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I am aware that Virginia will waive the application fee for AmeriCorps Members. What other Law Schools will waive the application fee for AmeriCorps Members?

I got a bunch of TFA fee waivers and some of them required filling out forms that were general for TFA/AmeriCorps/Teaching Fellows etc. I know Berkeley was one that did for sure; I'll have to look back at the other ones.

If you look on the websites of the schools you want to apply to, they should have some info about it. You could also fill out individual school's need-based waivers (schools are generally much more lenient than LSAC) and specify that you did AmeriCorps.

Does AmeriCorps really have no information about that for you?

There was no information from AmeriCorps that I could find about the fee waivers. So far I have fee waivers for my AmeriCorps service from Virginia, North Carolina, and Pitt.

Boston U
Boston College
Northwestern
WUSTL
William and Mary
Notre Dame
Maryland

All gave me one...good luck!

GW, too

This is amazing news. I only knew of UVA.

Tag for next cycle.

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Yes... some institutions will waive the fee just because you were part of AmeriCorps, Teach for America, and Peace Corps at some point. I was part of AmeriCorps four years ago.

It sounds like you were able to qualify for the need-based waiver due to your current level of income as an AmeriCorps Member.

UVA, Notre Dame, BU, UConn, Santa Clara, and Syracuse have all given me fee waivers for being in AmeriCorps. Tulane and St. John's said no. BC, Fordham, and Northeastern want you to send them your W-2 forms and a paycheck stub. I sent all of them a general email saying that I looked on their website and could not find info about fee waivers for AmeriCorps, but that I knew some law schools offer them (UVA and BU) and wanted to know if they would to. I also included my letter of service as a pdf attachment. I plan on asking more schools, but I have to retake in December and I am waiting to see what schools I have a shot at.

This is my first post, but this is something I know A LOT about. Alright so this application cycle I've gotten 52 fee waivers for things other than my LSAT score. Getting an LSDAS fee waiver is the best and fastest way to go, but if you're under 24 good luck because they consider your parents' income YOUR income regardless of how you filed your taxes. If you are in this boat, like me, and claimed your own exemption last year then there is hope for a super cheap application cycle.

So I actually started doing research for this in August. I searched through the forums and found all the schools that waive application fees for everyone. I've listed them below

Automatic Application Fee Waivers

• Washington and Lee
  Hofstra Law
  DePaul (in Chicago)
  University of Arkansas
  Baylor
  George Mason
  Brooklyn Law School
  Case Western Reserve Law
  William Mitchell College of law
  University of Illinois- Urbana
  Loyola University Chicago

There are some schools that specify that current Americorps members get a fee waiver, but most do not. Some schools have an application fee waiver form on their website but most do not. When in doubt, peruse the admissions FAQ section or do a search for the "fee waiver" at the law school's website.

If there is a form provided on the website, fill it out and send it in. Easy. Berkeley's has a little box for Americorps that you just check and send a certification letter and you're done. UC Davis also waives the application fee for Americorps but they don't mention it anywhere on their site which actually straight up says they don't give out fee waivers, but this in't true. Americorps, TFA, Peace Corps. etc. get fee waivers, all you have to do is ask for it.

Most schools will ask you for proof of income, last year's tax return, financial aid status at you undergrad and current expenses.

If they do offer fee waivers but there is no form, then e-mail the admissions office and ask about it. If there is no mention of application fee waivers anywhere on the site (make sure it really isn't on the site) then send an e-mail asking if there are any available. Make sure to mention:
You are inquiring about obtaining a need-based application fee waiver
If it was/wasn't mentioned on the official website
Which Americorps program you are working for, what their mission is, what you do there and a little about what Americorps is all about.
How much your subsistence allowance is per month and that other "income generating activities" are forbidden
And that paying the application fee would constitute a "significant financial hardship"

Make sure to attach a recent paystub and your certification letter.

I've been successful for almost every e-mail I've sent out. They'll respond by giving you the fee waiver, sending you a fee waiver form, request more info from you or say they don't give fee waivers to anyone except people with LSDAS fee waivers. I'll include the schools that responded as such now

NO Application Fee Waivers

• University of Hawaii
  UC Hastings
  University of Wisconson
  American University (DC)
  University of Washington
  University of Las Vegas
  Arizona State University
  University of Florida
  CUNY School of Law
  Gonzaga School of Law

But everyone else was more than happy to give me a fee waiver.

• Fordham Law School
  William and Mary
  The Ohio State (Moritz)
  University of the Pacific McGeorge
  University of San Francisco
  Loyola Law (Los Angeles)
  Seattle College of Law
  University of Virginia
  Southwestern Law School
  University of Minnesota
  University of San Diego
  Lewis and Clark
  University of Oregon
  Berkeley Boalt
  Boston University
  University of Indiana (Bloomington)
  George Washington University
  Temple University
  Boston College
  University of Georgia
  Washington University School of Law
  University of Iowa
  University of Arizona
  University of Denver Sturm
  Santa Clara University
  Northeastern
  Villanova University School of Law
  UCLA
  Rutgers University- Newark
  University of Colorado Boulder
  Seton Hall Law (NJ)
  Vermont Law School
  UC Davis
  Pepperdine
  University of Kentucky
  University of Buffalo
  University of Utah
  Yeshiva Cardozo

Pretty much every school gives out fee waivers-- you just have to ask for them and on an Americorps salary you should have no problem getting one. It's a lot more effort asking each school individually than getting a blanket LSDAS fee waiver but if you start early, it's definitely worth it. It's a little late now, but maybe someone will find this useful later.

^ Weird, Indiana didn't respond to my fee waiver request (current AmeriCorps, 165+, 3.5x), but the University of Washington gave me one.

I am a bit confused with the information provided, are you able to ask for these fee waivers as an AmeriCorps Alum? I did NCCC in '08 and will not be applying until next cycle.

I'm in Peace Corps, and I got fee waivers everywhere I applied. Some I had to fill out forms for; others I didn't.

Complete list on my LSN. http://lawschoolnumbers.com/eugeniedanglars

Similar to what others have said, I'm in AmeriCorps right now and applied to 15 schools for free. All I did was send an email to each school and ask (I didn't qualify for LSAC waiver because their system is idiotic). Some of the schools asked me to send them additional information or fill out a form, and others just handed a waiver over. The schools that I got waivers from are:

Northeastern
Michigan State
GW
Wisconsin
Temple
Pittsburgh
Minnesota
Penn State
Indiana

I just sent a letter to the general admissions email address explaining that I'm in AmeriCorps, money is tight, and that I'd like to inquire about the fee waiver process. Super easy.

Also, as a side note, Loyola Chicago gives an automatic $4,000 for the first year to anyone who has done AmeriCorps, as well as (I think) TFA and Peace Corps.

Does anyone have any information though about fee waivers for Alumni?

JDndMSW wrote:Does anyone have any information though about fee waivers for Alumni?

bump for input and as a reference for others

JDndMSW wrote:

JDndMSW wrote:Does anyone have any information though about fee waivers for Alumni?

bump for input and as a reference for others

Also interested in this!

tmon wrote:

JDndMSW wrote:

JDndMSW wrote:Does anyone have any information though about fee waivers for Alumni?

bump for input and as a reference for others

Also interested in this!

Y'all might want to start a new thread with a different title in order to attract the folks with the answer.

tmon wrote:

JDndMSW wrote:

JDndMSW wrote:Does anyone have any information though about fee waivers for Alumni?

bump for input and as a reference for others

Also interested in this!

Ya I saw today that you were an AmeriCorps Alum Tmon, I was gonna say something. I did NCCC though MUCH different.

JDndMSW wrote:

tmon wrote:

JDndMSW wrote:

JDndMSW wrote:Does anyone have any information though about fee waivers for Alumni?

bump for input and as a reference for others

Also interested in this!

Ya I saw today that you were an AmeriCorps Alum Tmon, I was gonna say something. I did NCCC though MUCH different.

Sure. I did VISTA. But I figure for the purposes of admissions and fee waivers it's the same to the schools in name.

Alright. So most of the schools I asked for a fee waiver from was due to the financial hardship of being on a VISTA living wage. Some schools had a form that included Americorps Alums up to a year after their service year but I think it'd be a lot more difficult to get fee waivers just on the basis of past Americorps participation without the super small living wage. But it never hurts to ask.

Bumping for 2013 - has anyone had progress on getting waivers for the Fall 2013 admissions cycle? Especially as an AmeriCorps alum (not currently serving)? Thanks.

I did AmeriCorp in 2008 and received a waiver from Penn (send in the form they have online with documentation).

I just received another fee waiver from BC. I emailed admissions and asked about being an AmeriCorps alum.

I'm a Peace Corps volunteer and received a waiver from everywhere south of Columbia (and I didn't ask Columbia because I thought they wouldn't give me one but in hindsight I think they would have). Then again, my numbers are also competitive everywhere, so it may not have been exclusively because of PC.