I Mayday-ed but actually wouldn't have had it any other way - Family Drama / SMU Juris Doctor

Around one and a half months after turning 30, I realise this is probably the most exciting year of my life. Either that or I'm having my mid/one-third life crisis now. 

Last week, I was torn over whether I could really manage to continue running the rapidly-growing Enchanted Fiore (and study full-time). But now that I've paid the advance tuition fee of $5,400 to SMU, I guess I can share about it. 

I. so. did. not. expect. to. get. in.

When I paid the $100 application fee I felt like I was throwing it to lottery. You know, like, I thought that there was no chance I was going to make it. But what prompted me to even try? Serendipity, I guess. I was reading my relatives' affidavit and drafting our reply point-by-point to our lawyer when I thought, I might as well be reading law.
We draft our reply (lay out the facts and reply to what the other side is saying), send it to the lawyer so that the lawyer can draft a draft (though sometimes they just copy chunks from our email and paste it in), then send back for our confirmation (so I can read what I wrote again) before it becomes an affidavit filed to court (and they send a copy to us after its filed, and I read it again). So yeah, a lot of reading for a non-legally trained person. 

I didn't consider another law course other than the SMU Juris Doctor, because what was the point of trying multiple schools when there's just one you want (and you don't buy lottery from both Singapore Pools AND illegal bookies right?). I've been browsing the course site for a few years and I felt that SMU's pedagogy was different and more engaging, and everything just feels right to me. 

[This article has been edited for grammar on 1 May 2020, and also because the SEO for this blogpost has matured so much that I am no longer comfortable sharing about my family drama in detail. All I can say is, gosh, my writing isn't perfect but it has gotten A LOT better after two years in SOL.]

So, the SMU Juris Doctor application.
Summarised timeline with possibly useless comments: 

1. Apply online [Deadline was 2 March] 
   I only knew about it like, 3 or 4 days before the closing date. Previously when I visited it, it was never during the application period so, providence. 
2. Cobble up whatever transcripts you have, working experience, extra curricular activities like like your CCA, leadership experience, volunteering and social welfare activities. 
   Write your essay, basically build your paper package and hope you're interesting enough that it doesn't get chucked aside. 
3. Think till you get a headache about who to trouble as your two referees.
   Preferably, if I didn't remember wrongly, a lecturer who can attest to your learning abilities as well as another who can vouch for your working attitude and experience. I didn't do exactly that.
   The referees can either send their referral in directly via email (I opted for this so they're more comfortable being honest as well) or have them send it to you to include in your package, though it has to be sealed. I didn't have time anyways (see point 1 again). 
4. Hope for the best, but don't let yourself get your hopes too high in case your heart breaks. 
5. Email came informing me that the written test was on 15 March! [7 March]
   I credit my being accepted at this point to my referees <3<3.
6. Written test [15/16 March] 
   I went early enough to be let into the earlier written test slot. There were about maybe 30 people in that lecture room? And there was another lecture room with people, over two days.
   Anyway, they're supposedly testing your writing and reasoning abilities, so you don't need to have legal knowledge. The case was a hypothetical case, the names were funny if you pronounced them in your head - clearly the setter had a sense of humour, and the hypothetical location was out of a game I think.
   We had to answer two essay questions in an hour. You are provided with an extract of a statute related to your case study, as well as an earlier version of the same law (which reminded me to take historical relativity into consideration). 
   [post-add on] A fellow classmate shared that she had prepared for the written test by doing timed practices, but honestly, till now I think they're just looking for logical thought and your writing. Looking at how this post was written previously (though really I was just ranting the first time I wrote it), I don't think you need to do any English assessment practices haha. 
7. It was an interesting experience really. Probably the coolest "exam paper" I've ever taken.
   Again, Hope for the best, but don't let yourself get your hopes too high in case your heart breaks. 
8. Email came informing that the pair interview was on 7 April! [23 March]
   Insane, its like I cleared the second hurdle unknowingly. I mean, to some extent I was exposed to legal writing (you can't read almost a decade of email exchange between lawyers and submissions to court without picking up a tiny bit of how the lawyers think and write), and I majored in History for my first degree (minored in Geography, Social Studies was the free gift). The hypothetical thinking process is kinda like what I was supposed to teach in humanities, so really, come as you are. When you are ready the opportunities will present themselves. 
9. Faculty Interview [7 April]
   "Two candidates will be interviewed together by two members of our School of Law faculty in a session that will last around 20 minutes. Please note that the interviewers would not have read your application package."
   This was the most stressful I guess? There was no indication of what they would ask, couldn't have read the entire Singapore Statutes Online, so I read more than usual on current affairs and hoped I wouldn't have to express my views about POTUS *rolls eyes*. In the end during the interview (do not take this as reference because its a dynamic conversation),  I guess they wanted a feel of who you are and whether you are suited to the course. I mean, I've interviewed so many people for student leadership I can tell you many a times its about the gut feel you give people rather than the perfect answers you give.
   They asked about our views about the CPF scheme, HDB policies, the Rich-poor divide, Social safety nets, whether you think corporate law is better than family law... I shouldn't have been stressed? Then again, my friend is a clearly smart academic fella who will thrash me in terms of grades when we start studying (if he got in, which I hope he did), but he had to confess he didn't know about the CPF scheme during the interview. I mean, good thing to do rather than try to pretend you know what you're saying and end up sounding like an idiot. 
   I wasn't competitive against the guy who went in with me. We might both get in or both get rejected, so really there's no point in competing. I made friends with him and chatted while we were waiting, ​and then I crushed my interview form because I opened the door for him with the hand that was holding the form. Boy, the form looked bad when I placed it in front of the interviewers haha :( 

Results would come out in mid-may. And there you have it, the application timeline :) 

When the letter dated 20 April came, I couldn't believe it. Its a surreal feeling where I'm filled with disbelief on the inside, the surface of me is ecstatic, and the aura around me feels like a dream, and then I went through a period of struggle to decide on whether to accept the placement offer. 

[post add-on] There's always been a rather percentage of people who drop out. Around 20%. My class started with 30, and we're left with 22 from the original batch now, though by the time you reach your second year students from previous batches who had taken a leave of absence of deferred modules start to join the class. The first two payments are really close together, so some people would have spent over $20k before they decided to quit. It's just that sometimes reading law isn't what it seems on the surface, and it's really not for everyone.
Oh, and prepare to be amazed by how you can feel that you're learning so much, and at the same time feel like you're completely stupid for being confused over the concepts. I think I spent my first year feeling that way, humbling. 

If you're interested in the SMU JD Application, write in and I'll answer to the best of my abilities. :) 

Cheers,
Mori