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kirbyb wrote:Got a great offer but can anyone find a straight answer as to what their tuition is?

VinLi11 wrote:

kirbyb wrote:Got a great offer but can anyone find a straight answer as to what their tuition is?

According to the website https://www.brooklaw.edu/Admissions/fin ... dance.aspx?

$1795 per credit. All J.D. students must successfully complete at least 85 credits. Full-time students enroll in 30 credits for their first year and 55 credits over their following two years. Part-time students enroll in 23 credits for their first year and 62 credits over their following three years.

Branruss wrote:Was admitted last Thursday, but still haven't received any scholarship information. Do you think that means I don't qualify for scholarships/ or does anyone have the same issue?

sergiokun16 wrote:I'm a current 1L, hope I can clear up some of the worrying about scholarships. They don't send scholarship packages with acceptances. Instead, mine came about a month after my acceptance.

That being said, disregard the scholarship information on this website, it is still outdated from the old scholarship setup. Starting last year, they did away with their old stipulation system and applied a flat requirement for all scholarships, which only requires that you stay in the top 80% to retain your scholly in full. For my cycle at least, that was the most generous stipulation I received. Hope that helps calm some of the nerves haha.

Wbrem wrote:Well I didn't receive a scholarship email or update, so I guess I didn't qualify for any which is a real bummer. Maybe I'll get lucky later in the cycle? However I did get an email today regarding grants I assume. Looks like I'll have an update to my award letter tomorrow. Hooray for being poor!

Branruss wrote:

Wbrem wrote:Well I didn't receive a scholarship email or update, so I guess I didn't qualify for any which is a real bummer. Maybe I'll get lucky later in the cycle? However I did get an email today regarding grants I assume. Looks like I'll have an update to my award letter tomorrow. Hooray for being poor!

Same here. Emailed the dean and she said I met the criteria for admission but not scholarship hoping when people withdraw it'll free up some money. However, I filled out my fafsa and need access last week. Anyone know when we should hear back? What was the email you received about fin aid?

SFrost wrote:I withdrew yesterday and today they sent me an email saying I had received another merit scholarship. I wonder if this is their negotiation strategy? The second scholarship makes their offer pretty substantial.

michaelbluth wrote:

SFrost wrote:I withdrew yesterday and today they sent me an email saying I had received another merit scholarship. I wonder if this is their negotiation strategy? The second scholarship makes their offer pretty substantial.

It's absolutely their negotiation strategy and has been for several years, at least.

Anecdotally (my experience, plus that of many friends), they'll also match any of the local schools if you negotiate well. I know someone who says she used Cardozo as a stalking horse, basically. She hated Cardozo when she visited and had no intention of attending, but she used the $33k offer from BLS to get Cardozo to increase their scholly offer to full tuition, then she e-mailed BLS and said Cardozo was offering full tuition her and unless they could match it, she may have to withdraw. BLS came back with more than $50k.

Yawkey wrote:
The discrepency in rankings relative to the two schools is only getting larger, and if Brooklyn takes another hit the schools will arguably be in different leagues. I feel like Cardozo is going to start telling potential students who use Brooklyn as leverage for an increase in scholly $$ to piss off. I'm almost considering using my Cardozo offer, which is only slightly less than BK's, as leverage to further increase my money at Brooklyn, and then possibly hitting up Cardozo. Genius or stupid?

Yawkey wrote:

Yawkey wrote:
The discrepency in rankings relative to the two schools is only getting larger, and if Brooklyn takes another hit the schools will arguably be in different leagues. I feel like Cardozo is going to start telling potential students who use Brooklyn as leverage for an increase in scholly $$ to piss off. I'm almost considering using my Cardozo offer, which is only slightly less than BK's, as leverage to further increase my money at Brooklyn, and then possibly hitting up Cardozo. Genius or stupid?

And what's the consensus about Brooklyn? Are they going to take another hit in the rankings?

Yawkey wrote: The discrepency in rankings relative to the two schools is only getting larger, and if Brooklyn takes another hit the schools will arguably be in different leagues. I feel like Cardozo is going to start telling potential students who use Brooklyn as leverage for an increase in scholly $$ to piss off. I'm almost considering using my Cardozo offer, which is only slightly less than BK's, as leverage to further increase my money at Brooklyn, and then possibly hitting up Cardozo. Genius or stupid?

CaveCanem wrote:Does a SJU full scholarship hold any weight to BLS? My Doza offer is slightly less than BLS so I'm a bit stuck with BLS. Waiting on Fordham as well. Would a fordham without $ hold any weight to BLS? Also have RU at just about full and seton hall at 15k FWIW.


And what's the consensus about Brooklyn? Are they going to take another hit in the rankings?

Yawkey wrote:

Yawkey wrote:
Use the BLS offer to get Dozo up, then turn around and use Dozo to get BLS up. Never think you're "stuck" with what you're offered. You may not have much success this early, but keep asking for more and don't deposit until the last possible moment.

Assuming SJU is St. Johns, I think it holds weight to BLS; I didn't apply to St. Johns so can't say anything about my personal experience with that, but IIRC I know one person who had been planning to attend St Johns, withdrew and in the e-mail said as much, then got a matched offer. I can't remember which class year, though. Similarly, use Seton Hall and RU (Rutgers?). Basically, you want to let them know that other schools want you and that while you'd love to attend, you do have more generous offers on the table and could they maybe sweeten the pot. With respect to Fordham with no $, there I think you'd emphasize placement numbers, ranking, etc.

I'm pretty sure there's a how-to-negotiate-your-scholarship thread somewhere out there. It's worth a read.

The big thing I want to emphasize, though, is that whatever you do, don't accept your first offer from BLS (or anywhere, really) without at least trying to negotiate.

Even if their first offer is full tuition, it's worth pushing for more-than-full (my year, I think the max offer was $53k, back when tuition was $49.5k/year. I don't know if any of the current 1Ls have more than full tuition and, frankly, don't know much about how the per-credit pricing has altered scholarships) and guaranteed housing for 3 years, if you want to live in campus housing,* or whatever you can think of, really.

Ask for what you want in a polite, appropriate manner. The worst thing that happens is they say no.

*BLS guarantees housing for 1L. After 1L and 2L you do a housing lottery, and preference goes first to rising 3Ls, then incoming 1Ls, then rising 2Ls, so a fair number of rising 2Ls ended up moving last year. That may change this year, because last year was also the year they sold a bunch of buildings so there were a lot more people living in campus housing when the lottery happened, but hey. Also, the top 5% of the class as of the end of the fall semester is lottery-exempt. That said, even people who "lost" the lottery ended up getting housing if they pushed for it, though they did have to move apartments.

sergiokun16 wrote:I'm a current 1L, hope I can clear up some of the worrying about scholarships. They don't send scholarship packages with acceptances. Instead, mine came about a month after my acceptance.

That being said, disregard the scholarship information on this website, it is still outdated from the old scholarship setup. Starting last year, they did away with their old stipulation system and applied a flat requirement for all scholarships, which only requires that you stay in the top 80% to retain your scholly in full. For my cycle at least, that was the most generous stipulation I received. Hope that helps calm some of the nerves haha.

ConnD wrote:
I just got an updated scholarship to full tuition yesterday, making BLS one of my top choices. I want to live on-campus, any chance with negotiating they'll give me more for housing? I was accepted to higher ranked schools but the prospect of going to school debt free is really enticing.

Also, how do you feel about the school atmosphere/ classes/reputation? Do you feel you have good internship opportunities for your 1L summer and are you confident in being employed after graduation?

Yawkey wrote:

ConnD wrote:
I just got an updated scholarship to full tuition yesterday, making BLS one of my top choices. I want to live on-campus, any chance with negotiating they'll give me more for housing? I was accepted to higher ranked schools but the prospect of going to school debt free is really enticing.

Also, how do you feel about the school atmosphere/ classes/reputation? Do you feel you have good internship opportunities for your 1L summer and are you confident in being employed after graduation?

Did you ask for an increase or was it unsolicited?

ConnD wrote: I just got an updated scholarship to full tuition yesterday, making BLS one of my top choices. I want to live on-campus, any chance with negotiating they'll give me more for housing? I was accepted to higher ranked schools but the prospect of going to school debt free is really enticing.

Also, how do you feel about the school atmosphere/ classes/reputation? Do you feel you have good internship opportunities for your 1L summer and are you confident in being employed after graduation?

Branruss wrote:Wasn't offered any merit aid, and dean said I didn't qualify... anyone think this could change over time?

CaveCanem wrote:

sergiokun16 wrote:I'm a current 1L, hope I can clear up some of the worrying about scholarships. They don't send scholarship packages with acceptances. Instead, mine came about a month after my acceptance.

That being said, disregard the scholarship information on this website, it is still outdated from the old scholarship setup. Starting last year, they did away with their old stipulation system and applied a flat requirement for all scholarships, which only requires that you stay in the top 80% to retain your scholly in full. For my cycle at least, that was the most generous stipulation I received. Hope that helps calm some of the nerves haha.

I know you didn't invite questions but it seems like there is a lack of info on here about BLS. What has your experience been like so far? I saw that the admitted student even is being held at Skadden. That's a pretty powerful way to encourage those interested in BigLaw that BLS is serious. But the employment numbers paint a bit of a different picture. What has your experience been as far as BLS in relation to other schools and the reputation it carries in NYC. Thanks for the time!