I have NO idea where in the country I will be next year...

University of Illinois Union
Originally uploaded by VSmithUK

Applying for law school is kind of weirding me out. I haven't the slightest clue where I'm going to be a year from now. I think this is the first time since waiting for my mission call that I've felt like this. (Holy crap, it's been 5 years since I got my mission call... that's nuts.) On Thursdays I work two shifts. (What's wrong with me that I'm on my computer between these shifts!? You'd think I'd have had enough computer time.) I spent the whole of my first shift compiling my "short list" of schools that I'm going to apply to. I've been working on figuring out where I was going to apply for a long time, but today I finally just decided on 10, yes, TEN schools that I'm going to apply to. I'm applying to a wide enough range of schools that I don't know if I'll end up in LA or Connecticut. It's a lot crazy.

Here's my long "short list" (I remember when McCain and Obama were picking their VP, the media kept talking about their short lists of candidates, and I want my own short list) of schools:

• Arizona State University:  It's not a bad school it seems.  It's a VERY hot school, but I think I'd rather be super hot at the beginning and end of the school year than frozen like I frequently am throughout the school year in this frosty Frigidaire of a city I live in now. 
• Brigham Young University:  Ok... this one's a no-brainer.  It's the least expensive top 50 law school.  It's 15 minutes from home.  I can find me a Mormon wife.  
• University of Cincinnati:  This is a nearly top 50 school that is actually a safety school for me.  They didn't make me pay the application fee, so why not, right?  I actually started my application to them because they were the first to offer me a fee waiver, but then a BUNCH more schools offered them to me.  (In fact, aside from BYU and ASU, all of these schools offered application fee waivers.)
• University of Connecticut:  I'm not really sure why this one is happening.  Pretty much the same reasons as Cincy.
• George Mason University:  This is a school that I'm really interested in.  It's a top 50 school, it is right by D.C., and it's a conservative school (which is only appealing because I won't feel quite as weird being a Mormon in a conservative atmosphere.)  Being right by D.C., this is probably the best dating atmosphere for me aside from the two schools in Utah.
• University of Illinois:  This is a great school that's ranked really well.  I don't know if Chicago is where I'd want to end up, but it would be cool to get accepted there anyway.  This school is the one that I think is most likely to reject me.
• Loyola Law School (L.A., CA):  There are like three Loyolas, so it's necessary to say that this is the one in Los Angeles.  I think it would be fun to go into entertainment law.  The only way I'll end up at Loyola is if that's what I know I want to do.  (This is also pretty much a safety school.)
• Quinnipiac University:  This is a SUPER-safety school.  I'm just entertaining this idea because I wonder if I could get a full-ride scholarship there... probably not, but I want to find out.  (This is definitely my least likely destination.)  (Can you believe I'm applying to two schools in Connecticut?)
  
• University of Utah:  This may be the most-likely destination.  It's also a top 50 school that is very cheap, but not quite as cheap as BYU.  Like BYU they have a great employment placement rate.  It's close to home, etc. 
  
• William and Mary:  This is the second oldest university in the country.  Cool, eh?  Yeah, this is a fairly prestigious school in Virginia, but I'm kind of only applying because they made it free.  It's cool that it's in Williamsburg though.  There's tons of history there.

There ya go.  My "short" list that actually felt super long.  Where do you see me?  Provo?  Salt Lake? Arlington?  L.A.? Champaign? Tempe? Hamden? Hartford? Williamsburg? Cincinnati?