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Hardway wrote:Hi everyone, can you help me on this? My LSAT is 163 with GPA 3.76 and I plan to apply this September. Unfortunately, I can't retake the LSAT again. Do I have any chance getting into GW law? Should I apply for ED to increase my chance? Any input and suggestion will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Don't apply ED because I think you have a more than solid shot

Hardway wrote:Hi everyone, can you help me on this? My LSAT is 163 with GPA 3.76 and I plan to apply this September. Unfortunately, I can't retake the LSAT again. Do I have any chance getting into GW law? Should I apply for ED to increase my chance? Any input and suggestion will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Threshold questions: why can't you retake the LSAT? And why is GW your goal? What do you want with this degree?

Thomas Hagan, ESQ. wrote:

Hardway wrote:Hi everyone, can you help me on this? My LSAT is 163 with GPA 3.76 and I plan to apply this September. Unfortunately, I can't retake the LSAT again. Do I have any chance getting into GW law? Should I apply for ED to increase my chance? Any input and suggestion will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Don't apply ED because I think you have a more than solid shot

GW ED offers a 150k or full tuition scholarship if I remember correctly.

OneHandedEconomist wrote:

Thomas Hagan, ESQ. wrote:

Hardway wrote:Hi everyone, can you help me on this? My LSAT is 163 with GPA 3.76 and I plan to apply this September. Unfortunately, I can't retake the LSAT again. Do I have any chance getting into GW law? Should I apply for ED to increase my chance? Any input and suggestion will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Don't apply ED because I think you have a more than solid shot

GW ED offers a 150k or full tuition scholarship if I remember correctly.

Good catch, completely forgot about that!

Even though your numbers aren't competitive for the full scholarship, you should apply ED to indicate your commitment to the school. If you do get in, it'll likely be at sticker price though.

as someone with a 3.7X and 163 who got dinged at GW this cycle, apply ED. You won't get a better scholarship with your numbers + ED will show commitment.

Stylnator wrote:as someone with a 3.7X and 163 who got dinged at GW this cycle, apply ED. You won't get a better scholarship with your numbers + ED will show commitment.

I don't know exactly how GW's ED program works (if there's a scholarship attached, it might be worth it), but this is not how law school ED admissions work. That's how it works for undergrad. Applying ED to a law school that doesn't offer a guaranteed scholarship often doesn't increase your chances at admission, but it significantly decreases your chances of getting money.

That said, I'm also interested in why the OP can't retake and why they want GW.

cavalier1138 wrote:

Stylnator wrote:as someone with a 3.7X and 163 who got dinged at GW this cycle, apply ED. You won't get a better scholarship with your numbers + ED will show commitment.

I don't know exactly how GW's ED program works (if there's a scholarship attached, it might be worth it), but this is not how law school ED admissions work. That's how it works for undergrad. Applying ED to a law school that doesn't offer a guaranteed scholarship often doesn't increase your chances at admission, but it significantly decreases your chances of getting money.

That said, I'm also interested in why the OP can't retake and why they want GW.

Ohh, based on above I thought GW was a guaranteed scholarship.

Stylnator wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:

Stylnator wrote:as someone with a 3.7X and 163 who got dinged at GW this cycle, apply ED. You won't get a better scholarship with your numbers + ED will show commitment.

I don't know exactly how GW's ED program works (if there's a scholarship attached, it might be worth it), but this is not how law school ED admissions work. That's how it works for undergrad. Applying ED to a law school that doesn't offer a guaranteed scholarship often doesn't increase your chances at admission, but it significantly decreases your chances of getting money.

That said, I'm also interested in why the OP can't retake and why they want GW.

Ohh, based on above I thought GW was a guaranteed scholarship.

I'm far too lazy to look it up right now. But if it is, then ED is worth it (assuming that the OP should be going to GW for their goals).

cavalier1138 wrote:

Stylnator wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:

Stylnator wrote:as someone with a 3.7X and 163 who got dinged at GW this cycle, apply ED. You won't get a better scholarship with your numbers + ED will show commitment.

I don't know exactly how GW's ED program works (if there's a scholarship attached, it might be worth it), but this is not how law school ED admissions work. That's how it works for undergrad. Applying ED to a law school that doesn't offer a guaranteed scholarship often doesn't increase your chances at admission, but it significantly decreases your chances of getting money.

That said, I'm also interested in why the OP can't retake and why they want GW.

Ohh, based on above I thought GW was a guaranteed scholarship.

I'm far too lazy to look it up right now. But if it is, then ED is worth it (assuming that the OP should be going to GW for their goals).

its a full, yeah. OP: ED but don't get your hopes up. You should retake if you really want GW, because its well within reach for you.

..

Hardway wrote:Thank you for all your kind replies. I can't retake because I took three times last year . And my whole family live in DC so I prefer to find a local school.

But what do you want to do in DC?

Hardway wrote:Thank you for all your kind replies. I can't retake because I took three times last year . And my whole family live in DC so I prefer to find a local school. I know I can't get into GULC with such a low score so I think GW law would be my best chance. The median LSAT is 165 for GW 2016 class. So I am close but not enough. I also checked it's website, it seems GW law offers two ED programs, one with full scholarship.

My question is if I am admitted under the regular ED program, does that mean it's very hard for me to negotiate any scholarship?

Also, what about applying for the part-time program, will it help me get admitted?

Thank you again for your wonderful input!!!

Respectfully, attending GW in any capacity at full price would be a horrible decision. How do you intend to pay for GW should you get in (it's unlikely you do at this point, but that's irrelevant to my point)?

I understand wanting to stay near family, but it's also a silly reason when you're trying to set yourself up for a future career. It's a decidedly risky gamble to go to GW at full price unless you're fantastically wealthy so as to make $300k a negligible investment. Even if you lived at home and saved some of that money, you're still looking at $200k+. Yikes.

Still most important: what do you want to do with the degree? Do you want to work for a Biglaw firm? Small law firm? Federal government? Local government? public interest organization? Your goals exceedingly matter here when combined with the above mentioned amount of money you're looking to invest.

You may have a shot at GULC PT (3.69/164), which might be worth considering if you have a decent FT job.

..

,,,

Hardway wrote:Thank you for the help. I know paying a full price is really bad. My uncle suggested that he may pay half of my tuition,though it's not a done deal. I would like to work for a small/medium size law firm after graduation since I am over 30s and have kids, Biglaw job would be hard for me.

Ok, a small firm is a reasonable goal from GW. What's not reasonable is paying off your debts (even if you have half of your tuition paid off) on a small firm salary. What are you expecting to make out of law school, and how are you planning on paying your debt off?

Hardway wrote:

UVA2B wrote:

Hardway wrote:Thank you for all your kind replies. I can't retake because I took three times last year . And my whole family live in DC so I prefer to find a local school. I know I can't get into GULC with such a low score so I think GW law would be my best chance. The median LSAT is 165 for GW 2016 class. So I am close but not enough. I also checked it's website, it seems GW law offers two ED programs, one with full scholarship.

My question is if I am admitted under the regular ED program, does that mean it's very hard for me to negotiate any scholarship?

Also, what about applying for the part-time program, will it help me get admitted?

Thank you again for your wonderful input!!!

Respectfully, attending GW in any capacity at full price would be a horrible decision. How do you intend to pay for GW should you get in (it's unlikely you do at this point, but that's irrelevant to my point)?

I understand wanting to stay near family, but it's also a silly reason when you're trying to set yourself up for a future career. It's a decidedly risky gamble to go to GW at full price unless you're fantastically wealthy so as to make $300k a negligible investment. Even if you lived at home and saved some of that money, you're still looking at $200k+. Yikes.

Still most important: what do you want to do with the degree? Do you want to work for a Biglaw firm? Small law firm? Federal government? Local government? public interest organization? Your goals exceedingly matter here when combined with the above mentioned amount of money you're looking to invest.

Thank you for the help. I know paying a full price is really bad. My uncle suggested that he may pay half of my tuition,though it's not a done deal. I would like to work for a small/medium size law firm after graduation since I am over 30s and have kids, Biglaw job would be hard for me.

Ok, we're getting closer to being able to give you actual advice that will be helpful in making this decision. Let's assume your uncle pays half of your tuition, where is the rest of the funding coming from? Assuming loans, you're looking at even bigger debt than a normal student if you're also supporting a family.

Next, how do you plan to pay off that debt if you ideally work for a small or medium sized law firm? Law graduates tend to have a bimodal salary distribution, and those working at small firms are most often only making $45-$60k/year starting out. Can you support your family on that kind of budget while paying $2k/month towards loans? Does your spouse work to help provide a second income for your family?

I won't categorically say you shouldn't go to law school, but I will say that taking out that much debt for a shot to make that much money will more than likely send your family into a financial spiral, which should seriously, seriously worry you. So my advice is mostly to think long and hard about going to law school, because although you might enjoy a legal career, it would be a horrible financial decision if you don't have some mitigating factor that will make that debt serviceable on a minimal starting salary. It's not a great position to put yourself or your family in.

cavalier1138 wrote:

Hardway wrote:Thank you for the help. I know paying a full price is really bad. My uncle suggested that he may pay half of my tuition,though it's not a done deal. I would like to work for a small/medium size law firm after graduation since I am over 30s and have kids, Biglaw job would be hard for me.

Ok, a small firm is a reasonable goal from GW. What's not reasonable is paying off your debts (even if you have half of your tuition paid off) on a small firm salary. What are you expecting to make out of law school, and how are you planning on paying your debt off?

I think we're basically in a slow process of merging into being one poaster around here. It's kinda freaky.

UVA2B wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:

Hardway wrote:Thank you for the help. I know paying a full price is really bad. My uncle suggested that he may pay half of my tuition,though it's not a done deal. I would like to work for a small/medium size law firm after graduation since I am over 30s and have kids, Biglaw job would be hard for me.

Ok, a small firm is a reasonable goal from GW. What's not reasonable is paying off your debts (even if you have half of your tuition paid off) on a small firm salary. What are you expecting to make out of law school, and how are you planning on paying your debt off?

I think we're basically in a slow process of merging into being one poaster around here. It's kinda freaky.

We'll probably have to meet in an abandoned warehouse and fight until one of us beheads the other and becomes the One.

(If no one gets the reference, don't worry. I'm old.)

OP, I had similar stats and got 75k to GW applying regular. Just make sure to apply early in the cycle if you don't ED. I'd also recommend applying to American if you're DC or bust. With your numbers you'd probably get a full ride there.

As others have said, be mindful of the debt you're taking on, especially if you have a family. If you're 100% about small firm work, consider gunning for a full ride at American. Although their employment prospects are way worse than GW's. I think it depends on your priorities of maintaining financial security vs risking it to land a job.

Here's some employment stats for American:

http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/do ... erican.pdf
http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/do ... erican.pdf
http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/do ... erican.pdf

mrtux45 wrote:I'd also recommend applying to American if you're DC or bust. With your numbers you'd probably get a full ride there.

American very rarely gives even half tuition scholarships. they are notoriously stingy and OP shouldn't expect a full ride imo

guybourdin wrote:

mrtux45 wrote:I'd also recommend applying to American if you're DC or bust. With your numbers you'd probably get a full ride there.

American very rarely gives even half tuition scholarships. they are notoriously stingy and OP shouldn't expect a full ride imo

Was not aware of that. Just assumed being definitively above both 75ths would do it

mrtux45 wrote:

guybourdin wrote:

mrtux45 wrote:I'd also recommend applying to American if you're DC or bust. With your numbers you'd probably get a full ride there.

American very rarely gives even half tuition scholarships. they are notoriously stingy and OP shouldn't expect a full ride imo

Was not aware of that. Just assumed being definitively above both 75ths would do it

6.3% of students there currently have over half scholarships. =(