merit aid after 1L..? Forum

[nuss3]

does anyone know whether there's a general policy among t14 schools that rewards high-performing students with merit aid after their 1L (even if they had none when first accepted)? while i recognize it's by no means a sure thing, i'd feel a little better about accepting sticker at a $45k/yr school if i knew i had some chance of gaining aid after my 1L. and it seems like some schools might be inclined to do this, in order to prevent top students from transferring out...

edited for clarity*

[270910]

No top schools do.

/thread

[nuss3]

wow. that's absurd on their parts.

[270910]

wow. that's absurd on their parts.

No it's not.

[Bert]

I think that this practice is more common at lower ranked tier 1 schools, but not necessarily at higher ranked schools. I guess the logic is that the lower ranked schools don't want their exceptional students running away to top law schools, and the top law schools really don't have this problem.

[nuss3]

wow. that's absurd on their parts.

No it's not.

*wow. that reeks of arrogance.

...in any case, they still have to worry about attrition rates--and having your top students leave for another school probably wouldn't look good. mind you, i didn't ask about full tuition or some such--just merit aid in general.

[270910]

wow. that's absurd on their parts.

No it's not.

*wow. that reeks of arrogance.

...in any case, they still have to worry about attrition rates--and having your top students leave for another school probably wouldn't look good. mind you, i didn't ask about full tuition or some such--just merit aid in general.

WoW!!1 that's a really good point!!11 hey let's call the T14 and let them know they should start offering merit scholarships to keep their top students around after 1l!!

OH HAY, turns out top students don't transfer out in large numbers even without so much as a wiff of merit aid. WHAT Witch Craft AND BLACK MAGIC IS THIS? Certainly this 0L on the internet knows better than the top performing students at the nations best law schools?

MADNESS.

[UrbanAchievers]

*wow. that reeks of arrogance.

Welcome to TLS.

...in any case, they still have to worry about attrition rates--and having your top students leave for another school probably wouldn't look good. mind you, i didn't ask about full tuition or some such--just merit aid in general.

[/quote]
These schools have many years of experience to draw on when forming this policy. If this decision was causing them to lose an unacceptable number of top students, they'd change the policy. Remember that there are factors that would make students hesitant to transfer, so an additional incentive to stay is typically unnecessary.

[carterth]

For what it's worth, when I called the NYU financial aid office last week they mentioned that you can apply to have your merit aid reconsidered after your 1L year. Who knows how often such appeals would actually result in more scholarship money, but apparently the concept does exist in the T14.

[nuss3]

For what it's worth, when I called the NYU financial aid office last week they mentioned that you can apply to have your merit aid reconsidered after your 1L year. Who knows how often such appeals would actually result in more scholarship money, but apparently the concept does exist in the T14.

this is basically all i was wondering--whether they're open to a discussion. thanks for the help.

urbanachievers--that makes sense, too. ty for the input.

wow. that's absurd on their parts.

No it's not.

*wow. that reeks of arrogance.

...in any case, they still have to worry about attrition rates--and having your top students leave for another school probably wouldn't look good. mind you, i didn't ask about full tuition or some such--just merit aid in general.

WoW!!1 that's a really good point!!11 hey let's call the T14 and let them know they should start offering merit scholarships to keep their top students around after 1l!!

OH HAY, turns out top students don't transfer out in large numbers even without so much as a wiff of merit aid. WHAT WITCH CRAFT AND BLACK MAGIC IS THIS? Certainly this 0L on the internet knows better than the top performing students at the nations best law schools?

MADNESS.

my, my...someone's riding high on that horse. since you've presented absolutely no statistics, anecdotal evidence, or evidence in general....looks like we're equally ignorant. troll elsewhere.

[270910]

my, my...someone's riding high on that horse. since you've presented absolutely no statistics, anecdotal evidence, or evidence in general....looks like we're equally ignorant. troll elsewhere.

okie dokie.

1) No T14 school provides merit aid after 1L year. There are small exceptions - awards (often in the hundreds, not thousands, of dollars) for top GPAs and scholarships offered by private organizations or something for 1L performance. The exceptions are few and far between.

Source: Attending my T14, discussions on TLS on this very subject over the past year

2) Transfer data.

1. Yale....14 in, 0 out.

2. Harvard....22 in, 1 out.

3. Stanford ....12 in, 1 out.

4. Columbia....62 in, 0 out.

5. NYU....50 in, 1 out.

6. Berkeley....39 in, 1 out.

6. Chicago....22 in, 1 out.

8. Penn....29 in, 8 out.

9. Michigan....32 in, 10 out.

10. Northwestern....59 in, 5 out.

10. Virginia....22 in, 4 out.

10. Duke....18 in, 4 out.

13. Cornell....9 in, 11 out.

14. Georgetown....93 in, 12 out.

Source: ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools, 2010 Edition (for the 2007-2008 academic year).

[JWicker10]

Merit aid is generally used as a form of enticement during the recruitment process. Once you've committed and are attending, they really don't need to entice you any longer to come there.

I have heard of top schools adjusting your need based aid/grants if you experience a drastic change in your financial standing while in attendance however.

[nuss3]

disco--see, now that's roughly 100x more useful and informative than your previous posts. thank you for the info!


guess i'm just going to have to transfer to harvard after 1L and get some of that need-based aid (hello $150k debt)

[270910]

disco--see, now that's roughly 100x more useful and informative than your previous posts. thank you for the info!


guess i'm just going to have to transfer to harvard after 1L and get some of that need-based aid (hello $150k debt)

In emergencies, I can be useful. For the most part I just like to be antagonistic and wonder why 0Ls don't take my word as Gospel. One day...