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So far, the top school to which I've been accepted is Vandy. I have a 3.3 and a 170 with one retake left. I've been wait listed at Duke and Penn, and ED held from Northwestern. I'm still waiting on UVA, Michigan, Georgetown, and Cornell.

My question is, should I switch to ED at UVA? I feel like this will increase my chances, though I'm not sure how that looks switching after I applied in early December.

I want Biglaw, or I want to somehow land up working a public interest job in DC. I realize these are very different, but I know UVA gives me a better shot at this than Vandy. I want to end up working in NY DC or a midwestern city like Pittsburgh or Chicago.

I know I'll likely end up paying sticker at UVA, but I assume that's what would happen if I were accepted RD, anyways. I would attend at sticker.

Any advice on this would be appreciated!

monsterman wrote:So far, the top school to which I've been accepted is Vandy. I have a 3.3 and a 170 with one retake left. I've been wait listed at Duke and Penn, and ED held from Northwestern. I'm still waiting on UVA, Michigan, Georgetown, and Cornell.

My question is, should I switch to ED at UVA? I feel like this will increase my chances, though I'm not sure how that looks switching after I applied in early December.

I want Biglaw, or I want to somehow land up working a public interest job in DC. I realize these are very different, but I know UVA gives me a better shot at this than Vandy. I want to end up working in NY DC or a midwestern city like Pittsburgh or Chicago.

I know I'll likely end up paying sticker at UVA, but I assume that's what would happen if I were accepted RD, anyways. I would attend at sticker.

Any advice on this would be appreciated!

If you don't mind paying sticker, sure.

Pittsburgh is in the Midwest???

BigZuck wrote:

monsterman wrote:So far, the top school to which I've been accepted is Vandy. I have a 3.3 and a 170 with one retake left. I've been wait listed at Duke and Penn, and ED held from Northwestern. I'm still waiting on UVA, Michigan, Georgetown, and Cornell.

My question is, should I switch to ED at UVA? I feel like this will increase my chances, though I'm not sure how that looks switching after I applied in early December.

I want Biglaw, or I want to somehow land up working a public interest job in DC. I realize these are very different, but I know UVA gives me a better shot at this than Vandy. I want to end up working in NY DC or a midwestern city like Pittsburgh or Chicago.

I know I'll likely end up paying sticker at UVA, but I assume that's what would happen if I were accepted RD, anyways. I would attend at sticker.

Any advice on this would be appreciated!

If you don't mind paying sticker, sure.

Pittsburgh is in the Midwest???

Haha I'm from there. That's the general consensus

But also, is it worth sticker at UVA? I will be taking loans.

I'd probably ED to UVA. You'll be working a lot of biglaw, but if you're cool with that, then sure.

Ride out the WLs, don't ED IMO. $200,000 is a lot of money. Your 170 is valuable, some T14 will decide they want it bad enough to pay you. Sincerely, a UVA 1L who ED'd.

North wrote:Ride out the WLs, don't ED IMO. $200,000 is a lot of money. Your 170 is valuable, some T14 will decide they want it bad enough to pay you. Sincerely, a UVA 1L who ED'd.

I agree. Be patient and ride out WL's. Plenty of people had $ thrown at them off the WL last cycle during the summer. The cycle is nowhere close to over, you can always ED next cycle, and you could even retake the LSAT in June to boost your chances.

I don't like the idea of sticker debt, either, but the difference between what OP gets at Cornell or Northwestern seems unlikely to be exponentially better than UVA at sticker.

I guess I'd probably hold out until late Feb before EDing.

monsterman wrote:But also, is it worth sticker at UVA? I will be taking loans.

Sticker at UVA is absurd.

Signed, sticker UVA alum.

Of course this is assuming that you don't have a high enough current income to pay sticker without it being an issue. Looking at your numbers riding waitlists will probably pay off.

I thought the whole premise was "I would attend at sticker."

Now it's "Should I pay sticker?"

If that's the case then no. I wouldn't pay sticker at UVA. Don't ED.

Thanks, guys. I've been under the impression that a WL was a death knoll. I guess I will be comfortable waiting out the cycle and waiting until next year/retaking if nothing appealing opens.

I guess my biggest concern is that I will get offered sticker regardless of RD/ED no matter what T-14 I get accepted to. Is there really a chance I get $ with my numbers? At any T-14 school.

BigZuck wrote:I thought the whole premise was "I would attend at sticker."

Now it's "Should I pay sticker?"

If that's the case then no. I wouldn't pay sticker at UVA. Don't ED.

Yeah, I mean I will if that's my best option. I thought in opportunity cost it would make sense long-term. But TLS says otherwise.

My understanding is that UVA often makes waitlist offers at/after May 1. If you were to call at or around this time and tell them you were committed if they offered (i.e., essentially you "ED'd") I think it would have the same effect as EDing right now. With that said, as everyone has indicated, you should probably not expect money if you take that path.

monsterman wrote:I guess my biggest concern is that I will get offered sticker regardless of RD/ED no matter what T-14 I get accepted to.

That's the trap.

monsterman wrote:Is there really a chance I get $ with my numbers? At any T-14 school.

Yes.

Any $ at T20's?

Trout et al wrote:Any $ at T20's?

Almost a full-ride at WUSTL. But in the long-term, won't a T14 make more sense/open more doors?

monsterman wrote:

Trout et al wrote:Any $ at T20's?

Almost a full-ride at WUSTL. But in the long-term, won't a T14 make more sense/open more doors?

Maybe, but will it open $200,000+ worth of doors?

Clearly wrote:

monsterman wrote:

Trout et al wrote:Any $ at T20's?

Almost a full-ride at WUSTL. But in the long-term, won't a T14 make more sense/open more doors?

Maybe, but will it open $200,000+ worth of doors?

That's what I'm asking you guys haha. But again, I'm trying to think decades down the road, and I don't want to be hindered by a lesser-named school.

monsterman wrote: That's what I'm asking you guys haha. But again, I'm trying to think decades down the road, and I don't want to be hindered by a lesser-named school.

The name of a T20 isn't going to hinder you decades down the road (though 250k in debt will), it's getting a job when you graduate that you should be worried about. Spend some time looking at Law School Transparency. It's a risk/reward tradeoff. UVA sends 50% of the class to Biglaw and Fed Clerkships, and WUSTL sends about 25%. How much are you personally willing to pay for that?

Definitely think about your backup plans at various levels of debt if you don't get Biglaw.

monsterman wrote:

Clearly wrote:

monsterman wrote:

Trout et al wrote:Any $ at T20's?

Almost a full-ride at WUSTL. But in the long-term, won't a T14 make more sense/open more doors?

Maybe, but will it open $200,000+ worth of doors?

That's what I'm asking you guys haha. But again, I'm trying to think decades down the road, and I don't want to be hindered by a lesser-named school.

From what I can tell, it doesn't matter decades down the road, it matters during your summers and after you graduate. If you land biglaw from WUSTL I can't imagine your lateral options would be much different than someone who went to UVA.

Sticker at UVA is pretty crazy.

I bet if you ride out the wait list you will end up getting into a T14 with like $30 or $45k--which is a ton of money in real terms
Another option is that you could attend a pretty good school on a full scholarship

You should go to a T14, IMO, as they offer the best bet at a good outcome from LS. What I, at least, was getting at is that you'll likely get money from at least one of them and should wait for that. Don't ED to UVA doesn't mean take $$ at a T20 instead.

By the way, be very active on these waitlist. You'll get one of them.

Did you apply to CCN?

Sticker outside of HYS blows, but your stats and results thus far are not very good. I would probably wait it out a couple more weeks. If you can snag at least Cornell or something then there is no need to ED. On the other hand, if you are sufficiently debt-averse then I can't see you getting schollies big enough to compete with that WUSTL $$$. Then again I probably wouldn't go to Woostle if I wanted big law. Tough call.

I didn't apply to CCN, I didn't think I had a chance. Though from a public interest standpoint, I guess I may have a better shot at NYU instead of Penn, especially because that's my background. But thanks, everyone. I will wait a couple weeks and see what plays out first!