Top Law Schools

justonemoregame wrote:Of the top-50 schools that are non-T14, the following are the most generous according to LSAC (figures do not count this year's entering class and their scholarship totals):

School (% of students with at least half-ride) / (% with at least full-ride)

Alabama 32.3 / 16.0
Arizona 27.6 / 9.3
Arizona State 20.9 / 4.9
Boston Univ. 28.3 / 2.0
UC-Davis 32.9 / 1.0
Emory 35.2 / 2.2
George Wash. 21.7 / 10.2
Georgia 34.1 / 1.5
Illinois 41.7 / 4.8
Indiana 41.7 / 25.6
Minnesota 34.9 / 6.8
Vanderbilt 26.0 / 3.5
Wake Forest 24.8 / 6.3
Washington Univ. 32.7 / 1.9
Washington and Lee 26.5 / 5.1

These are the only non-T14 schools in the top 50 with greater than 20% of the student body on at least a half-ride. (As a side note, YHS are the only T-14s).

I suspect the "near full-ride" stuff you hear on TLS is largely myth/regurgitated advice. I know of the 120K offers from Wash U and Wash & Lee, but outside of these and maybe a few others, it seems like the "significant" scholarships people refer to are 50-60% discounts. It's impossible to suss accurate data out of LSAC's numbers.

BruceWayne wrote:

justonemoregame wrote:Of the top-50 schools that are non-T14, the following are the most generous according to LSAC (figures do not count this year's entering class and their scholarship totals):

School (% of students with at least half-ride) / (% with at least full-ride)

Alabama 32.3 / 16.0
Arizona 27.6 / 9.3
Arizona State 20.9 / 4.9
Boston Univ. 28.3 / 2.0
UC-Davis 32.9 / 1.0
Emory 35.2 / 2.2
George Wash. 21.7 / 10.2
Georgia 34.1 / 1.5
Illinois 41.7 / 4.8
Indiana 41.7 / 25.6
Minnesota 34.9 / 6.8
Vanderbilt 26.0 / 3.5
Wake Forest 24.8 / 6.3
Washington Univ. 32.7 / 1.9
Washington and Lee 26.5 / 5.1

These are the only non-T14 schools in the top 50 with greater than 20% of the student body on at least a half-ride. (As a side note, YHS are the only T-14s).

I suspect the "near full-ride" stuff you hear on TLS is largely myth/regurgitated advice. I know of the 120K offers from Wash U and Wash & Lee, but outside of these and maybe a few others, it seems like the "significant" scholarships people refer to are 50-60% discounts. It's impossible to suss accurate data out of LSAC's numbers.

What this list tells me is that if you want to work in the southeast and are from there and considering non HYS top 14 at sticker--don't. Just go to one of Bama, Emory, UGA, Vanderbilt, or Wake Forest for cheap.

forthewin2012 wrote:I think I will apply UVA/Duke, and also hit some of these schools where I have a good chance at full tuition, and then evaluate options. for some reason i love the idea of going for free, even though i will have to absolutely kill it to get big law, just bc i will be so pissed at myself to go the other way, and i know that even if i get a big law SA i may get no offered and if i get the job the average time in these positions is like 3 years.

bdubs wrote:You should run the numbers on this. AFAIK there is no school that will offer you a full scholarship that includes COL. You will be giving up not only 13-14 months of your life, but also 13-14 months of salary and career advancement in another job. Your chances of getting biglaw out of a school like W&M are so small that it seems like almost as big of a gamble as T14 with a small scholarship (which is what you're probably looking at otherwise).

IAFG wrote:

forthewin2012 wrote:I think I will apply UVA/Duke, and also hit some of these schools where I have a good chance at full tuition, and then evaluate options. for some reason i love the idea of going for free, even though i will have to absolutely kill it to get big law, just bc i will be so pissed at myself to go the other way, and i know that even if i get a big law SA i may get no offered and if i get the job the average time in these positions is like 3 years.

1) Apply broadly to see if you get scholly offers to leverage (not just to 2 T14s)

2) People don't leave after 3 years to wait tables. Do more research before you make a decision based on that.

unc0mm0n1 wrote:

bdubs wrote:You should run the numbers on this. AFAIK there is no school that will offer you a full scholarship that includes COL. You will be giving up not only 13-14 months of your life, but also 13-14 months of salary and career advancement in another job. Your chances of getting biglaw out of a school like W&M are so small that it seems like almost as big of a gamble as T14 with a small scholarship (which is what you're probably looking at otherwise).

I wish that people would stop saying this. You have to pay COL no matter if you work or go to law school. It's not some mythical thing that only happens in law school. You have no idea what type of job this guy has. He could be spinning his wheels as a factory worker in NYC and the COL there could be 3 times more than middle of nowhere Virginia. Maybe his family lives close by and he doesn't have to pay anything for rent while his job in NYC he's pays 1500/month. Without figuring out how much income you're giving up, how long you plan to stay at your current job, if there is advancement potential, do you hate the job thus increasing your chances of quitting or getting fired, how much is your COL currently and how much will it be in Law School and many other questions I don't think anyone can give you an accurate answer. The only things you're going to get is TLS wisdom like the stuff above that could be relevant to your situation but also could have nothing to do with you.