UPDATED - UCLA ($), Texas ($$), Notre Dame ($$$) Forum

[doomgamer93]

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[kylethedog]

Schools & Scholarships

Texas: $54,000 + Nonresident exemption
UCLA: $97,500
Notre Dame: $144,000
WUSTL: Full-ride

USC: Waitlisted
Michigan: Waitlisted
Duke: Waitlisted
NYU: Still in review (not particularly hopeful)

My long term goal is corporate counsel somewhere. It sounds like these jobs are not available coming out of law school, and big companies hire out of big firms. So, my short-term goal is placement at a big firm. It sounds like big corporations also hire out of government agencies such as the EPA or SEC, but I think I would prefer to go the big law route over the government path.

The California market is particularly attractive to me. I would also be open to returning home to the Midwest as corporate counsel somewhere (Koch bros?). I have a financial background: undergraduate degree in accounting from a local school (no debt), currently work at a small public accounting firm, and plan to sit for my CPA next summer when I am eligible due to the 150 hour requirement for the exam.

Should I try to negotiate for more at Texas? My award letter values the nonresident exemption at $48,114 making it comparable to the UCLA offer. Anyone have experience with how their admissions office values the exemption versus awards elsewhere?

My stats follow... I'm a reverse-splitter. Should I retake and sit out a cycle, or do I have a good option here?

4.0/167 (1x)

My suggestion is that you seem to have a really great opportunity to make some money, get your CPA, and think about retaking the LSAT. If you could raise it just a few points (particularly with your great GPA) you would have a chance to get into t-14 schools with a good amount of scholarship money. So if you enjoy your work right now enough, I think sitting out a year and improving your LSAT would be the best choice

[Tiago Splitter]

With your goals and GPA there's no reason to settle for anything less than a six-figure scholarship to a T-14 school, and by six-figure scholarship I mean something approaching a full ride. You may be able to get that with the same numbers next year, but you'll certainly be able to do so with another point or two on the LSAT. A handful of additional points puts you in a great position to get Harvard or Stanford. It sounds like you've got a pretty good option for the next several months so no need to rush into things.

[Mullens]

Schools & Scholarships

Texas: $54,000 + Nonresident exemption
UCLA: $97,500
Notre Dame: $144,000
WUSTL: Full-ride

USC: Waitlisted
Michigan: Waitlisted
Duke: Waitlisted
NYU: Still in review (not particularly hopeful)

My long term goal is corporate counsel somewhere. It sounds like these jobs are not available coming out of law school, and big companies hire out of big firms. So, my short-term goal is placement at a big firm. It sounds like big corporations also hire out of government agencies such as the EPA or SEC, but I think I would prefer to go the big law route over the government path.

The California market is particularly attractive to me. I would also be open to returning home to the Midwest as corporate counsel somewhere (Koch bros?). I have a financial background: undergraduate degree in accounting from a local school (no debt), currently work at a small public accounting firm, and plan to sit for my CPA next summer when I am eligible due to the 150 hour requirement for the exam.

Should I try to negotiate for more at Texas? My award letter values the nonresident exemption at $48,114 making it comparable to the UCLA offer. Anyone have experience with how their admissions office values the exemption versus awards elsewhere?

My stats follow... I'm a reverse-splitter. Should I retake and sit out a cycle, or do I have a good option here?

4.0/167 (1x)

My suggestion is that you seem to have a really great opportunity to make some money, get your CPA, and think about retaking the LSAT. If you could raise it just a few points (particularly with your great GPA) you would have a chance to get into t-14 schools with a good amount of scholarship money. So if you enjoy your work right now enough, I think sitting out a year and improving your LSAT would be the best choice

If you get 1 more LSAT point, or really just some work experience, you're looking at scholarship offers from the T-14. Get up to like 170 and you'll probably start getting T14 full rides. With your goals, retaking is the best way to go.

[doomgamer93]

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[Tiago Splitter]

How big is the bump between somewhere just outside of the T14 (Texas/UCLA) and a school in the lower T14 in terms of job prospects?

I'm a long time lurker and see a lot of "retake" advice. Am I thinking about this wrong? It seems like sitting out for a year @ a 60k job vs a law job @ 160k is 100k lost in opportunity cost. How much better do I need to do on my LSAT to "save" 100k?

It's not really 100k for most people because you end up working the same 2-4 years in biglaw and then exit to something lower paying. The difference is also hit hard by taxes.

As for chances, they go up substantially. At a place like Cornell or Northwestern biglaw is available to the vast majority of the class. Outside of the T-14 people with grades in the middle of the pack tend to struggle to find biglaw.

I'm a little surprised you couldn't snag a big scholarship at Cornell this cycle.

[Johann]

How big is the bump between somewhere just outside of the T14 (Texas/UCLA) and a school in the lower T14 in terms of job prospects?

I'm a long time lurker and see a lot of "retake" advice. Am I thinking about this wrong? It seems like sitting out for a year @ a 60k job vs a law job @ 160k is 100k lost in opportunity cost. How much better do I need to do on my LSAT to "save" 100k?

160k = 95k post tax income, so the difference is like 55k post-tax dollars. Biglaw is hardly a sure thing from the schools you are talking about, and there are just as many 60k salaries as 160k salaries coming out of those schools. You're also ignoring time value of money - earning 60k right now is better than earning 60k in 4 years because you have the money and can invest it. Finally, with 4 points on the LSAT, you're going to get 100k more of scholarship money.

[doomgamer93]

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