UVA Law Class of 2019 Forum

[Nolachicken]

My flight is 500 right now and the hotels with openings are 150 per night. I was thinking about flying up first thing Thursday morning and leaving Friday night to save money. Where is everyone else staying? Anyone want to split a room at he Hampton? I really want to go.

[philawsopher]

My flight is 500 right now and the hotels with openings are 150 per night. I was thinking about flying up first thing Thursday morning and leaving Friday night to save money. Where is everyone else staying? Anyone want to split a room at he Hampton? I really want to go.

My flight was pricey too (from L.A.), so my SO and I are staying cheap at the Econo Lodge. Could be a bad decision, but it's hard to argue with $54/night. Getting ready for that law school zero-income budget!

[herecomesthesun]

My flight is 500 right now and the hotels with openings are 150 per night. I was thinking about flying up first thing Thursday morning and leaving Friday night to save money. Where is everyone else staying? Anyone want to split a room at he Hampton? I really want to go.

My flight was pricey too (from L.A.), so my SO and I are staying cheap at the Econo Lodge. Could be a bad decision, but it's hard to argue with $54/night. Getting ready for that law school zero-income budget!

I told my parents I wasn't coming home for spring break so I could come in from my college city--equidistant but like $150 cheaper each way.

[HoosOnFirst]

My flight is 500 right now and the hotels with openings are 150 per night. I was thinking about flying up first thing Thursday morning and leaving Friday night to save money. Where is everyone else staying? Anyone want to split a room at he Hampton? I really want to go.

My flight was pricey too (from L.A.), so my SO and I are staying cheap at the Econo Lodge. Could be a bad decision, but it's hard to argue with $54/night. Getting ready for that law school zero-income budget!

Econolodge actually isn't bad, at least not when I stayed there - although that may have been because of my incredibly low expectations. You'll have to uber to north grounds, but it's very close to the Bodo's on 29

[RedWhite&Blonde]

My flight is 500 right now and the hotels with openings are 150 per night. I was thinking about flying up first thing Thursday morning and leaving Friday night to save money. Where is everyone else staying? Anyone want to split a room at he Hampton? I really want to go.

My flight was pricey too (from L.A.), so my SO and I are staying cheap at the Econo Lodge. Could be a bad decision, but it's hard to argue with $54/night. Getting ready for that law school zero-income budget!

Econolodge actually isn't bad, at least not when I stayed there - although that may have been because of my incredibly low expectations. You'll have to uber to north grounds, but it's very close to the Bodo's on 29

I actually had a TERRIBLE experience when I stayed there. Ended up changing hotels the next day!

[Nolachicken]

Anyone ever stay at the Excel Inn?

[skimmilk]

Will UVA still provide the stipend for ASW if you don't fly? If I drive I will save a ton of money. If I fly the stipend won't even come close to covering the trip. I only ask because Berkeley only provides stipends if you fly.

[skimmilk]

Hello fellow future Hoos:

Caught this interesting discussion about $ in the applicants thread and followed it over here.

1. Is UVA worth it at sticker? No, emphatically no, unless you're an extreme splitter. This is simply because if you have UVA at sticker as an option, you likely have something like Cornell with a significant discount. You'll have to adjust your goals to NYC biglaw, but Cornell is a good bet with a substantial discount. This requires getting over the prestige thing, but I think the objective choice is clear. Now if you're a sub 3.0 splitter who managed to get UVA, you're kind of living on borrowed time anyway, so I could see UVA at sticker being the best option. If I'm a super splitter and I have UVA at sticker vs. GW with a 1/4 discount, I'd go to UVA. Considering that, can you believe that 57% of UVA students are paying full tuition per UVA's ABA 509 report?

2. It seems that UVA provides a limited amount of need-based aid. What the financial aid office said about Pell Grants is right about graduate school, of course, but that doesn't mean that UVA would not consider your financial need in a scholarship offer. I don't know if they split a scholarship award into need-based and merit-based components, so who knows if you'll be able to tell how much or little need-based aid you get.

3. The debt discussion is a good one. I think the debt aversion on TLS is generally healthy. Debt, like most powerful things, can be very helpful if used properly and completely destructive if used carelessly. It's also dangerous because especially with student loans, its very easy to acquire and damn near impossible to escape. Also, student loan debt is the rare debt in which you get all the benefit before you suffer any of the costs. Your debt, even if you're on PAYE, will severely constrain your financial (and in some ways, other) freedom while you have it. With $300,000 in debt, you're going to have a hell of a time buying a house and you will not be building nearly as much savings as you otherwise could and you just never know when you're going to need to have savings. I'm an old fart and one of the only lessons I've really learned in life is that shit happens. It's a great idea to have as much shit happens insurance as you can, and a large debt load limits that. I also see the other constraints on your freedom as real. What if you discover some new interest in eastern medicine and you'd like to go live in Nepal for a year to explore that? Guess what, if Uncle Sam has your ass in a sling for $300k, you can't go without causing significant harm to yourself. If you have no debt, you can be on the next plane to Kathmandu!

I really like the way debt is discussed on TLS, because it does work to bring the costs of debt closer together with the benefits of it. I think that helps us all make better decisions in the long run.

Sorry I must have missed this, and my search of the thread pulled up nothing. What did the FA office say about Pell Grants? I have received Pell Grants for undergrad every year, which has led me to believe I probably stand a good chance at receiving need-based aid everywhere? Am I wrong?

[fliptrip]

The Pell Grant issue is a basic one. The first criteria for qualification is that you've not yet earned a bachelor's or professional degree: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/eligibility.html

UVA does ask for Need Access so they are performing a need analysis that would inform how they allocate "Need-Based" scholarship assistance. So, you qualifying for the Pell Grant previously would strongly suggest that you will be able to show significant need for law school aid. It's impossible to predict how it will shake out because the Need-Based aid process at every school but HYS is not objective. They do take your need into account, but they also cut it with a merit-based lens as well in determining who to dole the money out to. This is per Paul Campos who posted about this earlier this week. My advice, not that you asked for it, would be to hang tight and wait to see what they award you. Then, go back and ask for more based on your need and also your strong enthusiasm to become a Wahoo.

[skimmilk]

Gotcha^ Thanks! Also what schools are considered competitive enough to mention to UVA when asking for more aid? Would it be out of line to ask for more aid on the basis of scholarships from lower ranked T14 schools (I know they won't match, but would they consider increasing their offer at all?).

[fliptrip]

Gotcha^ Thanks! Also what schools are considered competitive enough to mention to UVA when asking for more aid? Would it be out of line to ask for more aid on the basis of scholarships from lower ranked T14 schools (I know they won't match, but would they consider increasing their offer at all?).

I'm in the same boat you're in, but I have had some success in scholarship negotiations in the past. I think that Berkeley's list of schools it will consider for a matching scholarship is a very interesting tell on who, aside from magazine rankings, these schools see as peers/competitors. Those schools are:

Columbia
Chicago
NYU
Penn
UVA
Mich
Harvard
Yale
Stanford
Duke

t-14 missing: Cornell, Georgetown, Northwestern

The strategy I've followed is to present them with the highest leverage offer I could. Basically, I'd present them with the best money offer I thought I could get from a school on the list above. All they can do is say no. For instance, if I had $105k from Duke, I'd show that to them and see what they say.

[herecomesthesun]

Gotcha^ Thanks! Also what schools are considered competitive enough to mention to UVA when asking for more aid? Would it be out of line to ask for more aid on the basis of scholarships from lower ranked T14 schools (I know they won't match, but would they consider increasing their offer at all?).

I'm in the same boat you're in, but I have had some success in scholarship negotiations in the past. I think that Berkeley's list of schools it will consider for a matching scholarship is a very interesting tell on who, aside from magazine rankings, these schools see as peers/competitors. Those schools are:

Columbia
Chicago
NYU
Penn
UVA
Mich
Harvard
Yale
Stanford
Duke

t-14 missing: Cornell, Georgetown, Northwestern

The strategy I've followed is to present them with the highest leverage offer I could. Basically, I'd present them with the best money offer I thought I could get from a school on the list above. All they can do is say no. For instance, if I had $105k from Duke, I'd show that to them and see what they say.

I'm leveraging (hopefully) my offers from one school on this list and one not on this list. I explained also personal reasons and my desire to go to UVA, etc.

[coffee247]

I was admitted back in September and haven't received a scholarship offer. I know I don't deserve a Dillard or anything, but every other school in the T14 I've been admitted to has given me something--including Chicago. February is almost over. Any others in a similar boat?

[lawschoolhopeful2016]

Also haven't received any scholarship from UVA yet. I've gotten $$ from other T-14 schools as well as a Harvard acceptance. When I visited UVA though, I fell in love. I was really hoping to make Charlottesville my new home, but I can't even consider it without any money.

[Specter1389]

Visited UVA last Friday since I cannot attend the Admitted Students Weekend. Loved the atmosphere. I was also miscalculating how much I would receive from the GI Bill which made it a lot more likely I will attend UVA.

For any other vets, note that since UVA is a public school you will actually get the percentage of what they charge in state students, not the cap for private schools. For instance, if you are eligible for 60% of the GI Bill, you would receive $32,400 a year at UVA (60% of $54,000.) Compare that to a private school like Duke where you would only receive $12,650.40 a year (60% of the Private School Cap of $21,084.89). Obviously if you have 100% benefits and the private school is part of the Yellow Ribbon program you would get $42,169.78. At UVA, Michigan, or Cal-Berkeley you would get full tuition since they are public schools if eligible for 100% of benefits. I verified this with some veterans at both UVA and Georgetown.

[jewkidontheblock]

I was admitted back in September and haven't received a scholarship offer. I know I don't deserve a Dillard or anything, but every other school in the T14 I've been admitted to has given me something--including Chicago. February is almost over. Any others in a similar boat?

Other outcomes aren't nearly as good, but I do have money to similar schools. My understanding is that they prefer to distribute money among fewer students, but in larger amounts. It kinda sucks for the other ~70% of us

[herecomesthesun]

I was admitted back in September and haven't received a scholarship offer. I know I don't deserve a Dillard or anything, but every other school in the T14 I've been admitted to has given me something--including Chicago. February is almost over. Any others in a similar boat?

Other outcomes aren't nearly as good, but I do have money to similar schools. My understanding is that they prefer to distribute money among fewer students, but in larger amounts. It kinda sucks for the other ~70% of us

+1. I have officially given up hope on merit aid unless something happens after deposit deadlines. PM me for reasons, I don't want to out myself.

[coldmonkey13]

~

[jtg21]

I was admitted back in September and haven't received a scholarship offer. I know I don't deserve a Dillard or anything, but every other school in the T14 I've been admitted to has given me something--including Chicago. February is almost over. Any others in a similar boat?

Other outcomes aren't nearly as good, but I do have money to similar schools. My understanding is that they prefer to distribute money among fewer students, but in larger amounts. It kinda sucks for the other ~70% of us

+1. I have officially given up hope on merit aid unless something happens after deposit deadlines. PM me for reasons, I don't want to out myself.

I called the admin office last week and they said that at this point if you don't have merit aid, while not impossible, it is HIGHLY unlikely you'll get it.

Based on their Facebook post on the group, I am pretty sure everyone still has a chance at merit aid. On March 3, they plan to release most of their decisions for the remaining merit and all of need.

[doobleykah]

I was admitted back in September and haven't received a scholarship offer. I know I don't deserve a Dillard or anything, but every other school in the T14 I've been admitted to has given me something--including Chicago. February is almost over. Any others in a similar boat?

Other outcomes aren't nearly as good, but I do have money to similar schools. My understanding is that they prefer to distribute money among fewer students, but in larger amounts. It kinda sucks for the other ~70% of us

+1. I have officially given up hope on merit aid unless something happens after deposit deadlines. PM me for reasons, I don't want to out myself.

I called the admin office last week and they said that at this point if you don't have merit aid, while not impossible, it is HIGHLY unlikely you'll get it.

Based on their Facebook post on the group, I am pretty sure everyone still has a chance at merit aid. On March 3, they plan to release most of their decisions for the remaining merit and all of need.

March 3 is when the the information is posted to SIS for those who have met the priority filing deadline. I didn't infer that many more awards would be going out that day.

[coldmonkey13]

~

[herecomesthesun]

Based on their Facebook post on the group, I am pretty sure everyone still has a chance at merit aid. On March 3, they plan to release most of their decisions for the remaining merit and all of need.

I'm just the messenger, the lady said that her "impression is that Dean Faulk has already made 85-90% of merit offers."

Yes--that was my impression as well, and that's honestly fine. I just mainly wanted to know what was up.

[jtg21]

I was admitted back in September and haven't received a scholarship offer. I know I don't deserve a Dillard or anything, but every other school in the T14 I've been admitted to has given me something--including Chicago. February is almost over. Any others in a similar boat?

Other outcomes aren't nearly as good, but I do have money to similar schools. My understanding is that they prefer to distribute money among fewer students, but in larger amounts. It kinda sucks for the other ~70% of us

+1. I have officially given up hope on merit aid unless something happens after deposit deadlines. PM me for reasons, I don't want to out myself.

I called the admin office last week and they said that at this point if you don't have merit aid, while not impossible, it is HIGHLY unlikely you'll get it.

Based on their Facebook post on the group, I am pretty sure everyone still has a chance at merit aid. On March 3, they plan to release most of their decisions for the remaining merit and all of need.

March 3 is when the the information is posted to SIS for those who have met the priority filing deadline. I didn't infer that many more awards would be going out that day.

Have a lot of people reported receiving awards besides the Dillards? I honestly haven't seen any, but I could be wrong.

"3) Some of you have already been notified of merit awards, as some of those have been going out via snail mail on a rolling basis. Merit aid is awarded by our scholarship committee, and as you are a brilliant and accomplished group, it's a competitive process. We review EVERY applicant for merit aid, based on your admission application, and by March 3, we expect to have released most, if not all, of those awards. Bottom line - check SIS on March 3 (not at 8AM. Later than that. You will get an email from us to tell you aid has been posted.)"

To me, this means there are still merit offers on the table. I could be interpreting it totally incorrectly, but I feel like they might just wait to review the complete file of need/merit to offer a total award.

[rska884]

I was admitted back in September and haven't received a scholarship offer. I know I don't deserve a Dillard or anything, but every other school in the T14 I've been admitted to has given me something--including Chicago. February is almost over. Any others in a similar boat?

Other outcomes aren't nearly as good, but I do have money to similar schools. My understanding is that they prefer to distribute money among fewer students, but in larger amounts. It kinda sucks for the other ~70% of us

+1. I have officially given up hope on merit aid unless something happens after deposit deadlines. PM me for reasons, I don't want to out myself.

I called the admin office last week and they said that at this point if you don't have merit aid, while not impossible, it is HIGHLY unlikely you'll get it.

Based on their Facebook post on the group, I am pretty sure everyone still has a chance at merit aid. On March 3, they plan to release most of their decisions for the remaining merit and all of need.

March 3 is when the the information is posted to SIS for those who have met the priority filing deadline. I didn't infer that many more awards would be going out that day.

Have a lot of people reported receiving awards besides the Dillards? I honestly haven't seen any, but I could be wrong.

"3) Some of you have already been notified of merit awards, as some of those have been going out via snail mail on a rolling basis. Merit aid is awarded by our scholarship committee, and as you are a brilliant and accomplished group, it's a competitive process. We review EVERY applicant for merit aid, based on your admission application, and by March 3, we expect to have released most, if not all, of those awards. Bottom line - check SIS on March 3 (not at 8AM. Later than that. You will get an email from us to tell you aid has been posted.)"

To me, this means there are still merit offers on the table. I could be interpreting it totally incorrectly, but I feel like they might just wait to review the complete file of need/merit to offer a total award.

I got an unnamed merit award about two weeks after my acceptance, back in December. Others have reported similarly in the other thread.

[James.K.Polk]

I was admitted back in September and haven't received a scholarship offer. I know I don't deserve a Dillard or anything, but every other school in the T14 I've been admitted to has given me something--including Chicago. February is almost over. Any others in a similar boat?

Other outcomes aren't nearly as good, but I do have money to similar schools. My understanding is that they prefer to distribute money among fewer students, but in larger amounts. It kinda sucks for the other ~70% of us

+1. I have officially given up hope on merit aid unless something happens after deposit deadlines. PM me for reasons, I don't want to out myself.

I called the admin office last week and they said that at this point if you don't have merit aid, while not impossible, it is HIGHLY unlikely you'll get it.

Based on their Facebook post on the group, I am pretty sure everyone still has a chance at merit aid. On March 3, they plan to release most of their decisions for the remaining merit and all of need.

March 3 is when the the information is posted to SIS for those who have met the priority filing deadline. I didn't infer that many more awards would be going out that day.

Have a lot of people reported receiving awards besides the Dillards? I honestly haven't seen any, but I could be wrong.

"3) Some of you have already been notified of merit awards, as some of those have been going out via snail mail on a rolling basis. Merit aid is awarded by our scholarship committee, and as you are a brilliant and accomplished group, it's a competitive process. We review EVERY applicant for merit aid, based on your admission application, and by March 3, we expect to have released most, if not all, of those awards. Bottom line - check SIS on March 3 (not at 8AM. Later than that. You will get an email from us to tell you aid has been posted.)"

To me, this means there are still merit offers on the table. I could be interpreting it totally incorrectly, but I feel like they might just wait to review the complete file of need/merit to offer a total award.

I think theoretically you could still see merit $, but if you haven't gotten it already, it's quite unlikely. Look at the published data - UVA hands out far less merit $$ than other t14s. I was admitted on September 2 and have not heard a peep - it's quite reasonable to think I won't get any.