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I've seen a lot of differing opinions when I did a search on this, so I'm still interested in hearing from people, even if consensus isn't likely.

Is it ever worth going to a lower T14 school (Cornell or NU for instance) and paying sticker?

Alternatively, what is the minimum percentage of tuition to be funded by scholarships that would make attending a school like this worth it?

It might be defensible if you are dead set on a public interest career and the school has a very solid loan repayment program. Otherwise, no.

It might be defensible if you have head trauma and can't be held responsible for your poor decision-making

Cornell might be an exception - weren't their NY BigLaw numbers amazing last year given their ranking? NU and GULC at sticker is for dumbs

<---- (is paying sticker at GULC)

just retake or go to a different school instead

depends, what are your alternatives? worthless UG and no job prospects? Prob worth it. Quitting your engineering job for it? no.

.

Which school, and does it end in town-nell?

It's tough to justify sticker. How do you plan to pay pack the debt?

Capitol_Idea wrote: Cornell might be an exception - weren't their NY BigLaw numbers amazing last year given their ranking?

Yeah, but even if I was literally guaranteed a BigLaw job after paying sticker, I'd take a hard pass on that. Slaving away like a rented mule for five years just to get back to a zero balance? No thanks.

Never

Don't do it

TheSpanishMain wrote:

Capitol_Idea wrote: Cornell might be an exception - weren't their NY BigLaw numbers amazing last year given their ranking?

Yeah, but even if I was literally guaranteed a BigLaw job after paying sticker, I'd take a hard pass on that. Slaving away like a rented mule for five years just to get back to a zero balance? No thanks.

Agree. Almost everyone who wants biglaw at Cornell gets it, but grinding in biglaw for several years without anything to show for it does not seem worth it. Although, there is a small chance it could make sense if OP has post-biglaw plans.

OP, what are your goals? If you're planning on biglaw, what do you see yourself doing after spending 3-4 years at a firm?

Honestly, best answer is to retake for lower T-14 dollars.

Trippel wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:

Capitol_Idea wrote: Cornell might be an exception - weren't their NY BigLaw numbers amazing last year given their ranking?

Yeah, but even if I was literally guaranteed a BigLaw job after paying sticker, I'd take a hard pass on that. Slaving away like a rented mule for five years just to get back to a zero balance? No thanks.

Agree. Almost everyone who wants biglaw at Cornell gets it, but grinding in biglaw for several years without anything to show for it does not seem worth it. Although, there is a small chance it could make sense if OP has post-biglaw plans.

OP, what are your goals? If you're planning on biglaw, what do you see yourself doing after spending 3-4 years at a firm?

Honestly, best answer is to retake for lower T-14 dollars.

i want to keep my career options as wide open as possible. interested in labor/employment law. i understand that paying sticker anywhere is not conducive to many options other than biglaw. i don't think i could bring myself to pay sticker anywhere. sucks that i have a 167 and i know the answer is to retake, but i have a pretty intense job and i don't know that retaking will be possible for me.

i'd be open to biglaw but i would only want to do it if i liked the job. like thespanishman said, not simply to be able to break even on law school debt. in that case i'd rather just roll the dice with my UG English degree.

i want to be in chicago or the northeast, so i'm hoping to get a scholarship at BC, which i was accepted to a couple weeks ago. can't get into Chicago, and NU is the only other school i'd be interested in the midwest.

Retake.

jjolc wrote:

Trippel wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:

Capitol_Idea wrote: Cornell might be an exception - weren't their NY BigLaw numbers amazing last year given their ranking?

Yeah, but even if I was literally guaranteed a BigLaw job after paying sticker, I'd take a hard pass on that. Slaving away like a rented mule for five years just to get back to a zero balance? No thanks.

Agree. Almost everyone who wants biglaw at Cornell gets it, but grinding in biglaw for several years without anything to show for it does not seem worth it. Although, there is a small chance it could make sense if OP has post-biglaw plans.

OP, what are your goals? If you're planning on biglaw, what do you see yourself doing after spending 3-4 years at a firm?

Honestly, best answer is to retake for lower T-14 dollars.

i want to keep my career options as wide open as possible. interested in labor/employment law. i understand that paying sticker anywhere is not conducive to many options other than biglaw. i don't think i could bring myself to pay sticker anywhere. sucks that i have a 167 and i know the answer is to retake, but i have a pretty intense job and i don't know that retaking will be possible for me.

i'd be open to biglaw but i would only want to do it if i liked the job. like thespanishman said, not simply to be able to break even on law school debt. in that case i'd rather just roll the dice with my UG English degree.

i want to be in chicago or the northeast, so i'm hoping to get a scholarship at BC, which i was accepted to a couple weeks ago. can't get into Chicago, and NU is the only other school i'd be interested in the midwest.

I think you need to choose your prefered market if you aren't able to get into a T14. No school outside of the T14 can provide much hope of getting to both Chicago or the NE--only one or the other (or neither). NU and UChicago are obviously great for Chicago. But if you want flexibility the correct answer is as everyone else already said is to retake.

Don't go to any law school at sticker unless someone else is gladly paying for it.

Chrstgtr wrote:

jjolc wrote:

Trippel wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:

Capitol_Idea wrote: Cornell might be an exception - weren't their NY BigLaw numbers amazing last year given their ranking?

Yeah, but even if I was literally guaranteed a BigLaw job after paying sticker, I'd take a hard pass on that. Slaving away like a rented mule for five years just to get back to a zero balance? No thanks.

Agree. Almost everyone who wants biglaw at Cornell gets it, but grinding in biglaw for several years without anything to show for it does not seem worth it. Although, there is a small chance it could make sense if OP has post-biglaw plans.

OP, what are your goals? If you're planning on biglaw, what do you see yourself doing after spending 3-4 years at a firm?

Honestly, best answer is to retake for lower T-14 dollars.

i want to keep my career options as wide open as possible. interested in labor/employment law. i understand that paying sticker anywhere is not conducive to many options other than biglaw. i don't think i could bring myself to pay sticker anywhere. sucks that i have a 167 and i know the answer is to retake, but i have a pretty intense job and i don't know that retaking will be possible for me.

i'd be open to biglaw but i would only want to do it if i liked the job. like thespanishman said, not simply to be able to break even on law school debt. in that case i'd rather just roll the dice with my UG English degree.

i want to be in chicago or the northeast, so i'm hoping to get a scholarship at BC, which i was accepted to a couple weeks ago. can't get into Chicago, and NU is the only other school i'd be interested in the midwest.

I think you need to choose your prefered market if you aren't able to get into a T14. No school outside of the T14 can provide much hope of getting to both Chicago or the NE--only one or the other (or neither). NU and UChicago are obviously great for Chicago. But if you want flexibility the correct answer is as everyone else already said is to retake.

oh yeah, for sure. as it stands now i could go either way. i'd be happy in either region.

so last question since the consensus is clear: is it common/usual for people to retake and reapply the next cycle once they've already been accepted at places? would that hurt your chances in any way if you apply to some of the same schools, or do most people just add a brief addendum to their app/P.S. saying "i knew i could do better on my LSAT so i decided to retake"?

thanks for the answers in this thread, very useful.

jjolc wrote: so last question since the consensus is clear: is it common/usual for people to retake and reapply the next cycle once they've already been accepted at places? would that hurt your chances in any way if you apply to some of the same schools, or do most people just add a brief addendum to their app/P.S. saying "i knew i could do better on my LSAT so i decided to retake"?

common? yes
hurt your chances? no
No addendum.
If you're absolutely inconsolable and must do something, you can email admissions (or a specific contact therein) when you withdraw and say you wanted to sit out this term and explore other career options/life/vacation spots/etc. and that you hope to apply again over the next cycle.