Waitlisted

There’s nothing worse than having your heart set on attending a particular law school, then receiving that thin envelope in the mail. Nine times out of ten, it usually means one of two things: a rejection or placement on a waitlist.

If it’s the former - then I believe you’re out of luck. Your options are boiled down to attending another school, then transferring over if you manage to get the grades. Or, you can call the whole thing off and apply again next year - after you’ve raised your LSAT score. I personally would recommend aborting until the next application cycle - since there are no guarantees as far as your first year grades are concerned.

If it’s the latter, however, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. Your execution has been stayed, at least for a short while longer.

Being placed on a waitlist is somewhat like being on a sinking ship with a limited number of lifeboats. At the end of the day, the ship is going under and there’s really not much you can do about it. If you want to survive, you sure as hell shouldn’t be complacent - since no one in their right mind is about to hand over their seat.

What can you do to ensure that you’re one of the lucky few?

At the very least, you need to write a “letter of continued interest.” Explain to the admissions office that their law school is still your first choice, that you’re excited about the possibility of attending and explain why.

If your only reasons for wanting to attend involve nice weather, a wild party atmosphere, or a greater likelihood of getting rich after graduation - then consider browsing the institutions website for information on unique programs or new developments that you can express an interest in.

You should also include any new achievements that would be of interest to an admissions committee. Did you pull a 4.0 GPA this past semester? Spend your break building houses for poor refugees? Tell them! If you haven’t done these things, then think about starting right now. Better late than never.

You can send more than one letter, but exercise some self-control. Don’t send daily or weekly updates. Once a month is fine, or whenever you have an exciting new achievement to tell them about, but the last thing you want to do is annoy the very people you’re looking to gain acceptance from.

Your fight to stay alive shouldn’t stop there. Consider contacting the law school to request a meeting with the Dean of Admissions. I did this when I was on a waitlist and my request was granted. At the meeting, be sure to have a plan of attack. Know ahead of time what you’d like to tell the Dean. There’s a very real possibility that the two of you will sit down in his or her office and you’ll be told to “go ahead” and begin with whatever you wanted to discuss. The meeting won’t necessarily be an interview in the traditional sense - and it could turn very awkward if you simply want to know how close you are to an acceptance letter. Trust me on this one.

If you can think of additional people to send positive letters of recommendation, it’s not a bad idea to contact them. Explain your situation and see if they can write a letter targeted to the law school you’re waitlisted on. If they’re really stellar individuals, maybe they could make a phone call on your behalf.

Eventually, the final hours of your law school application process will come upon you. If you’re still waitlisted at your first-choice school and all of your efforts have been futile, then there’s not much else you can do. At this point, many people resign to the fact that it’s just not happening for them.

If you STILL refuse to accept defeat - there is one last option. Call the law school’s admissions office and inform that you’ll be showing up to the first day of orientation anyway. Occasionally, prospective students accept offers from a law school, and then subsequently accept an offer somewhere else. These students should, in theory, inform the first school that they will no longer be attending - but sometimes they don’t. If that happens to be the case, then a seat has opened up - if you’re ready, willing and able to enroll, the seat just might be yours.