Top Law Schools

twozeroseven wrote:Does anyone know the details that differentiate tuition waivers vs. grants vs. granting an OOS student in-state status? For instance, at a public school that I am very interested in (top choice) I am OOS, and a pretty big splitter. I'm well below the 25% for GPA. (LSAT is around 75%) I talked to the Dean of Admissions today, who was very nice, but basically stonewalled me. I didn't ask specifically about residency status, just asked about merit aid availability. If I could garner in-state status for first year it would be an easy choice -- should I try again (maybe on the last day before seat deposits when they won't want to go to the waitlist) or just be happy I got in and suck up the sticker shock?

You need to be a resident that didn't just move there for law school. If you're not a resident, try for aid. However, as a splitter whose LSAT is not even over 75th percentile, they prob don't think you deserve a scholarship.

flexityflex86 wrote:You need to be a resident that didn't just move there for law school. If you're not a resident, try for aid. However, as a splitter whose LSAT is not even over 75th percentile, they prob don't think you deserve a scholarship.

Understand regarding LSAT / GPA. (I do have some softs tho, including holding a patent, business owner, etc) What I meant to understand via the question is how a school funds the different types of aid. For instance, is granting in-state easier for them to justify than actually providing grant money? (Or, for that matter, just a partial tuition waiver.) Or is a dollar a dollar? Basically, due to the GPA issue, I am happy to pay state sticker. But OOS sticker is clearly less appealing -- trying to understand what little leverage I may have and how to apply it most effectively.

ghcjhgc

tag

Tagging, great article.

Is there an up-to-date link for the admission index information referred to in this article? The os.lsac.org/release/share/pdfview.aspxvpth=/Release/PDF/mlsr/SupportDocs/admisionindex.pdf doesn't seem to be working any longer....

tag

Who do you believe that the decrease number of law application puts more pressure on to provide merit aid - the elite schools, mid schools, or the low ends?

My gut tells me that the decrease in applications puts most pressure is on the mids because a kid accepted under the medians will cough up the $ to go to an elite.

A an applicant with under the medians scores at a low end will have fewer alternatives.

The kid accepted at the mid level law school can select among mids or drop down for $ to a low.

Any thoughts or known trends?

Good luck to all.

Anybody have any insight if ability to pay w/o taking out student loans is a factor that admissions uses in awarding merit based aid? I would want to secure aid, but in the event I do not, I will not need to take out a loan. Is that a factor in decisions they make? Do they even have any insight into my ability to pay?

Inthebeginning - -

1. The qualities of attending students (LSAT/GPA/ and "yield") are key factors in determing the ranking of a law school. To enhance their ranking many law schools began giving merit aid to students with numbers above their medians. The thread suggests that if your numbers are above medians and your school does not initially offer you merit money (or you wish to attempt to increase the $ offered) that you attempt to leverage your law school to obtain (more?) merit money.

2. Merit money may however be a trap. If you select a law school based upon merit money then be sure you understand what you need to retain it during years 2 & 3. Some schools set renewal requirements that make it impossible for all students to retain their $. For example, one school is alleged to give merit aid to nearly 50% of its students but conditions retention of merit aid for years 2 & 3 upon the student finishing within the top third of their class after their first year.

3. In answer to your question: I do not know how a law school knows what an applicant's ability to finance their education without financial aid data. Merit aid is made without reference to financial ability.

Good luck.

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Thanks

Can anyone attest to how effective it is to use an acceptance at a higher-ranked school to obtain/increase a scholarship? I haven't heard about $ from BU yet, but I'm wondering if getting into UVA could help me negotiate down the road...

[quote="ganggreen"] Re: Negotiating Merit Aid  
Can anyone attest to how effective it is to use an acceptance at a higher-ranked school to obtain/increase a scholarship? I haven't heard about $ from BU yet, but I'm wondering if getting into UVA could help me negotiate down the road...


+1

very interested in this topic and if anyone has had success using this as a negotiating tactic??

very hlepful thanks!

tag

ditto

I'm in the same situation. How do I bring up an acceptance (without a scholarship) to a higher ranked school without looking like a dbag?

yikes0117 wrote:I'm in the same situation. How do I bring up an acceptance (without a scholarship) to a higher ranked school without looking like a dbag?

If you're bargaining with (say) Minnesota by touting an acceptance to WUSTL, it won't do you any good. You could maybe leverage an acceptance to, for instance, Minnesota to leverage some money out of William Mitchell or something, but it's a hard topic to breech.

At what point do schools actually "run out" of scholarship money? I have heard conflicting opinions and anecdotes about this issue.

solid.

Geneva wrote:At what point do schools actually "run out" of scholarship money? I have heard conflicting opinions and anecdotes about this issue.

It all depends on your numbers. To be perfectly honest, if your numbers are high enough, not until right before the school year starts.

Is there a particular way to re-negotiate for a school that has already increased your aid package? I don't want to come off as ungrateful, but I have a new, just-slighty-lower offer at a better school that has a much cheaper COL.

fakehunter wrote:Is there a particular way to re-negotiate for a school that has already increased your aid package? I don't want to come off as ungrateful, but I have a new, just-slighty-lower offer at a better school that has a much cheaper COL.

Take this with a grain of salt but I received an offer from a school that was in the t10 off the wait list and used it for DCNG. The school was much cheaper in COA and but the scholarship wasn't quite as much. The COA attended up being about the same for both schools. I said something kinda D-baggy to be honest in the e-mail like I just received this offer and am considering it is there anyway you could up my scholarship to make this decision a little easier for me.

For full disclosure I am a URM

fakehunter wrote:Is there a particular way to re-negotiate for a school that has already increased your aid package? I don't want to come off as ungrateful, but I have a new, just-slighty-lower offer at a better school that has a much cheaper COL.

Schools are very used to these type of requests and I re-negotiated many scholarships this cycle. Just be polite and explain your situation. You should briefly highlight your concerns over cost of living in comparison to the other better school. Tell them about the other scholarship as well if you haven't already. Say you are grateful for the aid you are currently receiving, but don't quite feel comfortable in your current financial position. Good luck!

(Just don't sound wishy-washy. Be confident in your position and know the school is competing over you. Not the other way around.)