How to pick/apply to schools for the purpose of negotiating merit aid? Forum

[ppilelyk]

I'm a reverse split. 3.94/156 I get physically ill when taking tests like the LSAT and I have retaken. Basically, I'm proud of the 156. I think I'm in a pretty good spot for my #1 and #2 schools (both in rank 80-90). Though in terms of scholarship negotiation, is there really an art to it? Should I be looking at higher ranked schools to apply to for leverage (~rank 70-80)? Do you all research online to try to see if a specific school is likely to give money? I've heard of people with worse scores getting full rides at my #1 and some with better getting less than half tuition. Also I take it applying to somewhere like Emory probably won't get me much?

[Good Guy Gaud]

I think you should retake again and not waste that incredible GPA. Sorry, but that's the best advice you're going to get. Some people have recently talked about how meditation helped them with test taking anxiety. Maybe try that. To be honest, the whole "physically ill when taking [a] test" thing is something you should probably address before going to law school (ie., you should address it and kick ass on the LSAT) b/c law school is largely make or break based on one test in courses and then there's the... uh.. Bar Exam which isn't any better.

Good luck to you.

[ppilelyk]

I think you should retake again and not waste that incredible GPA. Sorry, but that's the best advice you're going to get. Some people have recently talked about how meditation helped them with test taking anxiety. Maybe try that. To be honest, the whole "physically ill when taking [a] test" thing is something you should probably address before going to law school (ie., you should address it and kick ass on the LSAT) b/c law school is largely make or break based on one test in courses and then there's the... uh.. Bar Exam which isn't any better.

Good luck to you.

I've considered that though when speaking to both admissions at my first choice and my advisors they both said that taking the LSAT again in February would put me at a significant disadvantage for any money. In fact it even says so on their website to apply before Feb 1 to have full consideration. Waiting another year isn't currently an option for certain other reasons.

[Good Guy Gaud]

I think you should retake again and not waste that incredible GPA. Sorry, but that's the best advice you're going to get. Some people have recently talked about how meditation helped them with test taking anxiety. Maybe try that. To be honest, the whole "physically ill when taking [a] test" thing is something you should probably address before going to law school (ie., you should address it and kick ass on the LSAT) b/c law school is largely make or break based on one test in courses and then there's the... uh.. Bar Exam which isn't any better.

Good luck to you.

I've considered that though when speaking to both admissions at my first choice and my advisors they both said that taking the LSAT again in February would put me at a significant disadvantage for any money. In fact it even says so on their website to apply before Feb 1 to have full consideration. Waiting another year isn't currently an option for certain other reasons.

Without knowing what those reasons are, I would suggest reexamining them. One year off isn't going to change anything (schools will still be there, jobs will still be meh) in the long run of a career I expect you're planning to be in for a while. It's an investment in your future.

If it is truly out of the question, you should apply to schools that compete regionally and/or are better ranked for merit aid negotiation purposes. At least that worked in my experience. Again, though, you should really consider retaking.

[ppilelyk]

I think you should retake again and not waste that incredible GPA. Sorry, but that's the best advice you're going to get. Some people have recently talked about how meditation helped them with test taking anxiety. Maybe try that. To be honest, the whole "physically ill when taking [a] test" thing is something you should probably address before going to law school (ie., you should address it and kick ass on the LSAT) b/c law school is largely make or break based on one test in courses and then there's the... uh.. Bar Exam which isn't any better.

Good luck to you.

I've considered that though when speaking to both admissions at my first choice and my advisors they both said that taking the LSAT again in February would put me at a significant disadvantage for any money. In fact it even says so on their website to apply before Feb 1 to have full consideration. Waiting another year isn't currently an option for certain other reasons.

Without knowing what those reasons are, I would suggest reexamining them. One year off isn't going to change anything (schools will still be there, jobs will still be meh) in the long run of a career I expect you're planning to be in for a while. It's an investment in your future.

If it is truly out of the question, you should apply to schools that compete regionally and/or are better ranked for merit aid negotiation purposes. At least that worked in my experience. Again, though, you should really consider retaking.

I appreciate the advice. Though the reasons are primarily career based. I work with the legal counsel @ my current employer (big healthcare) and they are paying part of the way for me to go this year. It's not a guaranteed job/promotion immediately after graduating, but I do have some very powerful connections/mentors that I do not want to lose. If it comes down to having to pay the whole tuition (minus employer contribution) then I'd have to find a way. But that's mainly why I asked.

Are there any ways to compare regional school's scholarship rankings besides just manually searching for others' posts.

[ggocat]

You can search on the lsac / aba website for schools that give certain percentages of scholarships (half, full ride, etc.)

[Mullens]

if you get physically ill while taking tests, law school is not going to be very enjoyable for you. You should figure out a way to handle your test anxiety before law school because it will have very detrimental effects on your grades.