Houston ($15k/year scholarship) vs SMU (Full Tuition & Fees)

[heyman86us]

Hi,

I would like to ask you guys which option is better.

-Options:
University of Houston ($15k per year scholarship; stipulation "Top 70%") vs SMU (Full tuition & fees scholarship; stipulation "Top 33%")
*Note: SMU's stipulation cannot be removed or lowered.

-Cost of Attendance (COA) per year:
Houston: about $28k per year ($15k tuition and fees + $13k cost of living)
SMU: about $15k per year ($15k cost of living)

-How to finance COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings:
scholarship, family, and personal loans.

-Where I want to work and my stats:
I want to stay in Texas. I would like to work in Houston specifically.
My stats: 162/3.99

-How many times you have taken the LSAT:
Took 3 times. The next retake is Oct 2014 LSAT. If I decide to retake, I would be able to apply for 2014-2015 cycle. I have to wait 2 years from now until my 1L starts on Aug 2015, which is very very long wait.


Thanks!

[DportIA]

I would say SMU. U of H with $15k/year discount is still not worth it. Not that SMU is a great option at sticker for the last two years if you end up at 34% of your class, you would have the option of dropping out and only be in minimal debt. Your desire to practice in Texas would be well suited by SMU, but being in the top third will almost be required anyways to compete with UT for biglaw Dallas jobs.

Edit.

[Winston1984]

This may not be the most popular answer, but I would say Houston. That top 33% stipulation is just awful. You are setting yourself up to drop out. I know 100k+ is too much for Houston but that is your best bet, unless you are cool waiting another year. Good luck, it's a tough decision.

[shifty_eyed]

I would say SMU. U of H with $15k/year discount is still not worth it. Not that SMU is a great option at sticker for the last two years if you end up at 34% of your class, you would have the option of dropping out and only be in minimal debt. Your desire to practice in Texas would be well suited by SMU, but being in the top third will almost be required anyways to compete with UT for biglaw Dallas jobs.

Edit.

Agreed. Good luck!

[BigZuck]

I don't think SMU is a particularly good call if you want to work in Houston.

How did you study for the LSAT? What materials, how much time, etc?

Wasting that gpa for either of those schools would make me sad.

[heyman86us]

I would say SMU. U of H with $15k/year discount is still not worth it. Not that SMU is a great option at sticker for the last two years if you end up at 34% of your class, you would have the option of dropping out and only be in minimal debt. Your desire to practice in Texas would be well suited by SMU, but being in the top third will almost be required anyways to compete with UT for biglaw Dallas jobs.

Edit.

Agreed. Good luck!

Thank you for your responses, guys.

shifty_eyed, do you really think that SMU with that 33% Top stipulation is a better option than Houston?

I have thought about attending SMU with that stipulation, and dropping out if I end up being outside of the top 33%.

But, isn't it really bad to drop out from a law school if I want to graduate from a law school eventually and become a lawyer?

If I drop out, I would definitely retake LSAT and reapply, but I think the fact that I dropped out of a law school would have negative affect on my future cycle.

What do you think?


Thanks again!

[kalvano]

Full tuition and fees - Sumners? If so, they will do everything in their power to make sure you stay in the top 1/3. Notes, outlines, tutoring. It's a pretty safe bet.

[heyman86us]

Full tuition and fees - Sumners? If so, they will do everything in their power to make sure you stay in the top 1/3. Notes, outlines, tutoring. It's a pretty safe bet.

Not Sumners.

Sumners Scholarship covers everything, including living expenses and textbooks.

What I have been offered from SMU is Hutchison Scholarship, which covers the full cost of tuition and fees.

I want to know whether they have that kind of program or assistance for Hutchison recipients.

[kalvano]

That I don't know. Sumners is their pride and joy program.

So if you don't make top 1/3, do you get anything, or is all or nothing?

[Pneumonia]

you should retake

[heyman86us]

That I don't know. Sumners is their pride and joy program.

So if you don't make top 1/3, do you get anything, or is all or nothing?

I believe it is all or nothing. Will they give me some if I cry?

[kalvano]

Either retake or see if SMU would just give you the highest scholarship amount they offer with their standard "good standing" stipulation.

But UofH is not worth that much.

[shifty_eyed]

Yeah, I was thinking it was the Sumners. Can you get data on what percentage of those given the Hutchinson keep their scholarship? Top third is rough, but I know that nearly everyone with the Sumners keeps it.

I don't think UH is worth it at that price, but SMU for free is tempting.

[BigZuck]

How did you study for the LSAT? What materials, how much time, etc?

Wasting that gpa for either of those schools would make me sad.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Giving out a named scholarship with a top 1/3 stipulation is fucking disgusting.

That said, SMU seems like the better bet regardless.

Sucks that you have to wait so long to retake because you're wasting your GPA on either of these schools. If you can wait, retake, and get a few more points, you can go to UT. Objectively that's the right thing to do. But I understand that's a long way off.

[Nova]

Total COA if you lose the the full scholarship?

[Gunnar Stahl]

You should wait and retake October 2014.

[rickgrimes69]

I would do SMU and drop out if I lost the scholly. UH isn't worth that price.

[heyman86us]

I don't think SMU is a particularly good call if you want to work in Houston.

How did you study for the LSAT? What materials, how much time, etc?

Wasting that gpa for either of those schools would make me sad.

Thanks for the response, BigZuck.

I did study hard for the LSAT. I took PowerScore prep-course. I read all the PowerScore Bibles. I probably did about 30 Practice Tests (timed) in total. I bought the Manhattan LSAT books before my 3rd LSAT attempt, but did not have time to go over them all. I only read Manhattan RC a little bit.

My main problem was RC. I could not finish all passages on a RC section, so I did 3 passages only and bubbled "D" on the 4th passage.

Game was my strongest section. I could finish all the questions most of the time, and sometimes I could not finish 2 or 3 questions. My accuracy on the Game section was very good. Sometimes needed more time to do all the questions though.

I had time issue with LR section as well. I needed more time to do all the questions. Most of the time, I could finish about 20 to 21 questions on a LR section, and ended up bubbling "D" for the rest of the questions.

When I studied the LSAT and even now, I have been thinking that if I can read the passages and arguments faster, I could definitely increase my score on the LSAT. But, it is hard to read fast and comprehend well. English is not my primary language. Also, I did not read lots of books when I was young and even now like many of you guys.

But, I can tell you that I could have studied more and more rigorously for the LSAT.

When I was in undergrad, I studied really hard for every class. I actually over-studied for most of the classes that I took.
That is why I got almost perfect GPA. However, when I studied for the LSAT, I did not study as hard or longer as I studied for my undergraduate classes.

In short, I studied like crazy when I was in undergraduate. But, I did not study like crazy when I studied for the LSAT.


Thanks for the responses, guys.

[heyman86us]

Total COA if you lose the the full scholarship?

First year: $15k cost of living
Second year: $44k tuition and fees + $15k cost of living
Third year: $44k tuition and fees + $15k cost of living

So, Total COA will be $133k.

I did not take interests into account since I would not get interest bearing loans.

Also, according to LSP, Indirect Expenses at SMU is $28k per year. I believe that is over-estimated amount. I am not sure why the number is so high. But, if it is indeed true that the cost of living at SMU is that high, let's say $24k per year, then my Total COA will be $160k, instead of $133k. That is high!


Thanks,

[nouseforaname123]

What type of law do you want to practice?

[Devlin]

Go to UH.

1) That stip by SMU is dreadful. I know you think 33% sounds easy right now, but it will be really easy to grind away and still not make 33%

and

2) You mentioned you wanted to work in Houston.

ETA- have you tried negotiating a higher scholarship from UH? I think if you tried you may get more, especially since you have a full ride from their competition.

[Myself]

.

[Doorkeeper]

Get rid of the stips on that SMU scholarship ASAP. That's ridiculous.

[kalvano]

They won't waive their stips on a Hutchinson or Sumners. They'll likely give you $33K or $35K a year with the "good standing" stip, which is nothing.