WL dilemma(s)

[SuperDude]

I've found myself in the position of managing my lengthy list of waitlisted schools, and let me tell you its no fun at all.  I feel like I should win the most waitlisted candidate award for this cycle...  Of all the schools I applied to, I only got into my safeties (LSAC's calculator sucks).  Overall, this has been a disappointing spring. 

I do know that of all the schools that I have been WLed at, I'd rather attend Vandy; however, that seems like a distant possibility according to the numbers.  In fact, I don't really understand why they waitlisted me in the first place.  But Vandy places very well and is close enough for me to make the commute every day. 

As for the rest, each school appeals to me in its own way.  Each has its own distinct local flavor and each places well on its home turf, which is making it difficult to compare and prioritize the schools.  I feel like I would be happy ending up in any of these places because aside from wanting to make as much money as I can doing something that I like, I don't really have many other strong preferences about the location or nature of my future legal career.

Emory:  I've grown up in the South and belive that this region is developing faster than any other part of the country.  Decent placement.  Plus, its Atlanta!
Notre Dame:  Nice placement statistics, plus their goal of making students into a "different kind of lawyer" is admirable (probably not a factor for most people).
Fordham:  Nice placement in NYC, which is a city that I've kinda always wanted to work. 
BU:  Good east coast placement along with a semi-national reputation.
UTA:  Another school that I was fortunate enough to get waitlisted at.  It seems to have a commanding position in the Central-South area.
Wash U:  I know some friends up in STL and have been impressed by the city.

I plan on visiting many of these schools in the summer to check each place out and to beg their admissions officers to let me in.  With the possible exception of W&M and UW, these are all schools I'd attend over the ones to which I've been accepted (tOSU and GMU).  So what I want to know is what are your opinions on each of these schools and how would you guys rank my waitlist?  We can assume that I won't get any money at all, which is ok since I have always thought that I would be mortgaging my future for a legal education anyway.

[SuperDude]

I've already sent in a LOCI to Vandy saying that I would attend if admitted and I'm going to pay a visit to the law school next week.  For every other school, I've said that I was still interested in admission.

As for this summer, I don't really know what I'll do, probably visit some of these law schools.  I already signed up for the June LSAT so I'll probably also review for that.  Its possible for me to squeeze 3 points from the LSAT, since I had mildly underperformed last time.

Perhaps you're right that my application was weak in some part.  I remember that it took forever to write a PS and even after I finished, it was often rife with errors and still came off sounding too generic.  There's no way of knowing whether my recs were good, but I got into my safeties with them so I figure they couldn't have been terrible.  They were written by professors with whom I was often in contact.  Maybe I should have gotten one of my employers to write a LOR for me.  Also, my soft factors are not that bad.  I've been in numerous clubs and service organizations and I have what you could consider a "diverse" background.  I didn't emphasize this in my PS and now I wish I did.

Btw YellowBrickRoad, why did you put Emory and Fordham so low on the list?  I had them around the middle of the pack so I'm just a little curious.

[SuperDude]

Thanks a lot, that was very helpful.  Part of the reason I'm having such a hard time managing this waitlist list is that I don't have much information on these schools.  If (hopefully) I get off the waitlist for some of these schools, I'll need to have as much info as I can get to weigh my options.

So are there any other people who would like to share their opinions?

[Betty_Crocker]

I don't know how Vandy does it this year, but I was Waitlisted in 2005 with a 150/3.81 and was told that there would probably be no movement from the waitlist. I guess it depends on the school and how the cycle pans out. Some schools (like GULC) use their waitlists heavily - other schools, like Vandy, rarely used their WL. You can send in letters and whatnot, but your best bet would be to move to Nashville and demonstrate that you will attend Vandy at a moments notice (which will probably be your best bet). A lot of times, schools will pull from their WL on the first day of school. If you don't like your safeties, don't go to law school yet. Wait another year, retake the LSAT, and reapply. You do not want to go to a law school you don't like - law school alone can be miserable - if you already hate the school, it will make your experience much worse.

[Yossarian]

I would suggest putting a lot of effort into trying to get off the waitlists at BU, Fordham, and ND. Your numbers are stronger for these schools than they are at UT and Vandy, and WUSTL trends to like higher lsat's and lower gpas. I would reason that you have the best chance of getting off waitlist at schools where your numbers are the most competitive, it probably hurts you a bit at this stage in the game to be solid in both gpa and lsat but not exceptional in either. I would really press ND hard and let them know that you would attend if accepted and try to distinguish yourself on their waitlist as it is probably much smaller than those at BU and Fordham. Anyway just my two cents, g/l!

Edit: The same is true for emory forgot to mention it.

[BadAdviceTagger]

You can send in letters and whatnot, but your best bet would be to move to Nashville and demonstrate that you will attend Vandy at a moments notice (which will probably be your best bet).

[SuperDude]

Thanks a lot everyone, I really appreciate the input.  As for vandy, I've already done pretty much all I can to express my interest in the school.  So at this point, I think it is out of my hands.  After I graduate, I'll pay a visit to the schools to which I've been admitted and will probably make a decision afterwards on whether I'm going to law school this year.  I probably will attend, though, as both are good schools -- just not the ones I had my hopes set on. 

Btw, I want to keep you all updated on my situation.  However, I wonder if any of the admissions people read this stuff and decide to scratch my name off the waitlists if they know that I'm also being waitlisted at so many other schools.  Any thoughts or am I just being paranoid?