Tough Decision Forum

[mikel5400]

Hi,

I am currently choosing among several schools. School A has given me 17,500 scholarship with a 3.0 stip. School B has offered me 7,500 with a top 40 percent stip (50 percent for half). School C is a state school with in state tuition.

Is there any way to negotiate a higher scholarship for school A? Each school is ranked somewhat similiarly. Can I use the state school tuition combined with financial harship as leverage to be reconsidered for a higher scholarship from school A? Can I say that school B will end up costing much less when considering housing (and its slightly better ranking)?

Finally, what advice do people have for stipulation negotiation? I don't want to come across as a slacker or someone with low expectations, because I am and will try to do my best and be at the top of the class. With that being said, law school is sometimes unpredictable, and I can't afford to lose the money and pay full tuition for the second or third years. Is there a proper way to word or go about this, and does anyone ever have luck with this?

Thanks so much for any information.

[bdole2]

Dude you have a 3.95 gpa? You should definitely retake the LSAT.

Also, Hofstra (school B) at that price is garbage. Just try negotiating with Syracuse (School A).

[aekea]

Hi,

I am currently choosing among several schools. School A has given me 17,500 scholarship with a 3.0 stip. School B has offered me 7,500 with a top 40 percent stip (50 percent for half). School C is a state school with in state tuition.

Is there any way to negotiate a higher scholarship for school A? Each school is ranked somewhat similiarly. Can I use the state school tuition combined with financial harship as leverage to be reconsidered for a higher scholarship from school A? Can I say that school B will end up costing much less when considering housing (and its slightly better ranking)?

Finally, what advice do people have for stipulation negotiation? I don't want to come across as a slacker or someone with low expectations, because I am and will try to do my best and be at the top of the class. With that being said, law school is sometimes unpredictable, and I can't afford to lose the money and pay full tuition for the second or third years. Is there a proper way to word or go about this, and does anyone ever have luck with this?

Thanks so much for any information.

You're being pretty vague, so I'm not sure how good the advice you're going to get here will be. But, I can say generally, that yes, you can use a lower cost of attendance at one school to leverage money at another school, even if the latter is giving you more money. I don't know how likely you are to succeed, but there's no reason not to try. I don't know anything about negotiating stipulations, but you should definitely try to get rid of those. That being said, it's hard to give you specific advice when we don't know what schools you're talking about. If you're not comfortable sharing the school names at least clarify the following things.

1. Are the scholarships per year? Or is that the total scholarship money?
2. What is the GPA median at School A?
3. What will be the total cost of attendance at these schools.

[mikel5400]

Each school has a very similar COA.

Syracuse is school A, Hofstra is school B, and Buffalo is school C.

The median GPA at the schools is a 2.8. Any advice for scholarship and/or stipulation negotiating?

[aekea]

Each school has a very similar COA.

Syracuse is school A, Hofstra is school B, and Buffalo is school C.

The median GPA at the schools is a 2.8. Any advice for scholarship and/or stipulation negotiating?

Sorry, I thought you were saying in your original post, that Buffalo has a lower cost of attendance so you were wondering if you could leverage that to negotiate scholarships with the other schools. Is that not the case?

Also, are those scholarships the total for three years? Or are those per year amounts?

[Lincoln]

Retake LSAT, go to Cornell.

[JasonR]

Dude you have a 3.95 gpa? You should definitely retake the LSAT.

If you do have that GPA, listen to the rest of his post. Don't waste your time and money on those shithole law schools. Those scholarships are weak with those stips, and job prospects from any of those schools are bad. You face a real risk of being buried under crushing debt without any chance at finding a decent job. Don't waste that GPA.

[Gail]

I'll trade you GPAs for 2 LSAT points.

[timbs4339]

With that being said, law school is sometimes unpredictable, and I can't afford to lose the money and pay full tuition for the second or third years. Is there a proper way to word or go about this, and does anyone ever have luck with this?

Thanks so much for any information.

Retake.