Genuine or scheme? Forum

[Apate19]

Recently I got an email from a law school in the top 30. It said I am a competitive applicant for their law school and they also sent me a fee waiver. It's not going to hurt me to apply (except the $28 report fee), but I am below their medians in both GPA and LSAT. The email specifically said your recent performance on the LSAT and undergrad performance make you competitive.

Is this just a scheme for them to increase their application numbers and make their acceptance rate better? Or could they be serious?

Either way I'll apply but just out of curiosity I want to know if a lot of people get these.

[BigZuck]

Harvard does this and doesn't even give people waivers, the bastards

[arewevoting]

uchicago did this to me, i said f*ck i'll take the fee waiver and send in the app. it probably is a scheme to boost applicants but if they are willing to pay for it (aside from LSAC fee which is the dumbest thing ever) i say be my guest

[Apate19]

Yeah, I thought the same thing. They probably want to say they receive so many applications and reject a lot just to better their acceptance percentage.

[Ron Don Volante]

generally you don't want to attend a random "T30" school in a region you don't want to practice in, especially if you're a borderline applicant (which means you wouldn't get really any scholarship if admitted).

If you really want to go to this school, retake the lsat.

[BigZuck]

generally you don't want to attend a random "T30" school in a region you don't want to practice in, especially if you're a borderline applicant (which means you wouldn't get really any scholarship if admitted).

If you really want to go to this school, retake the lsat.

Yeah.

I mean, grim reality is that if you don't have the numbers to get into a "T30" then you probably shouldn't go to law school. Most schools in the T30 range shouldn't be attended without going on a full ride, let alone barely sneaking in. There are schools below that range that might be worth attending under specific circumstances but again, without a full ride those schools probably aren't worth it either.

[Apate19]

generally you don't want to attend a random "T30" school in a region you don't want to practice in, especially if you're a borderline applicant (which means you wouldn't get really any scholarship if admitted).

If you really want to go to this school, retake the lsat.

Yeah.

I mean, grim reality is that if you don't have the numbers to get into a "T30" then you probably shouldn't go to law school. Most schools in the T30 range shouldn't be attended without going on a full ride, let alone barely sneaking in. There are schools below that range that might be worth attending under specific circumstances but again, without a full ride those schools probably aren't worth it either.

For me thats hard. I can't wait till the next cycle unless every school I applied to rejects me (then I don't have a choice). My numbers aren't horrible. My LSAT is average and my cum. GPA is average. My GPA is being killed by the early college program I took college classes at years ago and had terrible first few years. My bachelors degree GPA was a 3.96, which no one really cares about. The only thing I can plan and trying to do right now is getting into a respectable law school, killing it the first year and then get try to get a transfer to a school I want to go to.

Oh and to make my life worse, I don't have any more LSAT tries left.

[nlee10]

Don't count on transferring.

[CFC1524]

Attending law school with the intention of transferring is a bad idea. If your current numbers don't yield good options, it's cheaper and much smarter to sit out and retake. If you can't retake, a full scholly to a regional (assuming modest goals) can be a solid outcome. If this isn't an option either, you probably shouldn't attend.

[BigZuck]

In that scenario you're much better off just not going to law school. You are, in the immortal words of Mr. Pancakes, "disqualified." Average inputs will probably lead to average outputs and the average output of people attending law school is a lot of debt and a coin flips' chance of becoming a lawyer. That's not good enough.

And that's fine, there are other careers out there that don't cost as much to obtain and that aren't as reliant on your numbers.

[Ron Don Volante]

In that scenario you're much better off just not going to law school. You are, in the immortal words of Mr. Pancakes, "disqualified." Average inputs will probably lead to average outputs and the average output of people attending law school is a lot of debt and a coin flips' chance of becoming a lawyer. That's not good enough.

And that's fine, there are other careers out there that don't cost as much to obtain and that aren't as reliant on your numbers.

+1 to all of this.

Your career prospects/financial future will be brighter with that 3.96 BA than they will with whatever law school you're trying to attend with the vague numbers I'm presuming.

Going to a bad school with the intent to transfer is a terrible idea, too. 1L grades are incredibly unpredictable, and hard work simply does not mean high class rank. And with the schools you're considering, you're going to have to be an elite student to have a chance at moving up to a school that would be worth paying sticker at--there are very few of them, and many here would argue there are none. There is simply far too much risk for very little "reward" (I use scare quotes because the very best case scenario, which is very unlikely, is graduating with 250K in debt and getting a job that is seemingly hated universally, which you would have to work at five years to break even)

[Mack.Hambleton]

Retake