Top Law Schools

Stats:
171 LSAT, Foreign uGPA (CAS-rated "Superior")

Scholarships:
USC: $150k
UCLA: $90k

Caveats:
- No ties anywhere.
- Would not mind practicing in SoCal. Biglaw is goal for the first 3-4 years. PI/government are non-options.
- Spouse also will (try to) start a career as I begin law school. It would be nice to not be forced to leave because of me.
- T14 option is Cornell at $75k scholarship, but I'm weary of 1) taking my spouse there and basically killing her career and 2) three years in the New York State gulag.
- Already asked both schools for an increase. USC said no. UCLA said to check back after first deposit date (April 15).

Questions
- Which school?
- Deposit at UCLA or no?

I got the same "deposit first, then we'll talk about a scholarship increase" treatment from UCLA, and they totally came through. My numbers weren't quite as high as yours (167 lsat on second take, GPA at median) and my offer wasn't as generous as what you've been offered. But I can vouch for their willingness to negotiate after making a deposit. They bumped me up about a week after I deposited.

proctor_right_in_the wrote:I got the same "deposit first, then we'll talk about a scholarship increase" treatment from UCLA, and they totally came through. My numbers weren't quite as high as yours (167 lsat on second take, GPA at median) and my offer wasn't as generous as what you've been offered. But I can vouch for their willingness to negotiate after making a deposit. They bumped me up about a week after I deposited.

Thanks, that is helpful. Was it a fairly significant bump? In my case, I'm hoping it would bring the total COA down to lower than USC.

It was fairly substantial. Again, my offer wasn't as generous as the one you're looking at to begin with, but proportionally, yes it was basically the equivalent of you going from $90k to $135k, which would probably make your total indebtedness about equal.

You should deposit at ucla, and negotiate until the final deposit deadlines at both schools. Are there any stipulations attached to your offer from ucla? One good thing about usc's is that it is guaranteed. For example, if you get a biglaw job 2L summer, your scholarship at usc would not be lowered.

UCLA is always the right answer.

One thing to keep in mind with these two: at least when I was applying, USC had a weird stipulation on their deposit that they would rescind your scholarship (and possibly acceptance) if you double deposit. They can see where you've deposited through LSAC, so if that's still the case, tread with caution when doing the double deposit dance. Might still be worth double depositing at UCLA and Cornell for the sake of leverage.

Between these two I'd probably choose UCLA, especially after the most recent BL + FC numbers were looking solid for UCLA and a fair bit higher than USC. Year over year changes are probably insignificant over the long haul, but it's good to see UCLA moving in the right direction.