Top Law Schools

Both are in San diego so COL are similar.
I have a full ride with books to cal western and got $21,000 from USD.

I know they aren't anywhere near the same caliber of schools but...
Is university of San diego good enough to pay an additional $70,000?

no

no

no

Yes, USD will have much better job prospects than Western and isn't tuition at USD 41k? in which case the difference would be more like 60k?

FAR262 wrote:Yes, USD will have much better job prospects than Western and isn't tuition at USD 41k? in which case the difference would be more like 60k?

The tuition on my financial aid package was 42500, I left some room for inflation. So between 60-70,000

What are the scholarship stipulations from each school? This information might change some opinions around here.

University of San Diego is top 30%

Cal western has a tiered scholarship after the first year.
GPA of 82 and over is full tuition
GPA of 80 and over is half tuition
GPA of 78 and over is 1/4 tuition

borderlinecreep wrote:University of San Diego is top 30%

Cal western has a tiered scholarship after the first year.
GPA of 82 and over is full tuition
GPA of 80 and over is half tuition
GPA of 78 and over is 1/4 tuition

Top 30% is difficult. I had a similar stipulation from USD last year, and that was a large factor in my decision to go somewhere else. Do you know what percentiles 82, 80, and 78 are? If it's equally difficult to keep, I would definitely choose USD. This is because no one knows how they'll do in law school. Even if your numbers are far above the medians and work your butt off, you could still end up around or below median. If you lost your scholarship from USD, you'd still be going to the best school in the city, although you would be in more debt. However, if you lost your scholarship, or even part of it, at Cal Western, you could end up costing around the same amount. I'm not saying that you won't be at the top of your class, I just don't think it's something anyone can count on. Idk, just something to think about.

I just found out my stipulations at usd are top 50% actually. Would that make a huge difference in the decision process. I was going to get in touch with california western and see if I could negotiate the stipulations though..

borderlinecreep wrote:I just found out my stipulations at usd are top 50% actually. Would that make a huge difference in the decision process. I was going to get in touch with california western and see if I could negotiate the stipulations though..

USD is definitely the better choice, however you are still very much gambling. I feel like I would be remiss not to tow the TLS party line: Retake/Reapply. If you could get close to full (even 3/4) for USD, then it would be a pretty safe bet, still not as good as most TLSers would want, but good enough for your average law student with strictly regional aspirations.

I am a 0L and I do not want to get the masses angry at me, but...


definitely go to USD if you want to work in San Diego. Especially with a scholarship of about 1/2 tuition

Go to USD.

Go to USD. Maintaining an 80+ at Cal Western is not impossible, but very difficult since I believe the majority of the grades for each class must fall between 75-79. May not be 100% accurate but they have an awful attrition rate.

I believe USD to be the lesser of the two evils in this scenerio.

RETAKE and don't look back.