Top Law Schools

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on a tough decision I'm trying make as to where to apply to law school.

I was accepted at GULC in the fall of 2009. I deferred for a year, but ultimately decided to withdraw my application because of the huge costs at Georgetown. I'm going to reapply this fall in hopes of landing a scholarship.

Part of my decision to withdraw had to do with learning that GW, which also has a tremendous International Law program, offers a really generous full scholarship to students who commit to a binding application.

My question is this: given my numbers (166/171 LSAT, 3.79 gpa), should I apply binding ED at GW? I feel that I would have a shot (not a great shot, but a decent shot) at getting into ONE of the other top international law programs (Harvard, Columbia, NYU), albeit without the money. Then I would have to make the decision between paying full price at a top school, or a full ride at a less prestigious school. However, if I apply ED at GW, I won't even be able to make that choice, since I will be bound to attending GW. Of course, I'm not at all a lock to even get the full ride at GW, though I think my numbers are competitive.

I'm certain that I want to study international law, specifically human rights law in Latin America. That career path does not entail making a lot of money, so it's really important to me not to be saddled with huge loans. GW has a great International law program, and I would be lucky to get the full ride there. At the same time, I feel like I'm selling myself short by ruling out those top 3 schools altogether.

I may be putting the cart before the horse, but any comments on this dilemma would be greatly appreciated. Would you choose a full ride at GW, or full price at Harvard / NYU / Columbia, knowing that you were going to study international law? Should I just go all out for GW, or apply RD in order that those other schools can be a possibility? I know that GW does offer money RD, but nothing as good as the ED presidential scholarship.

Further, you can't really take the USNWR specialty rankings at face value. Would you really go to NYU over Harvard/Yale or American over Penn just because you're interested in "international law"? I mean, c'mon.

You're right about taking the rankings with a grain of salt, but my decision isn't NYU over Harvard, or American over Penn. Its whether to pay full price at Harvard/NYU, or take a full ride at GW. The "international law" aspect enters the picture because while GW is a second-tier school with a considerably less prestigious ranking than Harvard/NYU, GW is still considered one of the best international law schools in the country. I'm sure that has a lot to do with being located in DC.

On a separate note, thanks "rad law" for that great article, confirmed a lot of what I've been told about the illusions of international law.

scobryan wrote:You're right about taking the rankings with a grain of salt, but my decision isn't NYU over Harvard, or American over Penn. Its whether to pay full price at Harvard/NYU, or take a full ride at GW. The "international law" aspect enters the picture because while GW is a second-tier school with a considerably less prestigious ranking than Harvard/NYU, GW is still considered one of the best international law schools in the country. I'm sure that has a lot to do with being located in DC.

On a separate note, thanks "rad law" for that great article, confirmed a lot of what I've been told about the illusions of international law.

No matter what kind of law I was interested or what my regional preferences were, I would take Harvard at sticker over GW full ride in a heartbeat.