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So, I'm receiving $10,000 a year from Fordham and I am a California resident looking at sticker for UCLA. However, I have my heart set on living in New York especially because my SO is currently there. Thus, my question is should I go to UCLA for the prestige (but I would still eventually want to work in NYC), take the money at Fordham and live in NY, or retake the LSAT (169 my first try, 3.65 GPA from Ivy, good WE) and shoot for Columbia or NYU? I was planning on taking a service year anyway and deferring if I chose UCLA or Fordham. Thanks for your help/opinions!

I was going to vote UCLA in-state until I saw you want NY. Retake, re-apply. If you don't get CN atleast go for a better scholly at Fordham.

Why no vanderbilt? Cornell? GULC? Michigan??

You have a good shot at getting one of those and they probably suit your career goals alot better.

You could negotiate for more money, since your numbers are very good for Fordham. If you don't mind retaking, that is also an option. I wouldn't pick UCLA, though it's an excellent school, if your heart is set on NYC, just because the networking you can do here is invaluable. As someone who entered without wanting biglaw, that was especially important for me and it may be for you as well.

Negotiate for more money at Fordham. Then defer that scholly/acceptance and retake since you wanted to take the year off anyway. If you dont do any better go to Fordham with that scholly. If you do better aim at Cornell/GULC/Vandy/NYU/Columbia or hell, even more money at Fordham.

If you're deferring, I would suggest retaking. 10K at Fordham would not be enough to make me want to go there ITE. If you're not going to matriculate this year anyway, retake and see what happens. If you get about 4-6 points higher, we're talking CLS or NYU, both of which will give you better job prospects in NYC than Fordham.

getting 10K at Fordham still leaves you with tons of debt. Retake, but if you must right now, probably Fordham.

If you dont want to retake, take UCLA and hope to get off a waitlist. You probably have a fair shot at getting off the vandy or gulc waitlists (if you applied).

The time and effort a person puts into the LSAT pays off exponentially if they get into a better school or get an extra 10K-30K in scholarship money. If you think you have good odds of improving your LSAT score, you should retake it. If 169 is higher than you averaged on practice tests and you don't feel like studying more could help, then a retake is risky and probably a waste of time.