Should I ED to NYU or Columbia? Forum

[Ibay252]

Hi all,

172 LSAT
3.2 GPA
AA female
First gen
Softs-not much other than some volunteer work outside the US

I'd love to work in New York after law school, but I'm open to the west coast as well. I'll be financing law school completely with loans, so money is an important factor for me.

I'm shooting for NYU or Columbia, but I've also had people advise me to ED for Northwestern.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

[cavalier1138]

If you're going to apply ED, it should be to a school like Northwestern, because of the guaranteed scholarship. But that said, your GPA is going to take you out of the running for Northwestern, and given your openness in terms of regional opportunities, there's no real point in you applying ED at all. Just apply during the normal cycle.

[RedPurpleBlue]

You're a URM splitter financing law school completely through loans, so you really shouldn't be applying ED anywhere. URM cycles can be pretty unpredictable, but with your numbers you definitely have a shot at multiple T13 acceptances and some money. Why ED and lock yourself into financing $300,000 when you could be financing $200,000 or less through regular decision? As for practicing in New York, it's the biggest legal market in the country and the easiest to break into. You can get New York from any T13 school with median grades and sometimes significantly below. If you, however, apply ED, you're flushing the chance of money down the toilet at most schools and aren't increasing your odds at getting NY big law (or other NY work) by any meaningful amount.

There isn't much data out there for someone with your numbers, but myLSN shows that you could be eligible for some very big money. You should just blanket all the T13, except HYS.

[Ibay252]

Alright, I won't ED anywhere. I'll probably blanket T20 just to feel safe and leave out YLS and SLS. I still have some hope for HLS after reading some posts from other URM splitters.

[Bach-City]

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[Mikey]

don't apply ED.

your AA URM status will make your cycle unpredictable, and you may get a good offer from a top school. your lsat score is great, your GPA not so much, but just apply as regular applicant and see what happens, you may be surprised by your outcomes.

[carmtastic]

If you're going to apply ED, it should be to a school like Northwestern, because of the guaranteed scholarship. But that said, your GPA is going to take you out of the running for Northwestern, and given your openness in terms of regional opportunities, there's no real point in you applying ED at all. Just apply during the normal cycle.

Just curious but what's the GPA floor for Northwestern ED?

[cavalier1138]

If you're going to apply ED, it should be to a school like Northwestern, because of the guaranteed scholarship. But that said, your GPA is going to take you out of the running for Northwestern, and given your openness in terms of regional opportunities, there's no real point in you applying ED at all. Just apply during the normal cycle.

Just curious but what's the GPA floor for Northwestern ED?

I don't know if there's a hard GPA floor, but the common wisdom is that you have to be above both medians to be competitive for ED. You'll almost certainly get in during the regular cycle, but Northwestern's ED is reserved for people who they want to poach from higher ranked schools.

ED for law school isn't like ED for undergrad. It often doesn't increase your chances of getting in, and it's only useful if it comes with a guaranteed scholarship.

[saf18hornet]

If you're going to apply ED, it should be to a school like Northwestern, because of the guaranteed scholarship. But that said, your GPA is going to take you out of the running for Northwestern, and given your openness in terms of regional opportunities, there's no real point in you applying ED at all. Just apply during the normal cycle.

Just curious but what's the GPA floor for Northwestern ED?

Probably ~3.3 (http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Christinanc93)
This was a also URM candidate, but multiple people with 3.5 have been accepted ED at Northwestern the past few years.