Warner Huntington III: You got into Harvard Law? Elle: What? Like, it's hard?

Well the summer PBAP at Campbell is all over! I finished my finals almost two weeks ago. This past Friday I received a very exciting phone call... my acceptance to Campbell Law!!! I was very nervous about participating in the program to begin with because I have heard that it is very competitive and very difficult. In the end they only accepted 6 people and I think we started with 31 and finished with 28 (Don't hold me to those numbers!). Normally the school accepts 25-33% of the program participants, but if my math is correct, this year they accepted 20%. So, it is a very competitive and highly demanding program, but worth it for anyone who really wants the opportunity to go to Campbell or wants to be better prepared to attend law school elsewhere. And yes, we did have someone who paid 3k to participate in the PBAP and had no intentions of going to Campbell! Wish I had that kind of money laying around for a summer prep course! :)

I heard a rumor right before we took our final exam that the fall 1L class was already over-enrolled and that our chances were pretty slim. Thankfully, I ignored the comment long enough to finish my last final, but it turns out that the rumor is true. The Fall 1L class is way over-enrolled and although they normally accept students from PBAP who do not make the 84 in both classes, this year they were unable to extend those offers.

I consider myself very lucky to have made it this year and I can't for the life of me figure out how I was able to pull it off. There were so many amazingly smart people in the PBAP program who all studied very hard. I hope that I will see them next year!

To give a little insight into the PBAP program, it was 7 weeks of classes and then 2 finals. We took Public Land Use and Personal Property. Campbell advertises the program as an "academic boot camp" and I must say that I agree! I spent anywhere from 5-8 hours studying during the day, and close to finals, I think I spent somewhere in the range of 12-14 hours a day studying! I can definitely see why PBAP students have a really good chance of being at or near the top of the class. I feel much more prepared heading into the Fall semester. I think I have worked out all the kinks in my outlines and my briefing skills have been fine tuned.

This has been one of the best weeks of my life not only because of the good news from Campbell, but also because my Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits have come through!! Even more exciting, I have qualified for the GI Bill Yellow Ribbon Program limited to only a few people at the law school and my tuition is completely covered! I no longer have to stress about excessive student loans!

I will be sending my letter of withdrawal to Central on Monday, so hopefully another eager, waitlisted applicant will get a chance to start law school this Fall. I now have a long summer ahead of me because I will not start until mid-September... I am planning my trip to Hawaii!

I will post again when something exciting happens pertaining to law school. Most likely when I get my summer reading list! haha

"Law school is for people who are boring, and ugly, and... serious. And you, Button, are none of those things." -Elle's father

So, it has been awhile since I last posted. I have been rather busy! As indicated in my previous blog, I started PBAP at Campbell the 2nd week of May. This week will mark the beginning of week 4! So far so good!

I am starting to get a little nervous about finals, as my final grade is the determining factor in my final acceptance. It is my understanding that previous years of the PBAP program have consisted of 60+ students. Much to my surprise, we only have about 30 this year. I am not sure if it is a result of the economy or more stringent acceptance requirements, but I like to think that it gives us all a better shot at getting in ;)

I am really enjoying my time in Raleigh thus far. Although I have not had the time to get out and meet many people, I am very comfortable in my new home. At the end of PBAP, I will have a few weeks to mingle and enjoy the summer before the fall semester begins.

To update everyone on my progress of paying for law school, I applied for vocational rehabilitation services from the VA. I drafted an extensive "brief" back in April which consisted of Federal Regulations and case law supporting my conclusion that the VA pay for my legal education. I am happy to report that the brief went over very well and my counselor is supporting my decision to attend law school. I am working with my counselor to process the remaining issues (red tape), and provided that there are not any problems with the VA in North Carolina accepting my educational plan, my tuition, books and supplies along with a monthly stipend will be provided to me. I cannot be more thankful for this award!!

As far as the courses that I am taking, Personal Property and Public Land Use, I am really enjoying it! It is a lot of work to read and brief the cases, but I am really excited about the knowledge that I am gaining from this experience. It will be nice to have this advantage when I start in the fall!

If any upcoming law students have questions about anything law school, post a comment and I will be more than happy to help (with my limited experience) as I can!

Thanks for reading and hopefully next time I post, it will be regarding my full acceptance to Campbell!

"Do you think she woke up one morning and said: I think I'll go to law school today?"

I have always contemplated law school, but for many years I convinced myself that I was not smart enough to be an attorney. For those who know me really well, you may be shocked by this. I have never been the smartest person in any of my school classes, but I can guarantee that I was one of the hardest workers!

My thoughts of inadequacy reached their peak when I received my first LSAT score (145) in December 2007 and was ultimately rejected at all three (3) schools that I applied for admissions to in 2008...Ga State, Mercer and John Marshall-Atlanta. I shed a few tears, or a lot of tears, and I started studying to re-take the LSAT. I sat for the LSAT again in October 2008 and attained the score of 150.

The application cycle was rather emotional, but it is now over! The following is the result of my application cycle for Fall 2009:
North Carolina Central University: Accepted
Florida Coastal School of Law: Accepted with 7k/year scholarship
Campbell Law School: Accepted into PBAP
Georgia State University: Rejected

I am very pleased with the turn out this year! I am moving to Raleigh in May to start the Performance Based Admission Program at Campbell. I will take two (2) classes for seven (7) weeks and provided that I attain a score of 84 in both courses, I will be admitted into the fall class. It will be an "academic boot camp", but I am ready for the challenge!

It is important to note, that I joined the Marine Corps Officer Candidate Program in college and attended Officer Candidate School in the summer of 2004. I was injured at the end of week two (2), but fought tirelessly to remain in training and complete the course (6 weeks). I finished the course, but the severity of my injury led to my discharge in May 2006. After a year and a half battle with the VA, I was finally rated with a 50% service-connected disability. It was during this time (and I did not realize this until later) that I developed a passion for helping other Veterans. When I finish my degree, my plan is to move to Wilmington, NC (close proximity to Camp Lejeune) and practice in the area of Veterans Law. There are so many programs and benefits out there for our Veterans, but they are not fully informed of their options and they lack to resources to battle with the VA. "A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in This country who no longer understand it." --unknown I want to spend my life advocating for these brave men and women!

At this point, I am no longer stressing about where I am going, but I am stressing about the financial aspects of such an endeavor. With my disability, I will be qualified for the new GI Bill, but worried that the VA will not be able to implement this program on time. I have applied for vocational rehabilitation with the VA and I am really hoping that I can qualify for this!

Sorry that my first blog was so long and boring, but I felt I needed to establish the basics. I will try and make the rest more interesting...and shorter!