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Would Vanderbilt consider themselves a "peer school" with WUSTL for scholarship considerations? On one hand, they are only 2 spots different in ranking and their LSAT median is only a point off. Neither is T14, but they are both T20s and considered to be nationall respected law schools.

On the other hand, I realize Vandy is often regarded as a T14esque non-T14, whereas it is rare to hear WUSTL's name thrown into that list (which usually includes Texas, Vanderbilt, and UCLA).

I ask because I got a higher scholarship package from WUSTL and would like to see if I can get VULS to match it. Do you think they would recognize WUSTL as their peer and therefore match it, or would they just say tough luck because Wash U is a lesser school?

I kinda doubt Vandy will consider WashU enough of a peer to fully match a WashU offer - Vandy simply has better placement and name recognition (which is why it gets grouped a bit higher than WUSTL). That said, if the difference between their offers is great enough, they might raise their offer a bit. Can't hurt to ask.

cendien wrote:I kinda doubt Vandy will consider WashU enough of a peer to fully match a WashU offer - Vandy simply has better placement and name recognition (which is why it gets grouped a bit higher than WUSTL). That said, if the difference between their offers is great enough, they might raise their offer a bit. Can't hurt to ask.

Yeah the difference wasn't too great. I was actually pleasantly surprised by my offer to Vandy. But like you said, it can't hurt to ask. If Vandy and WUSTL are the same price or even roughly the same, I think it is a no-brainer decision.

cendien wrote:I kinda doubt Vandy will consider WashU enough of a peer to fully match a WashU offer - Vandy simply has better placement and name recognition (which is why it gets grouped a bit higher than WUSTL). That said, if the difference between their offers is great enough, they might raise their offer a bit. Can't hurt to ask.

+1 WUSTL has more money to throw around and makes full use of that fact. Vandy won't match, but they might offer a bit more if the difference is big enough.

late reply, but I asked Vandy to consider WUSTL's offer (which was higher) and Vandy said they don't reconsider scholarship offers once they've been extended.

I can't guarantee that's their policy, but it was my experience.

No school in T30 considers WUSTL a peer.

hth