I was just sent an article about one of our graduates, Laura Taichman, and it’s a classic NUSL story. In the early 1990s, Laura began to research the case of a high school classmate who she believed was wrongly accused of murdering his parents. She wrote a paper about it for a class – highlighting the holes in the case against him. She graduated, started to work in a large firm and shared the paper with colleagues. They agreed with her and she began a collaboration of lawyers from four large firms who helped to vacate the double murder conviction.

The work she did was pro-bono, she brought people in to assist her, utilized a broad range of resources, and she stuck with it. She made a difference - her actions changed this young man’s life.

I thought her story was inspiring. So many of you tell me about your desire to make a difference, and you’ve inspired me with what you’ve already done. I thought you’d appreciate Laura’s story because she’s a lot like you – and I bet you’d try to do the same.

Here’s a link to the story: http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?hubtype=BackPage&id=1200594603809

Posted by MJ Knoll-Finn, Assistant Dean and Director of Admi at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had a snow storm in Boston yesterday and we were a bit worried that we’d have trouble getting all of the Early Action letters in the mail by today, our decision deadline. I am happy to report that letters have been sent, and if you’re waiting for an Early Action decision, you should be receiving yours soon!

Some of you will receive letters letting you know that you’ve been deferred to the regular applicant pool. Many people tell me that they assume this means they won’t get in. Although I can’t tell you what will happen to your file, if we deferred your application, it simply means that we want to wait to compare your credentials to those in the regular application pool. You will have the advantage of being read many times by members of the Admissions Committee. We also like the fact that you applied early to us – an indication that your interest is very strong. So please don’t decide that a deferral means you will be denied in the end. We certainly haven't done that!

For us, an important part of the reading process is to remember that you are anxiously waiting for your admission decision and to respect the time and effort you put into applying to NUSL. Please feel free to touch base if you’re concerned about a decision we’ve made or want to check on your application status. (In the next couple of weeks you’re going to be able to check your application status on-line.) We do our best to give you the information you need to help you feel less anxious about the process, so check in if you're worried.

One note about admission to those of you who may have applied regular admission to the law school: We read files on a modified rolling admission basis. This means that we make some decisions now, but that many applications are held until March. This is so we can compare applications after our March 1st application deadline. We then take a look at the credentials of those we’ve held to decide which applicants seem to have the strongest profiles to round out our class. It takes a long time, but in the end you can be confident that your application has been given a very thorough review and the decision was made with a lot of thought.

I hope this gives you some perspective on our process. I’ll continue to talk about how we review applications as the season continues. You should feel free to post comments or questions for me at any time.

Posted by MJ Knoll-Finn, Assistant Dean and Director of Admi at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I rarely watch television, but last night I put our local PBS station on and watched a funny British comedy, “The Vicar of Dibley.� Although worth a good chuckle if you like British humor, the reason I mention it is because of the public service spot they did at the end of the show. They ran a short film that showed two young children from Africa who had lost their mother and would soon lose their father to HIV/AIDS. They were probably 5 and 8 years old and were so filled with grief it was difficult to watch. The point was that because they were poor, their parents didn’t have access to the kind of treatment that could have helped them, leaving two young children orphans. I immediately thought of our professor, Brook Baker, who has devoted much of his free time to addressing HIV/AIDS in Africa. His work is inspiring, and just an example of what our professors do here – they aren’t just professors, they all do significant work in their lives to make positive change in the world. Here’s a link to Professor Baker's biography which tells you a bit more about his work: http://www.slaw.neu.edu/faculty/f_baker.htm and here's a profile about him: http://www.slaw.neu.edu/faculty/p_baker.htm
There are many professors working on international human rights issues. If this is an area that interests you, check out our Program for Human Rights in the Global Economy: http://www.slaw.neu.edu/clinics/phrge.html

Posted by MJ Knoll-Finn, Assistant Dean and Director of Admi at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It’s been a very busy week in our office! We continue to read the Early Action files so that all decisions will be mailed by January 15th as promised. There’s a lot of applications and we like to take our time with each one – so it has been a jam-packed week of reading. We’re all very tired but we’ve been inspired by your experiences, passion and goals.

We’ve also had lots of visitors to the law school because many of you are on break for the holiday. It’s always great to see people take the time to do this. Visiting the law school really helps you understand our culture. I often have applicants tell me that they have such a better understanding of who we are and what makes us different once they come here. I also love to hear when they’ve had a great time meeting the people in our community – the common phrase is, “everyone is so friendly here!�

So if you can fit it into your schedule, come for a visit – we’d love to have you. You can find out more by going to http://www.slaw.neu.edu/admiss/visit.htm

On another note, can you believe the election season is starting? We’ve all been discussing the candidates and agree we have a lot of homework to do to find out all we can about them and their positions on important issues. Just today one of our staff members, Jennifer, sent us a bunch of different op-ed pieces and articles about candidates. I, for one, can’t stop listening to NPR! It’s a lot of fun and interesting to chat about what’s going on. I hope you’re doing the same.

Take care and I look forward to sending you another blog soon.

Posted by MJ Knoll-Finn, Assistant Dean and Director of Admi at 4:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Welcome to my first blog. I am excited to have the opportunity to share a bit more about the admissions process with you and to let you know about what’s happening in general at NUSL. Feel free to post comments and start conversations with me or others who post comments.

For those of you who applied Early Action, rest assured that we have started to read your applications and will mail all decisions on or before January 15th. It’s such a pleasure to read your applications – you are such a diverse and interesting group of people. I have to say that you remind me why I love what I do – you all inspire me. I wish I could admit everyone!

If you are interested in public interest law, I hope you were able to get your application for the Public Interest Law Scholarship in this week. It’s a great opportunity to gain both recognition for your social justice work and some financial assistance as you obtain your law degree. The deadline for the scholarship application is January 2nd.

Finally, my thoughts are with the people of Kenya and Pakistan after this week of intense violence in these two countries. I have always been proud to be part of a law school that tries to make a difference in the world. Somehow it matters even more in the face of the news coming out of these countries.

Take care and stay in touch!

Posted by Northeastern University School of Law at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)