To be determined...

Another month has gone by and I haven't been around on here... There's actually been quite a bit happening. I finished up at work which went pretty uneventfully. I can't say that I have a lot of strong feelings about it... it was my second time leaving and everything. When I left the last time, I didn't keep in touch with anyone at all. Hopefully this time I can keep in touch with one or two guys that I hung out with quite a bit in the past few months.

We also had our going away get together before we moved out of our house and had a nice turnout. It ended up essentially being two different parties. During the day we had mostly family and co-workers over and they were all gone by 4:00 p.m. We got a 2 or 3 hour break and then a few of our "international crowd" of friends showed up and hung out for a few hours. It was nice to see everyone but I always end up feeling like since you have to talk to everyone, you can't really talk to anyone.

After getting moved out, we had the chance to head to Mexico and I now have a brother-in-law (I guess??). My wife's sister decided she had found the guy for her and they were married the first weekend in August. We were only able to go for the weekend but it was without a doubt worth it. Besides the wedding, we had the chance to meet up with some friends and have coffee and brunch. Luckily, we got back before the airline scare over in London so we were able to bring a few bottles of alcohol from Duty-Free onto the plane.

So now we leave in two days. We'll pick up the U-Haul on Wednesday and get it loaded up but leave early Thursday morning. We're expecting to arrive Saturday morning....we could make it sooner, but we're going to take our time and not exhaust ourselves on the road. Both of us are really excited and getting more and more anxious each day. Even more exciting is that my wife was offered a job at Johns Hopkins working for a research team that she was really hoping for. It's an incredible opportunity for her and she'll be working with the people she wants doing exactly what she had said she wanted to do (clinical research instead of more basic mouse-model work).

For me, I feel like I'm ready. Orientation starts on the 29th with events for three days. I signed up for a tour of the C&O Canel with Professor Lazarus. He's an environmental law professor and a pretty big name so with a little luck, I'll have some opportunity to interact with him briefly. He's also my torts professor first semester, so it will also give me the chance to get a good feel for him. The second activity we get to participate in is a section service project. My section had a couple to choose from and I decided to go with the clean up of the National Arboretum. We'll be removing invasive species of plants from the area. The options for the service project were a little limited... it was either work in a food shelf or clean a park. Anyway, it'll be an interesting day nonetheless.

Well, it's late and we still have a few things to finish up tomorrow so I'm going to end here. Each of these topics really deserves its own post and I apologize for the quick summary. I'll try to do this a little more often but I still really don't know what to expect as far as free time goes... I guess we'll find out soon enough.

I went ahead and ordered my laptop. I had gone back and forth between buying a Dell and taking the leap over to Apple. Although I haven't really come up with a good, solid reason for it, I decided on the MacBook . The prices were very similar, everyone says they're "so intuitive" and their operating system is safer and better quality, and now it seems you don't have to worry too much about not being compatible with PCs because you can run BootCamp or Parallels which will allow you to run Windows if you need to. So in the end, I guess the reason I went with a Mac is because I also didn't have a good, solid reason not to. Oh and they threw in a free iPod nano with MacBook orders as well, so that didn't hurt. Anyway, those two things should be arriving late next week sometime...

In the meantime, we've had a little success getting rid of our excess belongings. Yesterday, a girl stopped over and bought our t.v. and dvd player for $100, and another guy bought my 15 year old golf clubs for $60. We also got rid of two beds over the weekend which cleared up a lot of space. The one big ticket item we really want to sell (our dining room table), however, is still here. If we don't get a fair price for it, we'll just put it in storage for awhile.... but if you know anyone that wants a beautiful 42" round dining room table and four matching chairs with a gorgeous mahogany finish, have them give me a call and we'll work something out.

Finally, to keep this more law school related, I received my first year (1L) course schedule last week. I'm really happy with the fall schedule as I'll begin classes at 9:30 or 10:30 every day and then, except on Tuesday, be done by 1:00 or so. That's only 2 classes per day and they're in one large block rather than one class, two hours to be (un)productive, and then another class. This way will work much better for how I tend to operate. Spring semester is a little more class/break/class/break but by then, I hope I'll know how to study efficiently. Also, at least two of my professors are (apparently) extremely well known in the legal world and I'm excited to have the opportunity to be around truely top-notch people. It'll be interesting to see if I feel the same way around, say, December 12 (Finals Week)....

Wow... what can I say? We were in DC looking for a place to live and had found a very nice little studio apartment five blocks from George Washington. It's expensive, but in DC everything is expensive. Anyway, on Monday morning the friend who has been staying with us for a little while calls and we talk a little bit. Towards the end of the conversation, I jokingly ask if, by chance, anything had arrived from Georgetown (thinking he would have mentioned it by now if something had) and he tells me "oh... there was a FedEx package when I got home Sunday. I was out of town all weekend. But I didn't look to see who it was from. I'll let you know when I get home after work." I almost went nuts... I couldn't believe he hadn't noticed who sent it ?!?1!!

To make a long story short, I figured out that if I could login to the Admitted Students portion on the Georgetown Law website, it was a pretty sure sign I was in. So I did and I could!! I didn't want to jump the gun and run over to GULC (Georgetown University Law Center) without being 100% sure and make a complete fool of myself, so I waited for him to call back that evening. He did and it was confirmed.

I AM IN AT GEORGETOWN!!!

I don't know exactly how to describe the mix of emotions. When I received the email last week asking to reconfirm my interest, I was simply excited. Now that I am actually accepted, it's still very exciting but with both relief and anxiety swirled in at the same time. I'm relieved because I feel like I put in a lot of time and energy during the whole application process (LSAT prep class, brainstorming and essay writing, follow-up letters of interest, etc.) and this acceptance justifies the effort. I'm anxious because I know I will be attending classes completely full of brilliant, driven people and I don't know how I will stack up against them. After a few days or weeks, I'm sure the anxiety will wane as I get to know some people and realize we're all in the same boat. For now, I'll combat the tension by trying to focus on finishing up all of the little details I need to do before classes start (resending financial aid, official copy of undergrad transcripts, making moving arrangements, etc. etc.).

It's also worth mentioning the small twinge of sadness I felt while talking with the lady at George Washington to tell her I was going to be withdrawing. I was lucky (?) enough to be able to explain my situation to one of the admissions committee members face-to-face and she was very friendly and sincere in wishing me the best. It is a great school and would have been a very good fit for me and I know I would have been very happy to have attended. I have nothing but good things to say about it. But all along I've said that I truly wanted to attend GULC and I wouldn't pass it up for anything.

In related news, my wife had an interview with a well respected research team at Johns Hopkins Medical Center up in Balitmore on Monday while we were there. It went really well, apparently, and she was very pleased with both of the PIs she spoke with. However, we found the distance to be quite daunting and she's not sure she wants to make that trip every day for the next three or four years. So, although it is still a very possible option (if they extend her an offer, of course), she is going to continue to look at places like the National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute ( NCI ). She also told me that now she will feel comfortable looking at what would be available at Georgetown as well. She told me, before, she would have felt bad if she found a job at Georgetown and I hadn't been accepted so she wasn't even going to look! I think that's pretty considerate of her and think it goes a long way to show what she is willing to do to support me at this time! What more could I ask for? I think we're going to do well.

P.S. No one really knows what, exactly, a "Hoya" is... what rocks?

P.P.S. The mascot at my undergrad was a bulldog too.... curious.

P.P.P.S. I received notice today that I no longer have to worry about being pulled off of NYU's waitlist. Good to know!

I can't really say anything has "happened" since my last entry here, but I'm getting more and more anxious to have a 100% sure answer as to what is going to be happening. Yesterday, I received an update from Columbia saying I was still on their waitlist and that they will once again review the people on the list in July and see if they have any openings. I'm really glad to be on the waitlist here and NYU and NU, don't get me wrong, but it adds just enough uncertainty to this situation that it's starting to get to me.

The reason I'm thinking about it at this moment? Well, we're on our way back to D.C. this week to find an apartment. We'll have to put down a nice sized deposit along with our first months rent as well as sign a lease of some length (six months minimum I would guess). Now if someone in NYC calls us around August 12 or so and says they have a spot for me, we're going to be in a little bit of a pinch to get relocated in less than a week. But we've determined that if something like that happens, it will be worth while to overstress ourselves for a month and make it work.

On the other hand, I did get what I hope will turn out to be some exciting news today... I received an email from Georgetown asking me to confirm my interest and that I am "one of a small group of people [they] will turn to in the event of an opening". Having been following the recent activity on the message boards, it seems like this email is the prelude to an offer of admission. Other people received an email saying there are no spots available and they would reevaluate their files sometime in July. They told me they would let me know by next Tuesday.... luckily, we'll be in D.C. already and I can then personally go over to their office and shake their hands :-) Of course, this is all speculation, but now I really do have my hopes up and don't even care that just yesterday I sent my $800 second deposit to GWU (okay, I still care but not as much as you would think)!

After looking over the last few posts, I realized I hadn't officially said that I am now done pondering and we are on our way to George Washington University Law School. It's a really good school and I enjoyed the weekend we spent in D.C., so that's where we're headed. It will also give my wife a lot of options for work (she already has a few leads at NIH to go after) and after school we can decide if we want to continue moving around the world or settle down for a little while. One thing at a time for now, however.

I was also thinking about the goals I had origionally set for myself way back in August. Apparently I didn't set them high enough since I met pretty much all of them... I finished my personal statement and got my applications sent in early, scored well on the LSAT, and got accepted into at least three "Top 25" schools. I don't know what else I could or should have done, since I'm very happy with the way things have worked out. We are both really looking forward to living in a real metropolitan area (New Orleans, I don't think, qualifies). We are planning on a trip back out there sometime near the end of June to find a place to live. GWU is having another new-student-house-hunting-weekend, so we may go then... It's up in the air right now if I'll go alone (save a little cash) or if my wife will come along and again try to have a meeting with someone about possible employment. I would rather she comes along, of course, but it may not work out.

For now, I want to actually start packing some of the things around the house and writing letters of continued interest to my Waitlist schools. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?? Well, this time I'll give it a little better effort. If anything comes up between now and June, I'll be sure to let you all know.

Once again, it's been quite some time since the last update to this place. However, there isn't much to report. The only bit of news worth telling is that I am now also on the NYU waitlist. It's actually pretty incredible and I need to get a letter together to "show my continued interest" so that I remain on the active list. The very last school I am waiting to hear from is USC (Southern California). According to their admissions office, I wasn't deferred or placed on the waitlist or rejected... my application is still simply under review. But looking at the graph on the Law School Numbers site (here), I am not alone in this situation. For whatever reason, they are taking longer than everyone else to admit the "maybe's". I honestly don't think I would choose USC over GW, but I still want to know their decision!!

What else is happening? Well, I guess I won't hear about my financial aid until sometime in June, so no news there. It's a little early to look for a place to live in D.C. so no news there, although I did talk to my landlord this afternoon and told him we would be here until the end of July, so that's one thing out of the way. I am also going to go buy a bike tonight. I think it will be a nice way to commute through the city if we don't live close enough to a metro station (or the University).

I think that's about it at the moment. I'm sure there are things I could do to prepare myself for the rigors of law school, but I don't see the need. I'll get enough dense reading done the first week of classes to make up for any time I miss out on right now. Well... I'll be sure to update this if/when something exciting happens. Until then... well... we'll see.

We're back from D.C., and, I must say, I was quite impressed with the entire weekend of events that George Washington put on for us. The professors that talked to us seemed extremely interested in teaching future lawyers (as opposed to publishing in journals), the students seemed intelligent but down-to-Earth, the facilities were nice and comfortable, and I met a few other prospective students that I would most likely enjoy hanging out with. On top of this, the city was much cleaner and there was more happening than either myself or my wife were expecting. Anyway, without further ado, I will be sending my seat deposit tomorrow to hold my place. I was hoping for a small token scholarship or grant of some sort, but unfortunately, this seems to be a very big weakness of GW... they are quite stingy when it comes to aid and don't even pretend to be otherwise.

I hadn't expected the weekend to be as enlightening as it was, but I am glad we decided to go and check it out. I feel much better making the decision now to not attend the U of M than I would have felt otherwise. I didn't believe what I had read on other sites and message boards about the "feel" of a school, but that's exactly what it was... it felt comfortable, like a place I could see myself for the next 3 years. I didn't get that feeling at the U of M.... it was surprising.

Having said all of that, I am still in contention at a couple of those same "elite" schools I had mentioned in previous posts... today I received a "reserve" letter from Columbia. This is basically their waitlist and I'll be returning my "please don't forget about me!!" postcard in the morning and hope a bunch of people decide NYU or Harvard is the better school for them. Also, I'm still holding out hope for Georgetown...they seem like my best bet of the top tier schools. We walked around their campus (both undergrad and law school) while in D.C. and it was as nice as you would expect. I didn't get the chance to talk to any students or faculty, but it doesn't make much difference as I'd go there regardless. The big sell from GW was that they are located in Washington... so is Georgetown...plus, well, they're Georgetown.

Harvard also finally sent my rejection letter. It arrived with the Columbia waitlist today. Now I'm just waiting to hear back from NYU and USC... I'm pretty sure I'll withdraw from USC if they do end up accepting me unless they offer scholarship money for some reason. Seeing as I am more interested in public policy sort of issues, D.C. makes much more sense than SoCal. Well, hopefully soon. I don't expect to hear anything from the waitlists until the end of April or early June. In the mean time, I guess I could start packing up the house since we'll be moving again soon no matter what.

I've come much closer to making a decision between the U of Minn and GWU, but I don't think I want to say 100% which it will be. On Wednesday, we're flying out to D.C. for the admitted students weekend preview at GW. We're going to spend a day looking at Georgetown while we're there as well. If things there go as expected, then I think I'll be ready to say I've definately made up my mind...at least between these two schools. However, there is a slight new wrinkle...I received an acceptance to Boston University this past Monday. Now, I have to say, I really haven't done my homework as much as I should have. I applied to a ton of schools because I didn't have any good idea of where I would be accepted and now I'm scrambling a little bit to decide which one I really prefer. Everything I've heard about Boston and Boston University has been very positive, which only complicates things further!

I'm still waiting on anything at all from NYU and Harvard, and Columbia also has to make their decision from earlier but they told me sometime at the end of March. As I've said before, I'm not making plans based on any of these schools since I'm pretty sure I know what the decisions are going to be, but it will be nice to eliminate even that slight bit of uncertainty as soon as possible. I'm still holding out hope that I'll get off of Georgtown's waitlist but I can't depend on that either. So, not much new since the last post, but it had been awhile so I thought I should at least say that much. Hopefully I'll have more to say when we get back from D.C.

Right now, I find myself with a bit of a dilemma. I got accepted to the University of Minnesota a couple of weeks ago and now I have two very good, nearly equal options to choose from. Obviously, it's a very nice problem to have (picking between two Top-20 schools), but it really complicates things more than I was expecting. Here is what I've come up with so far:

Minnesota:
Pros -
Instate tuition is ~$20k less than that of GW
Cost of living is much less in MN than D.C. as well
Perfect dual-degree programs for my interests and background

Cons -
It's in MN and I've been here nearly my entire life
Does the degree travel to the east or west coasts?
Very "good enough" attitude around the campus (based on my personal observations) that would not be good for me... I think I will do much better with a more competitive, professional, intellectual atmosphere around me.

George Washington:
Pros -
Location!! It's four blocks from the White House
Contacts are right there (obviously an extention of the Location) - Legislators, judges, NGOs, etc. etc. That professors will have personal relationships with
Very good Environmental Law program (most likely I would do this and not a dual degree anyway)
D.C. is a bigger city with much more life and much closer to so many other things

Cons -
Expensive (compared to MN)
Cost of living (compared to MN)
Quality of life? D.C. Has a crime rate along the lines of New Orleans... not sure we want to do that again

Well, those are the main things on my mind right now. I'm pretty sure we don't want to stay in MN after I get done with my school, otherwise, it would be a no-brainer. I'm basically weighing cost vs. location.... Hopefully, I hear back from Georgetown or Columbia or NYU or Northwestern anyway. That'd make things much easier! I did send additional information to each of the waitlist or deferred schools including an additional LOR from a personal friend and my performance appraisals from my job. My hope was that they could overlook my grades in college and see I've since matured and gained some sense of responsibility and professionalism....We'll see how that works out.

In other news, I finally received a rejection letter. It just came yesterday. The strange thing was that it was from one of my "safety" schools, the University of Maryland. They have a good health law program and are located near D.C., but otherwise, I don't even know much about them except they're "ranked" around number 40. So, it wasn't a heart-breaker or anything. At this point, I wouldn't have attended there had I been accepted anyway. I've read that some schools will reject applicants that they are pretty sure will attend a better school (called "yield protecting") in order to make their "yield" of accepted students that actually attend appear better for the US News rankings. Maybe that's what they were doing or maybe they just didn't like my supremely poor GPA... who knows. The point is, I'm not going to Maryland.

Well, now I just wait again. Hopefully next time I'll be able to say for sure (at least as of that moment) which school I'll be attending come September. Until then, cheers.

So far so good. I haven't received any rejections from any schools at this point. I did receive word from Georgetown the day after my last post, but it said I was on their "preferred waitlist". I'm not exactly sure what this means, but I think it's better than being deferred. We'll see what happens with them.

On the same day, I received my acceptance package from George Washington University. That was really exciting. When I first started looking at which schools I should apply to, I told my Wife that I thought I would probably be at GW when everything was said and done. I would definately be happy there. The school is located right in the middle of everything in D.C. and from everything I've read and heard, it's a great school. So, as it stands right now, that's where I'll be going. There are still quite a few schools that I haven't heard back from in my "target" range, but I don't think any of them would beat out this one. Of course, if I get some good news from NYU, Columbia or GULC, than I will be attending one of them. Maybe we'll know more next week.