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Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:53 pm
by kartelite
I'm a bit older than most would-be applicants (late 20s) and have been entertaining the idea of law school. I'm not at a point where I want to take on any extra debt, so I would only consider fully-funded offers (tuition plus living stipend). Would appreciate any info on Top 10 programs where I have a realistic shot at full funding. I'm guessing HYS is out but am hopeful about some others.
Stats:
176 LSAT
3.8 undergrad GPA
Two graduate degrees in quantitative disciplines
3 years working at high-profile financial service firms
Excellent other softs (international experience, multi-lingual, very involved in college extracurriculars incl. captain of varsity sports team)
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:01 pm
by curious66
kartelite wrote:I'm a bit older than most would-be applicants (late 20s) and have been entertaining the idea of law school. I'm not at a point where I want to take on any extra debt, so I would only consider fully-funded offers (tuition plus living stipend). Would appreciate any info on Top 10 programs where I have a realistic shot at full funding. I'm guessing HYS is out but am hopeful about some others.
Stats:
176 LSAT
3.8 undergrad GPA
Two graduate degrees in quantitative disciplines
3 years working at high-profile financial service firms
Excellent other softs (international experience, multi-lingual, very involved in college extracurriculars incl. captain of varsity sports team)
You should blanket the T10 schools EARLY in the next cycle and roll the dice. I'm sure something would come through with those stats.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:10 pm
by Dany
Some information is here:
http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 5&t=144338 but while I have heard of some schools offering small stipends in addition to full tuition (Chicago did it with some but not all Rubensteins, and I believe Michigan offers some Darrows with living stipends?) I have never heard of someone getting law school fully-funded including cost of living.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:31 pm
by Tiago Splitter
I wouldn't expect anything above full tuition, and even that's far from a guarantee. If you want to keep debt down consider applying Early Decision to Northwestern, which for the past two cycles has meant a 150K scholarship.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:35 pm
by Ti Malice
I'd be stunned if some school in the T10 didn't offer you full tuition, but living stipends are very uncommon.
You'll need to convince MVP you'd actually attend if admitted, in order to avoid yield protection treatment. You should apply to at least Duke and Northwestern as well, as the distinction between these and MBVP is pretty artificial.
YHS offer terrific need-based aid, but your work history leads me to think you probably have decent savings. I came in after years in the non-profit world -- i.e., essentially broke -- and YLS and SLS (and HLS to a slightly lesser extent) threw huge grant offers my way.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:30 pm
by kartelite
Okay that's interesting - my previous degrees offered full tuition and stipend, but that's standard for those fields of study. I have a degree from one of MVP so I'm sure at least that school would think I'd attend, but would kind of like to be either in NYC or California (so Columbia, NYU, Stanford, Berkeley, possibly UCLA).
I actually don't have much in savings since I've done a good bit of traveling and most of my equity is in my home (which has a significant mortgage, so that's why I was hoping for a stipend haha). How is a home considered for financial aid? It's certainly not a liquid asset that I can draw on (I don't think a home equity loan is something I want to deal with).
A separate issue is, what kind of job could I get coming out if I don't want to be an associate at a law firm? My experience is pretty good, but would I actually have to practice in a law firm before embarking on a path to be general counsel somewhere or joining a hedge fund? I'm currently making as much as most new associates from top schools, but don't want to be subject to that lifestyle at a more advanced age.
Another of my motivations for applying is that I think I'd actually really enjoy law school, but my main concern is the financial impediment.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:37 pm
by Dany
What do you want to do with a law degree?
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:49 pm
by Hattori Hanzo
kartelite wrote:A separate issue is, what kind of job could I get coming out if I don't want to be an associate at a law firm? My experience is pretty good, but would I actually have to practice in a law firm before embarking on a path to be general counsel somewhere or joining a hedge fund? I'm currently making as much as most new associates from top schools, but don't want to be subject to that lifestyle at a more advanced age.
Another of my motivations for applying is that I think I'd actually really enjoy law school, but my main concern is the financial impediment.
In-house: very limited opportunities right out of school. AFAIK only two companies have programs to hire directly for in-house (HP and Pfizer) and between the two of them they take fewer than 10 students. Hedge funds are unlikely to hire you an in-house counsel without significant work experience because you won't know enough right out of school to do the job.
There is also a limited market for JDs in non legal jobs, namely consulting. You'll be hired at the same level as a post MBA at MBB but outside of MBB opportunities are scarce. Also access to any of these opportunities, including in house becomes very limited outside of HYS and to some extent CCN. Obviously if you're already making associate-level money, this would be a downgrade for you.
Edit: in house pay is $160 for the Pfizer program (which takes 1-3 students) and $120-30 for HP. Also significant work exp. required for GC is not in terms of years. Very high quality firm work for 2-3 years can open some doors.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:53 pm
by TA923
kartelite wrote:A separate issue is, what kind of job could I get coming out if I don't want to be an associate at a law firm? My experience is pretty good, but would I actually have to practice in a law firm before embarking on a path to be general counsel somewhere or joining a hedge fund? I'm currently making as much as most new associates from top schools, but don't want to be subject to that lifestyle at a more advanced age.
Another of my motivations for applying is that I think I'd actually really enjoy law school, but my main concern is the financial impediment.
Troll.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 11:48 am
by kartelite
TA923 wrote:kartelite wrote:A separate issue is, what kind of job could I get coming out if I don't want to be an associate at a law firm? My experience is pretty good, but would I actually have to practice in a law firm before embarking on a path to be general counsel somewhere or joining a hedge fund? I'm currently making as much as most new associates from top schools, but don't want to be subject to that lifestyle at a more advanced age.
Another of my motivations for applying is that I think I'd actually really enjoy law school, but my main concern is the financial impediment.
Troll.
I'm not sure there's any need for name calling and inflammatory comments. Believe me, I have better things to do with my time than trolling message boards. I mentioned hedge funds since I've dealt with asset management firms quite a bit both on the sell-side (when I was at a bank) and in my current work. I used to do due diligence visits with fund managers, and noticed there were a number of senior staff with JDs. I'm also a CFA level 3 candidate, and I'm pretty sure anyone familiar with asset management would know what that means.
Anyway, my LSAT score is over 3 years old (I actually mailed in a job acceptance about 10 minutes before my score came through to my email), so I would have at most two cycles left to apply, possibly one. I'm not hell-bent on applying, but I do want to investigate my options before my score expires, particularly since it's such a major undertaking.
I'm not interested in MBB or management consulting in general, particularly after 3 years in law school. My inclination is towards a job in the finance industry where I could draw upon both my prior industry experience and legal background - so an in-house general counsel-track job would be ideal, but from what I'm gathering it seems like supply of such jobs is fairly low, and I would need actual "firm" experience before getting into that. I also wouldn't mind having a "terminal" degree that I could eventually teach with, considering that was my original goal (I left my PhD program a few years back).
I really appreciate all the (serious) replies, you guys are a very helpful resource.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:10 pm
by TripTrip
If you're already making $160k, why would you go to law school?
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:11 pm
by Dany
TripTrip wrote:If you're already making $160k, why would you go to law school?
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:15 pm
by sinfiery
Your numbers are similar to mine and you have better softs.
Chance of full ride + stipends that I know of at Michigan.
Full ride chances at CCNMVPDNC
good luck
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:16 pm
by wert3813
.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:29 pm
by Balthy
Dany wrote:TripTrip wrote:If you're already making $160k, why would you go to law school?
And it ain't even about the dough. It's about gettin down for what you stand for yo.
Re: Curious about full scholarships to Top 10 programs
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 2:21 pm
by timbs4339
Your experience will help you land a job at a large law firm for which you'd be suited for an in-house or fund position in 3-4 years if you target the right firms/practice groups. FWIW I was given $75,000 at CLS with almost identical numbers and this was back in 08-09 cycle which might have been the most competitive ever.