Law School Updates

This happened last night:


Believe me, it wasn't completely staged; they were snuggling, and then when I went to go mess with Aryx's feet, he swung his leg over Skittles. Instant Kodak moment.

Skit is currently curled up between my knees in bed, recuperating from her annual and dental visit today. She was put under general anesthesia to have her teeth cleaned and scaled and then they gave her a pain injection afterwards, so she's been uncoordinated and stumbling around since I brought her home. Her eyes are all wonky, too: her third eyelids keep rolling over her eyes and her pupils are super dilated.

Needless to say, she is already plotting her revenge as she grooms herself.

I recently found out from the Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions at UVA Law that my seat deposit is the equivalent of saying "See you in August" for UVA, so it's official! I'm a Cavalier!!

[source]

I'm so excited and still completely freaked out at some points when I think about it too much. And when I start to ponder the types of jobs and the salary ranges that come with those jobs, I REALLY start to freak out. One of the harder things that I've been struggling with is the tuition and the living expenses. Law school is expensive, and so far I haven't gotten any scholarship offers from UVA, and I'm fine with that. It's a phenomenal school and I'll be able to pay off the loans over time. But at 23, thinking about $100K in loans is enough to cause heart palpitations, especially when I make only about $400 every two weeks at Newk's.

I'm starting to hear back from some of the other schools:

Accepted: College of William and Mary, Emory University, and the University of Minnesota. I've received significant scholarship offers from the latter two, but I'm still going with Virginia.

Denied: University of Texas at Austin, and that's STILL a sore spot. I mean, it was my dream school (UVA was my reach school and never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would get in), and I was so enthusiastic about the opportunities there AND my GPA/LSAT/experience were all in the school's ranges. I even explicitly stated in my personal statement that it was my number one choice for reasons X, Y, and Z, and they didn't even hold my application for the general application cycle. Ugh. UGH. UGH. /bitterforever.

Waitlisted: University of Notre Dame, Boston University. I've asked to be taked off the wait list for obvious reasons, but after being admitted to UVA, they surprise me. Maybe UVA was a fluke, and these wait lists and denials are the rule. Hmm. Can't dwell on that too much.

Still waiting (because I just wanna know. :D): University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Indiana University.

I guess the moral of this story, for anyone who wants to know, is to apply to a range of schools. UVA is ranked #9, and Emory U is ranked at #30; the others fall at varying intervals in between. I didn't allow myself to get too invested in a school, except Texas, because I know myself well enough to know that I would have gotten way too attached. If you need evidence of this, go back to the "Denied" section of this post, also known as the "Porter's beating that dead horse again" section. I basically did enough research to be able to explain in my personal statements why I chose to apply to each school without it sounding like I didn't just copy/paste the schools' names in. I think that looking too deeply into a school's website is a waste of time for back up schools and too much of a dream-creator for reach schools. I would look into clinics and concentrations that you're interested in, but not worry too much about specific courses.

So, now I'm preparing to move to Charlottesville. I cannot wait. I really wanted to go to UVA for undergrad and I can remember how beautiful the campus was. I've been trying to find an apartment that will allow me to have Aryx, but it's been really difficult. I love him so much, but...he's 75 pounds, and most places only allow cats and dogs UNDER 25 pounds. I've actually come to the conclusion that it would be best for both me and him if he stays in Jackson for my 1L. My dad has actually said that he's "worried" about me trying to schedule classes and study time around Aryx, and I know that it's not fair to him if he's going to be locked in a box for hours on end. I am determined to do well in school, now, and make sure I find an Aryx-friendly apartment there so that I can have him for my 2L and 3L.

Y'all, I don't know what I'm going to do without this handsome man in my life:






And yes, he does sleep like that sometimes. But, there is a silver lining in this dreary cloud:



That's right, HRH Skittles, Queen of the Mississippi, will for sure be joining me in next year and will add Marquess of Charlottesville to her peerage. In a way, I dread getting into JAG, because I'm sure we'll have to go to Norfolk for a few years and we'll have to figure out a title for her new range of territory. And if we go abroad? She'll be an Empress, then! Anyway, lest you be worried that I will no longer have ANY distractions from my work, Skit has that one covered:

Oh, I'm sorry, you were working on something??
(And yes, this was during #thesishell)
By the way, Skittles had her official portrait done last year when she arrived in Oxford. She wants me to share it with you, as she feels as though the light from behind gives her that ~ethereal glow~ required of all absolute monarchs:



She also decided on her official coat of arms the other night. She feels the lazers add a certain amount of gravitas.

As I get closer and closer to July/August, I get more and more excited! I'm so happy that Leigh is going to be in Nashville, and NOT still in Mississippi, so the distance won't be so bad. I'm anticipating Faison's visit when *fingers crossed* Peter is at OCS! And even though apartment hunting makes me question my life choices, I know that it will all work out in the end and I'll nab a phenomenal apartment ripe for decorating!

That's enough for tonight, it's time to watch some netflix and get ready for bed!

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