Top Law Schools

TLS’s consolidated list of significant scholarships at the T14. Given the cost of legal education and the economic downturn, this information might be useful!

Priority is given to discussion of full-tuition scholarships, but information for other options at schools that lack such offers is included.

Yale, Harvard, and Stanford all award scholarships/grants based on financial need, not merit. These schools offer varying amounts, but in general students at these schools will accrue over $100,000 in debt to attend for all three years. Some say that Stanford is more generous at the highest levels of need. Fortunately, these schools all offer generous Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP), making attendance viable regardless of specific career interests. Visit http://www.top-law-schools.com/tls-guide-to-lrap.html for more information.

Columbia
The Hamilton Fellowship offers generous full-tuition payment to accepted applicants, without requiring a separate application process. All individuals are considered upon acceptance, but the general consensus is that a Hamilton requires a GPA of 3.8+ and an LSAT around 174+. Notification comes with the initial decision letter.
Further information on scholarships at Columbia can be found at:
http://www.law.columbia.edu/current_stu ... ligibility

There are also full-tuition unnamed public interest scholarships available for a very select group of students. Columbia keeps these programs hidden, but recipients have worked in areas ranging from Sudanese refugee assistance to LGBT rights. Recipients are invited to interview during February and are notified of receipt during early March.

UChicago
Affectionately known on TLS as 'the Ruby', The Rubenstein Scholarship offers full-tuition for its recipients. David Rubenstein ’73 donated $10 million dollars to provide 20 scholarships for each of the next 3 years. While much is to be learned about this scholarship, it is known that the scholarship committee at UChicago deliberates on potential recipients after their first round of acceptances. Also, Dean Perry calls potential recipients for what some consider to be a "Why Chicago" phone interview. More at:
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/rubensteingift090810

New York University
NYU offers a plethora of scholarships (many full-rides) that can be applied for concurrently with the initial application process. Some of these include:

Root-Tilden-Kern – This scholarship provides full-tuition and approximately 20 are awarded per year. Recipients demonstrate a commitment to public service (approximately 10 years), and have to submit a 750 word public service essay and participate in an interview process at NYU. Filomen M. D’Agostino – This scholarship offers a full ride, and three are awarded per year for individuals committed to a wide range of public interest issues.
Furman Academic Scholarship – This scholarship is awarded to individuals with a commitment to academia, and recipients receive full tuition as well as a summer research grant. Application to this program requires a 250 word essay and an interview at NYU.
AnBryce Scholarships – For individuals that are among the first in their family to pursue a graduate degree, this scholarship offers full-tuition. Application requires a 500 word essay as well as an interview at NYU.

Further NYU scholarships can be found at:
http://www.law.nyu.edu/financialaid/sch ... /index.htm


UPenn
Penn’s Levy Scholars Program offers full-tuition payment. Paul Levy ’72 funded this scholarship in 2002, and applicants are automatically considered for an invitation upon acceptance to Penn Law. Invitees are required to submit an essay to be considered for the program.
Further information available at:
http://www.law.upenn.edu/prospective/jd ... ogram.html

Berkeley
Theoretically, Berkeley Law offers every scholarship included on this list via their Matching Scholarship Program. Individuals can submit scholarship offers from schools ranging from Yale to Georgetown, and Berkeley will try to match the offers so students will be encouraged to attend. Information about this program can be found here:
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/6957.htm

Moreover, admits to Berkeley Law are considered for entrance scholarships and fellowships ranging in amounts from $12000 to $75000. Information about these additional scholarships can be found at:
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/9492.htm
Berkeley Law encourages students to seek out as much scholarship funding as possible to minimize borrowing.

Michigan
Known as the Darrow, Michigan’s generous scholarship awards recipients anywhere from half-tuition to full-tuition plus a stipend. Approximately 14 are awarded each year. Upon acceptance to Michigan Law, all individuals are considered for the program, and invitations are sent out to apply around December. Application requires a 500 word essay. Further information about Michigan’s scholarships can be found at:
http://www.law.umich.edu/prospectivestu ... holarships

Virgina
The Hardy Cross Dillard Scholarship is awarded to an exceptional member of the entering class based on, in addition to financial need, prior academic achievement, leadership, integrity, service to others, success in endeavors outside the classroom, and maturity. All applicants are considered for the scholarship; no separate application is required. Virginia is also known to provide generous dean’s scholarships in amounts up to full-tuition. More information at:
http://www.law.virginia.edu/home2002/ht ... awards.htm

Northwestern
Northwestern provides various scholarships for incoming students based on a combination of merit and financial need. Their offers are typically generous. More information can be found at:
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/admissi ... id/grants/
A list of named scholarships at Northwestern can be found at:
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/admissi ... rships.xls

Cornell
Grants at Cornell range from $7000 - $35000 per year and are awarded to a substantial proportion (40%) of each incoming class based on a combination of need and merit. Moreover, Cornell has various named scholarships, which can be researched at:
http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/alumni ... ps_a-f.cfm


Duke
Named for founding Dean of Duke Law School - Samuel Fox Mordecai - this foxy scholarship provides the selected Mordecai Scholars with full-tuition and fee payment. Each year, between 4 and 8 students matriculate under this program. No separate application is required, and all admits are considered upon acceptance. Invitees are expected to interview at the law school at a time of their convenience. The time line for the Mordecai is somewhat loose. More information regarding this program can be found at:
http://www.law.duke.edu/admis/mordecai

Georgetown
GULC isn’t known for its overly generous scholarship programs, and most scholarship offers are based on a combination of need and merit. It appears that individuals are considered for these scholarships upon acceptance to GULC. However, individuals may also apply for the Public Interest Law Scholars Program, which provides up to 1/3 tuition each year. Information can be found at:
http://www.law.georgetown.edu/pils/




Many of these schools also offer generous dean’s scholarships, which range in amounts. For data on URM recipients of scholarships, visit:
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 4&t=140796


Please contribute useful information regarding these scholarships and others and I will be happy to add it to this main post.

Crickets

Does anyone have anything to add?

Nothing--mainly because you've done an amazing job listing all the ones I know. Judging from what I have heard of UVA, they can be very generous with aid, and NYU has a ton of scholarship programs off of that link that are worth checking out. Most if not all of the NYU programs require additional essays and/or recommendations.

Just writing to thank you for the comprehensive post!

Really solid contribution, Fresh. This should be stickied or turned into an article or something.

does anyone know how many people are awarded full tuition scholarships at NYU?

I think it's important to point out that the only school to offer full tuition scholarships that are not primarily based on academic merits is NYU (which fresh pointed out, i just want to reiterate and expand).

There are at least 14 (some of the links are broken at the moment) background specific scholarships. Granted all are dependent on obtaining admission to NYU (which requires some pretty good numbers) but they are generally not like the rest of the T14 full rides.

I think it's great that NYU does this and I'm sure they get a better, more diverse applicant pool because of it.

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al2546 wrote:does anyone know how many people are awarded full tuition scholarships at NYU?

Guessing? Probably around 60.

This is a good post. Does anyone know what it takes to get one of these bad boys?

Anastasia Dee Dualla wrote:You've spelt AnBryce wrong...

Thanks, fixed!

Shooter wrote: Does anyone know what it takes to get one of these bad boys?

It really depends. Some scholarships seem to rely on stats (Columbia), while others seem to care a lot about softs (NYU). It's probably best to have both though If there's enough interest I can make a list like THIS for non-URMs sometime soon, so there's some visibility of the #s for recipients of some of these

tons of interest!!!

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I was looking for a post exactly like this! Mad props!!!

Thanks for putting in the work to compile this information

eaa1537 wrote:Thanks for this thread! Just wondering if anyone knows when these scholarships are typically decided. For example, Columbia gives Hamilton's with the acceptance letter- but I'm unsure about the rest. I'm trying to anticipate when I can start my negotiating phase but would like a few more offers first.

Columbia's Hamilton comes with acceptance typically
No one knows about Chicago yet
NYU Anbryce finalists decided in February
Darrow finalist invites started going out in late december/early january and awards are decided two weeksish following your essay deadline.
UVA gives large scholarships(75k and up to full) with the acceptance call but Im not sure of the process for Hardy Cross
Mordecai Invites went out starting in early december and you must interview on campus at some point after Jan. 19th
Cornell invites people to apply for the Deans scholarship with acceptance

Technically some of this info is not about Full Tuition schollies, but oh well...

1. There is a backdoor route to a Mordecai - if an admitted student with the necessary credentials really makes a terrific impression on the committee members, then he or she might get a last minute offer even without a formal interview. It's rare, but it has happened

2. Chicago made a few $135,000 offers last year. Technically, that's not full tuition, but it's close enough. I do not know if Chicago will continue to do that now that the Rubenstein is available.

3. UVA occasionally makes a $135,000 offer in addition to its full-tuition Dillards.

Bump for pertinence during this time of the cycle.

Also, info. update for Chicago's Rubenstein.

I recently was offered a $50,000/yr scholarship to Northwestern, essentially a full ride. THe catch is that I have to work for a year prior to matriculation, though they do not care what I do during that time.

I got into NYU Law, my first choice, and am wondering how to go about informing NYU of alluring financial aid offers from other T14 schools. Do I e-mail the admissions office? Please advise me if possible!

cawquette wrote:I recently was offered a $50,000/yr scholarship to Northwestern, essentially a full ride. THe catch is that I have to work for a year prior to matriculation, though they do not care what I do during that time.

I got into NYU Law, my first choice, and am wondering how to go about informing NYU of alluring financial aid offers from other T14 schools. Do I e-mail the admissions office? Please advise me if possible!

Sorry for the delayed response. Here is a great write-up:
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 22&t=79373

x

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Someone mentioned Cornell's Dean's Scholarship already, but here are a few more details. Select admitted students are invited to apply, and it requires an additional essay. IIRC they give up to 10 each year. Applicants are notified in early March on whether or not they will receive the scholarship.

Asked this in the Penn forum... but this might be better place.

Does anyone know if Penn lets you defer one of their named scholarships?

thanks for such an informative post!

+1 on the non-URM scholarship list if you have time!