Top Law Schools

I am at Cal and get almost all of my tuition covered by need-based aid (my EFC is 0 and I got fee waivers for all of my law school applications). I want to apply to Loyola (Los Angeles) ED because my numbers are low and I need the boost, but heard that it could hurt my odds of getting aid. In my case, what should I do? I do need aid, but I would rather be in oodles of debt from Loyola that go to a crappy safety. My LSAT= 158, GPA 3.35, amazing PS/rec letters/resume. I'm white, but extremely socioeconomically disadvantaged. So I don't know how badly I need the boost the applying ED would give me.

Those of you with experience with this......what should I do? I need to apply in the next 2 days!!!!!

Retake.

I will retake and will apply to transfer (I will not just wait to retake because I don't think I can do a ton better on the lsat). But I still need to know if I should apply ED or not.

THOUGHTS?!?!

Don't ED. It will hurt your chances of getting financial aid.

noted......any1 else? i am hoping to hear from some1 who has applied to loyola ed before.

You're not living up to your screen name.

In all seriousness, though, schools have no incentive to offer scholarships to ED applicants. Scholarships are to entice competitive applicants to attend a school, not to make locked-in (i.e. ED) applicants happy. But your numbers aren't scholarship-worthy to begin with, which is (I'm assuming) why you're choosing to apply ED. Unfortunately, you're choosing to apply ED to a mediocre school in a crowded market with a sky-high COL, which you will almost certainly be attending at sticker if you're lucky (unlucky?) enough to get accepted. So... retake.

thanks.....but i still dont know if I can do much better on the lsat. like I said, I am willing to go to loyola at full price if it is the best school i can get into, and if ed will help me with that, good.

has anyone on this forum gotten into loyola ed and gotten aid? and even with my need, if i do miraculously get into loyola regular decision, will I probably not get aid anyway because of my numbers? if so, i will deff do ED.

THOUGHTS?!

UCLAorbust wrote:thanks.....but i still dont know if I can do much better on the lsat. like I said, I am willing to go to loyola at full price if it is the best school i can get into, and if ed will help me with that, good.

has anyone on this forum gotten into loyola ed and gotten aid? and even with my need, if i do miraculously get into loyola regular decision, will I probably not get aid anyway because of my numbers? if so, i will deff do ED.

THOUGHTS?!

Then don't go to law school. If you're ready to take on $200k+ in debt (which can't be released in bankruptcy) for mediocre (at best) job prospects because you're unwilling to put in the time to study for the LSAT, then law is not the career for you.

FWIW, you likely won't be accepted, and if you are, you will almost definitely be paying sticker. http://loyola.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0910/

But again, you do realize that we're talking about hundreds of thousands in student loans, right? These loans carry interest. You can't get rid of them. At best, you will be paying them off for decades to come. At worst, you'll be saddled with soul-crushing debt and have no way (read: a decent job) out. This is a no-win situation. Retake.

Retake. You're not getting Loyola, USD, or even Chapman with those numbers, with or without ED. Even in the extreme unlikelihood that you do, you would certainly not get any aid. Plus those schools aren't worth sticker.

http://www.lsac.org/LSACResources/Publi ... ac4403.pdf

See applicant profile:
GPA range 3.25-3.49
LSAT range 155-159
Chances of admission = 89/353 = 25%

If you retake the LSAT and score in the 160-164 range, a small improvement, you will increase your chances to 198/247 = 80%.

Financial aid seems unlikely to be offered without a significant LSAT improvement though.

You are not getting aid even if you apply RD. Your chances of admission are low.

beachbum wrote:

UCLAorbust wrote:thanks.....but i still dont know if I can do much better on the lsat. like I said, I am willing to go to loyola at full price if it is the best school i can get into, and if ed will help me with that, good.

has anyone on this forum gotten into loyola ed and gotten aid? and even with my need, if i do miraculously get into loyola regular decision, will I probably not get aid anyway because of my numbers? if so, i will deff do ED.

THOUGHTS?!

Then don't go to law school. If you're ready to take on $200k+ in debt (which can't be released in bankruptcy) for mediocre (at best) job prospects because you're unwilling to put in the time to study for the LSAT, then law is not the career for you.

FWIW, you likely won't be accepted, and if you are, you will almost definitely be paying sticker. http://loyola.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0910/

But again, you do realize that we're talking about hundreds of thousands in student loans, right? These loans carry interest. You can't get rid of them. At best, you will be paying them off for decades to come. At worst, you'll be saddled with soul-crushing debt and have no way (read: a decent job) out. This is a no-win situation. Retake.

I never said I am unwilling to put in the time to study (not sure where you got that impression from what I said).......in fact, I independently studied over 150 hours. But that's the score I got, and I thought I did my best. Which is why I said I don't think I can improve my score too much. But nonetheless, I have decided to apply RD.

UCLAorbust wrote:

beachbum wrote:

UCLAorbust wrote:thanks.....but i still dont know if I can do much better on the lsat. like I said, I am willing to go to loyola at full price if it is the best school i can get into, and if ed will help me with that, good.

has anyone on this forum gotten into loyola ed and gotten aid? and even with my need, if i do miraculously get into loyola regular decision, will I probably not get aid anyway because of my numbers? if so, i will deff do ED.

THOUGHTS?!

Then don't go to law school. If you're ready to take on $200k+ in debt (which can't be released in bankruptcy) for mediocre (at best) job prospects because you're unwilling to put in the time to study for the LSAT, then law is not the career for you.

FWIW, you likely won't be accepted, and if you are, you will almost definitely be paying sticker. http://loyola.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0910/

But again, you do realize that we're talking about hundreds of thousands in student loans, right? These loans carry interest. You can't get rid of them. At best, you will be paying them off for decades to come. At worst, you'll be saddled with soul-crushing debt and have no way (read: a decent job) out. This is a no-win situation. Retake.

I never said I am unwilling to put in the time to study (not sure where you got that impression from what I said).......in fact, I independently studied over 150 hours. But that's the score I got, and I thought I did my best. Which is why I said I don't think I can improve my score too much. But nonetheless, I have decided to apply RD.

If you're willing to put in the time, then get back to studying and plan for a retake in June. The LSAT is incredibly learnable, and a low score is almost always due to insufficient and/or improper studying. Try taking a class and supplementing it with the Powerscore books and PTs.

As it stands now, it's just not worth applying with your numbers. You need to make up for that so-so GPA with a top LSAT score before you can really start to see meaningful returns on your (future) law school investment.