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So here's my dilemma. I scored a 173 on the LSAT, but have no uGPA. I went to an accredited undergraduate that gave narrative evaluations instead of grades so all I have, numerically, is the LSAT.

On the one hand, that seems great. Conventional wisdom dictates that schools interested in numbers will love to have no GPA to report and a 173 LSAT can go a long way. However, I've also read about people who ended up getting in very few places or nowhere with similar situations. That in itself is a little scary.

More importantly, though, is the idea of scholarships. I feel like my chances at getting a significant amount of money is very much up in the air. However, if I EDed at Northwestern I would be guaranteed the 150k if accepted, which is great. In addition, I really do love the idea of going to NU. It is in a great part of a great city (and I would personally prefer to not live in NYC if at all possible). It also has a slightly older student body and that is where I fall myself.

However, the issue I am struggling with is that I really have a lot (current) desire to work in government. I'm not tied to the high-prestige, BigFed, but I would really like to do some form of civil law for local, state or federal government. I would even be open to non-legal, law related jobs if the specific job and office was a great fit for me. The reason I am struggling is because there are some schools like UVA or Georgetown that look like they would afford me more opportunities for gaining experience in these areas. Being able to take part in DC externships and/or clinics and just being able to volunteer in DC could be a great opportunity. That doesn't even count the alumni network.

Right now though I am still not accepted to either of those schools. In fact my only acceptance so far is WUSTL with a full scholarship. That being said, even if I held an acceptance to UVA or Georgetown in my hand I would still be uncertain because of the money question.

So there it is. A school I prefer with the possibility of guaranteed scholarship vs. the possibility of schools with (seemingly) more options for what I am very much interested in at this moment. I'm not honestly sure what help TLS can be, but I am struggling myself and figured reading what other people have to say may help.

Thanks in advance.

Since you do not want to go to law school in NYC, then NYU & Columbia are out. If you like Chicago & Northwestern, then the answer appears to be to ED Northwestern. Avoid debt. NU may offer a T-14 degree & no debt.

P.S. Curious as to your undergraduate school. I know Redlands & Sarah Lawrence offer evaluations in lieu of grades, but cannot recall any others.

I ED'd Northwestern and would absolutely recommend it.

CanadianWolf wrote:Since you do not want to go to law school in NYC, then NYU & Columbia are out. If you like Chicago & Northwestern, then the answer appears to be to ED Northwestern. Avoid debt. NU may offer a T-14 degree & no debt.

P.S. Curious as to your undergraduate school. I know Redlands & Sarah Lawrence offer evaluations in lieu of grades, but cannot recall any others.

Not necessarily true here. NU comes with $150,000, which is certainly very nice, but tuition at NU is still outrageously $60,000/yr. This leaves $30,000 of tuition on the table to be paid over three years even if accepted ED. NU is also in the highest COL area of a high COL city. It's like a block away from the Magnificent Mile and if you want to live anywhere near the law school you will be paying for it. Still think NU ED is a great option, but you can still rack up debt if you debt-finance the remaining tuition and COL

If you would like to work for the government, why dont you apply GULC and I think GULC is easier than NUU and you'll propbably get a high schoalrship as well.

173 can get you a lot of decent scholarship offers. I wouldn't assume ED at NU is your only option of getting a big scholarship.

That said, a lot of people who go to non-DC area schools get spots in the government.

acr wrote:

CanadianWolf wrote:Since you do not want to go to law school in NYC, then NYU & Columbia are out. If you like Chicago & Northwestern, then the answer appears to be to ED Northwestern. Avoid debt. NU may offer a T-14 degree & no debt.

P.S. Curious as to your undergraduate school. I know Redlands & Sarah Lawrence offer evaluations in lieu of grades, but cannot recall any others.

Not necessarily true here. NU comes with $150,000, which is certainly very nice, but tuition at NU is still outrageously $60,000/yr. This leaves $30,000 of tuition on the table to be paid over three years even if accepted ED. NU is also in the highest COL area of a high COL city. It's like a block away from the Magnificent Mile and if you want to live anywhere near the law school you will be paying for it. Still think NU ED is a great option, but you can still rack up debt if you debt-finance the remaining tuition and COL

The school is in a high CoL area, but nobody lives there. Everyone lives further north/west where it's not bad at all, especially compared with other peer schools.

sd1111 wrote:If you would like to work for the government, why dont you apply GULC and I think GULC is easier than NUU and you'll propbably get a high schoalrship as well.

I did and was accepted last week, but the problem is that GULC is one of the last places I can guarantee a good scholarship from. They definitely seem hard to judge and based a lot on negotiation. It's pretty much what I've been going back and forth on for the past few weeks. On the one hand I feel like I have a pretty good shot at 90-100k+ from GULC, but if I'm accepted through Northwestern ED (which I may not be) then I'm guaranteed 150k. On the one hand there are schools that I would somewhat prefer to go to based on things like clinics and internship possibility, but on the other hand is guaranteed money.

I just want to thank everyone for their opinions on this. My recent GULC acceptance and Northwestern alumni interviews have added more to this choice as well, but I am feeling like I am coming up on my final decision (I mean I really have to soon no matter what).

Right now I am leaning towards EDing at Northwestern, but definitely go back and forth a lot on it.

Man from Nantucket wrote:

acr wrote:

CanadianWolf wrote:Since you do not want to go to law school in NYC, then NYU & Columbia are out. If you like Chicago & Northwestern, then the answer appears to be to ED Northwestern. Avoid debt. NU may offer a T-14 degree & no debt.

P.S. Curious as to your undergraduate school. I know Redlands & Sarah Lawrence offer evaluations in lieu of grades, but cannot recall any others.

Not necessarily true here. NU comes with $150,000, which is certainly very nice, but tuition at NU is still outrageously $60,000/yr. This leaves $30,000 of tuition on the table to be paid over three years even if accepted ED. NU is also in the highest COL area of a high COL city. It's like a block away from the Magnificent Mile and if you want to live anywhere near the law school you will be paying for it. Still think NU ED is a great option, but you can still rack up debt if you debt-finance the remaining tuition and COL

The school is in a high CoL area, but nobody lives there. Everyone lives further north/west where it's not bad at all, especially compared with other peer schools.

Plenty of students live in the high CoL area. I ED'd and I'm an example of that. Lots of kids live in McClurg/Axis, etc. I get your point though. I'm planning on moving somewhere cheaper.

CambrianExplosives wrote:So here's my dilemma. I scored a 173 on the LSAT, but have no uGPA. I went to an accredited undergraduate that gave narrative evaluations instead of grades so all I have, numerically, is the LSAT.

On the one hand, that seems great. Conventional wisdom dictates that schools interested in numbers will love to have no GPA to report and a 173 LSAT can go a long way. However, I've also read about people who ended up getting in very few places or nowhere with similar situations. That in itself is a little scary.

More importantly, though, is the idea of scholarships. I feel like my chances at getting a significant amount of money is very much up in the air. However, if I EDed at Northwestern I would be guaranteed the 150k if accepted, which is great. In addition, I really do love the idea of going to NU. It is in a great part of a great city (and I would personally prefer to not live in NYC if at all possible). It also has a slightly older student body and that is where I fall myself.

However, the issue I am struggling with is that I really have a lot (current) desire to work in government. I'm not tied to the high-prestige, BigFed, but I would really like to do some form of civil law for local, state or federal government. I would even be open to non-legal, law related jobs if the specific job and office was a great fit for me. The reason I am struggling is because there are some schools like UVA or Georgetown that look like they would afford me more opportunities for gaining experience in these areas. Being able to take part in DC externships and/or clinics and just being able to volunteer in DC could be a great opportunity. That doesn't even count the alumni network.

Right now though I am still not accepted to either of those schools. In fact my only acceptance so far is WUSTL with a full scholarship. That being said, even if I held an acceptance to UVA or Georgetown in my hand I would still be uncertain because of the money question.

So there it is. A school I prefer with the possibility of guaranteed scholarship vs. the possibility of schools with (seemingly) more options for what I am very much interested in at this moment. I'm not honestly sure what help TLS can be, but I am struggling myself and figured reading what other people have to say may help.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the late response, I'm sure you've already made your ED/not to ED decision, but in case anyone else reads this with similar circumstances I just thought that I'd mention that the data suggests that have no GPA doesn't hurt you. It might actually help. Texas's admissions data, which can be found broken down on LSAC, shows that for apps with a 170-174LSAT, 69% of those with a 3.75+gpa were accepted, 73% of those with 3.5-3.74 were accepted, 100% of those with no gpa were accepted. ^_- Granted, the last bit was a small sample size (8/8), but it doesn't seem to hurt much if at all.