I know a lot about U.

All you June LSAT takers have a lot on your minds right now, and I hope you spend the next couple of days recharging your batteries so you feel fresh as daisies on Monday.

So for today, I'll keep things short and sweet, and point you to some LSAT-related advice I've posted over the last year and a half:

• Yikes! Should I Cancel My LSAT Score?
• Addendum for Multiple LSAT Scores
• A Pep Talk (of Sorts) for June LSAT Takers

Good luck on Monday.

I'm planning on applying to law schools sometime in the near future, but this won't be my first time applying, as I applied to several last fall.

Thought for the day:

The study found that students who took courses that required both significant reading (more than 40 pages per week) and writing (more than 20 pages per semester) had higher rates of learning.

(From "Lack of Emphasis On Reading, Writing Impedes College Student Learning, Study Says" by Jamaal Abdul-Alim in Diverse Issues in Higher Education, via Learning vs. Efficiency by Daniel Luzer)

The fact that reading 40 pages a week or writing 20 pages a semester counts as a lot of either (in college!

A private eye's office from an L.A. Noir movie? No. That's the MIT Admissions Office. I keep waiting for Sam Spade to emerge.

The door alone says so much about the school, the culture, their values: "We're looking for beautiful MINDS, not beautiful BLINDS. Fancy admissions offices are for punks." That door is intense, but also funny: check out the emoticon.

You can learn a lot just from strolling around a campus, especially if you go off-tour.

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.