In at Chicago! Forum

[jsarna1]

i like chicago's housing better because i wouldn't have to fly out, i could just do the grad apartments, but obviously that is a small concern hahaha

If you're shooting for academia, you should probably go to Chicago, unless your preference for Penn's "feel" was overwhelming. But keep in mind that the difference in atmosphere between Chicago and Penn might be indicative of the difference in atmosphere between an academic job and "real world" one. Depending on what it was about Penn that made you like it more, you might find that you like the academy less than you thought.

yeah, i did like penn's feel more, their community seemed happier and their lambda program is huge..which is important for me...they also have a lot of profs studying what i want to go into (sexual orientation stuff) which isn't the case at chicago, they pretty much only have nussbaum. and interdisciplinary opportunities seem better at penn, which with lgbt stuff is pretty important. but obviously chicagos placement for academics is like way better. so im torn.

I would say you'll want to go somewhere that you will enjoy for 3 years. Academia is really difficult to break into, even if you go to Chicago you have no guarantees. I definitely agree with JSMill that you may want to get a feel for that atmosphere. Obviously both schools are amazing, so you can't really go wrong, but if you have money considerations or just a feel preference, you may want to weigh those factors.

[cyh]

on LSN someone just updated 9 min ago... http://lawschoolnumbers.com/swampthang/jd

[parker09]

Sorry if anyone has already posted about this (don't want to wade through 30 pgs), but does Chicago negotiate? Just got my CLS financial aid award (and am sitting on $ at Mich and $$ at Duke, though not sure if Chicago considers them peers).

[ilovelamp18]

on LSN someone just updated 9 min ago... http://lawschoolnumbers.com/swampthang/jd

Unfortunately I'm not sure how much this helps those of us desperately hoping for some new info... unless of course swampthing has received decisions from half the good schools in the country in the last 2 days.

I'm with you though in hoping Chicago decided today is a good day to accept people.

[cyh]

on LSN someone just updated 9 min ago... http://lawschoolnumbers.com/swampthang/jd

Unfortunately I'm not sure how much this helps those of us desperately hoping for some new info... unless of course swampthing has received decisions from half the good schools in the country in the last 2 days.

I'm with you though in hoping Chicago decided today is a good day to accept people.

I know its a new profile duh.
I just noticed that most of the schools were added/updated within the last two days, versus Chicago was this morning.


perhaps good interpretation of details ..... or just desperate hope

[Rand M.]

Sorry if anyone has already posted about this (don't want to wade through 30 pgs), but does Chicago negotiate? Just got my CLS financial aid award (and am sitting on $ at Mich and $$ at Duke, though not sure if Chicago considers them peers).

In short, no. I spoke to a lot of people at ASW who had no luck trying to get Chicago to play ball. My personal experience would suggest that even if you have $ from a peer school Chicago is not likely to care very much. I had a pretty tough time of it and was surprised to find out that I was not alone. Everyone's unique however, so I would still suggest trying, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. One of the first things they will say is that they don't match and they will try to gauge your level of interest. If you plan to use Chicago to negotiate someone else up then I would strongly suggest against it. Either way good luck. I hope that you are able to crack the bank, where others before you came up dry.

[ilovelamp18]

I know its a new profile duh.
I just noticed that most of the schools were added/updated within the last two days, versus Chicago was this morning.


perhaps good interpretation of details ..... or just desperate hope [/quote]
desperate hope has become one of my closer friends in the last couple weeks. come on Chicago

[cyh]

I know its a new profile duh.
I just noticed that most of the schools were added/updated within the last two days, versus Chicago was this morning.


perhaps good interpretation of details ..... or just desperate hope

desperate hope has become one of my closer friends in the last couple weeks. come on Chicago [/quote]


+1 (as I reach for your hand, we'll do this together)

[ilovelamp18]

+1 (as I reach for your hand, we'll do this together) [/quote]

I was under the impression we werent allowed to make friends in this process... this is a refreshing turn of sentiments.

[cyh]

+1 (as I reach for your hand, we'll do this together)

I was under the impression we werent allowed to make friends in this process... this is a refreshing turn of sentiments.[/quote]

[cyh]

Every time my phone vibrates, I get so anxious. I scramble for the phone, praying that is Dean Perry on the other end!

... But its just my mom

[ilovelamp18]

Every time my phone vibrates, I get so anxious. I scramble for the phone, praying that is Dean Perry on the other end!

... But its just my mom

I understand... just got a call from a phone number my phone didn't recognize and it was a telemarketer. You'd think I could eventually stop pretending they are going to call me from some random area code. Like Dean Perry is going to ask a passing student for their Memphis cell phone to fool me when the number pops up.

[parker09]

Sorry if anyone has already posted about this (don't want to wade through 30 pgs), but does Chicago negotiate? Just got my CLS financial aid award (and am sitting on $ at Mich and $$ at Duke, though not sure if Chicago considers them peers).

In short, no. I spoke to a lot of people at ASW who had no luck trying to get Chicago to play ball. My personal experience would suggest that even if you have $ from a peer school Chicago is not likely to care very much. I had a pretty tough time of it and was surprised to find out that I was not alone. Everyone's unique however, so I would still suggest trying, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. One of the first things they will say is that they don't match and they will try to gauge your level of interest. If you plan to use Chicago to negotiate someone else up then I would strongly suggest against it. Either way good luck. I hope that you are able to crack the bank, where others before you came up dry.

Follow-up: Sent them my CLS and Mich offers. Was flatly rejected by Karla Vargas, in two blunt sentences. The way they've handled finaid this cycle (not meeting their own self-imposed notification deadlines, etc) has been pretty unimpressive.

At least the response was... prompt?

[0L Hoping for 1]

Sorry if anyone has already posted about this (don't want to wade through 30 pgs), but does Chicago negotiate? Just got my CLS financial aid award (and am sitting on $ at Mich and $$ at Duke, though not sure if Chicago considers them peers).

In short, no. I spoke to a lot of people at ASW who had no luck trying to get Chicago to play ball. My personal experience would suggest that even if you have $ from a peer school Chicago is not likely to care very much. I had a pretty tough time of it and was surprised to find out that I was not alone. Everyone's unique however, so I would still suggest trying, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. One of the first things they will say is that they don't match and they will try to gauge your level of interest. If you plan to use Chicago to negotiate someone else up then I would strongly suggest against it. Either way good luck. I hope that you are able to crack the bank, where others before you came up dry.

Follow-up: Sent them my CLS and Mich offers. Was flatly rejected by Karla Vargas, in two blunt sentences. The way they've handled finaid this cycle (not meeting their own self-imposed notification deadlines, etc) has been pretty unimpressive.

At least the response was... prompt?

That is not as bad as NYU. I sent them my chicago offer and it took them over a month to flatly reject me in two sentences.

[Kretzy]

Sorry if anyone has already posted about this (don't want to wade through 30 pgs), but does Chicago negotiate? Just got my CLS financial aid award (and am sitting on $ at Mich and $$ at Duke, though not sure if Chicago considers them peers).

In short, no. I spoke to a lot of people at ASW who had no luck trying to get Chicago to play ball. My personal experience would suggest that even if you have $ from a peer school Chicago is not likely to care very much. I had a pretty tough time of it and was surprised to find out that I was not alone. Everyone's unique however, so I would still suggest trying, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. One of the first things they will say is that they don't match and they will try to gauge your level of interest. If you plan to use Chicago to negotiate someone else up then I would strongly suggest against it. Either way good luck. I hope that you are able to crack the bank, where others before you came up dry.

Follow-up: Sent them my CLS and Mich offers. Was flatly rejected by Karla Vargas, in two blunt sentences. The way they've handled finaid this cycle (not meeting their own self-imposed notification deadlines, etc) has been pretty unimpressive.

At least the response was... prompt?

They refused to budge with 3x the money from Stanford on the table. It doesn't seem like they've been matching anything.

[parker09]

They refused to budge with 3x the money from Stanford on the table. It doesn't seem like they've been matching anything.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting much, and I'm okay with it -- was worth a shot, though.

Also, a belated congrats on stanford + $$$! Totes jealous.

[Kretzy]

They refused to budge with 3x the money from Stanford on the table. It doesn't seem like they've been matching anything.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting much, and I'm okay with it -- was worth a shot, though.

Also, a belated congrats on stanford + $$$! Totes jealous.

Thanks Financial aid stuff is capricious, so I'm very, very thankful. Good luck making your final decision (if it's CLS) and best of luck on the waitlists!

[tintin]

Follow-up: Sent them my CLS and Mich offers. Was flatly rejected by Karla Vargas, in two blunt sentences. The way they've handled finaid this cycle (not meeting their own self-imposed notification deadlines, etc) has been pretty unimpressive.

that was pretty much how she was with me. i was very unimpressed with her, after meeting her in person and after trying to get $$ from chicago. penn was so much nicer about turning me down for $$.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Karla is... blunt. She doesn't use much tact. I don't think she tries to be rude, but it kinda comes off that way.

Anyways, I've heard that they don't match offers.. but they will give some extra money if you have a competing offer and you show genuine interest in attending.

[Kronk]

Karla is... blunt. She doesn't use much tact. I don't think she tries to be rude, but it kinda comes off that way.

Anyways, I've heard that they don't match offers.. but they will give some extra money if you have a competing offer and you show genuine interest in attending.

This is true. Also, I don't think they'll really reconsider big offers for them (75k+) very often. When I spoke with Karla, she said that even 60k was a big offer for Chicago and thus hard to get renegotiated. I would assume the 21k, 30k, and 45k people might have better luck.

[parker09]

Karla is... blunt. She doesn't use much tact. I don't think she tries to be rude, but it kinda comes off that way.

Anyways, I've heard that they don't match offers.. but they will give some extra money if you have a competing offer and you show genuine interest in attending.

This is true. Also, I don't think they'll really reconsider big offers for them (75k+) very often. When I spoke with Karla, she said that even 60k was a big offer for Chicago and thus hard to get renegotiated. I would assume the 21k, 30k, and 45k people might have better luck.

I tried with $37.5k from CLS and $45k from Mich, and added that any bit of money would be nice... but alas.