New UNSW Rankings and Scholarship Negotiations Forum

[theycallmefoes]

Do the new UNSW rankings matter for scholarship negotiations? Specifically, I'm wondering about how much leverage a great scholarship from W&L could give me, given the huge hit they took in rank (around 19 spots, I think). With last year's ranking, W&L was a decent peer school for my top choice - with the new ranking...not so much.

[snagglepuss]

Do the new UNSW rankings matter for scholarship negotiations? Specifically, I'm wondering about how much leverage a great scholarship from W&L could give me, given the huge hit they took in rank (around 19 spots, I think). With last year's ranking, W&L was a decent peer school for my top choice - with the new ranking...not so much.

The T40 schools will surely laugh you out of the [figurative] room at the mere mention of new TTT W&L.

But seriously no the new rankings don't matter. The USNWR long-term ranking tiers and trends may help define "peer" but beyond that they're not very useful. Just be reasonable and don't try to use a Thomas Jefferson Law School full ride to get more out of W&M. Your best leverage in negotiating is referencing superior acceptances and superior scholarships from peer schools/schools in the same region. So give it a try.

[raininthedesert]

Agreed. W&L was the bane of admissions officer's existence for the past few years. In fact, many of them are quietly jumping for joy over not having to hear "W&L gave me a full scholarship and is ranked higher."

The best leverage you have is with a school that dropped significantly in the ranking. Not, of course, by referring to that drop. Behind-the-scenes they will be more open to negotiation in general because of their concerns over yield and objective LSAT and GPA medians -- this of course presumes that you are in their > 75 percentile on either LSAT or GPA.

P.S. W&L was never considered a peer by any institution in their prior rankings range...including W&M.