It's done.
As best as I can tell, I've submitted all of the law school applications that I'm going to. I applied to most of the law schools in North Carolina, including Wake Forest U, UNC Chapel Hill, NC Central U, Elon U, and Campbell U. I did not apply to Duke U or to Charlotte School of Law. I applied to two out-of-state schools, UVa and UT Knoxville. It's quite an assortment, but most guides advise prospective law students to apply to a range of schools that includes "reaches" and "safeties". I won't get into detail at this point about my reasons for choosing these schools, except to say that I had application fee waivers for UVa and Campbell U. I seriously considered applying to Hofstra U, Notre Dame U, and U of South Carolina, but I decided against them for various reasons and I doubt that there will be any last-minute reconsiderations.
There are a couple of niggling things that I need to mail and a few questions on which I need to follow up, but the personal statements are written, the forms are complete, and the application fees are paid. Let me tell you, this business of applying to law schools is expensive! I've shelled out about $960 for application fees, an LSAT preparatory class and materials, the LSAT, the LSDAS (a centralized credentialing service), and LSAC credential reports to schools. The just over $300 that I paid for the LSAT preparatory class alone represents a staff discount that I received for taking the course at the university where I work. That was the cheapie Cambridge course, too, not the expensive Kaplan course, which costs well over $1,000 on its own!
Now, it's time to wait. I expect to begin receiving decisions in March. I don't know what the next several months will bring me. Will I have to sell my house? Will I have to get a roommate? Will I have to move to another town or another state? Big questions, to be sure. For now, I'm going to get back to working on my house, put a bit of my energy back into my personal relationships and my work, and do a bit of reading to get a leg up on law school.
I've bought the ticket. Now, I'm just waiting for the train to arrive! :J
