Top Law Schools

Hey guys. I have a question about need-based aid (and I mean grants that don't have to be paid back, not loans). For undergrad, I have heard that the Ivy League schools give full rides to students whose parents make below a certain amount (like 60k or something).

Are the top law schools like this as well? I'm gonna be applying to law school this fall, and I hope to attend a T14 school, like Penn or Georgetown. My parents are divorced and both make an extremely small amount of money. Both pull in less than 30k a year, and even if you combined their incomes, they don't make more than 50k. Although I guess the only one that matters is my mom, who I'm listed as a dependent of.

If I'm lucky enough to be accepted into one of these law schools, how generous will financial aid be? Is it plausible that IIll get a full need-based ride from a place like Penn, GULC or Virginia?

What about the top schools outside the T14, like UCLA?

Thank you for your help, guys.

This is graduate school. There is no such thing as need based financial aid. You can get merit based scholarships, fellowships, and grants because your a swell guy, but not because your parents are poor.

It's my understanding there isn't a lot of need-based aid. Could be wrong, though.

Mostly you'll get scholarships (with the right numbers), and loans for the rest.

Try the Financial Aid forum for better results.

kalvano wrote:It's my understanding there isn't a lot of need-based aid. Could be wrong, though.

Mostly you'll get scholarships (with the right numbers), and loans for the rest.

Try the Financial Aid forum for better results.

Oh sorry, that was really stupid of me...Completely forgot about that forum. Could a mod move this?

I mean all the websites of law schools I've looked at said the law schools give need-based aid. few of them gave any numbers, but i think GW for example said they give up to 15k in need based aid. i was just wondering if anyone else had more insight into it.

To my knowledge, Georgetown, Harvard and Yale have money for straight need based aid and I'm not sure but maybe Penn and Columbia. But its not going to be like undergrad financial aid. They will still expect you to take out some loans. I think the most you can get is about $35,000 or so in financial aid at Georgetown and I'd imagine its the same at the others. It could be more, but most people who had financial need that I talked to (and myself) got around that amount for Georgetown. Also, I think UCLA does have need based aid but they may only pull it out if they want you to come, like if you have other offers on the table which means they don't really have a process for strictly need based aid. Maybe you can specifically ask some Harvard, Yale, Penn or Columbia law students. In general the info is hard to come by, but if you read schools financial aid policies you can get an idea of how they do their process. A lot of schools will say they do a combination of merit and need which means even if you have need you could end up with nothing. Hope this helps.

Best advice? Call the school's financial aid office. They tend to be pretty nice people and can answer your question far better than anyone here. Just ask about the process, requirements to be considered, etc.

It's not the first time they will have had to answer the questions.

AddyO wrote:To my knowledge, Georgetown, Harvard and Yale have money for straight need based aid and I'm not sure but maybe Penn and Columbia. But its not going to be like undergrad financial aid. They will still expect you to take out some loans. I think the most you can get is about $35,000 or so in financial aid at Georgetown and I'd imagine its the same at the others. It could be more, but most people who had financial need that I talked to (and myself) got around that amount for Georgetown. Also, I think UCLA does have need based aid but they may only pull it out if they want you to come, like if you have other offers on the table which means they don't really have a process for strictly need based aid. Maybe you can specifically ask some Harvard, Yale, Penn or Columbia law students. In general the info is hard to come by, but if you read schools financial aid policies you can get an idea of how they do their process. A lot of schools will say they do a combination of merit and need which means even if you have need you could end up with nothing. Hope this helps.

thank you very much, that was extremely helpful. i've read a lot of the school's websites but like you said, the info is hard to come across and it's not too specific.

kalvano, that's what i'm gonna do. i'll probably call and ask them once I get my LSAT score. i just felt like they'd tell me to screw off since i haven't even applied yet.

You don't even need to wait until your LSAT, you can call on Monday. Just tell then you're starting to gather information and get your applications together.

Lulz at the poster making fun of OP and saying that "there is NO need based aid." Way to speak completely out of your ass and be completely wrong. At least you tried to make it sound convincing like you knew what you were talking about.

I'm coming from a household that makes about 40,000$ a year. I honestly think that you shouldn't count on need based aid because of the possibility of it not being enough (as you think).

For us poor(er) students, loans is inevitable. Just Hit the highest score possible on the LSAT and hope for some scholarship aid.

Need based? I don't understand the point of it in LS where the tuition is 40K+ at most schools. I bet most ppl could qualify as "need based."

A'nold wrote:Lulz at the poster making fun of OP and saying that "there is NO need based aid." Way to speak completely out of your ass and be completely wrong. At least you tried to make it sound convincing like you knew what you were talking about.

yeah i thought that was kind of a dick reply but i figured he realized he was wrong after like 2 replies. i don't know why some people who have no authority on a subject feel the need to act as if they know everything about it.

jeremydc wrote:I'm coming from a household that makes about 40,000$ a year. I honestly think that you shouldn't count on need based aid because of the possibility of it not being enough (as you think).

For us poor(er) students, loans is inevitable. Just Hit the highest score possible on the LSAT and hope for some scholarship aid.

yeah i've come to accept that. i just hope my LSAT score is good enough for decent scholarship money in addition to whatever need-based aid i'm granted. hopefully my loans will be minimized.

Logjik wrote:Need based? I don't understand the point of it in LS where the tuition is 40K+ at most schools. I bet most ppl could qualify as "need based."

Tuition is 35k for Harvard undergrad, for example, and they give full need-based aid to poorer students. so the fact that the tuition is high isn't enough to discount an expectation of a sizeable amount of aid.

There is definitely need-based aid, just not a ton of it. I got a large merit scholarship from a T30 & then an additional need-based grant- not a significant amount but not inconsequential either.

As far as T14, if you have solid numbers you can potentially pull a nice scholarship at Northwestern- I think they're the only T14 that awards money based on a mixed basis of merit & need. I have above median numbers for them & am also broke, & I ended up with an award roughly equal to 3/4 of tuition

A'nold wrote:Lulz at the poster making fun of OP and saying that "there is NO need based aid." Way to speak completely out of your ass and be completely wrong. At least you tried to make it sound convincing like you knew what you were talking about.

I wasn't making fun of them I was telling what I learned in talking to the finaid office at USC, W&M and Cornell and telling them about my experience in my previous graduate institution. When I asked I used the specific phrase 'need based aid' and was told by all three, that finaid doesn't work the same way as it does in undergrad, schools will help you if they feel you need aid, but is not from the same bucket of money designated by the school's endowments, or public institution funding as "need based aid" and that there is no guarantee that two people with similar circumstances will receive the same amount of aid, or aid from the same source. They will give fellowships, grants, scholarships, and anything else not covered will come from loans taken out by the student. So I say again, there is no Need based aid, the OP will not get money specifically based on the fact that their parents make a certain amount of money. If you don't believe me call your law school and asked them specifically about Need Based Aid. Maybe your special.

jlk86 wrote:There is definitely need-based aid, just not a ton of it. I got a large merit scholarship from a T30 & then an additional need-based grant- not a significant amount but not inconsequential either.

As far as T14, if you have solid numbers you can potentially pull a nice scholarship at Northwestern- I think they're the only T14 that awards money based on a mixed basis of merit & need. I have above median numbers for them & am also broke, & I ended up with an award roughly equal to 3/4 of tuition

People have gotten more than half-tuition grants this year from Georgetown; both as solely need based and as a mixture of need and merit.

Need-based aid exists. I received 69k purely in need-based aid from Penn, 90k from Georgetown, and some other huge need-based offers. My total household income was about $15,000, though (very unique situation). Don't listen to anyone who tells you that need-based aid doesn't exist. I believe the only T14 that does not do need-based aid is Chicago.

Core wrote:Need-based aid exists. I received 69k purely in need-based aid from Penn, 90k from Georgetown, and some other huge need-based offers. My total household income was about $15,000, though (very unique situation). Don't listen to anyone who tells you that need-based aid doesn't exist. I believe the only T14 that does not do need-based aid is Chicago.

HYS only gives need based aid.