Top Law Schools

OtterLaw wrote:Just paid my first seat deposit! I am so excited to meet you guys and start this crazy law school journey. I'm having a drink to celebrate!

Yay! You were the first poster I noticed back when I was lurking in the UT thread. Glad we're going to end up at the same school. I'm sure you'll be one of the easiest people to identify, so I'm looking forward to it.

Can someone please validate me that I am not crazy to pay sticker to go here? Low key panicking but also excited.

Drmrndaphd wrote:Can someone please validate me that I am not crazy to pay sticker to go here? Low key panicking but also excited.

After clicking through a few of your old posts, I don't think you should do it. You don't seem to have a huge preference in what you want to do or where you want to do it. Just take that Georgetown money and laugh while other people are paying 2k+ a month in loans. Sticker almost never makes sense.

Freaking out over this looming deadline

thebrownnote wrote:

Drmrndaphd wrote:Can someone please validate me that I am not crazy to pay sticker to go here? Low key panicking but also excited.

After clicking through a few of your old posts, I don't think you should do it. You don't seem to have a huge preference in what you want to do or where you want to do it. Just take that Georgetown money and laugh while other people are paying 2k+ a month in loans. Sticker almost never makes sense.

I'd like to argue the exact opposite. While sticker sucks (I know, I'll be paying it - but at a different school), if you plan to do Big Law and you're at a school that places well into Big Law, it is totally manageable. If you're older/have a family to support or have existing debts, this might be a little different. However, if you're willing to grind for a couple years after graduation, UVA will give you much better outcomes in the long run. As you said yourself, GULC's employment data is horribly depressing. Also, CoL in DC v Charlottesville should also inform your financial decision making.

TLS is crazy debt averse and spending a lot of time on this site will inevitably make you doubt your decision to pay sticker. However, it seems like most UVA students are paying sticker and alumni engagement and giving is still incredibly high. Debt is a normal part of getting a professional degree and unfortunately sometimes very necessary to reach your goals.

edit: I also just withdrew - that should free up a good chunk of money for yall!

tflan19 wrote:

thebrownnote wrote:

Drmrndaphd wrote:Can someone please validate me that I am not crazy to pay sticker to go here? Low key panicking but also excited.

After clicking through a few of your old posts, I don't think you should do it. You don't seem to have a huge preference in what you want to do or where you want to do it. Just take that Georgetown money and laugh while other people are paying 2k+ a month in loans. Sticker almost never makes sense.

I'd like to argue the exact opposite. While sticker sucks (I know, I'll be paying it - but at a different school), if you plan to do Big Law and you're at a school that places well into Big Law, it is totally manageable. If you're older/have a family to support or have existing debts, this might be a little different. However, if you're willing to grind for a couple years after graduation, UVA will give you much better outcomes in the long run. As you said yourself, GULC's employment data is horribly depressing. Also, CoL in DC v Charlottesville should also inform your financial decision making.

TLS is crazy debt averse and spending a lot of time on this site will inevitably make you doubt your decision to pay sticker. However, it seems like most UVA students are paying sticker and alumni engagement and giving is still incredibly high. Debt is a normal part of getting a professional degree and unfortunately sometimes very necessary to reach your goals.

edit: I also just withdrew - that should free up a good chunk of money for yall!

Sticker might make sense at Yale, where you are attending, but that is irrelevant to this discussion.

And because I was almost certainly unclear, sticker itself (roughly 200k total COA) might make sense if you have money saved and parental/other money helping you pay that bill. But taking out loans for sticker, leaving you paying back close to 300k when all is said and done? No way. Don't be fooled into thinking that because the 509 shows that roughly 55% of students are paying sticker, that means 45% are taking out loans to do so. Law school, like life, unfairly favors the wealthy.

If you got into uva at sticker, you probably got into northwestern, vandy, and wash u with varying scholarships. And if you got into uva, you have a good chance of making it into the top 35% at one of those schools. If all you want is a biglaw job, that's basically all you need.

Checking in. After last night I am $500 poorer, but so much richer in future law school knowledge. See you all (most?) in cville!

Paid my initial seat deposit last night and withdrew from my other acceptances. Congrats to all of you who have done the same!

I'll be interested to see when we receive some type of correspondence from UVA outside of the general payment confirmation email.

stig2014 wrote:Paid my initial seat deposit last night and withdrew from my other acceptances. Congrats to all of you who have done the same!

I'll be interested to see when we receive some type of correspondence from UVA outside of the general payment confirmation email.

What swayed you to UVA over Michigan in the end?

I just withdrew. I would have loved to join you all, but in the end I could not stomach paying sticker. Congratulations to everyone that put a deposit down!

redsxfan2010 wrote:Checking in. After last night I am $500 poorer, but so much richer in future law school knowledge. See you all (most?) in cville!

+1

Does anyone know or have a guess as to what type of mailings we can look forward to now that we have deposited? Some swag perhaps? 1st semester schedules maybe?

strongbadge wrote:Does anyone know or have a guess as to what type of mailings we can look forward to now that we have deposited? Some swag perhaps? 1st semester schedules maybe?

I deposited weeks ago and didn't get anything, so unless they were waiting for the deadline to pass I don't think anything's coming

Has anyone had any success negotiating with UVA? Between searching the thread and talking to other admitted students, it seems almost impossible to get UVA to budge on merit aid.

Separately, was anyone (or is anyone still) considering Duke as well as UVA? I really love UVA, but I have $15k more from Duke and I'm not sure if it's worth $15k to go to UVA over Duke.. I put in a deposit for UVA for now, but Duke doesn't allow double-depositing and the deadline is this Friday... help please

a2s8h wrote:Has anyone had any success negotiating with UVA? Between searching the thread and talking to other admitted students, it seems almost impossible to get UVA to budge on merit aid.

Separately, was anyone (or is anyone still) considering Duke as well as UVA? I really love UVA, but I have $15k more from Duke and I'm not sure if it's worth $15k to go to UVA over Duke.. I put in a deposit for UVA for now, but Duke doesn't allow double-depositing and the deadline is this Friday... help please

I had zero success.

Are we talking $15k per year or over all three?

a2s8h wrote:Has anyone had any success negotiating with UVA? Between searching the thread and talking to other admitted students, it seems almost impossible to get UVA to budge on merit aid.

Separately, was anyone (or is anyone still) considering Duke as well as UVA? I really love UVA, but I have $15k more from Duke and I'm not sure if it's worth $15k to go to UVA over Duke.. I put in a deposit for UVA for now, but Duke doesn't allow double-depositing and the deadline is this Friday... help please

I sent in a request about a week before deposit deadlines and have yet to even get a response.

ETA: I was encouraged by the finaid office to reach out to Dean Faulk. I was told the committee would not reconsider offers until after the deposit deadline... So it wouldn't hurt to send in a request.

a2s8h wrote:Has anyone had any success negotiating with UVA? Between searching the thread and talking to other admitted students, it seems almost impossible to get UVA to budge on merit aid.

Separately, was anyone (or is anyone still) considering Duke as well as UVA? I really love UVA, but I have $15k more from Duke and I'm not sure if it's worth $15k to go to UVA over Duke.. I put in a deposit for UVA for now, but Duke doesn't allow double-depositing and the deadline is this Friday... help please

Hey! I'm in the exact same position. I deposited at UVA and literally an hour later Duke gave me an updated scholarship that's 15k more (in total, not per year). I have really generous money from both so I've pretty much decided that 15k (which is like 21k with interest at repayment) is pretty marginal in the grand scheme and so I'm choosing based on where I want to go/what school is gonna be best for my goals. However, I do think depending on how much money your getting, 15k could be significant. PM if you want $$ specifics or need someone to agonize with lol.

Also just remember, you've got money at two awesome schools. You're winning.

legallybrown312 wrote:

a2s8h wrote:Has anyone had any success negotiating with UVA? Between searching the thread and talking to other admitted students, it seems almost impossible to get UVA to budge on merit aid.

Separately, was anyone (or is anyone still) considering Duke as well as UVA? I really love UVA, but I have $15k more from Duke and I'm not sure if it's worth $15k to go to UVA over Duke.. I put in a deposit for UVA for now, but Duke doesn't allow double-depositing and the deadline is this Friday... help please

Also just remember, you've got money at two awesome schools. You're winning.

Good advice. Being torn over two great options is not a bad look. Best of luck to you both.

legallybrown312 wrote:

a2s8h wrote:Has anyone had any success negotiating with UVA? Between searching the thread and talking to other admitted students, it seems almost impossible to get UVA to budge on merit aid.

Separately, was anyone (or is anyone still) considering Duke as well as UVA? I really love UVA, but I have $15k more from Duke and I'm not sure if it's worth $15k to go to UVA over Duke.. I put in a deposit for UVA for now, but Duke doesn't allow double-depositing and the deadline is this Friday... help please

Hey! I'm in the exact same position. I deposited at UVA and literally an hour later Duke gave me an updated scholarship that's 15k more (in total, not per year). I have really generous money from both so I've pretty much decided that 15k (which is like 21k with interest at repayment) is pretty marginal in the grand scheme and so I'm choosing based on where I want to go/what school is gonna be best for my goals. However, I do think depending on how much money your getting, 15k could be significant. PM if you want $$ specifics or need someone to agonize with lol.

Also just remember, you've got money at two awesome schools. You're winning.

Wow our situations are very similar. I got my updated scholarship from Duke a couple minutes after I submitted my deposit for UVA. I'm not sure what would be considered generous, but 15k seems significant to me. I'm PMing you for details and to share my anxiety..

a2s8h wrote:

legallybrown312 wrote:

a2s8h wrote:Has anyone had any success negotiating with UVA? Between searching the thread and talking to other admitted students, it seems almost impossible to get UVA to budge on merit aid.

Separately, was anyone (or is anyone still) considering Duke as well as UVA? I really love UVA, but I have $15k more from Duke and I'm not sure if it's worth $15k to go to UVA over Duke.. I put in a deposit for UVA for now, but Duke doesn't allow double-depositing and the deadline is this Friday... help please

Hey! I'm in the exact same position. I deposited at UVA and literally an hour later Duke gave me an updated scholarship that's 15k more (in total, not per year). I have really generous money from both so I've pretty much decided that 15k (which is like 21k with interest at repayment) is pretty marginal in the grand scheme and so I'm choosing based on where I want to go/what school is gonna be best for my goals. However, I do think depending on how much money your getting, 15k could be significant. PM if you want $$ specifics or need someone to agonize with lol.

Also just remember, you've got money at two awesome schools. You're winning.

Wow our situations are very similar. I got my updated scholarship from Duke a couple minutes after I submitted my deposit for UVA. I'm not sure what would be considered generous, but 15k seems significant to me. I'm PMing you for details and to share my anxiety..

If we're talking about over all three years, I personally think $15k is insignificant. I'm not one of those people who's like "it's all monopoly money, what's the difference between $50k and $150k," I'm going to be doing everything I can to mitigate costs in law school, but one thing I won't compromise on is where I'm going. I wish my decision was based on $15k, because it would have been a lot easier, mine was about double that (with a different school). But after factoring in cost of living in Cville compared with my other option and the decreased cost of traveling by being closer to home, I had to go with UVA. Also, UVA and Duke are vastly different schools in terms of student experience (at least in my opinion), so I feel like there is one where you would definitely be happier, and I would go with that one. That said, I understand the panic when you have to look at the actual numbers, they ain't pretty. Best of luck!

HoosOnFirst wrote:

a2s8h wrote:

legallybrown312 wrote:

a2s8h wrote:Has anyone had any success negotiating with UVA? Between searching the thread and talking to other admitted students, it seems almost impossible to get UVA to budge on merit aid.

Separately, was anyone (or is anyone still) considering Duke as well as UVA? I really love UVA, but I have $15k more from Duke and I'm not sure if it's worth $15k to go to UVA over Duke.. I put in a deposit for UVA for now, but Duke doesn't allow double-depositing and the deadline is this Friday... help please

Hey! I'm in the exact same position. I deposited at UVA and literally an hour later Duke gave me an updated scholarship that's 15k more (in total, not per year). I have really generous money from both so I've pretty much decided that 15k (which is like 21k with interest at repayment) is pretty marginal in the grand scheme and so I'm choosing based on where I want to go/what school is gonna be best for my goals. However, I do think depending on how much money your getting, 15k could be significant. PM if you want $$ specifics or need someone to agonize with lol.

Also just remember, you've got money at two awesome schools. You're winning.

Wow our situations are very similar. I got my updated scholarship from Duke a couple minutes after I submitted my deposit for UVA. I'm not sure what would be considered generous, but 15k seems significant to me. I'm PMing you for details and to share my anxiety..

If we're talking about over all three years, I personally think $15k is insignificant. I'm not one of those people who's like "it's all monopoly money, what's the difference between $50k and $150k," I'm going to be doing everything I can to mitigate costs in law school, but one thing I won't compromise on is where I'm going. I wish my decision was based on $15k, because it would have been a lot easier, mine was about double that (with a different school). But after factoring in cost of living in Cville compared with my other option and the decreased cost of traveling by being closer to home, I had to go with UVA. Also, UVA and Duke are vastly different schools in terms of student experience (at least in my opinion), so I feel like there is one where you would definitely be happier, and I would go with that one. That said, I understand the panic when you have to look at the actual numbers, they ain't pretty. Best of luck!

We are talking over all three years, and now I'm beginning to think that maybe $15k isn't a huge deal in the long run. For me, all the signs are pointing to UVA, and I think that's where I'll end up. Thanks so much for your input!!

Finally checking in! Just declined all other offers and withdrew applications. So excited to be in Charlottesville this fall!

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thebrownnote wrote:So other than Ivy Gardens and Pavilion, does anybody have suggestions for 1 bedroom apartments within walking distance? Or a 2 bedroom that costs less than a pavilion one bedroom would be cool too. I'm just too old for a roommate at this point.

Thanks!

Arlington Court is a good one that I've heard about. I'm not sure if it's walking distance. The Jeffersonian has excellent reviews and is right across the street from the law school and Pav. Jeffersonian is difficult to get into though so you would need to apply now. They have furnished options at the Jeffersonian as well.

bellanoche2019 wrote:

thebrownnote wrote:So other than Ivy Gardens and Pavilion, does anybody have suggestions for 1 bedroom apartments within walking distance? Or a 2 bedroom that costs less than a pavilion one bedroom would be cool too. I'm just too old for a roommate at this point.

Thanks!

Arlington Court is a good one that I've heard about. I'm not sure if it's walking distance. The Jeffersonian has excellent reviews and is right across the street from the law school and Pav. Jeffersonian is difficult to get into though so you would need to apply now. They have furnished options at the Jeffersonian as well.

AC is closer than Pav