USC vs UVA Forum

[ray.bee]

Okay, so I know UVA seems like a no-brainer. I thought it was prior to my visit and though I really, really enjoyed the law school, I did not like Charlottesville. It honestly felt isolated, too quiet, and I felt stranded there. I also wasn't fond of the school's separation from the UG campus. I felt like that made it even more isolated.

I am from So Cal and the more I visit other places, the more I think I want to practice in So Cal specifically. I went to school in LA undergrad so it's very familiar.

I have $90k to USC and nothing from UVA. I have been exposed to constitutional law and loved it, but I am also very interested in entertainment law (advantage USC).

Stats are on my profile (161, 4.02+). I can't retake LSAT, so please don't say it LOL.

TLDR: Am I dumb to pass up UVA because I feel like I will be unhappy living in Charlottesville and since it's more difficult to get home if I needed to.

[Moneytrees]

Why can't you retake the LSAT?

You could be looking at a full ride to UVA with 165+. Neither option you currently have is that great. You'll have massive debt either way. If you HAVE to go to law school I would say UVA is probably the safer bet.

[BigZuck]

Definitely retake June and see if you can squeeze out more points on the LSAT.

[cavalier1138]

Yeah, you can retake the LSAT.

[HarveySpecterr]

Okay, so I know UVA seems like a no-brainer. I thought it was prior to my visit and though I really, really enjoyed the law school, I did not like Charlottesville. It honestly felt isolated, too quiet, and I felt stranded there. I also wasn't fond of the school's separation from the UG campus. I felt like that made it even more isolated.

I am from So Cal and the more I visit other places, the more I think I want to practice in So Cal specifically. I went to school in LA undergrad so it's very familiar.

I have $90k to USC and nothing from UVA. I have been exposed to constitutional law and loved it, but I am also very interested in entertainment law (advantage USC).

Stats are on my profile (161, 4.02+). I can't retake LSAT, so please don't say it LOL.

TLDR: Am I dumb to pass up UVA because I feel like I will be unhappy living in Charlottesville and since it's more difficult to get home if I needed to.

How did you guys do on reading comprehension? OP said he "can't retake LSAT." Did you see that part?

I don't see what's wrong with accepting the $90k and going to USC, especially if you want to stay local. Sure, you're turning down a T14 -- and the conventional wisdom of the "t14 or bust" adherents will tell you that's insane -- but not everyone goes to that church.

[cavalier1138]

How did you guys do on reading comprehension? OP said he "can't retake LSAT." Did you see that part?

I don't see what's wrong with accepting the $90k and going to USC, especially if you want to stay local. Sure, you're turning down a T14 -- and the conventional wisdom of the "t14 or bust" adherents will tell you that's insane -- but not everyone goes to that church.

Being interested in con law and entertainment law means that the OP doesn't have any specific goals. Guess which schools are helpful for not having specific goals?

Oh, and everyone can retake the LSAT. OP doesn't want to retake the LSAT, and they're phrasing it as a more emphatic statement, because they seem to think that makes it less likely that people will call them on their shit.

So glad you're here to preach the anti-TLS gospel, but as I asked in another thread, where's this "T14 or bust" mentality?

[Mullens]

Okay, so I know UVA seems like a no-brainer. I thought it was prior to my visit and though I really, really enjoyed the law school, I did not like Charlottesville. It honestly felt isolated, too quiet, and I felt stranded there. I also wasn't fond of the school's separation from the UG campus. I felt like that made it even more isolated.

I am from So Cal and the more I visit other places, the more I think I want to practice in So Cal specifically. I went to school in LA undergrad so it's very familiar.

I have $90k to USC and nothing from UVA. I have been exposed to constitutional law and loved it, but I am also very interested in entertainment law (advantage USC).

Stats are on my profile (161, 4.02+). I can't retake LSAT, so please don't say it LOL.

TLDR: Am I dumb to pass up UVA because I feel like I will be unhappy living in Charlottesville and since it's more difficult to get home if I needed to.

How did you guys do on reading comprehension? OP said he "can't retake LSAT." Did you see that part?

I don't see what's wrong with accepting the $90k and going to USC, especially if you want to stay local. Sure, you're turning down a T14 -- and the conventional wisdom of the "t14 or bust" adherents will tell you that's insane -- but not everyone goes to that church.

What's wrong is that OP will still be like $200,000 in debt and only have a less than 40% chance of getting a job that allows them to pay off the debt (even lower if OP only wants to do entertainment law). Retaking the LSAT could easily save the OP $100,000 or give them the chance to go to Stanford or Harvard and a much better shot of achieving their goals.

[luckyirish13]

First of all, USC with 90K scholarship is probably better than UVA at sticker.

But the more important question is, where do you want to work after graduation? If it's in California, then USC is a no-brainer. If it's East coast, probably ask yourself if you can justify the extreme cost at UVA, and if the answer is yes, then that's your best bet.

[cavalier1138]

First of all, USC with 90K scholarship is probably better than UVA at sticker.

For what jobs?

[ambrajdurbra131313]

Clearly, retake is the right call. USC at $90K isn't awful if someone else like your parents will pay for your housing. I wouldn't do it at $90K if everything was debt financed though. I wouldn't do UVA at sticker either. If forced to pick, I'd do USC since it would mean less debt and living in CA- that said, UVA is clearly the move if biglaw is more important (don't know much about specialized entertainment practices aside from needing to do a ton of legwork to get into them- can also do entertainment work at some biglaw firms)

[dm1683]

Echoing everyone else here, why can't you retake the LSAT? Do you have some sort of nervous disorder which makes high stakes test taking basically impossible (good luck in law school then)? Have you exhausted all of your retakes? If neither of those, then you are misrepresenting the situation. You CAN retake, you just dont want to.

That said, USC with 90k is a decent option for most people, but not for someone with your insane GPA. I have the same GPA and I'm 170 or bust (retake). You should be too. Get a 170 and UVA will be free or close to it.

UVA at sticker is pretty crazy, so if you insist on being irrational and not retaking, then USC gets my vote.

[UVA2B]

I'd definitely echo the retake advice, but I'll depart from my homerism for a second to lay down some truth: OP should be retaking for the right fit. I would happily talk to OP at length about their concerns about UVA and Cville, but the truth is, if you don't like it, that is what it is. OP should retake for NYU or Columbia for big city living (or Harvard if East Coast dreaming). Otherwise retake for Berkeley or Stanford for the West Coast. The added bonus here is you'd also slam a full scholarship to USC or UCLA if you wanted to stay in LA that badly.

You're leaving thousands of dollars on the table, and that would be really, really sad.

And who knows, maybe you'll come around about UVA and make the best decision you've ever made

[ray.bee]

Hey all, I took the LSAT OCT. 2015 and got a 157 (took Blueprint) prior. Then went through all PowerScore books and the LSAT Trainer, using the LawSchooli schedule before I took SEPT. 2016 and got a 161. I was PTing 167-169 then gradually went down to 163-165 closer to test day. For practice problems and sections and full tests (some days I took 2 tests back to back), I used the Actual Real LSAT Test books, so I say I cannot retake since I really have nothing else to look at. I have an oddly good memory so I remembered certain practice problems in 2016 from my prep in 2015 so it just wouldn't be true practice at this point. Any advice for this if I did choose to retake for a final 3rd time?

[ray.bee]

I'd definitely echo the retake advice, but I'll depart from my homerism for a second to lay down some truth: OP should be retaking for the right fit. I would happily talk to OP at length about their concerns about UVA and Cville, but the truth is, if you don't like it, that is what it is. OP should retake for NYU or Columbia for big city living (or Harvard if East Coast dreaming). Otherwise retake for Berkeley or Stanford for the West Coast. The added bonus here is you'd also slam a full scholarship to USC or UCLA if you wanted to stay in LA that badly.

You're leaving thousands of dollars on the table, and that would be really, really sad.

And who knows, maybe you'll come around about UVA and make the best decision you've ever made

I would LOVE to hear about your take on C'Ville! L:) Also for my LSAT issue, I posted just now above this!

[jjcorvino]

Hey all, I took the LSAT OCT. 2015 and got a 157 (took Blueprint) prior. Then went through all PowerScore books and the LSAT Trainer, using the LawSchooli schedule before I took SEPT. 2016 and got a 161. I was PTing 167-169 then gradually went down to 163-165 closer to test day. For practice problems and sections and full tests (some days I took 2 tests back to back), I used the Actual Real LSAT Test books, so I say I cannot retake since I really have nothing else to look at. I have an oddly good memory so I remembered certain practice problems in 2016 from my prep in 2015 so it just wouldn't be true practice at this point. Any advice for this if I did choose to retake for a final 3rd time?

It seems like you hit a snag or burnt out with that drop. What sections did you miss answers in? If it is logic games, redo every logic games section until you can complete them all (at -0) in 30 minutes (not 35). Repetition is the key to logic games, you should be practicing each problem multiple times until you actually remember each inference from the start. Inferences repeat often even on new tests, so knowing them all is important.

[ray.bee]

Hey all, I took the LSAT OCT. 2015 and got a 157 (took Blueprint) prior. Then went through all PowerScore books and the LSAT Trainer, using the LawSchooli schedule before I took SEPT. 2016 and got a 161. I was PTing 167-169 then gradually went down to 163-165 closer to test day. For practice problems and sections and full tests (some days I took 2 tests back to back), I used the Actual Real LSAT Test books, so I say I cannot retake since I really have nothing else to look at. I have an oddly good memory so I remembered certain practice problems in 2016 from my prep in 2015 so it just wouldn't be true practice at this point. Any advice for this if I did choose to retake for a final 3rd time?

It seems like you hit a snag or burnt out with that drop. What sections did you miss answers in? If it is logic games, redo every logic games section until you can complete them all (at -0) in 30 minutes (not 35). Repetition is the key to logic games, you should be practicing each problem multiple times until you actually remember each inference from the start. Inferences repeat often even on new tests, so knowing them all is important.

Logic games have actually always been my strongest section. Reading comp is where I would struggle most.

[ReadyToStart]

Why can't you retake the LSAT?

You could be looking at a full ride to UVA with 165+. Neither option you currently have is that great. You'll have massive debt either way. If you HAVE to go to law school I would say UVA is probably the safer bet.

In what universe do you live that you are suggesting a 165+ gets him a full ride to UVA? OP is incredibly lucky to have even gotten in with a 161 and not be ED.

Nevertheless, I do think that retake is the right move, but improving the 10 (!) points to get into full scholarship range at a Top 10 like UVA is no easy road.

[Rigo]

On the other hand, you'd get a full ride to USC with a 166.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

I wouldn't do uva at sticker.

[Moneytrees]

Why can't you retake the LSAT?

You could be looking at a full ride to UVA with 165+. Neither option you currently have is that great. You'll have massive debt either way. If you HAVE to go to law school I would say UVA is probably the safer bet.

In what universe do you live that you are suggesting a 165+ gets him a full ride to UVA? OP is incredibly lucky to have even gotten in with a 161 and not be ED.

Nevertheless, I do think that retake is the right move, but improving the 10 (!) points to get into full scholarship range at a Top 10 like UVA is no easy road.

Because he has a ridiculously high GPA. However, I didn't realize UVA's median was so high (169), I thought it was closer to the Cornell/Berkeley/GULC range (167). So a full ride is probably not going to be in play unless he scores close to 169, but I would imagine a score of 165+ will get him a big scholarship. Over a 4.0 GPA is almost unheard of.

[Rigo]

Why can't you retake the LSAT?

You could be looking at a full ride to UVA with 165+. Neither option you currently have is that great. You'll have massive debt either way. If you HAVE to go to law school I would say UVA is probably the safer bet.

In what universe do you live that you are suggesting a 165+ gets him a full ride to UVA? OP is incredibly lucky to have even gotten in with a 161 and not be ED.

Nevertheless, I do think that retake is the right move, but improving the 10 (!) points to get into full scholarship range at a Top 10 like UVA is no easy road.

Because he has a ridiculously high GPA. However, I didn't realize UVA's median was so high (169), I thought it was closer to the Cornell/Berkeley/GULC range (167). So a full ride is probably not going to be in play unless he scores close to 169, but I would imagine a score of 165+ will get him a big scholarship. Over a 4.0 GPA is almost unheard of.

Not really. It's rare to get a big scholarship from UVA (or most schools) if below median.
I want to say 3.9+ with a 167-168 are getting maybe $60k from what I've seen.
I wouldn't say that's big.