Schools worth applying to NOW (versus later/never) Forum

[WhiteCochran]

Out of a desire to be more fiscally conservative (i.e. I'm currently broke), I'm trying to limit how much I spend on applications. Although I received fee waivers from a decent number of schools I'd consider attending, I'm having trouble prioritizing among the schools where I didn't receive waivers. My stats are somewhat middle-of-the-road (163, 3.58) and I'm pretty open minded in terms of location (CA resident FWIW). I should be un-broke by late January, but I feel it's necessary to send out at least some applications ASAP. My budget is $400, which I figure would cover 4 schools (plus another 6-7 schools with waivers). So if you were me, which 4 schools would you pay to apply out of the following:

Arizona
UC Davis
UC Hastings
Colorado
Houston
Iowa
Pepperdine
San Diego
Tulane
Wisconsin

I'll take any feedback I can get (even if it's 12 people saying "retake")

[law_noob]

Definately Arizona. They are very generous with aid and you have the right numbers to get a decent chunk of change. On LSN, people who got there apps in relatively late (Feb) last cycle were still getting decent schollies

[glitter178]

san diego. they have been doing a lot of acceptances already according to the thread, plus for a tier 2 i hear it places ok.

[Aqualibrium]

Out of a desire to be more fiscally conservative (i.e. I'm currently broke), I'm trying to limit how much I spend on applications. Although I received fee waivers from a decent number of schools I'd consider attending, I'm having trouble prioritizing among the schools where I didn't receive waivers. My stats are somewhat middle-of-the-road (163, 3.58) and I'm pretty open minded in terms of location (CA resident FWIW). I should be un-broke by late January, but I feel it's necessary to send out at least some applications ASAP. My budget is $400, which I figure would cover 4 schools (plus another 6-7 schools with waivers). So if you were me, which 4 schools would you pay to apply out of the following:

Arizona
UC Davis
UC Hastings
Colorado
Houston
Iowa
Pepperdine
San Diego
Tulane
Wisconsin

I'll take any feedback I can get (even if it's 12 people saying "retake")

Seems like a no-brainer. You're from Cali, so Zona, Davis, and Hastings all make sense. Then I would pick one of Tulane or Colorado.

[patrickd139]

I'll take any feedback I can get (even if it's 12 people saying "retake")

Retake

Srsly though, pick the school that's in the market you want to practice in after you graduate.

[bartleby]

Check if you have hidden fee waiver to Houston. I asked their admissions a bunch of times, they said no, I bit the bullet and found out it was hidden. OSU too.

[bartleby]

Email USD with this too:

Applicants interested in applying for a merit-based fee waiver are required to provide us with the following information:

Full Name:

LSAC ID:

Date of Birth:

Undergraduate Institution:

Cumulative GPA:

LSAT Score:

Please note that it may take up to two weeks to process your request. You will receive an email notification once a decision has been made.

I got one with practically your same numbers: higher LSAT, lower GPA.

[WhiteCochran]

Thanks for the input so far guys

I'll take any feedback I can get (even if it's 12 people saying "retake")

Retake

Srsly though, pick the school that's in the market you want to practice in after you graduate.

I'll admit I have a slight bias for staying in CA, but I'm really pretty open minded. I drove across country over the summer and found ways to enjoy myself just about everywhere. Any comments on whether any of those school's main placement markets are notably good/bad right now?

Check if you have hidden fee waiver to Houston. I asked their admissions a bunch of times, they said no, I bit the bullet and found out it was hidden. OSU too.

I just checked both... no dice. I'll shoot USD an email and see what happens.

[patrickd139]

Thanks for the input so far guys

I'll take any feedback I can get (even if it's 12 people saying "retake")

Retake

Srsly though, pick the school that's in the market you want to practice in after you graduate.

I'll admit I have a slight bias for staying in CA, but I'm really pretty open minded. I drove across country over the summer and found ways to enjoy myself just about everywhere. Any comments on whether any of those school's main placement markets are notably good/bad right now?

I'd go with what Aqualibrium said above. Concentrate on schools where you're familiar going to be taken seriously during OCI. Driving through a place on a roadtrip + liking it and then going to law school there ≠ living there the rest of your life