This is my final update to the blog.
It is not because I know where I am going for sure — I don’t. And it is certainly not because I have given up — that will never happen even on my worst days. It’s simply because it is the last one. My time at The Pitt News is coming to an end. And while I would love to continue this blog until I know where I am going, that isn’t the case. And that’s OK.
I planned to end this blog with a happy announcement, officially telling the world where you can find me next, proudly proclaiming where I will be attending law school in the fall. When I pictured this blog last summer, envisioning fellow pre-law students reading it when searching for advice in between passive-aggressive Reddit posts and paywalls, I thought the path to law school would be clearly paved and I would know where I’d be attending school by March, if not even sooner.
That is not the case.
I don’t know what is ahead, and I know many other aspiring 1Ls are in the same boat. What I need to remind myself of is that I am not alone in this.
Estimates report that law school applications were up 20.5% this year, and some individual schools report even higher jumps in the number of applicants. There was, however, no jump in the number of open spots at these schools. Schools did not grow the size of their incoming class to accommodate the unprecedented number of applicants. The results were lots of surprising rejections and even more heartbreaking waitlists.
Safeties became targets, targets became reaches, reaches became next-to-impossible for many. I myself got waitlisted at two schools I would have considered solid target options, and I didn’t get into a single reach. Many of my friends received rejections left and right and were waitlisted time and time again.
When I was studying for the LSAT last year, my best friend was always saying how my tenacity was a testament to “just how bad I wanted it.” When I got a “bad” score on a practice test, when my first LSAT exam went terribly due to a tech issue, when I cancelled plans and became the “lame friend” because I had to study, it was all because I wanted a good score on my LSAT so I could go to a good school. If I didn’t care or didn’t want it, I wouldn’t have tried so hard.
I think this is true now. My frustration with this process, for both myself and my friends, is a testament to how badly I want to be a lawyer and to go to law school. Opening up another email telling me I have been placed on a waitlist, talking to another friend who got rejected — these are heartbreaking, even when things are good. Just because there is heartbreak and disappointment when an application doesn’t work out the way you wanted it to doesn’t detract from the rush of joy when one finally does. That “Oh my god, I am going to be a lawyer” feeling.
This is both a happy time and a frustrating time. Being disappointed is just a demonstration of how badly you want it.
For those looking for a personal update, I got into four schools with a range of scholarship offers. I was waitlisted at eight schools and rejected at one. I recognize that I am in a very good position in comparison to how many other peoples’ cycles are going, and a huge part of this achievement is due to the people around me who constantly held me up when I was too tired to carry on, who proofread my essays a zillion times and who have spoken with me countless times as I talk in circles about my decision. And while it would have been really cool to get into all 13 schools I applied to, as stressful of a decision I have to make, it is still a fun one.
In less than six months, I will be in a new city with new people learning new things. I will be challenged and pushed, exploring new topics and gaining new skills.
In less than six months, I will be on my way to becoming a lawyer, and while the path hasn’t quite crystallized yet — to the chagrin of my loving family, I’m sure — if anything is certain, it is that it will all work out. I didn’t know four years ago that I would work for The Pitt News, nonetheless become an editor on a desk and have a personal blog about my experiences applying to law school. But here I am, successful and happy. It all worked out, and it will all work out again.
The journey to law school has been bumpy, full of trials and tribulations, cheers and tears. At many turns, I felt like I couldn’t do it, or I felt on the brink of losing all hope that this is the career meant for me. Allow yourself to feel all these things. I have to believe that in a year or two, we will all look back on this time with a smile on our faces wondering why the hell we were so stressed out.
To those who followed along, thank you for joining me. For those looking to apply to law school and embark on that journey, I commend you and wish you well.
Not to be horribly cheesy, but I have to end the blog with one of the most famous lines from the movie this blog’s title came from. It’s a must, because it is important advice to remember.
As Elle Woods once said, “And most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself.”
