Top Law Schools

Long time lurker here. Thanks in advance.

-The schools you are considering
Duke and Michigan. Admitted at GULC (withdrew), Cornell ($ equal to Michigan, tuition difference taken into account), NU ($ less than Mich and Duke), Berkeley (awaiting matching scholarship decision but no hopes). Waitlisted at UVA (withdrew), Penn, Columbia, and Chicago. Will ride them out but not counting them in. NYU still UR2, lol.

-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each.
Duke: $160,452
Michigan: $110,933
Negotiated with both, the cost is final.

-How you will be financing your COA.
Loans.

-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
Ties in NYC but don't want to work here long term. General preference to be on the West Coast.

-Your general career goals
PI (civil rights litigation, maybe policy-level advocacy later on), but want to keep my options open.

-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
3.7x & 169. Open to retaking and reapplying next year if I must.

-How many times you have taken the LSAT
Once

Additional info:
2 years of WE. I have a GPA and an international grade evaluation. There's a bad year on my transcript from a foreign school that's doesn't affect my GPA but lowers my international grade (Above average). I'm not sure how much that affected the admission decisions. I'd rather start this Fall but I am also considering a retake. I used up all study materials when prepping, but I think I can reuse them and still improve my score. I'll probably have to quit my job and live off savings this summer to do that.

Even if advising a retake, please also advise which school you suggest if I choose not to retake. Thanks.

Michigan at that cost is a pretty sweet deal. You could always retake the test in June, and if your score goes up you can ask for more $$$, or sit out a cycle. I don't think Duke is worth $50k more here.

Winston1984 wrote:Michigan at that cost is a pretty sweet deal. You could always retake the test in June, and if your score goes up you can ask for more $$$, or sit out a cycle. I don't think Duke is worth $50k more here.

+1 to all of this

Winston and I are rapidly melding into the same person

BigZuck wrote:

Winston1984 wrote:Michigan at that cost is a pretty sweet deal. You could always retake the test in June, and if your score goes up you can ask for more $$$, or sit out a cycle. I don't think Duke is worth $50k more here.

+1 to all of this

Winston and I are rapidly melding into the same person

That's my goal.

For what it's worth, I agree with the two-headed Winston/BigZuck monster. There's no reason to think that Duke would be better than Michigan for the West Coast.

If not retaking, Michigan, easy. Mich places lots of people west, and it's $50k cheaper. Plus it has a substantially larger PI footprint than Duke and a good LRAP.

Thanks guys. Retaking in June is not really an option - I'd need more time to increase my score, so it would have to be September. I guess now I have to decide between Michigan and retake. I'm worried that when reapplying next year, I might not get the same opportunities from the same schools because they had already admitted and given me scholarships this year.