Tier 2 Full Scholarship? Forum

[Chadbrochill311]

Hey everybody, I feel like this question has been asked in a hundred different ways, but I still cant decide. I got a full tuition scholarship for St. Johns. Most of my reach schools wont get back to me until after the deadline, so they are a moot point for now. Here are the schools I've been accepted at for now, and scholarship money offered.

St. Johns (full tuition)
Washington and Lee (6,000)
George mason part time
Loyola Chicago
Hofstra (20,000)
Franklin Pierce (28,000)
Catholic Law part time (9,500)
Brooklyn Law part time

Any quick advice before the 4/15 deadline???

[GordonBombay]

Initial opinion is I would take St johns full ride over BK PT.

Mason part time would be nice if you could get VA in state and work in DC, network during. Particularly if at a govt agency, even as a grunt.

Disclaimer: I'm not really an expert and I'm probably going to W and L. But BK part time sounds rough when you got that full ride at SJ on the table. Free law school rhools.

[Tall]

I'm not even sure if I would consider taking any other offer. IMO the caliber of schools at the price that you would have to pay are not worth throwing away $120,000 or so of free money. Having said that I would take St. Johns but keep in mind that I am not interested in Big Law paychecks and am afraid of debt. Good luck!

[BarbellDreams]

If the scholly is guaranteed, I would go to St. Johns if I were you. iI feel like the smartest thing to do is to pick a school in between (Pitt, Mizzou, etc.) but if you are only choosing from these, I say can't go wrong with full ride. Problem is that you will have roughly 65k in COL debt anyway.

[Chadbrochill311]

Well said, all around. What if I'm not completely set on living in the NYC area? I would love to work in Boston, or maybe DC?

[jewtangclan03]

St John's 1L here. I ended up taking a 35K/yr scholarship over some lower tier 1 options. My scholarship is also contingent on remaining in the top 50% of my class. While I am on track to keep it, it certainly adds a layer of stress on top of everything else there is to worry about.

Keep in mind the cost of living in NYC will offset the benefit of the large scholarship quite a bit. But I think a full ride at St. John's blows your other options out of the water, save maybe the small scholly at W&L.

All of your choices are regional ones. St. John's won't get you a job outside of the tri-state area (you'll have to rely on your own connections for that). Come to think of it, you won't even get a job in the tri-state area without a lot of hard work and good grades. So wherever you decide to go, make certain you'll be alright with practicing in the surrounding area.

Good luck with your decision.

[Chadbrochill311]

Thanks so much everyone...is there anyone else who either passed on a full ride at a lower ranked school and are happy they did, or wished they hadn't?

Of course the poll so far is split right down the middle...pretty much reflects my flip-flopping on the matter.

[SeanSatori]

It's the deadline today, but in the future, you have to weigh these things.

Look at ranking (not too carefully). Look at the total cost of education. Look at scholarship amount. Weigh and balance all those factors.

Higher ranking but no scholarship at all might be great if you expect to be in the top 10% of your class, but will bite you in the ass if you are not. Talk about student loan meltdown.

Low ranking with a full ride is preferable if you aren't planning on big law, and just want to put the letters J.D. after your name.

Medium ranking with partial scholarship seems to balance the need to be from a presentable school with the need to not have ridiculous debt when you graduate.

[PhantaManta]

IMO, St. John's vs. W&L are the only two reasonable options, and it comes down to what kind of job you want and where you want it.