The Law School Saga (part IV)

The decision was easy.

The rapid thought process went a little something like this: retake the LSAT--do better--BAM!--get accepted to GW--totally worth it!

There were no doubts in our minds; we had nothing to lose.  We already had a ton of great options and this could either make things infinitely better or have no effect at all.

So he studied everyday for 3 weeks and re-took the test on February 12th.

When he called me to pick him up from the test up he sounded worried.  I was overly anxious and quick to ask questions.

K: "It didn't go well." .

B: "Whhhhhat?!" the let-down tone in my voice was all too obvious.  "I mean, at least its over! Never again. For reals this time."

K: "Yeah... we'll just have to wait and see."

Kevin isn't one to sugarcoat things so I knew his reaction was a pretty good indication of what his score would be: worse.

And then just like that we went on with our day and subsequent week like he had never taken it.  No talk about best case scenarios, worst case scenarios, what-ifs, or futuristic doubts pertaining to his LSAT score ever crept into our conversations.  It was a total 180 difference from our experience post-October test. It was weird.

So we were back to waiting....waiting for more fate-mail and LSAT scores.  But at that point the waiting didn't overcome our lives quite like it did before.  We were already playing favorites with some of the schools that had already gotten back to us and looking forward to flying out to visit schools.

The weekend after the February LSAT we got on a plane to DC to check out George Mason, Georgetown, and George Washington.  You should know that early on this whole law school process I clung to the Washington DC area as our future destination like stink on poop (do people actually use that expression or is it just my dad?).  I don't know why or how I got so interested in DC in the first place, but it has stuck and I have been willing to do anything for the George(s) since.  Kevin on the other hand, hasn't always been so thrilled about DC.  Actually, he has played favorites with every school at least once; on any given day, his "top choice" could be one of a handful of schools from around the country.

Me- so excited to be on the plane to DC; Kevin- Keeping his cool. We had the plane to ourselves.

We were excited about our five day pilgrimage to DC.  Kevin set up campus tours, appointments with faculty, and arranged for us to sit in on lectures so that we could have a behind-the-scenes look at each school.

Day 1: Get oriented with the city/George Mason

Our appointment with George Mason wasn't until the late afternoon so we wandered around town for most of the day trying to figure things out.  All I could think about was how amazing DC was; I was enamored by the perfect combination of a bustling city AND lush nature, not to mention the perfect weather (I know it's not always perfect).

We did our thing at George Mason, found a cute Italian restaurant for dinner, and headed back to our hotel for the evening.  I wish I could say more about George Mason, but to be honest, we weren't impressed.  But maybe that is because we were there at 6 in the evening and the law school was dead.

Day 2: George Washington

Our campus tour was scheduled for 9a.m. so we had the privilege of riding the metro with the rush hour crowd.  The metro stop was Foggy Bottom (interesting, right?)-- a new stop and new part of the city that we hadn't explored yet.  We were giddy.  Err, I was at least.  George Washington had been the school of our dreams since we started researching law schools back in the summer.

Yes, I am crossing my fingers, as a gesture of desired good luck with GW 

via

As we rode the escalator from the underground world of the subway up to the street level we frantically studied the map to figure out how to get to the law building.  Luckily we figured out the alphabetized grid system quickly and we were on our way.  When we finally arrived we were baffled to realize that we had literally walked through the whole campus without even knowing it.  The campus buildings blended in so well with the rest of the city that we hadn't realized that we passed the student union and the library on our way.  Maybe it was because the entrance to the library was through a typical-looking Starbucks.

To make a longggg story short, we were smitten.  As we left the building after our tour Kevin said: "We have to go here, I'll do whatever it takes!"  I agreed.  That statement sums it up. We had such a great experience in our short 3 hours there.  Heck, I even contemplated going to law school while we were there!

Days 3, 4, and 5: Site seeing with two of our favorite people: Mark and Libby, who joined us from NYC

And now for a few pictures...

 We enjoyed reading the newspaper and sipping hot chocolate in the lobby each morning

The day we went out to the mall it was suppppper windy and cold; so naturally, our hair was blowing all over the place. 

 obligatory pictures with the Washington monument

Kevin and Mark looking suave after they had a foot race from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial reflection pool... don't let this picture fool you, they were totally out of breath. 

 Good ol' Abe

 I love this picture of Lib!

In short: George Washington Admissions board, if you are reading this, please accept Kevin Ahlstrom to your program.  Thank you.

Everyone else: feel free to pray for us.