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Not GULC, not for that price. I'm not familiar with the employment stats for GW, but if you wanted to stay around DC, that might be defensible. WUSTL if you want to be in St. Louis (sounds like you don't!), Fordham if you want to be in NYC (you'll see on here that a full scholly is given as the only reason one should go to Fordham). I think it might come down to what kind of firm you want (I think common wisdom is that BigLaw isn't really an option from Fordham).

If you could swing a T-14 with decent $$$ (Cornell is great for this) NYC is sort of the default BigLaw location.

FWIW, re your LSAT options - my GPA's almost equal to yours (I'm at 3.7) and I got a 170. I've got my LSN in my profile if you want to see the list of places I got in/my $$ options (haven't heard scholarship info from Columbia yet, but NYU/Penn offered no money, and I'll be real, I didn't bother sending in GULC fin aid stuff with my other options) but it might be able to give you an idea of how things might change with a couple more points.

I've sat out a few cycles. Sit out and retake is probably TCR for you.

To address some of your concerns about waiting:

kendallr12 wrote:2. Worried about losing the offers I have gotten this year. If I apply next year, I am worried that the acceptances/scholarships I've been offered this year will make it harder for me next year, because the schools will know/see that I turned them down last year. (On the other hand, a lot of great schools rejected/waitlisted me this year so...)

Don't worry about this. You won't get dinged next year for not accepting an offer this year.

kendallr12 wrote:3. Worried about starting apps over. Esp w/r/t Recommendations. It was hard enough the first time. Do I need to start over? (not worried about actual costs of applications/LSAT btw because I qualified for the fee waiver due to being broke AF)

You can just reuse your recommendations. This cycle, I used two that were written by UG professors in 2012.

kendallr12 wrote:4. How much of a bump on my LSAT will actually make a difference ? (my goal here is to get scholarship money from the likes of Columbia, NYU, Penn, or at least GULC)

You're at the point where a few points starts translating into a lot of dollars. If you could just raise it 3 points to a 170, that's going to translate into a lot more acceptances, and tens of thousands of scholarship dollars at all of the schools you listed.

kendallr12 wrote:2. Worried about losing the offers I have gotten this year. If I apply next year, I am worried that the acceptances/scholarships I've been offered this year will make it harder for me next year, because the schools will know/see that I turned them down last year. (On the other hand, a lot of great schools rejected/waitlisted me this year so...)

Don't worry about this. You won't get dinged next year for not accepting an offer this year.

Just wanted to chime in.. This actually did happen to someone this cycle in the forums. Don't remember their username unfortunately.

humph wrote:Just wanted to chime in.. This actually did happen to someone this cycle in the forums. Don't remember their username unfortunately.

lol I do believe I remember someone (DaRascal?) claiming there was a conspiracy against him.

ETA: Amending my earlier response, b/c I just reread and saw you really want to be in NYC. Between that and scholarship money, if you reapply, GULC should be sort of a last resort. I also think it would, on this current cycle, pretty difficult to get to NYC from GW.

Study hard, maybe take a prep course/get a tutor, and hit the LSAT again hard, then apply broadly. I think for NYC + money you really want to take a run at Cornell.

Seconding the above. Apply to GULC for negotiation purposes, but don't for a second think about actually going there. Cornell would be a good place to end up with your goals.

Also, I think I remember that DaRascal post, and can assure you that it was BS/trolling/what have you.

Also also, I of course mean you won't get dinged for not accepting an offer in a normal human way. If you send an email along the lines of "screw you, I don't want to go to your crappy school," then I really don't think anyone here can help you.

definitely sit out and retake.

If you are concerned about a particular school for the next cycle, send them an very polite email about why you think you need to wait a year for personal reasons, but that you are planning to apply again and are still very interested in attending.

You can actually can be rejected due to turning down an offer in a previous year.

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/MonsterZero

That guy was offered scholarships at Cornell and UM, retook and scored a point higher on the LSAT or something, and was rejected by both the following year. He posts on here.

Dog wrote:You can actually can be rejected due to turning down an offer in a previous year.

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/MonsterZero

That guy was offered scholarships at Cornell and UM, retook and scored a point higher on the LSAT or something, and was rejected by both the following year. He posts on here.

That's extremely atypical, and the guy actually removed the relevant entries so as to not worry people, but good on you for pointing it out.

For everyone else's ease, from the link:

MonsterZero wrote:My guess is that they assumed I wouldn't attend with that kind of money, so they just rejected me. Sucks to be me, but unless you're in the same situation, I wouldn't let my outcomes worry you.
If planning on re-applying, keep this in mind. Maybe add an addendum on why you decided to reapply.
***Got so many messages about C/M that I just deleted the entries. No reason to worry people for no reason.

To provide a counterpoint of anecdata: I have applied to and been accepted with scholarships at a few of the same schools like 3 times.

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Re "Why Cornell": I did Why X essays for almost every school I applied to, including Cornell, and I do think it makes a difference (as long as you can come up with reasons that are/at least sound genuine). I'm wondering if even just being really emphatic that you are focused on NY could work for something like that - that's for more expert minds than mine.

Re test prep company: are you still in the DC area? That's where I was when I was doing everything LSAT, and I found a local company (that is, not Kaplan or Princeton Review or anything) that I liked - feel free to PM and I can let you know my experiences. I'm sure also the folks over in the LSAT prep forum have lots of recommendations, I just unfortunately didn't find TLS until after I'd LSAT'd.

Hope that helps!

I feel like this answer partly depends on what you would do with the year off.
ETA: I agree with other posters--in most cases retake/reapply.

Fordham on a full ride is a good option. It's a pretty well-respected school in New York. Most NYC firms recruit from it. They place fairly well in NYC for Big Law. Obviously, it's not NYU or Columbia, but it's a solid school. If you do decently, have a good personality, and have on your resume that you're on a full scholarship, I think you'll have a good shot at a big law job (assuming no new recession, which is always a possibility).

Also, $81,000 total COA for Fordham on a full ride seems high. I live in NYC now. If that $81,000 just includes COL, you can definitely do better. If you have a roommate, you can spend like $1,300 per month in rent. Or just live outside the city and spend like $800 per month. I think a smart budgeter could do something like $55-$65k.

If you think you can retake and get a 170, go for it. But if you get the same or a lower score, you basically just wasted a year. I would just accept the Fordham offer and be happy.

I agree Fordham is perfectly fine here. Honestly even with a 170 you might not do better than a full ride there, and they give very few full rides.

Maybe gun hard for a June retake and if you improve a lot try again next year, otherwise just head to Fordham.

If you do go with Fordham your best bet is to pony up a decent amount as a 1L to live fairly close, and unfortunately the area around Fordham is very expensive. But then you can just crush school and move further away for 2L/3L.