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I have to decide by the weekend if I want to go to Virginia, but be in about $200,000 debt, or go to Alabama and get a full tuition scholarship. I live in west Virginia, so I am pretty close to UVA. I am not sure what type of law I want to get into, but I have a chemistry degree and could get into intellectual property or work in a government agency. I have a 3.9 gpa with an LSAT of 163. Please do not say retake, I studied for about 3 hours a day for over 6 months and took a class and this is the best I can do. I cannot study more than I did, this score is my maximum (my SAT's were a 2000, around 90% as well, so I think this is my limit). Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as I am having a hard time deciding what to do. This is a very big decision and I want to make sure its not a decision that I end up regretting later.

Thank you guys!

You should really retake, but don't go to Alabama unless you're cool with working in that region for a very long time.

definitely retake, a 5-6 point increase can change your circumstances dramatically.

Retake. If you really won't for whatever reason, do UVA.

Do you want to work in Alabama? --> Alabama.
Do you want to work the sort of job that would enable you to pay off $200K in debt --> UVA.
Can you afford to take a year off and retake for the chance of obtaining such a job but with less debt? --> reapply/retake.

What course did you take? If you studied with Kaplan or Princeton Review materials, there's room for improvement. Even if you took one of the good courses, my first suggestion would still be to reevaluate your study approach and retake. A few points would make a world of difference for you.

How did you arrive at the $200K figure, by the way? Did you get some scholarship money? Do you have savings or financial support from family? I ask because if you plan to debt-finance the entire cost of attendance, you will have $275K of debt at the start of repayment, not $200K.

If your debt load would be $275K out of UVA, I wouldn't go to either school. If I were forced to attend one of the two, I'd take my chances with UVA and hope to avoid financial ruin. Alabama's scholarships come with TTT stips, so you really can't consider yourself to have a full-tuition scholarship there. You have a full ride for one year and that's it. Almost half of the last class for which UA has released data (the class entering in the fall of 2011) had their scholarships reduced or eliminated between the first and the second year. A degree from UA will not be portable at all; you will need to be very comfortable with the idea of spending many years in Alabama. Then there's the added concern of the insularity of the Alabama market. If you have no preexisting ties to the state, attending could be an especially risky move. The degree very likely isn't going to get you a job outside of the state; without ties, however, you might struggle badly within the state as well.

andygreen12 wrote:I have to decide by the weekend if I want to go to Virginia, but be in about $200,000 debt, or go to Alabama and get a full tuition scholarship. I live in west Virginia, so I am pretty close to UVA. I am not sure what type of law I want to get into, but I have a chemistry degree and could get into intellectual property or work in a government agency. I have a 3.9 gpa with an LSAT of 163. Please do not say retake, I studied for about 3 hours a day for over 6 months and took a class and this is the best I can do. I cannot study more than I did, this score is my maximum (my SAT's were a 2000, around 90% as well, so I think this is my limit). Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as I am having a hard time deciding what to do. This is a very big decision and I want to make sure its not a decision that I end up regretting later.

Thank you guys!

Your SAT scores are irrelevant as far as predicting LSAT capability.

UVA, since you aren't open to retake. I wouldn't consider Alabama if you aren't from there/familiar with area and want to live there longterm.

Easy decision. UVA. With your background you should have a nice leg in interviews and UVA will give you the connections and opportunities to get face to face with the places you want to work.

Just because you studied a lot of hours doesn't mean you studied correctly.


I don't understand how these are your only two choices with your GPA. Did you apply to school in WVa? Other T14?

The amount of debt you are so casually considering instead of retaking would make me ill- and I have a job.

Alabama for free is not getting you anywhere outside of Alabama. And MAY NOT get you anywhere in Alabama because you aren't from there.
UVa for sticker means biglaw or 20 years of debt. ( not hyperbole)

Which future sounds better to you? If I have to choose: Go to UVa. Alabama will limit you as much as the debt will.

But, seriously, where else did you apply? You might have not gone about this correctly.

It's my understanding that it's very easy to get a firm job out of UVa in Birmingham (and I guess wherever else AL has biglaw?) , even if you have shitty grades (state seems to love UVa grads.)

paulinaporizkova wrote:It's my understanding that it's very easy to get a firm job out of UVa in Birmingham (and I guess wherever else AL has biglaw?) , even if you have shitty grades (state seems to love UVa grads.)

Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery for the record

Louis1127 wrote:

paulinaporizkova wrote:It's my understanding that it's very easy to get a firm job out of UVa in Birmingham (and I guess wherever else AL has biglaw?) , even if you have shitty grades (state seems to love UVa grads.)

Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery for the record

Thanks. I'm a Yankee.

paulinaporizkova wrote:

Louis1127 wrote:

paulinaporizkova wrote:It's my understanding that it's very easy to get a firm job out of UVa in Birmingham (and I guess wherever else AL has biglaw?) , even if you have shitty grades (state seems to love UVa grads.)

Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery for the record

Thanks. I'm a Yankee.

Well if you are down here yourself, welcome. If not if you ever do, I think that you'll find that many folks are very welcoming. Unless you go to like Wilcox County or something

Louis1127 wrote:

paulinaporizkova wrote:

Louis1127 wrote:

paulinaporizkova wrote:It's my understanding that it's very easy to get a firm job out of UVa in Birmingham (and I guess wherever else AL has biglaw?) , even if you have shitty grades (state seems to love UVa grads.)

Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery for the record

Thanks. I'm a Yankee.

Well if you are down here yourself, welcome. If not if you ever do, I think that you'll find that many folks are very welcoming. Unless you go to like Wilcox County or something

Hah, thanks. The closest I will probably ever get to Alabama is attending Uva Law. But I do have a friend who works in Birmingham and he is a good guy.

Retake. UVA at that cost is too expensive for someone with that GPA and Alabama makes no sense.

How is Alabama at a full ride a bad option if the OP is ok with working in the deep south? Don't know if he is, just wondering. I know, I know, there are stipulations. But if he won't retake, that cost with his numbers seems to be a decent option.

Louis1127 wrote:

paulinaporizkova wrote:It's my understanding that it's very easy to get a firm job out of UVa in Birmingham (and I guess wherever else AL has biglaw?) , even if you have shitty grades (state seems to love UVa grads.)

Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery for the record

I don't know which is the worse city, Montgomery or Mobile. I'm leaning towards Montgomery because at least Mobile is near the beach and New Orleans.

Bama needs to get rid of that top 40% stttip. Its the only t30 still pulling that shit.

ImNoScar wrote:Retake. If you really won't for whatever reason, do UVA.

Yeah...this is a mess. Ask 'Bama if you can defer, and if they will hold the scholly for you. Look into their deferral policy - namely to determine whether your deferral is restricted. If not, defer at 'Bama, retake the LSAT and reapply to UVA.

I wouldn't go to 'Bama knowing that you are good enough for a top-10 school, but I wouldn't go to any school sticker outside of HYS.

''Bama should be used as a last resort, or as a safety net at best.

jselson wrote:

Louis1127 wrote:

paulinaporizkova wrote:It's my understanding that it's very easy to get a firm job out of UVa in Birmingham (and I guess wherever else AL has biglaw?) , even if you have shitty grades (state seems to love UVa grads.)

Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery for the record

I don't know which is the worse city, Montgomery or Mobile. I'm leaning towards Montgomery because at least Mobile is near the beach and New Orleans.

You guessed right! Montgomery is worse than Mobile.

.

The job market in Alabama is small and competitive IIRC.
Also, did OP mean he had to decide by last weekend or this weekend?
I would like to see what he decided.

Since OP is not from Alabama, he should not go to Alabama. Even if he performs well, he will still be at a disadvantage when looking for jobs in Birmingham or other places relative to people with similar credentials who are firmly rooted in the area.

Best option is retake. If OP won't retake, he should go to UVA.