Worth Applying ED to George Washington? Forum

[AreJay711]

If you apply ED and are accepted to George Washington, you automatically get a 3 year scholarship for full tuition. I think I have a good chance of getting accepted under the scholarship and maybe lesser scholarships to higher ranked schools. Do you think it is worth it to save probably $100,000? On the plus it would allow me to clerk more easily, maybe pursue an advanced degree, and be more flexible with my first employment. On the negative, it is not as highly ranked as say Michigan, Penn, or UVA at which I should have a good chance of admission. Any thoughts?

[mi-chan17]

I think that the answer to this question would depend heavily on where you want to work, and what kind of work you want to be doing. If you want NY biglaw, then yeah, a full-ride to GW might save you some money, but it'll decrease your chances of ending up where you want to (as compared to T14 chances). If you want to work in DC, depending on the job, it becomes a much better plan.

If you would be happy with a degree that says GW on it, then it's probably worth it. If you wouldn't be happy at GW, and would always be wondering "what if", then it might not be for you.

[bk1]

Prestige is important in getting clerkships. I don't see how having a full ride at a lower ranked school makes it easier to clerk than attending a higher ranked school at sticker.

More flexible with your first employment? You mean that it would be easier to accept a lower paying or PI job? Sure but those are still quite competitive.

The only reason that holds merit that you stated (obviously the unstated is that saving $$ is always good) is that it makes it easier to find an advanced degree, but I don't see why you'd do that and sacrifice OCI.

[crysmissmichelle]

Only do it if you REALLY want to go to GW. GW does offer full scholarships even if you don't apply ED. . .for much the same numbers, etc. The only difference is the faculty advisor and a living stipend that I"m not even sure if they're offering for the ED this year.

[mi-chan17]

Only do it if you REALLY want to go to GW. GW does offer full scholarships even if you don't apply ED. . .for much the same numbers, etc. The only difference is the faculty advisor and a living stipend that I"m not even sure if they're offering for the ED this year.

I don't work for Financial Aid, but I do know a bit about the scholarships/financial aid at GW (since I'm a student there).

As to the scholarships GW offered for the class of 2013, the break down appears to have been:
- Presidential Merit: full tuition scholarship, room held open for student at the Aston (paying rent up to student)
- $105k deal: $30k per year, one year free housing in the Aston (or what is approximated to be that much money is added to first year scholarship award), dependent on maintaining a 3.0 GPA
- $5k to $30k per year, dependent on maintaining a 3.0 GPA (I believe. These were less uniform than the $105k deal, so this might vary person to person.)

As far as I know, there is no additional mentor component to the Pres. Merit program, and I know that there isn't any kind of COL stipend if those in any way factor into your decision.

[crysmissmichelle]

Yeah, sorry for the miswording, of "stipend" I just meant the room. . . As for the mentor/advisor, that was in the offer last year, but I have not read it this year. I am not a student at GW, just was very interested in the Merit Scholarship last year and did a little research.

[mi-chan17]

It's entirely possible that you're right, I can't remember back to when I was actually looking at the official info on the PM Scholarship, and I didn't apply ED (and even if I had, probably would've been deferred) so I don't have first hand experience with it.

[AreJay711]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Naturally, I'm still undecided but thanks for the good perspectives. I'm actually more interested in practicing in D.C. I guess what I meant when I was talking about flexibility was the difference between paying $6,000 vs. $22,000 a year in loans payments for financing the full cost instead of just living expenses. That would pretty much decimate your paycheck if clerking lol.

mi-chan17 if you drop back in here, how do you like GW?

[mi-chan17]

*drops back in*

I love GW. Seriously. I'm glad that I decided to come here, foregoing other schools and other offers, because the people I've met here have been so awesome and I've had such a good time. If you want anything more specific than that, feel free to ask (or to drop by the G.W. 1L thread that one of my classmates started).