Top Law Schools

-The schools you are considering


Michigan, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Tulane.


-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Here is a helpful calculator.


Vandy: 195,165.
Cornell: 222190
Michigan: 227682
Tulane: 142,424 (I think I could do this for $100,000 or less, though, because I know how to live cheaply in NOLA.) Note: I blew Tulane's deposit deadline but I think they'd forgive me if I called and begged.

-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings

Loans, loans, loans.

-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)

I'm from Connecticut and am very close to my family. I have ties in the Bay Area, but have stronger ties to New Orleans.

-Your general career goals

I'd like to do Big Law in NYC for a few years and then move in-house either in SF or NOLA. I would like CT to remain an option in case someone in my family gets ill and needs my support.

-Your LSAT/GPA numbers

167, 3.3.

-How many times you have taken the LSAT

Once. I very much want to go to law school this year and am opposed to re-applying in the next cycle.

Note: I'm still waiting to hear back from Stanford (I realize that was a Yale Mary), NYU, and Columbia, but I'm not holding my breath.

I don't think you can justify any of these schools at those prices.

You are likely to get NYC biglaw out of Mich and Cornell, but that's so damn expensive. You should really sit out and retake.

K-JD?

Retake is tcr thing to do, but of those options Cornell.

arklaw13 wrote:Retake is tcr thing to do, but of those options Cornell.

Retake.

What does K-JD mean?

Do y'all think my results would get significantly better if I scored a 170 or so? I think I could get a 170 if I re-took and studied until June, but my mediocre GPA isn't getting any better.

K-JD means you went to school from kindergarten straight through to law school, with no post-grad work experience.

170+ would very likely get you better results.

No, I have two years of work experience.

KMart wrote:

OhBoyOhBortles wrote:170+ would very likely get you much better results.

good call. Thanks Kmart.

OP is also a URM, she underperformed her numbers IMO

Assuming no retake, CORNELL.

P.S. Vandy should give you more $$ with those numbers. Have you tried negotiating?

rahulg91 wrote:Assuming no retake, CORNELL.

P.S. Vandy should give you more $$ with those numbers. Have you tried negotiating?

No -- I hadn't been thinking about Vandy very seriously (they offered $75k), but is it too late to negotiate?

That's too much for each of these schools. Negotiate or retake.

tinylawstudent wrote:

rahulg91 wrote:Assuming no retake, CORNELL.

P.S. Vandy should give you more $$ with those numbers. Have you tried negotiating?

No -- I hadn't been thinking about Vandy very seriously (they offered $75k), but is it too late to negotiate?

No it's not too late to negotiate.