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Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 11:22 am
by Ngoblue2014
Second deposited to BU after getting a scholarship bump to around 2/3 tuition. Was one of my last applications and sort of a "throw in" in mid February. Was pretty much set on Emory/Minnesota/UNC/GW before making threads on this board. After some research I feel it was the best possible decision. Below I have listed my final 4 with COA (keep in mind my family has paid for all of law school and expenses so no debt) If anyone has a strong opinion against or for my decision, I would appreciate it. Otherwise, thanks for all the advice!
BC: COA 98k
BU: COA 89k
UNC: COA 70k
GW: COA 159k
Goals: Big law if I can, but if not that's ok, go back home work for family business and start own practice.
From: Michigan, ties to Boston, Chicago, all of Mich. somewhat Miami/NYC
Financing: College fund started in early 90s will easily cover tuition, parents paying living expenses.
Numbers: 165 3.3 from top 5 public in the world. Retaking June 9th because there is no risk to doing so. (If i hit 168 I will reapply or better)
I feel offers outperformed numbers, though softs are uniquely strong.
If you voted "NO" in the poll please add where I should go instead
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 11:24 am
by anyriotgirl
bro you know the deal. you gotta tell us where you want to lawyer, etc. before anyone can evaluate these choices.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 11:25 am
by Hutz_and_Goodman
More info is needed:
1. your numbers
2. where do you have ties?
3. goals for after law school
anything else that is relevant
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 11:30 am
by Ngoblue2014
Edited*
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 11:47 am
by Winston1984
Is Boston where you want to practice?
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 11:48 am
by Ngoblue2014
Yea i wouldn't mind, but of my options BU seems to have the most "mobility." NYC/DC/Boston are all relatively reasonable out of BU it seems from the LST report. Actually about 12% of last years class ended up in California too
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:03 pm
by Winston1984
Ngoblue2014 wrote:Yea i wouldn't mind, but of my options BU seems to have the most "mobility." NYC/DC/Boston are all relatively reasonable out of BU it seems from the LST report. Actually about 12% of last years class ended up in California too
I wouldn't count on anything besides MA/NY. If your goal is geographic mobility, then BU isn't a great choice. But it seems like you are cool with working in Boston. Personally, if I were you and hit 167 on the retake, I'd sit out one more time. If you don't need tuition money, will your parents just give you that money?
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:09 pm
by Ngoblue2014
To sit out a year? depends. They hate the idea of a retake and really like BU, my dad is getting old (65) and wants me to come home while he is still running his company, so the idea of a year delay and more trips around the country (plus the anxiety of an app cycle which i think actually worried my parents even more than me haha) is not something they're happy about at all. Which is why i was able to negotiate 168 or better i can reapply with their support. So the goal is 168
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:12 pm
by Otunga
Ngoblue2014 wrote:To sit out a year? depends. They hate the idea of a retake and really like BU, my dad is getting old (65) and wants me to come home while he is still running his company, so the idea of a year delay and more trips around the country (plus the anxiety of an app cycle which i think actually worried my parents even more than me haha) is not something they're happy about at all. Which is why i was able to negotiate 168 or better i can reapply with their support. So the goal is 168
I would say that 168 is a good threshold anyway. 3.3 166-167 probably doesn't get that much better offers relative to your numbers now, at least not better enough to sit out.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:12 pm
by Winston1984
I meant if you got a full ride would they give you 90k? Or is that only for tuition purposes?
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:16 pm
by Winston1984
Otunga wrote:Ngoblue2014 wrote:To sit out a year? depends. They hate the idea of a retake and really like BU, my dad is getting old (65) and wants me to come home while he is still running his company, so the idea of a year delay and more trips around the country (plus the anxiety of an app cycle which i think actually worried my parents even more than me haha) is not something they're happy about at all. Which is why i was able to negotiate 168 or better i can reapply with their support. So the goal is 168
I would say that 168 is a good threshold anyway. 3.3 166-167 probably doesn't get that much better offers relative to your numbers now, at least not better enough to sit out.
Would a 167 not be competitive for ED BU?
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:20 pm
by Otunga
Winston1984 wrote:Otunga wrote:Ngoblue2014 wrote:To sit out a year? depends. They hate the idea of a retake and really like BU, my dad is getting old (65) and wants me to come home while he is still running his company, so the idea of a year delay and more trips around the country (plus the anxiety of an app cycle which i think actually worried my parents even more than me haha) is not something they're happy about at all. Which is why i was able to negotiate 168 or better i can reapply with their support. So the goal is 168
I would say that 168 is a good threshold anyway. 3.3 166-167 probably doesn't get that much better offers relative to your numbers now, at least not better enough to sit out.
Would a 167 not be competitive for ED BU?
I'm not sure anybody got ED BU this year, or if anybody did, they had a super high LSAT GPA combo relative to the BU applicant pool. But OP should look into that at the BU app thread. Some applicants with comparable numbers got higher offers than mine, but I was offered 90k with 3.9/168.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:20 pm
by Ngoblue2014
No they wouldn't just give me the money. they paid for my undergrad + living expenses in full and are doing the same for law school. I don't think after double depositing and withdrawing I would have a good shot at BU at all (167 is this years median LSAT and my gpa is low) so that would not make sense.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:23 pm
by Ngoblue2014
I am set on BU i love the school and am shocked by the large scholarship amount
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:38 pm
by Winston1984
Ngoblue2014 wrote:No they wouldn't just give me the money. they paid for my undergrad + living expenses in full and are doing the same for law school. I don't think after double depositing and withdrawing I would have a good shot at BU at all (167 is this years median LSAT and my gpa is low) so that would not make sense.
Not sure how you can know the median yet, but I'd be shocked if they raised it two points. At any rate, I think your plan is solid and makes sense. Good luck on your retake!
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:39 pm
by Winston1984
Otunga wrote:Winston1984 wrote:Otunga wrote:Ngoblue2014 wrote:To sit out a year? depends. They hate the idea of a retake and really like BU, my dad is getting old (65) and wants me to come home while he is still running his company, so the idea of a year delay and more trips around the country (plus the anxiety of an app cycle which i think actually worried my parents even more than me haha) is not something they're happy about at all. Which is why i was able to negotiate 168 or better i can reapply with their support. So the goal is 168
I would say that 168 is a good threshold anyway. 3.3 166-167 probably doesn't get that much better offers relative to your numbers now, at least not better enough to sit out.
Would a 167 not be competitive for ED BU?
I'm not sure anybody got ED BU this year, or if anybody did, they had a super high LSAT GPA combo relative to the BU applicant pool. But OP should look into that at the BU app thread. Some applicants with comparable numbers got higher offers than mine, but I was offered 90k with 3.9/168.
Damn. Kinda stingy..
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:43 pm
by Ngoblue2014
Admissions said they are dropping class size to around 180 and expect median to be 167
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 12:55 pm
by redsoxfan1989
Ngoblue2014 wrote:Admissions said they are dropping class size to around 180 and expect median to be 167
That sounds like a wildly optimistic target for them. I got nearly a full ride from Cornell and BU wouldn't beat it and I had a 168. If you have a 168+ you should be getting into the lower t-14 with cash too. At that point, you would need to be dead-set on Boston and not care about BigLaw/prestigious PI for BU to be the right choice.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 1:45 pm
by sd5289
Ngoblue2014 wrote:Yea i wouldn't mind, but of my options BU seems to have the most "mobility." NYC/DC/Boston are all relatively reasonable out of BU it seems from the LST report. Actually about 12% of last years class ended up in California too
That's because they came from CA, so they already had ties. Quite a few of my friends were in the BU class that's up on LST right now. The CA kids went back to CA, the NY kids went back to NY, and most of the others stayed in Boston.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 1:56 pm
by quijotesca1011
Ngoblue2014 wrote:
Numbers: 165 3.3 from top 5 public in the world. Retaking June 9th because there is no risk to doing so. (If i hit 168 I will reapply or better)
This is very off-topic, but I am just curious what this means?
"In the nation" is one thing that we can reasonably estimate, but the world is a whole different matter… A lot of other countries (i.e. most of W. Europe for sure) have incredibly strong public higher education… I have never seen a ranking that attempts to measure public universities globally.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 1:59 pm
by Ngoblue2014
Haha yea that's what we say about ourselves here I would imagine nation is a far more legitimate claim.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 4:32 pm
by yost
This is easy. Hit 170 on your retake and return to your alma mater.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 4:43 pm
by Ngoblue2014
that would be great lets see how june goes
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 5:19 pm
by rickgrimes69
Assuming you're cool w/ working in Boston $90k isn't a terrible price for BU. Prob the best option of those presented. GL on the June retake.
Re: Made a decision, never would have expected. Thanks TLS
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 5:21 pm
by Nova
rickgrimes69 wrote: GL on the June retake.