Top Law Schools

Hello...

I applied to a bunch of schools in the fall (12 in all) and was accepted into all of them; I've also received merit scholarships at all of them (5 or 6 full rides, the rest 50%+). However, I've recently decided to delay matriculating for at least a year; I'm 24, and I spent the past two years teaching in Korea...and while I'm interested in pursuing a legal career, I want to go abroad for a bit longer before I settle down into my vocation. I don't think I'm quite ready.

Anyway. I understand that in most cases I would be required to re-apply for admission...which should be no problem. Because I'm looking to graduate with as little debt as possible, most of the schools to which I applied are lower-ranked, and my LSAT/GPA mix alone places me far above the 75th percentile at these schools.

My question is this: will these schools likely consider me for merit scholarships after I've "ditched" on them once? If I write a nice letter explaining that I'd like to travel and work abroad a for awhile longer, but that I am very interested in reapplying when I return to the States (maybe fall 2012 or something), will the schools respond favorably to that? Will my application / potential for merit aid be evaluated independently if/when I reapply, or will I be blacklisted / overlooked for aid because I didn't matriculate this fall?

I've had many conversations with my wife, and I really do believe that we belong in Asia right now...but I don't want to burn bridges here in the States.

Insight?

You can decide on a school this year and defer admission. Most schools allows this, though you will have to reapply for merit aid. You can ask the financial aid office to be honest with you about the possibility of securing the funding. If you want to generally reapply next year, I don't get the sense that school's hold it against people.

jks289 wrote:You can decide on a school this year and defer admission. Most schools allows this, though you will have to reapply for merit aid. You can ask the financial aid office to be honest with you about the possibility of securing the funding. If you want to generally reapply next year, I don't get the sense that school's hold it against people.

But they'll probably snag a seat deposit out of you to defer, and without locking up the scholarship it doesn't make a ton of sense given your goals of trying to graduate with the least debt possible.