Top Law Schools

Here’s me in a nutshell:

White male
4.0 UGPA (in an honors major) at a large top 50 public undergraduate school
171 LSAT
I’ve got decent experience in legal settings – I’ve been an office assistant/runner at 2 law firms, and an intern in a U.S. Attorney’s office

I’ve got a strong interest in public interest law, and I’ll probably end up in that realm. However, with my numbers I want to go to a school as highly ranked as possible for as little money as possible.

What are the chances of getting a partial and/or full merit scholarship to Virginia and/or Michigan? What about other, similar law schools?

Would retaking the LSAT and raising the score 2-3 points be worth the risk?

Have you looked at http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com? That might give you an idea. I think you've got a good shot at a nice scholarship from UVA - I don't think a full ride, but maybe half, perhaps.

Thank you for that link. I think your analysis is dead on based on the website – practically everyone with numbers close to mine had some offer, with most people being offered around half tuition. But it looked like unless I’m scoring 175+, the deciding factor between half scholarships and full scholarships is “soft” factors. Does this comport with your experience?

And what about Michigan? What kind of shot do I have at a Darrow, especially considering I wouldn’t pass it up for a top 5 school?

dawrp wrote:
And what about Michigan? What kind of shot do I have at a Darrow, especially considering I wouldn’t pass it up for a top 5 school?

I wouldn't count on that unless you have some kind of card up your sleeve, like being impressive and multilingual

dawrp wrote:Thank you for that link. I think your analysis is dead on based on the website – practically everyone with numbers close to mine had some offer, with most people being offered around half tuition. But it looked like unless I’m scoring 175+, the deciding factor between half scholarships and full scholarships is “soft” factors. Does this comport with your experience?

And what about Michigan? What kind of shot do I have at a Darrow, especially considering I wouldn’t pass it up for a top 5 school?

You are certainly an exceptional candidate numerically, and you seem to have an interesting background, but they give so few of them that I don't think it's something anyone can count on.

I'm changing the topic of this thread slightly, but does anyone know if these schools will match each other for scholarships? I know Michigan doesn't match scholarships as a general policy, but what about the other way around? Has anyone had success leveraging a Michigan scholarship to receive one at UVA? Thanks.

On another note, I'm starting to feel like the top schools (T14) are so dialed into what other T14 schools are offering, and as a result they will not play the matching game -- they already know what the other offers will be and calculate that into their initial offer. Has anyone successfully negotiated within the T14?

I know there are plenty of threads discussing merit scholarship negotiation, but my general sense is that in reality it is much harder to negotiate scholarships than people make it out to be in these forums.

Well, I just found out that Virginia is not matching Michigan, at least until deposits are in. This just firms up my belief that negotiating in the T14 is very difficult.

My stats are comparable to yours (higher LSAT but lower GPA), and I just got a nice scholarship offer from UVA. And they seem to emphasize GPA in giving out scholarships, so you should be in good shape, since both of your #'s are above median.

democrattotheend wrote:My stats are comparable to yours (higher LSAT but lower GPA), and I just got a nice scholarship offer from UVA. And they seem to emphasize GPA in giving out scholarships, so you should be in good shape, since both of your #'s are above median.

I don't think you're talking about me, I have below median LSAT and was definitely not offered a scholarship. Thanks though.

....

astro1819 wrote:

democrattotheend wrote:My stats are comparable to yours (higher LSAT but lower GPA), and I just got a nice scholarship offer from UVA. And they seem to emphasize GPA in giving out scholarships, so you should be in good shape, since both of your #'s are above median.

I don't think you're talking about me, I have below median LSAT and was definitely not offered a scholarship. Thanks though.

Hmm, did you not get anything at UVA at all? My numbers are just above yours and I received 10k/yr from them before I could withdraw.

thalassocrat wrote:

astro1819 wrote:

democrattotheend wrote:My stats are comparable to yours (higher LSAT but lower GPA), and I just got a nice scholarship offer from UVA. And they seem to emphasize GPA in giving out scholarships, so you should be in good shape, since both of your #'s are above median.

I don't think you're talking about me, I have below median LSAT and was definitely not offered a scholarship. Thanks though.

Hmm, did you not get anything at UVA at all? My numbers are just above yours and I received 10k/yr from them before I could withdraw.

Nope, nothing, even asking them to match Michigan. I think this is a case where a few points (1 point on the LSAT and a couple GPA points) can make a big difference. Congrats!

I'm almost positive I will go to UVA though, so right now I just need to decide whether to place my deposit or hold out until the last second to see if they'll match Michigan's offer. Either way, I'll probably start seriously looking for housing and making plans.

astro1819 wrote:

thalassocrat wrote:

astro1819 wrote:

democrattotheend wrote:My stats are comparable to yours (higher LSAT but lower GPA), and I just got a nice scholarship offer from UVA. And they seem to emphasize GPA in giving out scholarships, so you should be in good shape, since both of your #'s are above median.

I don't think you're talking about me, I have below median LSAT and was definitely not offered a scholarship. Thanks though.

Hmm, did you not get anything at UVA at all? My numbers are just above yours and I received 10k/yr from them before I could withdraw.

Nope, nothing, even asking them to match Michigan. I think this is a case where a few points (1 point on the LSAT and a couple GPA points) can make a big difference. Congrats!

I'm almost positive I will go to UVA though, so right now I just need to decide whether to place my deposit or hold out until the last second to see if they'll match Michigan's offer. Either way, I'll probably start seriously looking for housing and making plans.

Good luck! Maybe they'll be more willing as more people start withdrawing.