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I am planning on attending Pepperdine, however I did not receive any Scholarship aid. For law schools, if you rank in the top 10-15% your 1L, but initially did not get merit aid, is it likely that schools will give you some for your 2nd and 3rd year?

You need to go after it. Financial aid told me that if you place very well after first year they may shoot some $ your way. If you finish your financial aid stuff on time, you are likely to receive a grant, but sometimes these are not real large (mine was $2000). In addition, there are restricted and endowed scholarships for which you can apply to get some more $ in your second and third years. Application materials go out in October of your first year I believe. The best bet if you finish near the top is to apply for a transfer to a higher ranked school, and use that acceptance as leverage for the school to throw some money your way to keep you.

1ferret! wrote:You need to go after it. Financial aid told me that if you place very well after first year they may shoot some $ your way. If you finish your financial aid stuff on time, you are likely to receive a grant, but sometimes these are not real large (mine was $2000). In addition, there are restricted and endowed scholarships for which you can apply to get some more $ in your second and third years. Application materials go out in October of your first year I believe. The best bet if you finish near the top is to apply for a transfer to a higher ranked school, and use that acceptance as leverage for the school to throw some money your way to keep you.

Thanks for the advice! I'm ok with attending my first year all on loans, but I definitely want to do everything I can to not have to do that all 3 years.

1ferret! wrote:if you finish near, apply for a transfer to a higher ranked school, and use that acceptance as leverage for the school to throw some money your way to keep you.

TITCR. But don't go into it thinking you can definitely accomplish this. You have an entire class of smart folks trying to do the same. Good luck nonetheless.

glewz wrote:

1ferret! wrote:if you finish near, apply for a transfer to a higher ranked school, and use that acceptance as leverage for the school to throw some money your way to keep you.

TITCR. But don't go into it thinking you can definitely accomplish this. You have an entire class of smart folks trying to do the same. Good luck nonetheless.

I completely agree, but it's still nice to know the option is at least there.