Berkeley, Vandy, UCLA, Georgetown... Etc. HELP Forum

[monstrous]

Stressful week of thinking, appreciate any/all advice.

I've gotten into University of Washington, Notre Dame, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Cal, Georgetown, and Cornell. $$$ From Notre Dame, Vandy, UW, and Cornell. Waitlisted at Duke, Michigan, UVA, and Penn. Still waiting on Stanford.

I'm from Washington state, been living in CA for undergrad the last four years. Kind of want to get away for awhile, figure I'll end up back on the west coast eventually. Basically geography isn't a huge concern for me right now. (Though I do hate the rain...)

D-I athlete, competitive, driven, focused, etc. Not certain what law I want to end up in - like business law, thought I'd never want to be in a court room until I competed in mock trial - lots of "figuring it out as I go" still happening...

LSAT was 168, UGPA is currently sitting at 3.9 (final two classes currently in progress).

I want as many option as possible but still want to be smart about things (ie, debt). If I get into Stanford I don't think there's really any way to turn it down? $$$ from Notre Dame and Vandy would mean very little to no debt, Cornell and UW would still take on some loans but would be doable, haven't had any money offers from other schools. Penn, Duke, and UVA are all very appealing to me if I get off the waitlist. At this point I'm leaning heavily towards Vandy...

[GFox345]

Stressful week of thinking, appreciate any/all advice.

I've gotten into University of Washington, Notre Dame, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Cal, Georgetown, and Cornell. $$$ From Notre Dame, Vandy, UW, and Cornell. Waitlisted at Duke, Michigan, UVA, and Penn. Still waiting on Stanford.

I'm from Washington state, been living in CA for undergrad the last four years. Kind of want to get away for awhile, figure I'll end up back on the west coast eventually. Basically geography isn't a huge concern for me right now. (Though I do hate the rain...)

D-I athlete, competitive, driven, focused, etc. Not certain what law I want to end up in - like business law, thought I'd never want to be in a court room until I competed in mock trial - lots of "figuring it out as I go" still happening...

LSAT was 168, UGPA is currently sitting at 3.9 (final two classes currently in progress).

I want as many option as possible but still want to be smart about things (ie, debt). If I get into Stanford I don't think there's really any way to turn it down? $$$ from Notre Dame and Vandy would mean very little to no debt, Cornell and UW would still take on some loans but would be doable, haven't had any money offers from other schools. Penn, Duke, and UVA are all very appealing to me if I get off the waitlist. At this point I'm leaning heavily towards Vandy...

How in the hell did get get waitlisted by Michigan, UVA, and Penn with a 3.9/168? That doesn't make any sense to me at all. Also, your school range seems broad, but I am curious. With your numbers why didn't you throw an app to NU and UChicago? NU may have given you 100k+ with your numbers.

[monstrous]

How in the hell did get get waitlisted by Michigan, UVA, and Penn with a 3.9/168? That doesn't make any sense to me at all. Also, your school range seems broad, but I am curious. With your numbers why didn't you throw an app to NU and UChicago? NU may have given you 100k+ with your numbers.

Sorry but I really can't tell if you expected me to get accepted or rejected from those schools...

I applied to such a range because of fee waivers. I probably would have only applied to UW, Stanford, Georgetown, and Cal if not for those. That's why I didn't apply to NU/UChicago.

[nosurprises23]

You should've been autoadmitted by UVA and Michigan, and been seriously considered for Penn. You're above or at both medians for UVA and Michigan (in which you're above the 75% for GPA) and you have above one median and below the other at Penn. All that said I would use the Cal acceptance and the Vandy money to get Cornell to come down a little bit and then go there.

[mist4bison]

How in the hell did get get waitlisted by Michigan, UVA, and Penn with a 3.9/168? That doesn't make any sense to me at all. Also, your school range seems broad, but I am curious. With your numbers why didn't you throw an app to NU and UChicago? NU may have given you 100k+ with your numbers.

Sorry but I really can't tell if you expected me to get accepted or rejected from those schools...

I applied to such a range because of fee waivers. I probably would have only applied to UW, Stanford, Georgetown, and Cal if not for those. That's why I didn't apply to NU/UChicago.

He thinks you should've been admitted to all of them rather than WLd.

I would immediately cross UW off the list. (I'm a fellow Washington native and withdrawing from UW was so difficult, but it's just not that great of a school as far as placement numbers). I'd also easily eliminate ND if your Vandy and Cornell offers are near the ND offer.

Have you tried to negotiate scholarship money?

[monstrous]

I would immediately cross UW off the list. (I'm a fellow Washington native and withdrawing from UW was so difficult, but it's just not that great of a school as far as placement numbers). I'd also easily eliminate ND if your Vandy and Cornell offers are near the ND offer.

Have you tried to negotiate scholarship money?

Yeah I notified UW a few days ago that I wouldn't be attending. Family is definitely bummed I won't be returning close to home.

I haven't yet, mainly because the places I have money for are lower ranked than the others. I talked with a Cornell grad today who said that it would still be worth a shot, though.

[Pure Applesauce]

,

[KiltedKicker]

Where do you want to work? If you're trying to end up on the west coast, I'm betting that Vandy isn't going to place all that well out here. Take that with a grain of salt though as I didn't apply to/research the school, that's an assumption I'm making based off it's ranking and what I've heard of its employment stats.

You have some pretty good outcomes, but re-taking seems to make sense given you're only just graduating and seem to have underperformed your numbers a bit. Breaking 170 would get you significantly better outcomes, and just applying earlier might get you moderately better outcomes. I would encourage you to take a year off, earn some money and enjoy yourself while studying for the LSAT. Then do better (hell you're already almost there anyway) and have your choice of T-10 schools at much, much lower costs. You can justify Cornell or Vandy probably if you want to work on the east coast and they offered a lot, but it seems like a situation where re-taking and re-applying next year is your better option.

Good luck with whatever you choose