I've been reading and enjoying your book.

There is a raging controversy among college counselors about how students should spend the summer between 11th and 12th grades.

It's unfortunate, as Dean Zearfoss of Michigan Law School points out, that the recent NYT exposé about conditional merit scholarships ("Law Students Lose the Grant Game as Schools Win") was published a day *after* law school deposits came due.

In case you missed the article, it profiled the plight of law students who had accepted scholarships that would be renewed after their first year only if they maintained a certain minimum GPA.

Want to do something "extraordinary" with your summer?

Thanks to Above the Law, I was intrigued to learn, on the day of the royal wedding, that the British monarchy owns all of the swans in its fair kingdom. Or it can claim ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open waters, or some such thing. Which got me thinking about Property Law (bundles of sticks, Pierson v. Post, the tragedy of the commons), which got me thinking about 1L classes more generally, and then I started wondering how this year's batch of 1Ls fared.

Ah decision season.  This blog posting is the last in a series that tackles students' most frequently asked questions during this phase of the college admissions process.

D-day is almost here -- your deposit is due by May 1st.

Ah decision season.  This blog posting is the fourth in a series that tackles students' most frequently asked questions during this phase of the college admissions process.

You see the first sentence of the email (or letter) and you are stoked!

Ah decision season.  This blog posting is the third in a series that tackles the most frequently asked questions of students navigating their way through this phase of the process.  Many of you thought you'd be done by now, but instead you find yourself in limbo because you got waitlisted.  Read on....

So you were wait listed.

This is a great time of year to be an applicant, because right now it's easy to hang onto your sanity. At this point, you're probably feeling good about what you'll make happen for your application between now and October, as you should.

Let me give you the heads up about what happens to a lot of applicants between now and then: you might start to feel as if you're losing your mind.

You might start thinking about quitting your job to study for the LSAT full-time.

I would deeply appreciate your help with two questions. I have been on Northwestern and George Washington waitlists since early January. I took your advice and have periodically expressed my continued interest through a letter, additional letter of recommendation, and a note from an alum supporting my candidacy. I would love your thoughts on the following:

1.

The University of Chicago Law School just posted some samples of law school application essays that worked. Check them out -- these are the kinds of essays that top law schools are interested in.

This is good ammunition when your mom/dad/recommender/roommate/fairy godmother demands to know why you're not writing 750 words on "why I want to go to law school," which is NOT the same thing as a personal statement.

April is finally here, and as many of you are discovering, the application process isn't anywhere near done after you hit that "submit" button. You've probably received final decisions from at least some of your schools, but chances are, you'll still be waiting for final decisions from other schools (your longer shots) well into the spring and summer, maybe even early fall.

Most of my recent blog postings have been geared to applicants from the current season who are still managing those limbo schools.

Ah decision season.

I recently passed my master's examination which is equivalent to defending a thesis.  Should I notify law schools of this?

Passing your master's exam is a big step towards completing your master's degree, so congratulations on that.

I recently submitted a deposit and enrollment form at Columbia Law School.

Questions about recommendations keep streaming in, but one potential issue caught my eye that you wouldn't necessarily know to flag or ask about. Here's a common way that an applicant might write to a recommender:

Dear So-and-So,

Thanks so much for volunteering to write my recommendation for law school.

In response to my blog posting "What Does This Email From the Admissions Office Want Me To Do?", a commenter asked this follow-up question:

How do you suggest acknowledging acceptance emails? Do I reply "Thanks!" or just leave the email alone until I've made a decision?

You might recall that in that earlier posting, I had encouraged applicants not to bombard admissions officers with unnecessary emails; in most cases, "unnecessary" means you're just acknowledging their email and not providing more information, or being asked to provide more information.

It's almost the end of February, and you have all the time in the world to deal with your law school applications, right? Wrong. By the time we hear from people in the fall, or even as early as June, they've missed a lot of lead time to get their application strategy and logistics in order. Here are ten things to start thinking about now:

1. LSAC

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) is the gatekeeper for all your application logistics.

I've been reading your blog a lot as I have been going through the admissions process. I submitted my applications recently and I've been receiving "your file is complete" and/or "your file is under review" emails. Am I supposed to respond to these emails or will I just be adding to an already filled inbox brimming with annoying applicants?

Inboxes overflowing with non-essential emails are the bane of everyone's existence, especially during crunch times, and February is definitely crunch time for admissions offices.