Top Law Schools

I'm currently deciding between University of Washington at 72K (unconditional) and Oregon on a full scholarship (conditional on top 50%) with the possibility of a 5K stipend. I will be financing law school (including COL) using savings earned during my two gap years and with support from my family. I am not BL or bust, but I might be tempted to give it a try if I had the opportunity. I see myself starting my career as a public defender or as a litigator in private practice. My ultimate goal is to start my own civil litigation firm.

I have some ties to the PNW legal community. I've worked at a mid-sized Seattle ID firm for almost two years. My dad is a 20-year partner at a boutique lit firm in Portland and an Oregon Law alumnus (He has been nudging me towards Oregon).

LSAT: 165
GPA: 3.5

I am leaning towards UW, and will be sending a negotiation email this week. I would love to get some TLS advice. Am I thinking about this correctly? Is there a certain price point where UW becomes worth it?

I've also been accepted at ASU and UC Davis and Waitlisted at USC.

I think it depends partly on how much your father's connections will help you in Portland. If he could help you get a job at his firm, for instance, I think Oregon could be a good, no-debt option. Otherwise, I think UW is the best option here, because it's a superior school, and because UW has cheap in-state tuition anyway -30k a year if I remember- so 72k unconditional scholarship isn't bad.

Veil of Ignorance wrote:I think it depends partly on how much your father's connections will help you in Portland. If he could help you get a job at his firm, for instance, I think Oregon could be a good, no-debt option. Otherwise, I think UW is the best option here, because it's a superior school, and because UW has cheap in-state tuition anyway -30k a year if I remember- so 72k unconditional scholarship isn't bad.

He could probably get me an associate gig. But he's advising me to do 2-3 years as a prosecutor/pd in order to get courtroom experience. Also, to clarify, the 72K at UW is the cost of tuition, not the size of the scholarship. I'll have no debt with either option, however.

You need to get rid of that Oregon stipulation. Do not attend with that stipulation. I am willing to bet they section stack.

I think you might be able to make an argument for OR IF you got that top 50 stipulation removed. Imo, is go UW, much better regional pull and could be cheaper or only marginally more expensive if you end up losing your scholly at Oregon 2l or 3l

Yeah, don't take any school insisting on a stipulation like that.

Edit: Oregon's 509 says they don't do conditional scholarships. Are you sure you read the offer letter correctly?

cavalier1138 wrote:Yeah, don't take any school insisting on a stipulation like that.

Edit: Oregon's 509 says they don't do conditional scholarships. Are you sure you read the offer letter correctly?

They have a new dean, and I think this is the first year they are offering them.

TakeItToTrial wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:Yeah, don't take any school insisting on a stipulation like that.

Edit: Oregon's 509 says they don't do conditional scholarships. Are you sure you read the offer letter correctly?

They have a new dean, and I think this is the first year they are offering them.

Oh, then tell their new dean that it's a bullshit practice that you won't be taking part in. Just more diplomatically.

BobBoblaw wrote:I think you might be able to make an argument for OR IF you got that top 50 stipulation removed. Imo, is go UW, much better regional pull and could be cheaper or only marginally more expensive if you end up losing your scholly at Oregon 2l or 3l

Thanks for the advice. I'll send an email to Oregon and ask if they'll remove the stipulation. If they do, would you say it's a better deal?

I've also heard there are scholarship opportunities at UW for rising 2Ls and 3Ls.

cavalier1138 wrote:

TakeItToTrial wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:Yeah, don't take any school insisting on a stipulation like that.

Edit: Oregon's 509 says they don't do conditional scholarships. Are you sure you read the offer letter correctly?

They have a new dean, and I think this is the first year they are offering them.

Oh, then tell their new dean that it's a bullshit practice that you won't be taking part in. Just more diplomatically.

definitely do this. Introducing conditional scholarships in 2017 with insane stips - top half of a stacked section - fuck you.

grades?? wrote:You need to get rid of that Oregon stipulation. Do not attend with that stipulation. I am willing to bet they section stack.

I asked about section stacking at the ASW, and they vehemently denied doing so. That being said, if this is the first year they're offering conditional scholarships, it could also be the first year they stack the sections.

Get rid of that stip and definitely negotiate with UW (a few times if need be) because your LSAT pretty good for them despite being sort of a splitter.

Do you want to practice in Oregon or Washington? If Washington or you're not sure, I'd go UW.

I'd probably go UW anyways if no debt either way. What's up with L&C?

TakeItToTrial wrote:

grades?? wrote:You need to get rid of that Oregon stipulation. Do not attend with that stipulation. I am willing to bet they section stack.

I asked about section stacking at the ASW, and they vehemently denied doing so. That being said, if this is the first year they're offering conditional scholarships, it could also be the first year they stack the sections.

Of course they'd say that. It's also easy to say we don't do that if it's the first class with stips.
Shady shady Oregon.

Rigo wrote:

TakeItToTrial wrote:

grades?? wrote:You need to get rid of that Oregon stipulation. Do not attend with that stipulation. I am willing to bet they section stack.

I asked about section stacking at the ASW, and they vehemently denied doing so. That being said, if this is the first year they're offering conditional scholarships, it could also be the first year they stack the sections.

Of course they'd say that. It's also easy to say we don't do that if it's the first class with stips.
Shady shady Oregon.

Any time there are stipulations, its probable there will be section stacking. If O is now doing this with scholarships, run the fuck away. Deposit at UW and tell the O dean the only reason you aren't attending is because you will not go to a law school dealing in shady practices like this.

Go to UW, ez decision

That stip is bad.

If you want OR and can remove that stip, then UO.

If you want WA or UO's stipulation remains, then UW.

Rigo wrote:Get rid of that stip and definitely negotiate with UW (a few times if need be) because your LSAT pretty good for them despite being sort of a splitter.

Do you want to practice in Oregon or Washington? If Washington or you're not sure, I'd go UW.

I'd probably go UW anyways if no debt either way. What's up with L&C?

I'm not sure about where I want to practice. I love Portland, but Seattle is great, too, and it's a bigger market.

I was going to apply to L&C, but once I got the full to Oregon, I didn't bother.

I'm thinking negotiate with UW and try to get a scholly bump.

UW is a bit... special with how they do financial aid. I would not count on being able to negotiate them up, but good luck. I think Id take UW either way, frankly.

This post got me reading all about section stacking. Is *good academic standing still an example of section stacking? or is top/above such and such percentage section stacking?

Capt_Beatty wrote:This post got me reading all about section stacking. Is *good academic standing still an example of section stacking? or is top/above such and such percentage section stacking?

"Good academic standing" just means you aren't failing out at most places. If you're concerned about conditional scholarships, just check the school's 509 report. They're required to report conditional scholarships and how many students keep them.