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Hey Y'all.

So I applied to McGeorge with no huge intention of attending (my father went there, so he encouraged me to apply)... but I found today that they offered me a full-ride scholarship.

McGeorge is truly a regional school (almost all graduates work in Sacramento or Nor-Nor Cal), ranked "eh" (at 98) their facilities are subprime, they are in an "iffy" neighborhood. In other words, they aren't my dream school.

However, wherever I go to school I can get a job at my father's firm after school and gradually take over his practice over the next 10 years. So I'm not worried about job prospects.

HERE'S THE POINT: I know that if I go to McGeorge I won't love it, maybe not even like it. But considering going to a "better" or "worse" school won't significantly affect my job prospects, is it worth it to give McGeorge a shot and save $120,000?

This is a joke, right? IF your dad wants you to go there and you can take over his firm AND you can ave 120k?

GO.

Difficult question. Practically, McGeorge is perfect, what an excellent scenario for you. But, if that means giving up a t14 or a school you absolutely love, you're the one who has to look back and be happy with the choices you made. Before everyone jumps all over this, I give that advice the understanding that you have a job, so that's taken care of (I assume from your post).

You're lucky because you have choices so you'd be crazy not to seriously consider McGeorge, ESPECIALLY ITE.

What are your stats? What other schools did you apply to?

167 / 3.8 --retaking lsat tomorrow
The dean wrote a personal note saying he really enjoyed my personal statement, so I don't know if that had anything to do with the scholarship.

Applied to Cornell, Texas, W&M, W&L, USC, UCLA (my alma matter) Lewis & Clark, GULC, Notre Dame, San Diego
Hoping to improve my lsat by 2 or 3 points to have a better shot at the T14

Excellent. In that case wait and see how the rest of your cycle turns out. I'll bet you get some nice schollys elsewhere.

NorCalBruin wrote:167 / 3.8 --retaking lsat tomorrow
The dean wrote a personal note saying he really enjoyed my personal statement, so I don't know if that had anything to do with the scholarship.

Applied to Cornell, Texas, W&M, W&L, USC, UCLA (my alma matter) Lewis & Clark, GULC, Notre Dame, San Diego
Hoping to improve my lsat by 2 or 3 points to have a better shot at the T14

Play the market with those numbers. What about Davis??? You can probably get money from them too and GWU?

Well you wouldn't be happy there but on the other hand 120K will be a whole lot more fun if 25K isn't lost to loans every year. See what other schools you get scholarships to and then make a decision. I highly doubt you will be 100K+ unhappy at McGeorge though lol. I think you should turn down ANYWHERE that doesn't give you a very hefty scholly even if you really love it as long as you are sure you want to take over your father's firm.

As a former McGeorge student and a transfer to a T20, here are my thoughts. The quality of education I received in my first year was at least as good as what I am getting now, perhaps better. I was challenged by professors who were always available and willing to answer my questions. The biggest difference between McGeorge and my new school is practical application verse ivory tower abstract academic debates. Being a practical person, I do miss the former. I left for future job prospects, but if that is not in your equation then you might actually like it...One caveat is their legal writing course is pure crap, I have nothing good to say about that

The current dean of the school runs a tight ship and administratively things run pretty smoothly with a lot of small school perks. Transcripts are free and it was very easy to get special accommodations for anything I needed paperwork wise.

As as for the environment and area. Sac is kind of odd in that you can have a very nice high class area literally across the street from an impoverished area. A 2 min walk can end you up in very different places. So in regards to the Oak park area, it is pretty rough and you will get looks. I think there was a student assaulted walking around at night last year. However if you walk out the other side of the campus it is in a clean area with very nice homes that are well maintained where many of the professors and other working professionals live. Short story: the bad part is easily avoided and there is still a lot of nice. Campus security is tight with 24 hour patrols and they are quick to respond. I called to get a door opened once and a guard came running, was there in about 3 minutes from across the campus.

Last thing to note is McGeorge schollies generally come with a top 1/3 requirement. I know several people who lost theirs, I would see if you could get that requirement removed if you are serous about attending. PM if you have any other questions.

Dman wrote:I would see if you could get that requirement removed if you are serous about attending. PM if you have any other questions.

DMan, wise you are.

Those numbers should get you into Cornell. I am shocked they haven't accepted you yet TBH - Are you still under review?

this is one of the very few instances where McGeorge might be a smart choice. But I'd probably attend the stronger SoCal schools on full scholarship if it were me. Loyola or USD. San Diego would be a funner place to live for 3 years.

This is seriously one of the few scenarios where going anywhere where you can get a full scholarship makes sense, including McGeorge. I mean, in all reality, the whole point of attending X law school is to get a decent job. In your case, you already have a job waiting for you, so it really doesn't matter much where you go to law school. If you can get out without any debt as well, more power to you. There's really not many good reasons to dump $200k in a t14 if you are sure you are going to want to work at your pop's law firm (and gradually will be taking it over).

Yeah I like the advice of going to SoCal just for the nice living conditions for a few years. I think that is solid advice. Given that you have a job lined up, you can choose entirely based on cost and quality of life, which is a nice spot to be in.

This might sound crazy but do you actually want to work at your dad's firm? By the time you get through school you may realize you have absolutely no interest in the area of law your dad's firms specializes in. With your numbers you can get significant money at a significantly better school in Cali. Sure you might have a little more debt, but you will have more options coming out and can always fall back into your dad's firm if need be. Just something to think about.

jwaters wrote:This might sound crazy but do you actually want to work at your dad's firm? By the time you get through school you may realize you have absolutely no interest in the area of law your dad's firms specializes in. With your numbers you can get significant money at a significantly better school in Cali. Sure you might have a little more debt, but you will have more options coming out and can always fall back into your dad's firm if need be. Just something to think about.

That doesn't sound crazy. In fact, it's the NUMBER ONE question OP should be asking.

If it turns out that dad's firm isn't a fit (what do they do? If it's PI or ID work, OP might very well decide he'd rather split and do something else) then OP is boned with a McGeorge degree. I had similar numbers to OP and got offered an almost full ride from Santa Clara, which is a much better school than McGeorge IMO, so hopefully he gets money elsewhere. He should be in the running for money at Davis too, which would be tons better.

The only way I will endorse going to mcgeorge with those numbers is if OP can get them to GUARANTEE his full ride irrespective of class rank, because McGeorge is notorious for brutal section-stacking to weed out kids with schollies.

Thanks for the thoughts everyone!

Also consider:

What is the GPA cutoff (if any) for keeping your scholarship? Many of those "full ride" scholarships from lower-ranked schools have very high cutoffs, such that you are more likely than not to lose your scholarship.

nealric wrote:Also consider:

What is the GPA cutoff (if any) for keeping your scholarship? Many of those "full ride" scholarships from lower-ranked schools have very high cutoffs, such that you are more likely than not to lose your scholarship.

Mine is top 1/3, I don't know about anyone else's.

Aggiegrad2011 wrote:

nealric wrote:Also consider:

What is the GPA cutoff (if any) for keeping your scholarship? Many of those "full ride" scholarships from lower-ranked schools have very high cutoffs, such that you are more likely than not to lose your scholarship.

Mine is top 1/3, I don't know about anyone else's.

They all should be top 1/3 unless otherwise removed. Top 1/3 last year was ~3.1- 3.2 GPA

Dman wrote:

Aggiegrad2011 wrote:

nealric wrote:Also consider:

What is the GPA cutoff (if any) for keeping your scholarship? Many of those "full ride" scholarships from lower-ranked schools have very high cutoffs, such that you are more likely than not to lose your scholarship.

Mine is top 1/3, I don't know about anyone else's.

They all should be top 1/3 unless otherwise removed. Top 1/3 last year was ~3.1- 3.2 GPA

One of the lucky $30,000 winners so far this year said that it didn't have any stipulations on keeping it, so I dunno.

Mine is top 1/3, I don't know about anyone else's.

I would tell them to either remove that condition or take a hike. Top 2/3 is probably reasonable. Top 1/3 is not.

nealric wrote:

Mine is top 1/3, I don't know about anyone else's.

I would tell them to either remove that condition or take a hike. Top 2/3 is probably reasonable. Top 1/3 is not.

If I end up closer to needing McGeorge I will likely do just that. Dean Barrett seems reasonable enough to work with. But it's still early so... we'll see. =/

nealric wrote:

Mine is top 1/3, I don't know about anyone else's.

I would tell them to either remove that condition or take a hike. Top 2/3 is probably reasonable. Top 1/3 is not.

Even if you can get him down to top-50% you're probably cool, but top-1/3... yeah, no.

Yea...

upon further inspection it's Top 1/3.

Sounds a little redic to me. I'm not going to take it unless they bring it down to Top Half. Why go to McGeorge and risk losing a scholarship, when I can go somewhere else, somewhere higher ranked, not with a full scholarship, but with guaranteed monies none-the-less

NorCalBruin wrote:Yea...

upon further inspection it's Top 1/3.

Sounds a little redic to me. I'm not going to take it unless they bring it down to Top Half. Why go to McGeorge and risk losing a scholarship, when I can go somewhere else, somewhere higher ranked, not with a full scholarship, but with guaranteed monies none-the-less

What's your dad's firm like? (Size, type of work, city, etc.)?

Honestly dude, with your numbers, you might be able to work for a much better firm that does a lot cooler work somewhere else... But not if you go to McGeorge. You've got good chances at UCLA/SC and the lower T14.