UIUC v ND v Retake v Ride the waitlists? Forum

[Attrition]

-The schools you are considering

debt after school(assuming the 55k from below):
UIUC-10k
ND- 80k
Emory-60k
WUSTL-wl
Gtown-wl

-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
A combination of about 55k in savings & family contribution

-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
From the midwest. prefer chicago but open to other cities as well.

-Your general career goals]
Interested in litigation and would like to start out in a big law, but open to other careers as well, especially if it means not married to debt.

-Your LSAT/GPA numbers

165, 3.4

-How many times you have taken the LSAT
2

I'm leaning toward UIUC, but curious if you guys think I should hold out on waitlists or maybe retake?
1. I think that I could score a bit higher on the lsat, but I don't think I could get a much higher offer from Illinois. And my gpa would seem to be too low for big $ at a t14 even if I rose my lsat a bunch higher.
2. Should I put down a deposit on emory as leverage for if I come off the waitlist at WUSTL? Would the UIUC offer be enough leverage for scholarship negotiation?
3. Waiting on a response from ND-Although I don't think they'll make a comparable offer.

[runinthefront]

at 65k total coming out of your pockets (if accurate) I would take UIUC in this situation. I think that's a pretty good option, considering your overall goals/location preference...although your chance at biglaw isn't great there outside of the top 15-20%.

If you're not in an (unnecessary...always unncessary) rush to start law school, I would just burn that last retake and sit out a cycle. If you're working, you could possibly save up some more money and end up leaving law school with zero loans. That would be nice.

[Wingtip88]

Almost any job you get out of UIUC will allow you to pay off $10,000 in student debt very quickly, even if that job is at a small firm doing consumer bankruptcy, "boutique" business/commercial litigation/real estate, or whatever else; but if you really want Biglaw, then you need to set your sights on schools which reliably place a large percentage of their graduates into Biglaw.

"Interested in litigation" is a really vague starting point. What kind of litigation and in what area?

How long ago did you start applying?

[Albus Dumbledore]

You are interested in Big Law, so you may want to look at the most recent Big Law + Clerkship placement numbers for the c/o 2014.

Notre Dame 37.43%
WUSTL 31.40%
Emory 29.10%
Illinois 28.65%

Georgetown's numbers for 2014 are probably in the mid to high 40s, so it would be the best choice if you want to get into Big Law. But you'll probably pay sticker if you get accepted off the waitlist, so it may not be such a good idea. There does not seem to be much difference among the other schools' placement numbers, but Illinois may give you the best chance of getting placed in Chicago if you are in the top 20% of your class.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=245859

[Attrition]

"Interested in litigation" is a really vague starting point. What kind of litigation and in what area?

How long ago did you start applying?

I applied late january/early february.

I don't know all that much about the different areas. I've talked to some lawyers from my city doing a handful of things--I thought that two in particular were particularly interesting. One doing Injury and another working for the state reps as counsel. I'd like to keep my options open through school to see types of work would be most appealing--not sure if this is the right approach?

[CanadianWolf]

Gently press Illinois, Emory & Notre Dame for more scholarship money before depositing.

[Rigo]

As it stands, UIUC.
If you'd want WUSTL with money and can add several LSAT points, retake.
You're right that retaking won't help you any more with UIUC. You basically have a fully now and would only be paying living expenses, right?

There probably isn't any value added by taking WUSTL over UIUC for Chicago placement.

[Attrition]

As it stands, UIUC.
If you'd want WUSTL with money and can add several LSAT points, retake.
You're right that retaking won't help you any more with UIUC. You basically have a fully now and would only be paying living expenses, right?

There probably isn't any value added by taking WUSTL over UIUC for Chicago placement.

Yep-UIUC I just have to do living expenses.

[Rigo]

Yep-UIUC I just have to do living expenses.

Unless you would take out a lot of debt to go to Northwestern if given that option, I would just go UIUC here.