University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles Forum

(Applications Advice, Letters of Recommendation . . . )
Post Reply

LMU or UofW

Poll ended at Sat Apr 24, 2021 1:41 pm

LMU
1
25%
Uof Washington
3
75%
 
Total votes: 4

User avatar
rgucsb

Bronze
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:16 pm

University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by rgucsb » Wed Apr 21, 2021 1:41 pm

Hi Guys,
Practicing attorney here reviving my TLS account to help gather advice for my sister, who is currently in the admissions process. She is deciding between University of Washington w/ a 15K a year scholarship and Full Price at Loyola Marymount in LA.

We live in Los Angeles but my sister graduated from an east coast ivy. She wants to practice Environmental law but has no preference regarding which state or region she wishes to practices, pretty open.

Thoughts?

crazywafflez

Silver
Posts: 679
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 8:02 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by crazywafflez » Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:18 pm

Paying full price for LMU? Or full scholarship? LMU for free wouldn't be a bad pick for PI goals if she is really interested in it.
I don't think U of Washington is worth that kind of debt.
Does she have other options?

User avatar
rgucsb

Bronze
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:16 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by rgucsb » Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:47 pm

crazywafflez wrote:
Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:18 pm
Paying full price for LMU? Or full scholarship? LMU for free wouldn't be a bad pick for PI goals if she is really interested in it.
I don't think U of Washington is worth that kind of debt.
Does she have other options?
Hey Crazywaffle

Thanks for the response and insight, much appreciated. LMU would be at full price unfortunately and it doesn't seem like the best option given the price tag. We have actually been researching and calling attorneys that graduated from Washington and LMU off Big Law websites to get their insight and experience and gauge which would be the best option.
Unfortunately, my sister was a science based major at an Ivy league with a 169 LSAT but her gpa isn't as high as someone like me, who majored in poly science when applying to law School.
Unfortunately, those are the only two options.

Wubbles

Bronze
Posts: 448
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2018 5:55 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by Wubbles » Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:01 pm

Is she trying to do biglaw environmental law? In that case these options wouldn't make sense at any price.

If she's trying to do public interest environmental law, them these schools could make some sense depending on regional and specific legal interest preferences.

Either way, those are not good prices for those schools with any goals, and at a minimum sitting out a year to wait out the influx of LSAT flex takers would be helpful would be warranted.

User avatar
rgucsb

Bronze
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:16 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by rgucsb » Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:13 pm

Wubbles wrote:
Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:01 pm
Is she trying to do biglaw environmental law? In that case these options wouldn't make sense at any price.

If she's trying to do public interest environmental law, them these schools could make some sense depending on regional and specific legal interest preferences.

Either way, those are not good prices for those schools with any goals, and at a minimum sitting out a year to wait out the influx of LSAT flex takers would be helpful would be warranted.
Thanks Wubbles,
I appreciate your insight. It does appear with the influx of LSAT test takers that schools have been less forthcoming with scholarships unfortunately. Sitting out a year and retaking the LSAT does seem like a good option but difficult given that my Sister graduated in 2020 and literally sat out the entire year due to covid. The job market has been horrific and it shows when looking at the increase in Law school applications. Cost however will be substantial at any law school without scholarship $ or in-state tuition.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


crazywafflez

Silver
Posts: 679
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 8:02 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by crazywafflez » Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:52 pm

LMU for sticker price is a really bad option and outcome- even with a 3.0 and a 168, she should be doing better than that by far. I think schools like UCI/UCD would give her pretty decent scholarships if she wanted to be in Cali, those could be great options. I think She could get a fullride to U of Oregon or Lewis and Clark, those too would be fine for public interest env law in Oregon.
It sounds like she wants to be on the west coast and not sure if she wants biglaw environmental law or public interest environmental law.
If she wants biglaw doing environmental stuff she will need to go to a T14 or maybe a T20. Just tough to secure those gigs without being at a top school and I don't think she can snag a spot at a T14 with her current stats even next cycle- she would need to break that 170 mark (which would open a lot of doors for her- if she could get like a 171 or 172 on the LSAT rather than looking at scholarships at UCI/UCD she could be looking at scholarships to USC or something or paying a hefty fee to go to Northwestern or something).
I'd really suggest you advise her to sit out and retake and reapply. At the very least, she ought to be going to LMU or Pepperdine or something for free.

CanadianWolf

Diamond
Posts: 11413
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:54 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by CanadianWolf » Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:54 am

What is her GPA ? With a 169 LSAT score, she should have better options.

User avatar
rgucsb

Bronze
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:16 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by rgucsb » Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:14 pm

crazywafflez wrote:
Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:52 pm
LMU for sticker price is a really bad option and outcome- even with a 3.0 and a 168, she should be doing better than that by far. I think schools like UCI/UCD would give her pretty decent scholarships if she wanted to be in Cali, those could be great options. I think She could get a fullride to U of Oregon or Lewis and Clark, those too would be fine for public interest env law in Oregon.
It sounds like she wants to be on the west coast and not sure if she wants biglaw environmental law or public interest environmental law.
If she wants biglaw doing environmental stuff she will need to go to a T14 or maybe a T20. Just tough to secure those gigs without being at a top school and I don't think she can snag a spot at a T14 with her current stats even next cycle- she would need to break that 170 mark (which would open a lot of doors for her- if she could get like a 171 or 172 on the LSAT rather than looking at scholarships at UCI/UCD she could be looking at scholarships to USC or something or paying a hefty fee to go to Northwestern or something).
I'd really suggest you advise her to sit out and retake and reapply. At the very least, she ought to be going to LMU or Pepperdine or something for free.
Hey Crazy,
Thank you for sharing your insight. Im actually quite surprised at her admissions cycle given her LSAT and Undergrad. She actually was waitlisted at UCI. She got a 25K scholarship a year at Lewis and Clark but declined. Yes its very tough to get those Big law jobs w/o going to a T14 or finishing top 10%, which from my experience is tough. Its not impossible though to break into these jobs after a few years of experience but its difficult. I went to a shitty T3 school and now I work in house for a tech company making great $, but I'm def the exception.
Were exploring retaking the LSAT again and reapplying but taking another year off is tough having taken the covid year off. LMU offered no $ and didn't even want to negotiate after relaying the other scholarship offers.

Crazy times, it def. wasn't this competitive when I applied in 2010.

User avatar
rgucsb

Bronze
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:16 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by rgucsb » Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:16 pm

CanadianWolf wrote:
Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:54 am
What is her GPA ? With a 169 LSAT score, she should have better options.
Hey Wolf, I believe it was a 3.0 as an environmental sciences major. At this point, I feel like its gotta be the increase of applications right? I figured her Ivy League undergrad would help her at least with Schools in the top 50.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


CanadianWolf

Diamond
Posts: 11413
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:54 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by CanadianWolf » Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:46 am

Unfortunately, a 3.0 GPA is too low for the most selective law schools.

(As a side note: Some Ivies are known for grade inflation.)

ESQ92

New
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:34 pm

Re: University of Washington Law vs Loyola (LMU) Los Angeles

Post by ESQ92 » Fri Apr 23, 2021 12:17 pm

It blows my mind that Loyola is offering no money for a 3.0/169. I always thought the LSAT was weighted much more heavily than GPA, since high GPAs are a dime a dozen among certain majors. I wouldn't advise going to either of these schools at near full price. She'd just be subsidizing the scholarships of the top half of the incoming class which statistically are more likely to do better and snag the better jobs anyway. You said she lives in LA; is she living for free with parents? If that's the case, she should re-apply next cycle and hit all the LA schools (Loyola, Pepperdine, Southwestern, UCLA, USC) and see what happens. She can work as a legal assistant in the meantime.

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


Post Reply

Return to “Law School Admissions Forum”