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How much does it help a student with median or below median grades if they are able to put one of the named, full tuition scholarships on their resume? Further, does it matter which school it is from? Will there be a big boost for a Rubenstein or Hamilton scholar relative to a Levy or Dillard scholar?

I don't know what any of those scholarships are, but I did put that I had received a full-tuition scholarship on my resume. It told my prospective employers that -- at a time when the decision to go to law school was questionable in judgment -- I had decided that a free law degree from a top-50 law school was smarter than incurring $200k in debt from a higher ranked law school, especially when obtaining a job after graduation was not guaranteed.

When I interviewed for my federal clerkship, my judge asked about my ability to be paid so little. I responded that I took a full scholarship to law school so that debt would not dictate the types of jobs I could take. I got the clerkship.

When I interviewed for the DOJ Honors Program, we discussed the same thing. I will be a DOJ Honors Attorney next year.

tl;dr - In my experience, listing a full scholarship helps.

I'm confused, is receiving a full tuition scholarship discount not sufficient incentive or reward? It provides tremendous career flexibility and opens up your options like nothing else. Hamilton and Rubenstein recipients don't really need any help on the job market they are pretty impressive people already. Whether these are "better" scholarships than those at other schools, that depends on your perspective; they're more difficult to get and you can compare placement figures of the schools but beyond that I'm not sure what you're getting at.

If you snagged a H/R and managed to fuck up 1L, you really done something wrong.

The named scholarship thing comes up all of the time. If you attend a lower ranked school (T30-50) it helps to distinguish you from the crowd, and also signals that you had the ability to attend a higher ranked school. Former recipients of the scholarship often like interviewing/hiring current recipients. That said, if your grades are not good the scholarship will not save you.

I've actually been wondering the same thing... and if you don't mind I would like to tag-on a follow-up question as well:

If it is a named full-tuition scholarship, but not one that everyone would automatically know was full-tuition, should you include the fact that it is full tuition on the resume somehow?

for example:

"GW Law Presidential Merit Scholarship-Full Tuition"

WestWingWatcher wrote:I've actually been wondering the same thing... and if you don't mind I would like to tag-on a follow-up question as well:

If it is a named full-tuition scholarship, but not one that everyone would automatically know was full-tuition, should you include the fact that it is full tuition on the resume somehow?

for example:

"GW Law Presidential Merit Scholarship-Full Tuition"

I was told to do this and did do it: "X Scholar (Full tuition + stipend)"

Hutz_and_Goodman wrote:
I was told to do this and did do it: "X Scholar (Full tuition + stipend)"

I agree, leaving it as a "[Named] Scholar" sound so much better. Listing description is optional.

I also do [Named x ] Scholar (Full Tuition). I don't put the stipend in because it screws up the spacing. Also seems unnecessary.

It hasn't come up much in interviews other than the cursory "your resume is really impressive" at the beginning. I think I remember a somewhat protracted discussion regarding graduating from law school debt free during a screener that I didn't get a callback from. Other than that I can't remember anyone giving a shit about my scholarship. T20 if it matters.

Thanks guys, the saying _________ scholar rather than __________ scholarship recipient sounds a lot better, I'm not sure why I didn't think of that!