Full Ride MSU V.S. 50% Washington and Lee Forum

[Marcisco37]

I have narrowed my choices down to either Michigan State or Washington and Lee. Michigan State offered me Full-Tuition while Washington and Lee offered me 22k/year, the stipends to both scholarships require I remain above a 3.0 which I am not to worried about doing either way. I was just wondering what everyone thought, is the additional money I would have to pay to attend W&L worth it? I am not entirely sure on what type of law I want to go into yet, but at this point I am not very interested in working in a huge firm in a big city but would still like to have options in case I change my mind once I actually start going to law school.

[thexfactor]

I have narrowed my choices down to either Michigan State or Washington and Lee. Michigan State offered me Full-Tuition while Washington and Lee offered me 22k/year, the stipends to both scholarships require I remain above a 3.0 which I am not to worried about doing either way. I was just wondering what everyone thought, is the additional money I would have to pay to attend W&L worth it? I am not entirely sure on what type of law I want to go into yet, but at this point I am not very interested in working in a huge firm in a big city but would still like to have options in case I change my mind once I actually start going to law school.

MSU is very regional. (ie Detroit). Where do you have ties.
WL is the better choice. However, I would retake and try for a better school. What are your stats?

[josh43299]

I have narrowed my choices down to either Michigan State or Washington and Lee. Michigan State offered me Full-Tuition while Washington and Lee offered me 22k/year, the stipends to both scholarships require I remain above a 3.0 which I am not to worried about doing either way. I was just wondering what everyone thought, is the additional money I would have to pay to attend W&L worth it? I am not entirely sure on what type of law I want to go into yet, but at this point I am not very interested in working in a huge firm in a big city but would still like to have options in case I change my mind once I actually start going to law school.

What are the curves for the class at W&L and MSU (what percentages meet the 3.0 requirement)? Where do you want to work/live?

[NoleMatt]

I'm an ignorant 0L and certainly no expert, but I think the only case for MSU would be if you know for sure you want to stay in Michigan. You said you wanted options down the road and I think W&L gives you many more options than MSU.

[cinephile]

How do you know that you'll remain about a 3.0 if you don't what it curves to?

All it takes is one bad grade, misreading the instruction or not having time to finish the final essay, and that can drag you down.

[llachans]

If you're fine staying in Michigan, go MSU.
If you want to remain more flexible and prefer the south, go W&L.

A 3.0 at MSU will be easy to maintain. I'm not sure what W&L curves to.

[thexfactor]

The problem isn't maintaining the scholarship... the problem is getting a job after graduation.

No sense in going to school for 3 years only to be unemployed.

[josh43299]

The problem isn't maintaining the scholarship... the problem is getting a job after graduation.

No sense in going to school for 3 years only to be unemployed.

Yeah, that's true. When making decisions like this, you have to factor in consevative assumptions based on the info available. MSUs past reporting rates for salaries and placement is so awful that it is impossible to conservatively assume anything but unemployment for a complete outsider, IMO.