UC Davis ($) vs GW Forum

[berkeleytransfer]

Hi, long time lurker here. I would appreciate any advice including criticism. 3.75/160. No more LSAT attempts remaining until December. UC Davis offered me 60k over 3 years. GW offered me nothing. I am in a unique position here in that I'm extremely lucky to have an incredible mom who is willing pay for my legal education. At the same time I am having feelings of guilt. Even though my mom has the financial capability to afford my education without much financial hardship, I also do want to be a financial burden in any way. My mom wants me to go to GW even at sticker. I've tried to convince her otherwise, but she just wants me to have the best chance for success after I graduate. If it was up to me, I would try to retake again (4th attempt) since I didn't score close to my practice exams (bad test anxiety/choked), but it would crush my mom. My ultimate goal is big law at least for a few years so I can ultimately repay my mom for everything she's done for me. I'm also waitlisted at a number of schools such as UCLA, Emory, BU, WUSTL, MINN, etc. My dream is to go to UCLA and I've already scheduled a campus visit/class sit in, but that's hardly a guarantee. Anything else I can do to increase my chances to be accepted? I guess what I need advice on is what would you guys do in my position? I know most will say sticker at almost everywhere is suicide, but in my situation is it really dumb to go to GW with big/mid size law as a goal? Thank you for your help! In before everyone calling me a spoiled brat. I know I'm very fortunate and I understand feelings of resentment from others who are not so fortunate.

[mist4bison]

Honestly, I think with your current options and score, your best bet is to wait and retake. Most people will tell you that no school is worth sticker. I actually disagree with that, but I do believe that neither of these schools are worth the price you will be paying. Do you have other offers with $ from schools competitive with UC Davis? You might be able to negotiate your scholarship up if you do.

If you haven't, I'd check out the score reports for both schools, also. GW tends to place alot more into biglaw, but they're pretty comparable otherwise:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/davis/
http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/gw/

[berkeleytransfer]

Honestly, I think with your current options and score, your best bet is to wait and retake. Most people will tell you that no school is worth sticker. I actually disagree with that, but I do believe that neither of these schools are worth the price you will be paying. Do you have other offers with $ from schools competitive with UC Davis? You might be able to negotiate your scholarship up if you do.

If you haven't, I'd check out the score reports for both schools, also. GW tends to place alot more into biglaw, but they're pretty comparable otherwise:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/davis/
http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/gw/

I was offered 25k per year from Hastings and 45k from Pepperdine. I'm also a California resident, but willing to move if need be. Arizona state offered 30k total, but the deadline is today and from what I hear it's impossible to find a job outside Arizona. I know GW is similiar in this regard, but D.C. is more livable for me. Do you think UCLA at sticker is worth it?

[Nammertat]

PM'd.

This is a highly fact-sensitive analysis that requires a lot more background than you have given. Do not make such a specific decision based on ridiculous TLS groupthink before you speak with former students of each school who were previously in your shoes. (0Ls should be barred from giving advice on "choosing a law school" forums.)