaceutical company. I really had no desire to go to law school before I started looking into the LSAT, but as I've thought more about the opportunities that a JD could provide, law school has begun to feel like the right thing for me to do. I just can't do it full-time. The opportunity costs, in tuition, lost wages, and missing out on three years of significant leadership experience in a pharmaceutical company, are just too high.

With this decision made, I will not be submitting an essay to U of R for the Marshall scholarship. Even that scholarship is not enough to get me to leave my job. I thought about applying for it as a way to improve my shot at some kind of part-time arrangement with them, but I thought better of it. I'm going to get in touch with the law school and put everything out there. If they come back willing to work with me on some kind of part-time deal, that's great. If not, I start studying for the patent bar and keep my eyes open for jobs in cities near law schools with part-time programs. Maybe Mason would let me switch to part-time if I could find a job up there in the next few months.

Regardless of my plans for the fall, my experiment continues on. Rejections are starting to go out so we'll see how other applicants with numbers like mine fair over the next few weeks. I started this blog to help other PhD's apply to law school. That mission will continue.

U of R info session - straight talk on the LSAT

I went to an information session at the University of Richmond yesterday. I missed the first 45 minutes or so, but I made it in time for the question and answer session. The program was definitely geared more towards people who are still thinking about applying or working on their applications. So it was no surprise when somebody asked about test scores. Dean Rahman came right out and said that the LSAT is the most critical part of the application because it carries so much weight in the US News rankings. A solid GPA is great, but the dean said that they are more likely to take somebody with a high LSAT and low GPA over somebody with a high GPA and a low LSAT.

During this discussion of LSAT scores, Dean Rahman mentioned that a good way to get off of the waitlist is to take the LSAT again. If you've made the waitlist that means that they're interested in you. A higher LSAT score would give them a good reason to offer admission. If I really wanted UVA, I would have started prepping for the LSAT as soon as I was waitlisted. I don't want UVA that bad, but it's an interesting insight into the admission process.

Given all of this talk of LSAT scores, I thought they might be open to me doing some kind of part-time program. They pretty much told me there was no way when I brought it up in the summer and they did the same thing yesterday. I can see their reluctance before the part-time numbers were used in the US News ranking, but I guess they have the part time option for people who start the program and for one reason or another can't stick with it full-time. Rather than seeing them leave, they give them the part-time option. Between my promotion and other events at work, I'm not sure that leaving is the right thing for me to do right now (especially as pay for a first year associate at a mid-level Richmond firm makes about $10K less than I make now, according to my tour guide yesterday anyway). I have a few more months to think about it. We'll see how things evolve at work.

In at WashU

I got the email that I had been accepted earlier this week. Only IU remains. If I hadn't gotten the late fee waivers from Wash U and IU, my cycle would be complete already. I will review my results and compare them to other applicants who do not have a PhD once I hear from IU. I also plan on adding some tags to make the blog a little easier to navigate.

John Marshall Scholar E-vite

I received an email today from U of R inviting me to submit an essay for the John Marshall Scholars program. There are two topics to pick from. I immediately dismissed one of them so I have been thinking hard about the other. I came up the seed for a pretty good topic at work this afternoon. I have until the 31st to submit the essay. That should give me enough time to write a solid 500 or so word essay. I have no idea how many people are invited to apply for the program, but a Marshall scholarship would make Richmond my choice for law school.

As for the criteria, the email reads as follows:

Applicants will be considered solely on their merit; need will not be a factor considered in the selection process. In determining merit, the Committee will review an applicant’s narrative statement, transcripts, letters of recommendation, community service, work experience and extra-curricular activities. Every effort will be made to identify applicants whose values, personal characteristics and academic credentials suggest they will make a positive contribution to the Law School, the legal profession and the community.

I hope they really look closely at the statements, letters of rec, and work experience because my transcripts won't hold up too well under close scrutiny (well, the grad school grades were alright, except for that damn engineering class). I have to wonder if the LSAT score is used to invite people to apply for the scholarship but is not used to determine who is given the award. Curious.