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Hi, I feel like the answer is "no" or would have read this somewhere but I've never seen anyone explicitly say either way so I figured I'd ask. Is it at all useful, when asking for a fee waiver, to point out that another, higher-ranked school offered me one? e.g. mentioning to Duke that Columbia offered one?

FWIW, I tried leveraging Georgetown's application fee waiver to negotiate a fee waiver from GW and it didn't work. Each school has its own reason for granting a fee waiver to an applicant.

KFV wrote:Hi, I feel like the answer is "no" or would have read this somewhere but I've never seen anyone explicitly say either way so I figured I'd ask. Is it at all useful, when asking for a fee waiver, to point out that another, higher-ranked school offered me one? e.g. mentioning to Duke that Columbia offered one?

At best it's not going to help you get another fee waiver and at worst it's going to look bad. Don't do it.

Don't do it.

However, you might try this:

'Hello,

I am a prospective student that is very interested in your school. My numbers are 195/5.0 and I was wondering if i might qualify for an application fee waiver. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
0L'

I sent emails like that to the schools I was interested in and had great luck.

pifhib2 wrote:'Hello,

I am a prospective student that is very interested in your school. My numbers are 195/5.0 and I was wondering if i might qualify for an application fee waiver. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
0L'

++1

Also, Columbia gives out fee waivers like tootsie rolls in a parade. Duke doesn't care.

TripTrip wrote:

pifhib2 wrote:'Hello,

I am a prospective student that is very interested in your school. My numbers are 195/5.0 and I was wondering if i might qualify for an application fee waiver. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
0L'

++1

Also, Columbia gives out fee waivers like tootsie rolls in a parade. Duke doesn't care.

Columbia refused to give me one with a 175/3.89

bbsg wrote:

TripTrip wrote:

pifhib2 wrote:'Hello,

I am a prospective student that is very interested in your school. My numbers are 195/5.0 and I was wondering if i might qualify for an application fee waiver. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
0L'

++1

Also, Columbia gives out fee waivers like tootsie rolls in a parade. Duke doesn't care.

Columbia refused to give me one with a 175/3.89

LSN says people with numbers under yours got waivers. Does your LSAC account number have 666 or 13 in it? Maybe the adcomm is superstitious.

Hey guys, thanks for the responses!

I'm going to differ just a bit. Ask for one and if they come back with no, go with something to the effect of, "Oh I'm sorry to hear that, I've received a couple from peer institutions and would love to apply to your school as well, unfortunately cost...etc etc.

wert3813 wrote:I'm going to differ just a bit. Ask for one and if they come back with no, go with something to the effect of, "Oh I'm sorry to hear that, I've received a couple from peer institutions and would love to apply to your school as well, unfortunately cost...etc etc.

Yeah, if they come back with "no," you have nothing to lose.

TripTrip wrote: ++1

Also, Columbia gives out fee waivers like tootsie rolls in a parade. Duke doesn't care.

I literally sent Columbia 5 emails asking for a fee waiver in different roundabout ways and still ended up paying them. They just don't budge.

sinfiery wrote:

TripTrip wrote: ++1

Also, Columbia gives out fee waivers like tootsie rolls in a parade. Duke doesn't care.

I literally sent Columbia 5 emails asking for a fee waiver in different roundabout ways and still ended up paying them. They just don't budge.

Weird, because my LSAT was a good bit lower than yours (GPA lower as well) and I received an unsolicited fee waiver from Columbia that stated: On the basis of your performance on the LSAT only, you have been identified as a prospective law school applicant who, on that criterion alone, has demonstrated a capability to contribute to and benefit from a legal education of the first order.

My numbers aren’t all-that but I received unsolicited fee waivers from every T14 except HYS so I wonder what factors influence who gets school waivers. It may be something arbitrary like the date you take your LSAT (e.g., Feb vs Oct).

TripTrip wrote:

pifhib2 wrote:'Hello,

I am a prospective student that is very interested in your school. My numbers are 195/5.0 and I was wondering if i might qualify for an application fee waiver. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
0L'

++1

Also, Columbia gives out fee waivers like tootsie rolls in a parade. Duke doesn't care.

Are you saying duke doesn't respond to requests? Because they definitely gave me one after I emailed and asked. Had a nice short back and forth with someone on the admissions staff because of it too.

sinfiery wrote:

TripTrip wrote: ++1

Also, Columbia gives out fee waivers like tootsie rolls in a parade. Duke doesn't care.

I literally sent Columbia 5 emails asking for a fee waiver in different roundabout ways and still ended up paying them. They just don't budge.

Same with Chicago. And to add insult to injury, every time I asked for a fee waiver I received a generic response that was literally copied from their website. Grr.