Top Law Schools

So, I was offered a scholarship from a school with the requirement of maintaining a 2.9 GPA. I am only now learning about curves so I am not certain whether or not this is an unreasonable request from the school and if I'm at risk for losing the scholarship. For reference, here is the school's GPA rundown(?) I obtained from nalplawschools.org.



Am I setting myself up to lose the scholarship or could I maintain it with the normal amount of work a responsible student would expend at school?

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sublime wrote:Are those cutoffs for graduating 3L's or 1L's? I would pm or ask someone who goes to the specific school.

I'm guessing these are for the 3Ls if they are for the graduating class (of 3Ls), that's a good idea tho, these cutoffs may very well differ for the 1Ls

The cutoffs at many schools will be lower for 1L's, although not necessarily by that much. Even if we assume that the 1L cutoffs are the same as those listed, the stip requires you to finish in roughly the top 70%. That borders on unreasonable for me unless you are willing to drop out if you lose the scholarship.

Based on those #s for 3Ls, I'd expect the 1L # to be 3.0-3.1, so a 2.9 is probably top 60-67%. Obviosly the majority will keep their money, but IME 1/3 to 2/5 losing money is pretty high. What range of school is it?

BVest wrote:Based on those #s for 3Ls, I'd expect the 1L # to be 3.0-3.1, so a 2.9 is probably top 60-67%. Obviosly the majority will keep their money, but IME 1/3 to 2/5 losing money is pretty high. What range of school is it?

It's near the bottom of the top 50. I will find 1Ls for recent cutoffs and go from there. Top 70% sounds totally manageable at this point but what do I know

Total debt if kept?

Total debt if lost?

Negotiate it down. If you don't keep it, drop out but even saying you'll finish in the top 70% means there's a large risk of not.

Nova wrote:Total debt if kept?

Total debt if lost?

total tuition costs for three years if kept: 40k
if lost first semester: like a 100k+

eek that's awful when you calculate it out.

I will definitely try to goldeneye

BTW, here are a couple good resources:

https://officialguide.lsac.org/Release/ ... ation.aspx
By clicking on the school you want to see you and then clicking the "ABA Data" box in the upper right of the profile page, you can find data on what percentage of the entire student body has some form of grant.

Then:
http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/re ... olarships/
This list shows you what percentage of a school's 1L conditional scholarships end up being non-renewed. But take note, if a school has both conditional and unconditional scholarships, this list shows only the conditional ones, so compare to the ABA data above.

For example, SMU shows just 11 conditional scholarships, 3 of which were reduced or terminated. But SMU offers far more than 11 scholarships, with about 2/3s of their students getting grants. The reason for the difference is that only 11 of their scholarships (the ones that are full or near-full tuition) have a condition. The rest merely require that you remain in good academic standing.

On the other hand, 23% of UF 1Ls were on conditional scholarships, and 22% of those scholarship students either lost their scholarship or had it reduced. Compare that with the fact that only 30% of the entire UF student body is on scholarship, and that tells you that most of the students getting $$ from Florida are on a stip that's probably around top 75%.

Seems reasonable; they just don't want to finance people who have virtually mega-million type odds at getting a job.

BVest wrote:BTW, here are a couple good resources:

https://officialguide.lsac.org/Release/ ... ation.aspx
By clicking on the school you want to see you and then clicking the "ABA Data" box in the upper right of the profile page, you can find data on what percentage of the entire student body has some form of grant.

Then:
http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/re ... olarships/
This list shows you what percentage of a school's 1L conditional scholarships end up being non-renewed. But take note, if a school has both conditional and unconditional scholarships, this list shows only the conditional ones, so compare to the ABA data above.

For example, SMU shows just 11 conditional scholarships, 3 of which were reduced or terminated. But SMU offers far more than 11 scholarships, with about 2/3s of their students getting grants. The reason for the difference is that only 11 of their scholarships (the ones that are full or near-full tuition) have a condition. The rest merely require that you remain in good academic standing.

On the other hand, 23% of UF 1Ls were on conditional scholarships, and 22% of those scholarship students either lost their scholarship or had it reduced. Compare that with the fact that only 30% of the entire UF student body is on scholarship, and that tells you that most of the students getting $$ from Florida are on a stip that's probably around top 75%.

Wow this is massively helpful, just found a treasure trove of information on the school's merit aid mechanics. As tiago said it is about the top 70%. Thanks a ton

Isn't part of the consideration that for a school that would have a stip like this, not staying in the top 70% would mean it is probably not wise to stay enrolled even if for free? Therefore, the stip itself is meaningless because if it becomes a problem, OP has bigger problems?

0L. Not touting the above as truth, asking if y'all would view it that way.

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