Pay Sticker at Top 14 or Full Ride at Lower Tier 1? Forum

[Brysia]

I know that most tls users would say retake so I'm not listing this as an option.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks.

[gaud]

It depends.

No one can give you a legit answer without knowing the schools/region, where you want to practice, etc.

[CalAlumni]

All depends on what you want to do with your degree.

[WhatOurBodiesAreFor]

Would love to see this debate get rolling again.

Come on, guys. Let's do this.

[Mal Reynolds]

Retake

[RhymesLikeDimes]

I'd pay sticker at T6, otherwise I'd take the full-ride (assuming it's a quality school in a good region) and just forgo my big law ambitions.

[WhatOurBodiesAreFor]

I'd pay sticker at T6, otherwise I'd take the full-ride (assuming it's a quality school in a good region) and just forgo my big law ambitions.

Not sure what you're trying to get at here. But if you do pretty well (median-ish) at any T-14 you got a good shot at biglaw.


-

I voted sticker at T-14, but I cast the vote with my ambitions and opportunity cost in mind. On the other hand, if you have mad connections in WI, U Wisconsin has offered you the full-ride, and you want to practice in WI.....

Also, my two cents on the whole T-14 sticker thing: TLS overemphasizes its risk.

[Ti Malice]

It depends.

No one can give you a legit answer without knowing the schools/region, where you want to practice, etc.

[law2015]

Any person in the T14 probably had an option of attending a lower T1 at full ride. IMO, T14 at sticker is TCR.

[BruceWayne]

RhymesLikeDimes wrote:
I'd pay sticker at T6, otherwise I'd take the full-ride (assuming it's a quality school in a good region) and just forgo my big law ambitions.


Not sure what you're trying to get at here. But if you do pretty well (median-ish) at any T-14 you got a good shot at biglaw.


-

I voted sticker at T-14, but I cast the vote with my ambitions and opportunity cost in mind. On the other hand, if you have mad connections in WI, U Wisconsin has offered you the full-ride, and you want to practice in WI.....

Also, my two cents on the whole T-14 sticker thing: TLS overemphasizes its risk.

The risk is 50/50. If you end up below median then going top 14 for sticker was a mistake. If you're seeing people on TLS saying it's riskier then that then they're overemphasizing it--but otherwise they're not. And FYI I'm speaking from personal experience. It's amazing how unimportant having attended a top 14 is once you land below the median ITE. In some ways it's worse than landing similar grades from a strong regional in the area you want to practice.

[WhatOurBodiesAreFor]

RhymesLikeDimes wrote:
I'd pay sticker at T6, otherwise I'd take the full-ride (assuming it's a quality school in a good region) and just forgo my big law ambitions.


Not sure what you're trying to get at here. But if you do pretty well (median-ish) at any T-14 you got a good shot at biglaw.


-

I voted sticker at T-14, but I cast the vote with my ambitions and opportunity cost in mind. On the other hand, if you have mad connections in WI, U Wisconsin has offered you the full-ride, and you want to practice in WI.....

Also, my two cents on the whole T-14 sticker thing: TLS overemphasizes its risk.

The risk is 50/50. If you end up below median then going top 14 for sticker was a mistake. If you're seeing people on TLS saying it's riskier then that then they're overemphasizing it--but otherwise they're not. And FYI I'm speaking from personal experience. It's amazing how unimportant having attended a top 14 is once you land below the median ITE. In some ways it's worse than landing similar grades from a strong regional in the area you want to practice.

Thanks for this, Bruce. But how much better does it make it if you do everything in your power from the beginning to land that good job from the beginning (like if you network, apply to 100s of places, you're sociable, you're flexible etc. etc.)? I ask because I've heard it said you can make it graduating from about everywhere as long as you put in the leg work.

[PRgradBYU]

This thread was extremely helpful, since I'm likely going to be in a similar boat. Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

[WhatOurBodiesAreFor]

This thread was extremely helpful, since I'm likely going to be in a similar boat. Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

+1

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Any person in the T14 probably had an option of attending a lower T1 at full ride. IMO, T14 at sticker is TCR.

This is true, but the fact that most people make this choice does not mean that it's correct.

I took full ride over sticker, and after first semester I'm in the top 5-10 people in my class (top 5%). I don't yet have a 1L SA (and may not get one, its hard), but I'm happy with my choice.

I made the choice that I did after doing research on people at my school who had received a named full ride scholarship. What I found (through googling and information provided by the school) is that more than 50% of these people had gotten big law in the last five years, and an even higher percentage before that. So I decided to make this choice because even if I went T14 my odds wouldn't be any better.

It's risky either way. If you get bad grades at a lower tier 1 you will be in really bad shape. My opinion based on a semester of law school (and a lot of data about how past scholarship recipients have done) is that someone who gets in to a T14 (or more than one), but opts to go to a T40, definitely has a leg up on the competition in terms of grades. But do your research, and recognize that its a lot of pressure taking this route (although the other way its a lot of financial pressure).

My main advice is to ask the tier 1 school to put you in touch with past full ride recipients, and do everything you can to gather data about how people who have made this choice in the past have done.

[WhatOurBodiesAreFor]

Any person in the T14 probably had an option of attending a lower T1 at full ride. IMO, T14 at sticker is TCR.

This is true, but the fact that most people make this choice does not mean that it's correct.

I took full ride over sticker, and after first semester I'm in the top 5-10 people in my class (top 5%). I don't yet have a 1L SA (and may not get one, its hard), but I'm happy with my choice.

I made the choice that I did after doing research on people at my school who had received a named full ride scholarship. What I found (through googling and information provided by the school) is that more than 50% of these people had gotten big law in the last five years, and an even higher percentage before that. So I decided to make this choice because even if I went T14 my odds wouldn't be any better.

It's risky either way. If you get bad grades at a lower tier 1 you will be in really bad shape. My opinion based on a semester of law school (and a lot of data about how past scholarship recipients have done) is that someone who gets in to a T14 (or more than one), but opts to go to a T40, definitely has a leg up on the competition in terms of grades. But do your research, and recognize that its a lot of pressure taking this route (although the other way its a lot of financial pressure).

My main advice is to ask the tier 1 school to put you in touch with past full ride recipients, and do everything you can to gather data about how people who have made this choice in the past have done.

Quality, quality input. Thanks so much.

[Yukos]

I'm in the "we need more details about your sitch/ambitions" camps. You're from Houston and choosing between a full-ride to UH and sticker at GULC? I think most people would say UH is unambiguously the right answer. You're from South Florida and choosing between a full-ride at Miami and sticker at UVA? Tougher choice and UVA is probably the right answer. Just depends.

[megagnarley]

Assuming full price for COL you're still going to be looking at big time debt, though this varies on where you live.

So many people get caught up in looking at it based purely on servicing debt that they fail to realize there is far more to a career than simply making money/paying back loans. What are your ambitions? Full ride at a regional can have a higher floor but also a lower ceiling. Forget not that this school will set you on a trajectory for what is hopefully a life-long career. Look beyond 5 years.

[cinnamonchurros]

This really depends on COL, the region where you want to practice, and whether you want Biglaw. Like most difficult questions on TLS, this depends on your situation.

[stillwater]

further speculation is futile without details.

[PRgradBYU]

further speculation is futile without details.

+1. I'm tired of these vague, hypothetical posts. Some people don't seem to understand that decisions like these are totally situational.

[North]

Made this decision a couple weeks ago. Went with the T14 at sticker because career goals.

[dproduct]

Like the others, I'm going to agree with IT DEPENDS on: Where are you from? What is the full-ride in question and where is it from? Are there stipulations? What T-14? What do you want to do?

I think a well thought out full-ride can often be the best route (ie. from an established local school in an area you want to work and have ties to).

[suralin]

I'd take sticker any day, but that's mainly because there are no good regionals in my small hometown market. Also, I have a pretty viable back-up plan and am relatively risk-neutral. Maximizing dat expected lifetime earnings.