ND $$$ vs GW $$$ and a Bunch of Waitlists
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:55 am
Hello TLS! I'm hoping you guys can help me out a bit.
-Schools that I'm considering: Notre Dame and George Washington. Currently on the Priority Waitlist at Georgetown, Reserve at Cornell, Hold at Northwestern and Waitlist at Penn, UVA, Duke, and Michigan.
-Total Cost of Attendance (using Georgetown Calculator at 3.50% annual increase): Notre Dame gave me a $120,000 scholarship which brings my indebtedness at repayment to $122,851. There is a work-study opportunity at the school for 2Ls and 3Ls that provides room and board as well as 3 free credit hours and some cash. I would probably do this and reduce debt a bit more. George Washington gave me a $129,000 scholarship which brings my indebtedness at repayment to $142,315. I think I could reduce costs a little more for any school thanks to some financial support from my parents (car insurance, health insurance, cell phone). Unknown CoA at waitlisted schools.
-How will I finance: At ND or GW, I would loan finance the rest of the cost. If I am accepted at a T-14, I would be willing to ask a great-uncle of mine for a ~$50,000 loan.
-Where am I from, where do I want to work: I am from and have lived in Georgia my entire life. I'm not that committed to Atlanta, but I'm also not opposed to working there. I would certainly be fine with Chicago, Indianapolis, DC or any other southern markets (Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville). For the first five or so years after law school, I will work anywhere I can get a job that helps me in my long-term career plans. That said, I wouldn't want to spend the bulk of my career in any major city. A secondary market would be perfectly fine, but I don't really want to live in a NYC/DC/LA area for 20+ years.
-Career Goals: My perhaps-unrealistic career goal is to become an AUSA. Biglaw is not my goal, though I wouldn't be opposed to it for a few years if either I attend a T-14 (mainly to pay my uncle back and repay students loans) and hope to lateral to an AUSA position later, or if I find myself in the top 20% at either ND or GW. Admittedly, I do not know the best way to become an AUSA but I am willing to follow the best path for where I go to school. If that means BigLaw -> AUSA, I'll do it. If it means JAG -> AUSA, I'll do it.
-LSAT/GPA: 165, 170/ 3.26. Would really prefer not to retake again. I'm already a few years out of undergrad and I really don't know how much more I could improve on LSAT.
Only other information I can really add is that I have some work experience, but it's neither impressive nor related to the law. I have already deposited at ND ($600) but recently received an increased scholarship offer from GW. I would have to deposit at GW early next week and ND does not permit me to double deposit.
Any feedback is really appreciated!
EDIT: I posted this below, but wanted to copy some of it up here.
All of my applications were submitted before Oct. 31. I know this isn't exceptionally early, but I believe it is fairly early in the cycle. Looking at the last two years on mylsn, it doesn't seem like my cycle is that much of an outlier either. http://mylsn.info/kgzie7/
It looks like I did a little worse than average at GULC with a priority waitlist instead of admitted with $50,000, but other than I performed about as expected. My scholarships to ND and GW are actually quite a bit higher than average.
I will also definitely be staying on the waitlists, and I've tried to be proactive on the waitlists with several law school visits and LOCIs, but I'm treating them like a soft rejection. I sort of figured that I over estimated CoA a bit, particularly at ND, so I am very glad to see those sort of responses here.
My thought process right now is that I have to decide between ND and GW. The chances of being admitted from a waitlist between now and Monday is very slim and I must either withdraw/not deposit at GW, or deposit at GW and lose my ND scholarship. I also feel like my best chance to be admitted off a waitlist is GULC given that my numbers are more competitive there and I'm on the priority waitlist as opposed to a normal waitlist. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I would think GULC is more likely to negotiate scholarships with GW than ND (I definitely know they won't come close to matching. Just saying I might get a little more with GW's offer on the table). ND however would be not-insignificantly cheaper than GW even without that work opportunity (Assistant Rector as Effingham mentioned) and schools like Northwestern and Michigan might be more likely to compete with scholarship against ND than GW.
-Schools that I'm considering: Notre Dame and George Washington. Currently on the Priority Waitlist at Georgetown, Reserve at Cornell, Hold at Northwestern and Waitlist at Penn, UVA, Duke, and Michigan.
-Total Cost of Attendance (using Georgetown Calculator at 3.50% annual increase): Notre Dame gave me a $120,000 scholarship which brings my indebtedness at repayment to $122,851. There is a work-study opportunity at the school for 2Ls and 3Ls that provides room and board as well as 3 free credit hours and some cash. I would probably do this and reduce debt a bit more. George Washington gave me a $129,000 scholarship which brings my indebtedness at repayment to $142,315. I think I could reduce costs a little more for any school thanks to some financial support from my parents (car insurance, health insurance, cell phone). Unknown CoA at waitlisted schools.
-How will I finance: At ND or GW, I would loan finance the rest of the cost. If I am accepted at a T-14, I would be willing to ask a great-uncle of mine for a ~$50,000 loan.
-Where am I from, where do I want to work: I am from and have lived in Georgia my entire life. I'm not that committed to Atlanta, but I'm also not opposed to working there. I would certainly be fine with Chicago, Indianapolis, DC or any other southern markets (Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville). For the first five or so years after law school, I will work anywhere I can get a job that helps me in my long-term career plans. That said, I wouldn't want to spend the bulk of my career in any major city. A secondary market would be perfectly fine, but I don't really want to live in a NYC/DC/LA area for 20+ years.
-Career Goals: My perhaps-unrealistic career goal is to become an AUSA. Biglaw is not my goal, though I wouldn't be opposed to it for a few years if either I attend a T-14 (mainly to pay my uncle back and repay students loans) and hope to lateral to an AUSA position later, or if I find myself in the top 20% at either ND or GW. Admittedly, I do not know the best way to become an AUSA but I am willing to follow the best path for where I go to school. If that means BigLaw -> AUSA, I'll do it. If it means JAG -> AUSA, I'll do it.
-LSAT/GPA: 165, 170/ 3.26. Would really prefer not to retake again. I'm already a few years out of undergrad and I really don't know how much more I could improve on LSAT.
Only other information I can really add is that I have some work experience, but it's neither impressive nor related to the law. I have already deposited at ND ($600) but recently received an increased scholarship offer from GW. I would have to deposit at GW early next week and ND does not permit me to double deposit.
Any feedback is really appreciated!
EDIT: I posted this below, but wanted to copy some of it up here.
All of my applications were submitted before Oct. 31. I know this isn't exceptionally early, but I believe it is fairly early in the cycle. Looking at the last two years on mylsn, it doesn't seem like my cycle is that much of an outlier either. http://mylsn.info/kgzie7/
It looks like I did a little worse than average at GULC with a priority waitlist instead of admitted with $50,000, but other than I performed about as expected. My scholarships to ND and GW are actually quite a bit higher than average.
I will also definitely be staying on the waitlists, and I've tried to be proactive on the waitlists with several law school visits and LOCIs, but I'm treating them like a soft rejection. I sort of figured that I over estimated CoA a bit, particularly at ND, so I am very glad to see those sort of responses here.
My thought process right now is that I have to decide between ND and GW. The chances of being admitted from a waitlist between now and Monday is very slim and I must either withdraw/not deposit at GW, or deposit at GW and lose my ND scholarship. I also feel like my best chance to be admitted off a waitlist is GULC given that my numbers are more competitive there and I'm on the priority waitlist as opposed to a normal waitlist. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I would think GULC is more likely to negotiate scholarships with GW than ND (I definitely know they won't come close to matching. Just saying I might get a little more with GW's offer on the table). ND however would be not-insignificantly cheaper than GW even without that work opportunity (Assistant Rector as Effingham mentioned) and schools like Northwestern and Michigan might be more likely to compete with scholarship against ND than GW.