Top School vs. Full Scolly: A Timeless Debate Forum

[GeneraLee17]

167 LSAT 3.89 GPA

I would love to hear your honest input on the famous question of attending a top school vs. a 2nd or 3rd tier w/ substantial scholarship money. Everything I know is in the Midwest, and I definitely want to retain the option to practice in the Kansas City area following law school. I wouldn't mind getting away for 3 years, but national reach would become a significant issue. Within the last three weeks, I have applied to 15 schools, hearing back and gaining acceptance to two of them (Wash U in St. Louis, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City). All commentary is welcome, advice and criticism alike.

[Z3RO]

I don't mean to be an asshole, but which school with national reach do you plan on getting accepted to?

If you're talking sticker at WashU or full ride at T-2, I might take the full ride.

[MBZags]

Identical numbers.

I took the money at a T25. Then again, I'm a pansy and didn't want to be in debt in case I sucked it up in law school (which I'm currently doing).

[WhatSarahSaid]

The answer to the debate relies completely on individual circumstances. How debt-averse are you? What do you want to do after you graduate? More information about your background and goals might help out.

But your scholarship doesn't necessarily have to come from a "2nd or 3rd tier." What about taking a third option? I took a look at some Midwest schools for you, and the below link includes some people who were accepted to UIUC (a very good school) this cycle, and several of them got significant scholarships with numbers similar to yours. The situation is similar (albeit with less money) for Notre Dame and IU-Bloomington last cycle.

http://illinois.lawschoolnumbers.com/ap ... =3&type=jd

http://notredame.lawschoolnumbers.com/a ... =3&type=jd

http://indiana.lawschoolnumbers.com/app ... ,8&type=jd

[GeneraLee17]

In response to the first reply, by national reach I mean having the ability to fall back to the Kansas City area if I so choose. I think this would be a very real possibility at a number of schools I have applied to. I realize that the University of Iowa won't land a big firm job in DC or New York, but feel very confident that Kansas City firms won't shy away from T50 grads across the country.

As for more information about my personal goals, I don't yet have a solid answer. My background is in Construction Engineering, making for a somewhat unique candidate, and I was able to maintain my undergrad GPA while playing football for three years. I think I stand a fairly good chance of acceptance at the majority of my list, but scholarship money is a big deal, considering the 40k I will owe by the end of spring semester. This is the main reason for my original post, as I am debating whether I should take a scholarship to a T50 or even a T100 school, and save a whole heck of a lot of money.

Here is my current list in no specific order: (any thoughts?)

Northwestern, USC, Minnesota, Indiana-Bloomington, UCLA, Kansas, UMKC, Wash U, Vandy, Notre Dame, Washburn, Colorado, Iowa, SMU, and Texas.

[Cmoss]

full scholy all day long

[bullfighter]

add gw

[AreJay711]

You have a good shot at Cornell if you want NYC biglaw. Even though Cornell sends almost everybody to NYC, I think you could take it back to KC if that is where you are from. Of course they probably won't recruit from Cornell but you could do the leg work. As for what you should do, that is a different story. I only have ties to the DC area (which don't matter) so I chose to ED to my favorite t10 school rather than play the field for scholarships but it might be different for you.

[KMaine]

I have a friend from Cornell Class of 2010 who got a job with a good KC firm. If you have any desire to (or could stomach the idea) of going to Ithaca, it is worth an ap. (if you are willing to go to IU-B, I think you may want to give it a shot. Also, I think you may have a better shot at Michigan than Duke.

[fathergoose]

full scholy all day long

and twice on sunday

[GeneraLee17]

I really appreciate the comments, please keep them coming.

What about scholarship opportunities? What schools on my list (if any) and what schools should I add that will likely offer decent scholarships to someone with my numbers?