Advice: Deferring Admission
Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 11:20 pm
Hi everyone,
I was recently accepted as a 2013 Teach for America corps member. I want to do PI law ultimately, and applied to TFA thinking I likely did not have a chance for admission. I was pleasantly surprised. I genuinely believe in what TFA stands for, want to give teaching and my students my all, and while I am not 100% sure I will want to leave after my two year teaching commitment has ended, law school is something I see at some point in my future. I have not considered teaching as a permanent career before, and at this time I hope that my TFA experiences will allow me to have more experience and more focus in PI law. I was accepted by several schools this cycle, including Case Western, one of my top choices, with a scholarship of 35K the first year with 30 for my 2 and 3Ls. This would bring the total tuition to about 39k for all three years, which I can handle. I really want to do TFA, but I am afraid that if the market improves and applications rise after I am finished with my TFA experience the scholarship will no longer be available. Without generous financial aid law school is out of the picture for me. I have the GPA and SOFs for almost any school right now (3.93 and multiple leadership roles, internships, community service etc.), but I could also stand to improve my LSAT substantially. (Low 160s, could probably improve it with serious studying) Most people say DO NOT DO NOT go to law school unless you are 110% sure you want to go. I know I am not hugely enthusiastic about it at this time given the bleak employment prospects and debt, but some day I hope to have a legal career, and I am confident in that. In my shoes, what would you do?
Try to negotiate with the school?
Do TFA and hope I end up with better offers in a few years even if the application numbers pick up again?
Take the scholarship knowing it likely won't be there?
I was recently accepted as a 2013 Teach for America corps member. I want to do PI law ultimately, and applied to TFA thinking I likely did not have a chance for admission. I was pleasantly surprised. I genuinely believe in what TFA stands for, want to give teaching and my students my all, and while I am not 100% sure I will want to leave after my two year teaching commitment has ended, law school is something I see at some point in my future. I have not considered teaching as a permanent career before, and at this time I hope that my TFA experiences will allow me to have more experience and more focus in PI law. I was accepted by several schools this cycle, including Case Western, one of my top choices, with a scholarship of 35K the first year with 30 for my 2 and 3Ls. This would bring the total tuition to about 39k for all three years, which I can handle. I really want to do TFA, but I am afraid that if the market improves and applications rise after I am finished with my TFA experience the scholarship will no longer be available. Without generous financial aid law school is out of the picture for me. I have the GPA and SOFs for almost any school right now (3.93 and multiple leadership roles, internships, community service etc.), but I could also stand to improve my LSAT substantially. (Low 160s, could probably improve it with serious studying) Most people say DO NOT DO NOT go to law school unless you are 110% sure you want to go. I know I am not hugely enthusiastic about it at this time given the bleak employment prospects and debt, but some day I hope to have a legal career, and I am confident in that. In my shoes, what would you do?
Try to negotiate with the school?
Do TFA and hope I end up with better offers in a few years even if the application numbers pick up again?
Take the scholarship knowing it likely won't be there?