Top Law Schools

LSAT 172 GPA 3.94, Iowa native but not resident

WashU: Full tuition (including increases)+$5k/year stipend, April 1st deadline to accept, pay deposit, and withdraw all other applications
Iowa: Full tuition (including increases), April 1st deposit deadline
Minnesota: Full tuition (NOT including year-over-year increases)
Chicago: Waitlist
Michigan: Waitlist
Northwestern: no decision yet
Harvard: no decision yet, but they expect to send decisions by April 1st

Long-term goals: federal clerkship (not opposed to bankruptcy court, though I'd prefer higher on the totem pole), then practice in Iowa or Missouri (again perhaps in bankruptcy—my father's field). No current interest in BigLaw.

I've talked to an Iowa law prof (but not yet their admissions office) and he doubts they can offer a stipend. Both Iowa & WashU are on Minnesota's match list, so I could take their offers to Minny. Even if I'm admitted to Harvard I don't think I want to go, since it's a long ways away and it's hard to make sense of borrowing a lot with full rides on the table to other good schools, no matter how good their LRAP (also, I don't see being a middle-of-the-pack Harvard graduate doing anything for me that doing well at Iowa, WashU, or Minnesota won't do). If I knew for sure I wanted to practice in Iowa then it would be a choice, but I don't, and recent grads have told me their grading policies can be detrimental for clerkship applicants (apparently their bell curve is a lot tighter than average, so their top students don't look as good as top students from other schools).

I'd love to get WashU to up their stipend offer, but (A) I don't know if they offer any more than that, and (B) the only leverage I can think of is the fact that I'd have to give up my waitlist applications (and potentially pending Northwestern application). Anyone have any suggestions? If you have any thoughts on my analysis of my prospects I'd appreciate those too.

I can't get past wondering why you've had these results. Are you KJD?

You definitely should have gotten into Chicago. Did something happen with the interview?

Anyway, I think Wash U will be fine for you, even though with your stats you could definitely be other places.

I don't know why you don't think you have leverage. Your leverage is in the fact that you're a 3.94/172 who is actually sincerely interested in going to Wash U if they make the figures work. You can just write them and tell them you'd like a stipend of $X and you'd come.

WUSTL has a full ride plus 10k a year stipend called the Webster Fellowship. Tell them you would 100% attend if offered that. A Harvard acceptance in hand would be a goldmine for negotiations though. You could ask for anything from these schools then because they could put your face on their website with a quote saying, "I turned down an acceptance at Harvard to attend WUSTL because of the full ride Webster Fellowship, the amazing benefits and connections it offers and because I love the Midwest".

No, I'm not a KJD. I have two graduate degrees in music and have taken two (non-consecutive) years off. My interview at Chicago didn't go amazingly well (I had some technical difficulties with Skype, but we got it figured out, and I thought the question-answer part went okay), but it wasn't horrible (unlike my interview with Northwestern, but that's a whole 'nother story). Going solely off numbers Michigan (and Northwestern) should have admitted me, but whatever, I'm comparing full rides from top 25 schools, so if Michigan's too good for me they can go pound sand. Can you give me a link where I can find some sample negotiation emails?

Thanks Vandy! I was wondering if they had anything more than the Washington Award. Good to know!

Wash U offered me full tuition + a stipend of 10K a year. I have a 4.1/169, so I would assume that you could easily get them to shell out an additional 5K a year.

In my opinion you underperformed. Maybe you applied late or maybe your application just sucked, but if I were you I'd sit out a year and go for better options.

Thanks for all the help. Since my initial post I've been in contact with Michigan and they've said something will be coming my way Monday. I don't know if that'll be an offer, a rejection, or a "have fun on the waitlist," but at least they're talking to me. My current plan is to take my WashU offer to Minnesota and see what they can do, ask Iowa's admissions office if they can do anything in the way of a stipend, and see about negotiating WashU's stipend offer up.

Two questions:
1. Would anyone have a chance to read & comment on a draft of my "ask email" to WashU today? I'd like to get it out by 5:00 Central to give them a week to consider it & get back to me.
2. I got a PM from someone who was offered $15k. Do you guys think I ask for that, or just go for $10k?

Again, many thanks for all the helpful comments. I truly appreciate it!