Wait or Take the offer? Forum

[Cory045]

I was WL for Notre Dame and WUSTL. I applied to a few others but had my heart set on these two. As the summer goes on I have contacted them and they still remain steadfast that they are slowly taking people off the waitlist. On friday though, Penn State called with a full scholarship offer that I have to make a decision about by tomorrow morning. I am unsure as to what to do. Penn State is not the worst but they aren't the two I am on the WL for. I also know that I will most likely have to pay full price tag for these two if they take me off the waitlist. Suggestions?

[TheZoid]

Probly neither one is worth sticker, but what are your numbers and where are you from? A Penn State degree is not very portable.

[Cory045]

3.86 gpa and 160 lsat

[JetsFan1990]

If you are going to have to pay sticker for ND and WUSTL then I would absolutely take the offer at Penn State (assuming waiting to take the LSAT again is not an option). Penn State's employment prospects are less than desirable to say the least, but who can complain if they're paying for your whole ticket? IMO, ND and WUSTL do not have high enough employment prospects to warrant passing on the Penn State offer.

[TheZoid]

3.86 gpa and 160 lsat

Yea, is retake reapply an option? That's a great GPA. And again, where are you from? PSU degree is not going to take you far outside of PA.

[attractive_NUisance]

If you want to work for a big law firm you should retake the lsat and go to a T14 when you score above a 168. Get 172+ and you should get good scholarship money at a T14.

If you don't care where you work you should go to penn state and take the money. You should negotiate with them though since they sound desperate. Insist on a guarantee for all three years and ask for living expenses stipend.

[Cory045]

I have mulled this over ever since I got my lsat scores. It was very unwise of me to not have taken the lsat again in june. I am really regretting this now. I live in pa currently. I would be fine staying in the northeast. The goal is to work in a city (philly, pittsburgh, dc). I really want to do mergers and acquisitions, which is probably only found in big law and more limited in the big four accounting firms. This is not set in stone though. The most important thing for me is working in a city though.

[TTTehehe]

Solid advice being given here. It would be a shame to "waste" your GPA. If you did better on the LSAT, you would have a shot at better schools.

That being said, PSU with full-tuition would give you a lot of wiggle room in career choices (not prospects) because of low debt. I'm not sure what COL is out there.

I'm with the retake crowd, though.

[abc12345675]

Law school isn't going anywhere. Just retake in October and reapply. You have plenty of time between now and then to prep.

If anything, next cycle is going to be easier than this cycle with the drop in people taking the test.

[Law Sauce]

If you are going to school this session, no way you should pay for anything less than a t14 with a full ride on the table. I'd take PSU or retake. Definitely over sticker at WUSTL or ND.

[TTTehehe]

If you are going to school this session, no way you should pay for anything less than a t14 with a full ride on the table. I'd take PSU or retake. Definitely over sticker at WUSTL or ND.

+1

Just for giggles, if you do decide to retake, ask PSU if they will throw in a COL stipend to boot. If they say yes, come back and start a poll

[CanadianWolf]

Agree that Penn State with a full tuition & fees scholarship or retake are your best options. In addition to Pittsburgh & Philadelphia, consider Wilmington, Delaware as a target market from PSU-Dickinson. Congratulations on the full tuition scholarship !

P.S. Retaking remains your best option, however, due to your high GPA & to fewer law school applicants next cycle.

P.P.S. If you accept the PSU scholarship offer, are you required to withdraw from all waitlists ?

[timbs4339]

You are not getting biglaw out of PSU, and your chances are so low as ND and WUSTL that it's not worth sticker.

Retake/reapply is the answer here.

However, if you are fine working in smallaw, PSU sounds like a good choice as long as you can get them to remove the stips or bump them to "good standing."