Top Law Schools

Hello all. I retook the LSAT in June and was happy to see my score increase from 160 to 165. Prior to the score release, I had been riding out the waitlist at ND - my top choice for law school. A day after the score release, however, I had a phone conversation with the ND director of admissions and was given three options: 1. attend this year with whatever scholarship money they could scrape up (10-15k per year), 2. defer my enrollment to next year with a larger scholarship (30-35k per year), or 3. withdraw and reapply. Obviously option 1 is totally unfeasible, so I'm deciding between options 2 and 3.

As far as career goals are concerned, I do have major market, big law aspirations (no geographic preference) but am debt averse. There is money available to cover living expenses, but loans would be covering everything else. I'm also out of LSAT retakes. I scored a 160 in both Oct '15 and Feb of this year (test anxiety got the best of me).

What course of action would you all recommend? If I defer, I am locked in and may not test the waters at other schools. I'm aware that my stats (my GPA is a 3.75) make me a fringe candidate for lower T14 at best, but is it worth the risk to try anyway? If I were to defer, could I be successful in negotiating for more scholarship money in the neighborhood of 40k a year? From LSN, it appears as though some applicants with similar stats to mine received such offers.

Thank you all for your input, it is very much appreciated!

Defer. Retake in December. Profit

Edit: Actually what exactly would be the point of defering? You can just re apply. Retake if you want

Reapply. ND might even offer you more if you reapply.

Yeah, withdraw and reapply. The medians are not gonna change so much that you won't get a similar offer next year anyway. And you can retake and improve even more.

I was able to get them to bump to 40k a year; I can live with that number and am happy deferring. Having a year to work will help to offset some debt too.

Where are you from, and where do you most want to live, long-term? If either genuinely involves the Midwest, generally, then I think 40 a year there is a very solid option. If not, I wouldn't really advise going to ND, whatever the offer.

Traynor Brah wrote:Where are you from, and where do you most want to live, long-term? If either genuinely involves the Midwest, generally, then I think 40 a year there is a very solid option. If not, I wouldn't really advise going to ND, whatever the offer.

From Indianapolis originally, and wouldn't mind working and living in Chicago. Seems like a winner.

are deferrals binding?

skallagrimson wrote:

Traynor Brah wrote:Where are you from, and where do you most want to live, long-term? If either genuinely involves the Midwest, generally, then I think 40 a year there is a very solid option. If not, I wouldn't really advise going to ND, whatever the offer.

From Indianapolis originally, and wouldn't mind working and living in Chicago. Seems like a winner.

I would give a thumbs-up to taking their offer, then, if it feels right to you. So long as you go in understanding that biglaw is not a given, and are comfortable with non-biglaw career tracks and salary, that's a very solid outcome.

pancakes3 wrote:are deferrals binding?

This is million dollar question. If it is binding, I would reapply. Maybe even retake a third time if you're interested. You're right that your current score will make you a fringe T14 candidate, but 3 or 4 more points could do wonders. Also reapplying and snagging more acceptances to negotiate is also a good thing

That said, Traynor makes a solid point. If you are comfortable with what he said, then choosing to defer is also a good outcome

pancakes3 wrote:are deferrals binding?

Generally, yes. My understanding of deferrals is that it's like you're immediately granted ED acceptance for the next year (not allowed to apply anywhere else, etc.).

cavalier1138 wrote:

pancakes3 wrote:are deferrals binding?

Generally, yes. My understanding of deferrals is that it's like you're immediately granted ED acceptance for the next year (not allowed to apply anywhere else, etc.).

Ah. Well then with a 3.75 GPA, OP should definitely withdraw and reapply.