Top Law Schools

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You can always retake. You should either be going to Bama for free or T14.

Rather than giving the scholarships, can you list the total cost of attendance at each school?
Also, do any of those scholarships come with stips?

Do you have a preference about where you want to end up?

Why can't you retake?

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2012Lsatscore wrote:

timbs4339 wrote:Why can't you retake?

Sweet baby Jesus! Because I can't! I maxed out 3 retakes to get the 164. I wanted the 165; it didn't happen. Period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuAUI_0knfk

I wish I knew more about these places so I could offer more advice, but I think general wisdom would be take the most money.
I know you don't want to make this into a LSAT pity party, and I truly do apologize if you've made your mind up completely and just want this to drop, but when are you eligible for your next retake? Later this year or a year after that? If you only have to sit out one cycle then it would definitely be worth it. I'm sure you can convince some people who tutor for a living to throw you some free tutoring, hint hint.

If you go, go for as close to free as you can. All of these schools are like buying power ball tickets. You might as well buy the cheapest ticket because you're probably not going to win anyway.

You'd probably be best off not going/applying later so you can retake.

2012Lsatscore wrote:Here are the estimated COA numbers per year listed by the schools:

W&L: $64,555 -$30,000 =$34,555

UGA: $34,924 (assuming equalizer)

Florida: $40,785.90 ($21,421.20 2/3L) -$12,000 = $28,875/$9421

Florida State: $57,200.00 ($37,636.00 2/3L) -$15,000 = $42,220/$22,636

WF: $59,775 -$35,000 =$24,775

Definitely WF or Florida (Make sure you get in-state as 2L)

Florida is cheaper but WF seems to have slightly better employment prospects

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... &show=NALP
http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=wake&show=NALP

Any ties to either region or preference in living in 1 or the other school?
You should probably expect to work near or probably in the state of the school you attend.

2012Lsatscore wrote:Here are the estimated COA numbers per year listed by the schools:

W&L: $64,555 -$30,000 =$34,555

UGA: $34,924 (assuming equalizer)

Florida: $40,785.90 ($21,421.20 2/3L) -$12,000 = $28,875/$9421

Florida State: $57,200.00 ($37,636.00 2/3L) -$15,000 = $42,220/$22,636

WF: $59,775 -$35,000 =$24,775

I am biased toward W&L. A UG friend got her JD from there and today she is doing extremely well in D.C. She always speaks very highly of W&L, so for that reason. . . W&L.

2012Lsatscore wrote:If I am dinged by UA, I really don't have a preference for the market I work in. It will be a complete fresh start. I will say, though, I really am not a fan of Florida's weather so it would be a pain to live there.

Just out of curiosity, how is FL weather different from AL weather? I lived in SW FL, never been to Alabama... I have to imagine the Panhandle at least is pretty similar to Alabama, no?

2012Lsatscore wrote:

timbs4339 wrote:Why can't you retake?

Sweet baby Jesus! Because I can't! I maxed out 3 retakes to get the 164. I wanted the 165; it didn't happen. Period.

Calm down. I'm asking because a lot of times the response is simply "but I just don't wanna study for the test again, I tried it once and don't think I can do any better."

2012Lsatscore wrote:

timbs4339 wrote:Why can't you retake?

Sweet baby Jesus! Because I can't! I maxed out 3 retakes to get the 164. I wanted the 165; it didn't happen. Period.

You took it three times or you took it and then had three retakes? If the former, you can request LSAC to take it a fourth time.

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So everything that sucks about Florida plus another natural disaster to deal with?

2012Lsatscore wrote:Here are the estimated COA numbers per year listed by the schools:

W&L: $64,555 -$30,000 =$34,555

UGA: $34,924 (assuming equalizer)

Florida: $40,785.90 ($21,421.20 2/3L) -$12,000 = $28,875/$9421

Florida State: $57,200.00 ($37,636.00 2/3L) -$15,000 = $42,220/$22,636

WF: $59,775 -$35,000 =$24,775

The number you have for Florida is just tuition. Once you factor in cost of living the number is closer to $56,000. It's also my understanding that Florida is tougher to obtain in-state status in the 2L and 3L (compared to UGA). I love UF but it seems like there is a reason why only 10% of the student body is comprised of out of state students. Given Florida's dreadful legal market, UF makes absolutely no sense unless you are in state (and with money), or you are 100% dead set on practicing in the state of Florida; in which case you'll likely have over $100,000 in debt in a state that is hurting.

I honestly think you have a good shot at Alabama with some money. If this is indeed your first choice you should be set (given your numbers and this particular admissions cycle). That being said, I would think you could leverage some more cash from Wake and maybe W&L.

Florida is very parochial IMO

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2012Lsatscore wrote:Here are the estimated COA numbers per year listed by the schools:

W&L: $64,555 -$30,000 =$34,555

UGA: $34,924 (assuming equalizer)

Florida: $40,785.90 ($21,421.20 2/3L) -$12,000 = $28,875/$9421

Florida State: $57,200.00 ($37,636.00 2/3L) -$15,000 = $42,220/$22,636

WF: $59,775 -$35,000 =$24,775

I'm not exactly sure how you're computing UF and FSU scholarships, but they are almost certainly in the form of in-state waivers, which means you're doubling up on at least some of the scholarship money in the calculations.

Graduates from UF and FSU combined for 62% employment at median salary of $50,000 for those reporting (about half). What they (and other schools also do this) typically do is offer you a tuition differential waiver (say, worth $45k over three years), that is actually only worth the differential for 1L since you can get residency after the first year, and is actually actually not worth anything because they offer it to just about everyone. This allows them to report high levels of "scholarship" even though they really have just moved some 1' sand 0's around. Assuming those are in-state waivers, your COAs for UF and FSU will look closer to ~$130k over three years, which is more in line with what you can expect at the other schools listed above.

As for the rest of these, W&L seems the best, but I think Bama, even at sticker, is by far (strong emphasis) your best bet. The only real question is whether it will get relatively more competitive at schools like Bama (with relatively superior employment outcomes) this year in light of employment data becoming more transparent, but that's another topic for discussion.

Once you get your Alabama acceptance, be sure to wave the other scholarships around and try to haggle for lower tuition. Here's a guy on LSN last cycle who had a similar list of schools as you with Bama as his #1 choice all along, and went from sticker to significantly discounted tuition.

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I recommend emailing them both immediately and asking if you can combine this $$/yr in 2L and 3L with in-state tuition. If so, those are above average offers from both schools.

Especially if those offers are real (with in-state on top of it), I'd use them to lobby some merit aid from Bama. Personally I think Bama for $60k is a good investment, but Bama for $50k or $45 or even $30k is even better. Even for $59k, that's $1,000 in real money you won't have to repay later, and the worst they can say is no.

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2012Lsatscore wrote:I will defiantly take your advice when/if I get into UA.

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