This August, I have the amazing opportunity to start studying at Harvard Law School. While I’m at it, I decided I wanted to start a blog series on my experiences for those of you who are interested in maybe going to law school one day, or even are just curious about what the experience is like. For those of you who are going through law school right now, I hope this series can be a companion in your journey — I’d love to hear about your experiences, too!
The Road So Far
Summer 2013: Decide to apply to law school, visit campuses, intern in DC, and spend every waking hour I’m not working studying for the LSAT.
December 2013: Take the LSAT. Get a better score than I expected. Celebrate never having to take the LSAT again. (I’ll write a post about my LSAT prep experience soon.)
August 2014: Take the GRE. Mourn the existence of standardized tests. Rejoice that I’ve once again gotten a decent score.
Fall 2014: Spend entire semester applying to grad school. Spend unholy amounts of money on application fees, LSAC fees, and GRE fees. Apply to something like 16 total schools, several of which have two separate applications (master’s program and law program). Skype with many alumni and admissions people. Wait. Impatiently.
January 14, 2015: Receive first law school acceptance letter. Record moment for posterity. Dance around campus and feel immense relief that I’ve gotten in somewhere.
January – February 2015: Visit campuses, more interviews, more acceptances. Wander around in total shock.
February 18, 2015: Receive admission to my first top-three school (witnessed by my coworkers at the CPDC). Scream forever.
March 9, 2015: Receive acceptance from Harvard Law School in the wee hours of the morning while at the NAOMI House. Spend day in a daze. Friend makes an “H” cake in my honor.
March 26, 2015: Receive offer of full-tuition, prestigious scholarship to top ten school that isn’t a great fit for me. Panic. Talk to professor who talks me off the ledge.
April 17-20, 2015: Attend Admitted Students’ Weekend at Harvard. Almost buy a “Legally Brunette” t-shirt. Sit in on class and die of nerd excitement.
April 2015: Officially accept Harvard’s offer of enrollment. Defer enrollment for a year (which they’re really flexible on!).
May 17, 2015: Graduate from Carnegie Mellon University with a BS in International Relations and Politics.
June 2015 – June 2016: Work in a non-law-related field. Read for fun. Remember what it’s like to not study. Travel. Spend time writing fiction and upping my swing dancing game.
Late May 2016: Finally start financial aid application (again). Feel horrendously guilty for waiting so long.
June 1, 2016: Find out they need another financial aid document they didn’t tell me about. Bang head against wall a few times.
June 2, 2016: Commit to an apartment in Boston after Skyping with the fabulous Medha and Sam. Get unreasonably excited about only having a ten-minute walking commute to campus. Start obsessively signing up for Boston-area swing dance and writing group email lists (despite knowing I may have time for none of those things.)
June 10, 2016: Finally schedule a physical to take care of my required immunization certification and physician report. It’s fine! They’re not due until the 15th! Check patient portal to see where I need to upload the other forms. Patient portal doesn’t work. Email webmaster frantically. Receive no response.
June 13, 2016: Get physical. DNP tries to fax paperwork to HLS — line is busy. She tries again and succeeds after I leave. Hopefully.
June 14, 2016: Check patient portal again with no success. Email webmaster again because my registration may be delayed if I don’t upload those other forms by June 15. Radio silence.
June 21, 2016: Start law school blog early, because surely someone else is freaking out about how long they took to submit administrative paperwork.
How about you? Thinking about law school? Starting in the fall? Already slogging through the trenches? Wondering how I could possibly be so crazy? Let me know!
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