Wake Forest 2012 Forum

[h2oplyer7]

Anyone else think its awesome that the dean took some time to visit this page? Awesome!

[BlueJeanBaby]

Hi guys. Sending in a late application early in February. Any others a little late to the game? Wake is my #1 choice right now.

[WakeLawAdmDean]

Greetings TLSers~

I thought today I might provide some insight into the scholarship process and how we determine who gets how much. In a future post I'll discuss whether we'll reconsider scholarship awards and adjust offers.

Once we've seated our class in August and as we go through the fall semester we do a great deal of number crunching. Part of this analysis relates to how many offers we made in specific credential bands and what impact scholarship offers had on yield in those bands for different groups of students. Of course, we're looking at this in regard to LSAT and GPA but there are other considerations. We spend some time thinking about our goals for the current cycle in regard to all of these factors and then evaluate how we did in the last couple years in coming up with a scholarship grid. This isn't rocket science. If your numbers are at or below our medians, I wouldn't expect a huge scholarship award. That being said Wake Law is very generous in their awarding structure.

Using the scholarship grid we might reference LSAT and GPA and find, based on our previous analysis, a suggested scholarship award. Of course, as the Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid I use my discretion and determine whether the suggested award is appropriate in any given case. Most of the time it is. If, based on my own observations or historical analysis I think a candidate presents factors which indicate they might be academically weaker than their numbers indicate, I might offer a little less and, of course, if I think there's some factor that makes the applicant stronger than the numbers might suggest, I can increase the award. Again most of the time the award is consistent.

Another factor that can impact awarding is the timing of an application. In certain credential bands we may target only 25-50% of candidates to receive an award. Thus, once the money for that band has been awarded, candidates may still receive an offer of admission but be surprised to see that they won't receive a scholarship award. Again there is a discretionary aspect to whether an award will be made. While I understand each of our candidates are unique and special in their own way, I may not be able to make an award even if your best friend with slightly worse numbers got one. It doesn't mean we don't value your application or you as a potential student at Wake Law, it just means that budgetarily we may not have the funds to award a scholarship at this time and your friend's application may have gotten in earlier or helped to satisfy some other institutional goal. For instance, we have some scholarships generously funded by our engaged and active alumni that require awardees to be NC residents. In this case being from NC may help, especially since only 20% of our student body come from NC.

I hope that this illuminates the scholarship awarding process. Early next week I'll post a similar explanation of our scholarship adjustment policies and process. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions about this post or your candidacy for admission at Wake Law.

Warm regards,
Jay Shively
Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid
Wake Forest University | School of Law
shivelrj@wfu.edu
jayshively@gmail.com
http://www.law.wfu.edu

[iceicebaby]

Anyone else think its awesome that the dean took some time to visit this page? Awesome!

+1... other Deans should take note. It is smart for schools to engage TLSers in this fashion.

[wvu]

Anyone know how to register for an ASD? Or should I be getting something in the mail?

[ash0117]

I'm excited to go visit the school Monday. It's definitely my top choice right now. I'll be sure to post lots of pictures!

Thanks Dean for all of he information.

[dolfan0516]

Another factor that can impact awarding is the timing of an application. In certain credential bands we may target only 25-50% of candidates to receive an award. Thus, once the money for that band has been awarded, candidates may still receive an offer of admission but be surprised to see that they won't receive a scholarship award.

Thank you for all of your informative posts Dean Shively.

One question, is there a general date when scholarship money for some bands starts to run out? For example, is there a date where you can point to and say that is when an app needs to be submitted by for this not to be an issue?

Thank you once again!

I'm excited to go visit the school Monday. It's definitely my top choice right now. I'll be sure to post lots of pictures!

Please do!

[BlueJeanBaby]

I'm thinking of making a trip down there myself. Does Jenny still work in the office? I feel like I should bring her a gift basket for being so helpful in the past.

[WakeLawAdmDean]

Anyone know how to register for an ASD? Or should I be getting something in the mail?

ASD registration information will go out later this week or early next week.

RJS
Wake Law

[WakeLawAdmDean]

Another factor that can impact awarding is the timing of an application. In certain credential bands we may target only 25-50% of candidates to receive an award. Thus, once the money for that band has been awarded, candidates may still receive an offer of admission but be surprised to see that they won't receive a scholarship award.

Thank you for all of your informative posts Dean Shively.

One question, is there a general date when scholarship money for some bands starts to run out? For example, is there a date where you can point to and say that is when an app needs to be submitted by for this not to be an issue?

Thank you once again!

I'm excited to go visit the school Monday. It's definitely my top choice right now. I'll be sure to post lots of pictures!

Please do!

In some cases we've already reached that point. Still in such a volatile admission process we are constantly evaluating things and sometimes make offers later in the cycle even to deposited students. Of course, there's no way to tell what will happen this admissions cycle. Right now applications to Wake Forest Law School are up 38% from last year where nationally the average school is 17% down. We are being very deliberate with our offers of admission and scholarship.

For future reference it is always better to apply as early as possible to be eligible for scholarships but this has always been the case. As I said in my earlier post we have some discretion in the awarding of scholarships if the situation compels us to award them.

Warm regards,
RJS
Wake Law

[nucky thompson]

Dean, where did you get these national statistics from??

what I have gleaned from LSAC data is that the number of actual applicants is down 17 percent nationally, while the total number of actual applications has risen. Applicants are applying more places per person because of how easy it has become through lsac.


Very curious though, where did you read total applications are down 17 percent this year? Also, will so many more applications this cycle, do you expect your yield to improve?

[portaluser]

Went under review yesterday, Was ready for review since late November. Guess they really have a stack of apps to get through!

[YankeeFan2]

File went under review (1/24). Had been waiting for review from November.

[genius5432]

File went under review (1/24). Had been waiting for review from November.

Same here. Hopefully this means that there is a possibility that we will be in the decision bunch this Friday, although admittedly, two days isn't much time and I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't hear anything this week.

[ashley12]

File went under review (1/24). Had been waiting for review from November.

Wow that's crazy. I submitted early December and went UR just a few days later. Whats been difficult is moving past that! I'm sure we will all hear soon it sounds like they are working hard

[ashleyadpi]

Hello. I'm new to this... I was accepted 12/22/11 with a 159/3.98 and didn't receive any scholarship info.. Does that mean I'm still being considered for it, or is it likely just admission granted? Thanks

[ucbkenn]

Hello. I'm new to this... I was accepted 12/22/11 with a 159/3.98 and didn't receive any scholarship info.. Does that mean I'm still being considered for it, or is it likely just admission granted? Thanks

If I had to guess, I would think it meant only admission granted. I only say this because my scholarship was in the same e-mail as my admission was.

[WakeLawAdmDean]

Dean, where did you get these national statistics from??

what I have gleaned from LSAC data is that the number of actual applicants is down 17 percent nationally, while the total number of actual applications has risen. Applicants are applying more places per person because of how easy it has become through lsac.


Very curious though, where did you read total applications are down 17 percent this year? Also, will so many more applications this cycle, do you expect your yield to improve?

The most recent report we received from LSAC says, "... ABA applicants are down 16.7% and ABA applications are down 15.3% from 2011. The report also indicates applicants to Canadian law schools are up 4.4% and applications are up 5.4% from 2011."

RJS
Wake Law

[WakeLawAdmDean]

Hello. I'm new to this... I was accepted 12/22/11 with a 159/3.98 and didn't receive any scholarship info.. Does that mean I'm still being considered for it, or is it likely just admission granted? Thanks

If I had to guess, I would think it meant only admission granted. I only say this because my scholarship was in the same e-mail as my admission was.

If your letter doesn't provide a specific scholarship amount, you have not been awarded a scholarship at this time. As I've indicated earlier we are constantly evaluating our pool and awards. You might be awarded a scholarship later but you should make decisions based on the information you currently have available. If you're awarded money at schools considered to be peer institutions, please feel free to share that information. I'll be posting some thoughts on negotiating scholarships early next week.

RJS
Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid
Wake Law

[WakeLawAdmDean]

File went under review (1/24). Had been waiting for review from November.

Same here. Hopefully this means that there is a possibility that we will be in the decision bunch this Friday, although admittedly, two days isn't much time and I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't hear anything this week.

Probably you'll be in next week's bunch. If you want to email me, I can tell you the target release date for your decision. Also please recognize that we could decide to hold your file which would delay a final decision. I do have target release dates for most applicants. So, if you are interested or concerned, just email me.

RJS
Wake Law

[ThreeRivers]

Guessing this Thursday decisions already went out?

Sigh... starting to wonder if there was something wrong with my app.... lol

[Jake5]

Guessing this Thursday decisions already went out?

Sigh... starting to wonder if there was something wrong with my app.... lol

They are releasing decisions on Friday this week, not thursday!

[MOJayhawk]

The Dean mentioned in a post that they've moved the emailing of decisions to Friday, rather than Thursday, so don't give up hope!

[YankeeFan2]

The Dean mentioned in a post that they've moved the emailing of decisions to Friday, rather than Thursday, so don't give up hope!

+1

[sdphill]

I cannot wait until tomorrow... I am SOOOO excited Hopefully a big batch of decisions will come out tomorrow !!!!