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My undergrad institution and I disagreed on the phrase "meeting demonstrated need." I ended up with somewhere between $50-100k debt. Should I assume that law school will work out better? Is it even worth applying? I'm 3 years out of undergrad, BTW.

nothingtosee wrote:My undergrad institution and I disagreed on the phrase "meeting demonstrated need." I ended up with somewhere between $50-100k debt. Should I assume that law school will work out better? Is it even worth applying? I'm 3 years out of undergrad, BTW.

If you're old enough now to not be considered a dependent of your parents, then there is potentially a very big difference between now and undergrad.

For 95% of schools you will not get need based aid no matter how little money you have. The good news for you is that if your GPA/LSAT is high enough, you'll get merit aid regardless of need.

Need based aid is usually a flame, code for aid that is coincidentally tied directly to your LSAT score and GPA. Unless it's Yale, Harvard, or Stanford, it's not actually need-based. It's merit-based with a (small) need element. So yes, it's worth applying. You will get far more than you did in undergrad, regardless of your finances.

My question is this: is there any reason not to apply? Sure, you might just spend the time filling out the application and get nothing but you'll definitely get nothing if you don't apply.

skzen75 wrote:My question is this: is there any reason not to apply? Sure, you might just spend the time filling out the application and get nothing but you'll definitely get nothing if you don't apply.

Plus many schools require you to apply for need aid in order to be considered for merit aid (or a need/merit combination, which is just code for merit aid only).

Seriously, why would you not apply? "I already have a shit ton of undergrad debt" is not a good reason.

So Chicago, for example, says the "Need Access" form must be completed by February 1 for need based aid. They also consider all students for merit aid. Would it be a bad decision to turn in my application in November, and not do the "Need Access" form until January?

nothingtosee wrote:So Chicago, for example, says the "Need Access" form must be completed by February 1 for need based aid. They also consider all students for merit aid. Would it be a bad decision to turn in my application in November, and not do the "Need Access" form until January?

Won't matter.