Do I need a more realistic safety? 3.79, 175 Forum

[moxiepostulate]

Hey folks,

Sure could use your advice on this one.

3.79, 175. CA res, female, white, decent softs but not shocking (volunteering, work experience), out of school for over a year.

At this point, I'm thinking about blanketing all of the t8. YHS CCN BP

As a teeny bit of a splitter, I think I'm looking decent for something out of CCN. However, my gpa is low enough that I might not be an auto admit for any of CCN or Berk, and with Penn as my "safety" I could risk Yield Protection because of the 175.

Should I addy up another 75 bucks and throw Northwestern or Cornell into the mix? UCLA? Try to get a fee waver? Kiss up to Penn in five essays? What do you advise?

I don't want to wind up in February kicking myself for being too cocky about my chances, but I also don't want to over-apply if it's not necessary.

Thanks!

[Dany]

Apply to these schools. Wait to see which other T14 schools you receive fee waivers from, and apply to those as safeties.

[vsl89]

Apply to these schools. Wait to see which other T14 schools you receive fee waivers from, and apply to those as safeties.

+ 1

[im_blue]

I'd add Duke to the mix - they place as well as MVPB and don't do YP.

[Columbia Law]

Flame.

[Ragged]

Apply to these schools. Wait to see which other T14 schools you receive fee waivers from, and apply to those as safeties.

+1. Lower T14 will most likely throw a fee waiver at you.

[Ragged]

Flame.

I don't think so. She posted ehr LSAC report yesterday. If it's flame its really eleborate, but I'm positive its not.

[IAFG]

applying only to schools you would attend limits your ability to negotiate for scholarships. i would do the whole T14 plus UCLA/USC.

[uci2013]

The advantage to applying more broadly is you give yourself a shot at having a choice between a full ride at a 8-14 school vs a possible admission at a higher rated school (and who knows - I wouldn't rule out $$ at 4-8). But you will likely be able to get fee waivers and it seems worth applying to give yourself an opportunity to have to make a tough but good decision down the road. And don't underestimate the freedom low to no debt will give you.

[moxiepostulate]

Thanks for the replies so far!

Should I just wait for a waver, or should I send out emails? I'm not really sure how the process works after the October test.

Also...

Flame.

I don't think so. She posted ehr LSAC report yesterday. If it's flame its really eleborate, but I'm positive its not.

Nope, no flame. I'm just this neurotic. I figured it'd be best to ask you all rather than stew about it all weekend

[Dany]

Should I just wait for a waver, or should I send out emails? I'm not really sure how the process works after the October test.

Just wait. http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=135295

[WhatToDo21]

Hey folks,

Sure could use your advice on this one.

3.79, 175. CA res, female, white, decent softs but not shocking (volunteering, work experience), out of school for over a year.

At this point, I'm thinking about blanketing all of the t8. YHS CCN BP

As a teeny bit of a splitter, I think I'm looking decent for something out of CCN. However, my gpa is low enough that I might not be an auto admit for any of CCN or Berk, and with Penn as my "safety" I could risk Yield Protection because of the 175.

Should I addy up another 75 bucks and throw Northwestern or Cornell into the mix? UCLA? Try to get a fee waver? Kiss up to Penn in five essays? What do you advise?

I don't want to wind up in February kicking myself for being too cocky about my chances, but I also don't want to over-apply if it's not necessary.

Thanks!

I mean you will def. get into several of the top 8, however, I would apply to some of the lower ones for scholarship negotiation purposes. For instance, Berkley matches scholarship offers from a lot of places in the T14 except northwestern I think. So, if you could see yourself ending up at Berkley it would be worth it to spend an extra couple hundred dollars in application fees (assuming you don't get waivers, which you probably will) in order to get thousands of more dollars in scholarship funds. That is how I would attack it personally. Good Luck and congrats on the great numbers!!

[moxiepostulate]

Thanks for the link Esk!

And generally, thanks for the answers as a whole. I was beginning to feel like a spaz for applying to more than 6 schools. A lot of TLSers talking about it last week were of the "less is more" mindset. My original list was 12 schools, criss-crossing the t14 with ucla/usc in the mix. Knowing that I might have some wavers coming up helps a lot!! I'm broke, after all

Thanks!

[Dany]

Moxie, my LSAT is slightly lower but GPA a tad higher and I'm applying to 14 schools. Only paying for 2 applications though. No harm in applying to a laundry list of schools, since you never know about scholarships. Without fee waivers my list would be much shorter, but I definitely think it's smart to apply to a wide range. Certainly can't hurt. "Less is more" is an odd, and probably dumb, mindset to have, especially when it should be mostly free for you to apply to additional schools.

[Ragged]

Moxie, my LSAT is slightly lower but GPA a tad higher and I'm applying to 14 schools. Only paying for 2 applications though. No harm in applying to a laundry list of schools, since you never know about scholarships. Without fee waivers my list would be much shorter, but I definitely think it's smart to apply to a wide range. Certainly can't hurt. "Less is more" is an odd, and probably dumb, mindset to have, especially when it should be mostly free for you to apply to additional schools.

Yea less is more is stupid. Not like applying to more schools is gonna lower your chances at getting in to some other school. In fact you can laverage (I hear) acceptances to get $$$.

The only way less really is more is in the same application money.

[tothePAIN]

With the LSAT score, more schools will give you waivers. Apply to the schools that you intended to apply to as soon as you can but you should also get waivers from the lower T14 and other schools right outside of the T14. Apply where desired for safety.

[moxiepostulate]

Good to know! I guess when I had to cancel my June score I figured I'd missed out on much of the waver gravy train. Made it just that much more bitter faxing in the cancel form. In retrospect, a decision I am totally pleased with.

Now that I know I'll most likely get a few before thanksgiving I feel much less worried about it. Whew! Back to tweaking my essays and hopefully get the bulk of my main apps in this next week! EEK!

SO glad I can pick your brains about this stuff.