Transfer scholarships Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hey transfer people, I am actually writing this for my fiancé but still rather be anonymous. Let us say she's at a DC school but wants to transfer up in tiers from where she is at Catholic/American to GW/Georgetown. She has a strong GPA- 3.7+ and I am not sure what her class rank is. I will try to find out. Basically where she is at she is receiving very minimal aid and it is killing her financially and she has realized the stupidity of her mistake. She would prefer to stay in school in DC.

Do transfers receive scholarship money (sorry if this is a noob question)? How is the best way of trying to get scholarship while trying to move up in tiers? I have also been suggesting to her to apply to other schools, even if not in DC, that she might have a chance at getting into, say like Vandy etc. Are there schools known for giving money to transfers at all?

I appreciate the help. I myself have not made her mistake and will not take on a debt load like she has.

Thanks.

tl;dr she needs more scholarship, did well first semester, how can she get into a better school and pay less?

[CanadianWolf]

To the best of my knowledge, transfers do not receive scholarship awards from the new school. A few elite law schools, such as Harvard & Stanford, may award need based financial aid--although it's best to check with admissions to confirm.

[Anonymous User]

To the best of my knowledge, transfers do not receive scholarship awards from the new school. A few elite law schools, such as Harvard & Stanford, may award need based financial aid--although it's best to check with admissions to confirm.

So outside of HYS probably, there is no way she can get anymore money? It seems if she doesn't, she will have to drop out because of the heavy debt load, yet still be out a ton of money for this year alone. Too bad neither her or I found this website till it was too late for her.

[CanadianWolf]

Poor planning. Most prospective law students apply to a couple of schools which, based on their GPA & LSAT numbers, are likely to offer substantial scholarship awards.

[Iwanttolawschool]

She should apply to transfer, and see if her current school will offer her money to try and get her to stay. It happens at some schools

[Anonymous User]

Poor planning. Most prospective law students apply to a couple of schools which, based on their GPA & LSAT numbers, are likely to offer substantial scholarship awards.

Listen you don't have to be a dick. I have already stated she made a mistake and recognizes the mistake and is looking how to best rectify it. She did apply to lots of places and received awards from places. She made a decision, albeit an ill-informed decision in retrospect, to attend where she is now at for a higher cost than other places. Now, after realizing her career goals wont be met at her current institution, she has done very well grade wise and is looking to best help her situation now. You just don't have to be an ass online over something I have already said we know. If you want a power trip- go steal candy from kids. It is Easter after all.

She should apply to transfer, and see if her current school will offer her money to try and get her to stay. It happens at some schools

Great. I think that is the plan regardless, but she is hoping to move up into a better tiered school to better her chances at what she wants to do specifically. But if she can get more money from her current school, it would be a better situation than the one she is currently in. Thank you.

[sublime]

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[CanadianWolf]

Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I was just responding to your post. Again, I apologize if it offended you---not my intention.

[Anonymous User]

I have heard that WUSTL offers some aid to at least some transfers, but that is just what I have heard, I don't know for sure.

ETA: I have never heard of any of the DC schools giving txfer money. GULC barely gives money to regular admits.

Hey I appreciate it. I will have her look into WUSTL now that there is a chance.

[Anonymous User]

Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you.

It is okay, but your post did come off as real brash and all high and mighty. Not all of us had the best information when making decisions and now that she is learning, she is doing her best to try to help herself. She figured less money from a DC school would help her get a job in DC in what she wants to do over other, better schools with more scholarship that were away from DC. Now she realizes how much the debt will truly impact her and her chances at what she wants to pursue, so she is trying to find the best solution.

[CanadianWolf]

Unfortunately, this is a common issue among current & recently graduated law students. The problem of lawyer & law student saturation in the marketplace has received widespread publicity since 2009 in many non-law publications (for example, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, US News Guide To Graduate Schools,etc. & many local newspapers throughout the nation).

The real problem arose with the 2005--2006 change in the bankruptcy code which made discharge of student loans nearly impossible. Universities, law schools & lenders took advantage of students by raising tuition dramatically year-after-year & offering easy credit for any amount a school would "certify" or "validate".

[sublime]

..

[Anonymous User]

Unfortunately, this is a common issue among current & recently graduated law students. The problem of lawyer & law student saturation in the marketplace has received widespread publicity since 2009 in many non-law publications (for example, New York Times, Wall Street Journal & many local newspapers throughout the nation).

The real problem arose with the 2005--2006 change in the bankruptcy code which made discharge of student loans nearly impossible. Universities, law schools & lenders took advantage of students by raising tuition dramatically year-after-year & offering easy credit for any amount a school would "certify" or "validate".

Yes I do understand your implicit assumption that she should have known better and read highly visible information. But it might have also been the case the pre-law advisor at her undergraduate institution is an idiot and helped guide her in a direction that she now knows was the incorrect one. Do you not take what you thought as experienced advise to help guide a decision? She did her research, but not well enough. I get it. She should have done more, been smarter, listened to many other people. She acknowledges this and you don't have to harp on it as you implicitly are intending.

OP's fiance's initial decision to attend is no longer important.

If you want to talk about how fucked up the legal education system is, there are plenty of threads for you to do that. This thread isn't for that.

Thank you.

[chuckbass]

Actually it seems like GULC does give transfer money based on need. Paging Jessuf or Nebby.

[BVest]

Actually it seems like GULC does give transfer money based on need. Paging Jessuf or Nebby.

Yeah, I thought I heard that recently. And UT just started, so it may be becoming a bit of a trend. I wouldn't expect it to be terribly much though.

[Paul Campos]

The transfer market is becoming much more friendly to students, as schools try to backfill smaller than usual first year classes without hurting their medians. As a result, many schools, including some T-14s, are offering discounts on sticker tuition to transfers, especially if the potential transfer negotiates. If you have the kind of grades that make you an easy admit to a school as a transfer, based on that school's previous policies, you should definitely try to negotiate a discount. You can then play the transfer school and your original school off each other to get the best deal going forward.

[jphiggo]

The transfer market is becoming much more friendly to students, as schools try to backfill smaller than usual first year classes without hurting their medians. As a result, many schools, including some T-14s, are offering discounts on sticker tuition to transfers, especially if the potential transfer negotiates. If you have the kind of grades that make you an easy admit to a school as a transfer, based on that school's previous policies, you should definitely try to negotiate a discount. You can then play the transfer school and your original school off each other to get the best deal going forward.

I'd be interested in knowing which ones are willing to negotiate. To me, it would seem as though the transfer applicant doesn't have much leverage. It's a lot easier for schools to backfill using transfer students, because their LSAT/GPA stats aren't reported. If you have a transfer student wanting to negotiate, I would think they would just move on to the next eager student wanting to transfer instead of negotiating. Unless I'm mistaken, the only real risks the school is taking on a transfer is their employability and bar passage prospects. With those being the only metrics of concern, filling that seat on the transfer side of things is a whole lot easier than on the first year admissions side.

[timesnewboston]

OP goes to catholic like 99%

[Anonymous User]

OP goes to catholic like 99%

Actually I do not. I am not in the USA, I am serving overseas. Like I said, my fiancé goes to Catholic or American. But you know everything. If you would like to discuss what you think is certain, go somewhere else. I am doing this out of trying to help my fiancé the best ways I can while not being in the states. If you have a problem with that, then you and canadianwolf can go kick stones in the desert.

The transfer market is becoming much more friendly to students, as schools try to backfill smaller than usual first year classes without hurting their medians. As a result, many schools, including some T-14s, are offering discounts on sticker tuition to transfers, especially if the potential transfer negotiates. If you have the kind of grades that make you an easy admit to a school as a transfer, based on that school's previous policies, you should definitely try to negotiate a discount. You can then play the transfer school and your original school off each other to get the best deal going forward.

Great I will pass this along to her. The hope is she can transfer up tiers which would be better for her job opportunities but also try to pay less than she is now. But she is willing to move up in schools even if she can't get a discount. It would just help a lot.

[Nebby]

GULC gives need-aid to transfers. Are your SO's parent's lower-middle-class or below? (Make under $75k collectively?)

[Anonymous User]

GULC gives need-aid to transfers. Are your SO's parent's lower-middle-class or below? (Make under $75k collectively?)

Yes she would qualify for aid if thats the cutoff, which would be great. I have heard that GW might not give need-aid, but with GULC having it that would be huge.

[Nebby]

GULC gives need-aid to transfers. Are your SO's parent's lower-middle-class or below? (Make under $75k collectively?)

Yes she would qualify for aid if thats the cutoff, which would be great. I have heard that GW might not give need-aid, but with GULC having it that would be huge.

Anecdote: I was offered 25k/yr in need aid. I applied EA, was accepted in early-April and filled out my financial aid applications ASAP and received my need-aid reward before May 1st. I offer this anecdote because my need-aid offer came before they started the regular decision cycle. It is possible that their need-aid is still selectevley granted. There was only other GULC-admit on TLS that was given need-aid, and I don't recall if they were EA or RD admit.

Regardless of aid; I think your SO should probably jump ship because transferring grants job opportunities that their current school does not. Graduating with less debt from AU/CU doesn't help an unemployed attorney.

[Anonymous User]

GULC gives need-aid to transfers. Are your SO's parent's lower-middle-class or below? (Make under $75k collectively?)

Yes she would qualify for aid if thats the cutoff, which would be great. I have heard that GW might not give need-aid, but with GULC having it that would be huge.

Anecdote: I was offered 25k/yr in need aid. I applied EA, was accepted in early-April and filled out my financial aid applications ASAP and received my need-aid reward before May 1st. I offer this anecdote because my need-aid offer came before they started the regular decision cycle. It is possible that their need-aid is still selectevley granted. There was only other GULC-admit on TLS that was given need-aid, and I don't recall if they were EA or RD admit.

Regardless of aid; I think your SO should probably jump ship because transferring grants job opportunities that their current school does not. Graduating with less debt from AU/CU doesn't help an unemployed attorney.

Agreed and that is what I have been pushing her to do regardless. She was hesitant to start with but she has come around and sees how she needs to move up in order to make sure she gets a job. She has done well to her credit in school so far. Thank you for your personal anecdote. Im glad it worked out for you!