Top Law Schools

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You need to post total cost of attendance...

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Both sound like way too much debt. If it were Alabama for free and you wanted to stay in Alabama, I'd might (just might) say yes. But at 100k, no. But 200k for Northwestern also is a scary option. Also, you should be taking into account interest and tuition increases.

Why not take a year to work and save and retake the LSAT and reapply?

Alabama very very likely wont get you to DC. Your most likely outcome would be small law in Alabama or a surrounding state. If you aren't cool with that, dont go to Alabama.

Also please answer these:

TLS wrote:-The schools you are considering
-Where you are from and where you want to work (Other than DC), and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
-How many times you have taken the LSAT

Northwestern is the better option imho, Alabama isn't offering you enough of a scholarship to consider it. Cinephile is right though, NU at sticker is a scary option, and one that you'll want to think about long and hard before taking. Retaking the LSAT might be your best option. I would say if you are dead set on law school right now though, forget Alabama and go with NU.

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Moved to appropriate forum.

bethanyrose09 wrote:Another thing I have been thinking about is transferring after my first year. I'd like to go to a top 5-- preferably Yale. That being said, I've heard transferring is all about your grades. Do you think it would be better to go to Alabama where it would be less competitive -- but of course not as highly ranked--or NW where it is definitely more competitive but better ranked? What would increase my transferring chances the most?

Bad plan. Transferring up is very difficult. Its very unlikely it will work out. You shouldnt assume you will do significantly better at NU than Bama. You should assume your grades will be around median, because thats the most likely outcome from either school.

But here you go anyway,

To transfer into HYS you need:
-top 5-10% at a Top 20
-top 5% at T1
-top 1% at a mid-upper T2


To transfer into the T14 you need:
-top 10-15% at T1, top 5-10% for CCN
-top 5-10% at a T2, top 5% for CCN
-top 1-2% at a T3/T4

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 27&t=82937

Tough position to be in. Are there seriously no other schools to consider? GW maybe?

Considering your GPA/LSAT, retaking the LSAT is the only reasonable choice you have.

if you're dead set DC you may want to take a year so that you can take the LSAT again...... I am not sure of NUs placement in DC but if you are dead set DC neither option seems optimal, did you apply to GULC or GW?

What do you want to do with your JD?


Eta: retake > NU > AU if you prefer to accomplish your goals

Retake > AU > NU if you are debt averse

bethanyrose09 wrote:Another thing I have been thinking about is transferring after my first year. I'd like to go to a top 5-- preferably Yale. That being said, I've heard transferring is all about your grades. Do you think it would be better to go to Alabama where it would be less competitive -- but of course not as highly ranked--or NW where it is definitely more competitive but better ranked? What would increase my transferring chances the most?

With your 3.85, it would be a hell of a lot easier to get into YLS by retaking the LSAT than by transferring. And since the first option is still extremely difficult, you can infer what that means as to the second option. Even the person at the very top of UA's class probably wouldn't be able to transfer into YLS (which largely siphons off top students from T14 schools and a few others).

More to the point, it's unlikely you would end up being able to transfer anywhere from Alabama. Never go to a school that you wouldn't be happy to graduate from. If you do manage to transfer up, you're going to be paying sticker for your last two years -- a problem that could be avoided by reapplying with a higher LSAT.

Also, how did you come up with these cost figures? Are you getting some parental assistance? Do you have savings? I realize you didn't include interest (which you should, because at ~7.6% it will pile up quickly, and this interest starts accruing from the first day), but your numbers still seem low for NU. Just so you're aware, your debt from NU at repayment would be in the neighborhood of $290K.

Just to be sure, OP, are you actually from Alabama?

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bethanyrose09 wrote:What do you mean transferring up is difficult? Why would anyone transfer down? I've heard a lot of success stories. A buddy of mine went to George Mason and was in the top 11% and transferred to Chicago. I've also heard of ppl from schools ranked 50 or lower transferring to yale. Where did you get these stats? Thanks for the info!

Click the link. Its a guide to transferring

People transfer laterally sometimes for personal reasons. My friend transferred down cause he was at the bottom of the class and wanted to reset his GPA rather than drop out.

bethanyrose09 wrote:Thanks for the info. I knew my estimate was conservative for NU... but I didn't think it would be close to 300K. Is that just because of the interest?

Yes, because of interest.

Would a school increase my scholarship if I did really well the first year and got accepted to a higher ranked school? Or is that unheard of? Do any schools increase scholarships after the first yr ?

It happens, but not usually. Also, you probably wont be at the top of your class. Nothing personal. Thats just how it goes.

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Which way are you leaning?

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Guy says he can't retake, already took the LSAT 3 times.

IDK why you took the LSAT 3 whole times and didn't spend at least a few hours on these forums first. You would have gotten so much information you're now getting in the form of answers. You would've known it already.

Sucks you can't retake. I would never rely on being at the top of your class, because anything could happen notwithstanding the fact that you're obviously going to be the smartest 1L.

rftdd888 wrote:Guy says he can't retake, already took the LSAT 3 times.

IDK why you took the LSAT 3 whole times and didn't spend at least a few hours on these forums first. You would have gotten so much information you're now getting in the form of answers. You would've known it already.

Sucks you can't retake. I would never rely on being at the top of your class, because anything could happen notwithstanding the fact that you're obviously going to be the smartest 1L.

He can take a 4th time if his first LSAT was more than 2 years ago.

ManoftheHour wrote:

rftdd888 wrote:Guy says he can't retake, already took the LSAT 3 times.

IDK why you took the LSAT 3 whole times and didn't spend at least a few hours on these forums first. You would have gotten so much information you're now getting in the form of answers. You would've known it already.

Sucks you can't retake. I would never rely on being at the top of your class, because anything could happen notwithstanding the fact that you're obviously going to be the smartest 1L.

He can take a 4th time if his first LSAT was more than 2 years ago.

He could be the 4 try killer like a few people I know