MikeRossBoss '20–'21 app cycle Class of 2024 class year

Application Info:
-“Why X” for UF, UNC, and Wake Forest which had an explicit “Why X” addendum; sent a “Why X” as a LOCI for Emory and UGA waitlists

• Natural Sciences/Humanities double major from a top university in the Southeast
• Two years of work experience as a paralegal with a regional big law firm
• LOR’s from a professor for each major and a partner I work under
• GPA addendum due to death, severe illness in the family

LSAT:

• I settled for a 162 because that was near the midrange of my PT scores and I work full time. I studied on/off for about a year and then more intensively during spring 2020 with the Covid lockdowns. I was hitting -0 on logic games, but I was equally bad at logical reasoning and reading comprehension (probably averaging -6/7 per section). I’m not sure if Flex made a difference for me.

Goals:

• At least midlaw in the Southeast, ideally in Florida. I’ve worked in South Florida but would like to work in another Florida city where I grew up long-term. I’ve lived in another Southeastern state and have family spread around the Southeast, so I could make do living in a place like Atlanta, Charlotte, or Nashville.

Decisions and Final Thoughts:

• Take advantage of the LSAC forum for fee waivers. Also, UNC has a need-based fee waiver request form. I had a salary reduction due to Covid and I was granted a fee waiver. That rejection was tough because I was practically at the 2020 medians, but out-of-state.
• I withdrew from UF ED a few weeks after being put on hold. They surprised us with new ED guidelines that I didn’t see until after I had applied. Maybe withdrawing was premature. I already had the full scholarship from Miami and the half scholarship from FSU.
• Applying early and broadly helps! Miami was running out of scholarship money and people with higher stats started getting smaller scholarships in the spring. They also took about two months to send the scholarship offer, unlike previous years. Colorado is cool, so that’s why I applied to CU Boulder :)
• FSU seems to be more PI/government-focused, and their private practice placement is relatively low compared to some other options. Also, I don’t want to spend three years in Tallahassee after I’ve lived in bigger, nicer cities. Stetson isn’t really considered on the same level as FSU and Miami, so that’s why I didn’t seriously consider them, even though they place decently well in Central Florida. My choices came down to Wake and Miami.
• I think I should have applied to more schools like Iowa, W&L, UIUC, Wisconsin, UMD, and Cardozo for scholarship negotiations with Wake.
• I reached out to two Wake alumni to determine whether Wake was worth the extra cost over Miami with my goals in Florida. They couldn’t say whether Wake was worth the extra cost, and that really stood out to me. One of them spent her summers in Florida and networked extensively, so I think Miami could get me where I want to be with less effort. From digging around firm attorney profiles, I’ve come in contact with a partner at a large firm in my target city who went to my undergrad and Miami Law, so it is possible! Also, every single attorney I have ever spoken to has said that unless I have HYS as an option, the debt is not worth it — so to sum up, I feel pretty justified in choosing Miami with the full scholarship.

~Greenback Boogie, everyone~