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Do I have to go to a school that I did EDO Binding?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 12:02 am
by acerqueira11
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Re: Do I have to go to a school that I did EDO Binding?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 12:13 am
by Clemenceau
If they admit you, you can either go to that school, or not go to law school at all this cycle.
And you will likely not get any financial aid. A t25 at sticker sounds suicidal so I'd try to pull that ED app now if I were you.
Re: Do I have to go to a school that I did EDO Binding?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 4:35 am
by Troianii
acerqueira11 wrote:I recently applied to a T25 school with a binding early decision. It is a little out of my range academically, but I figured that for my dream school I should do binding to show I am really committed. If I get in, is there any way I can decide not to go if I do not like the financial aid package? Please help!
If you're not so comfortable with the thought of being tied into going to that school, you should follow advice given about and withdraw your ED app. However, to the specifics of your question: read the early decision contract.

I mean, I'm not one to bear down on people for silly mistakes on TLS, but if you're hoping to be a lawyer, I'd hope you would at least read a one page contract before signing it.
You haven't told us where you applied ED, so I can't say definitively, but many law schools have an exception written into their ED contracts that offers you an out if your scholarship award is so weak that it makes attending an impossibility. This isn't for if you changed your mind or anything, but simply if the school isn't affordable with the aid package offered - which means you can't withdraw to attend a T14 at sticker or anything like that. As an example, here is an excerpt from Duke's ED contract:
"Should a student who applies for financial aid not be offered an award that makes attendance possible, the student may decline the offer of admission and be released from the Early Decision commitment."
Some have these exceptions, like Duke. Some, like Emory, have no exception.
Re: Do I have to go to a school that I did EDO Binding?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:08 pm
by bwh8813
Longtime lurker, first time poster...
Some schools also only accept a very small number of ED applications and award them full scholarships. Then, shortly thereafter, they will regular admit (non-binding) those who applied ED and were not chosen, but are still quality candidates who would get regular acceptance.
Re: Do I have to go to a school that I did EDO Binding?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:15 pm
by BigZuck
So you applied early decision to American and another school in the T25? Are you sure you can do that?
Re: Do I have to go to a school that I did EDO Binding?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:19 pm
by Clemenceau
BigZuck wrote:early decision to American
Yikes
Re: Do I have to go to a school that I did EDO Binding?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 7:06 pm
by acerqueira11
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Re: Do I have to go to a school that I did EDO Binding?
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 3:20 pm
by nealric
Clemenceau wrote:If they admit you, you can either go to that school, or not go to law school at all this cycle.
And you will likely not get any financial aid. A t25 at sticker sounds suicidal so I'd try to pull that ED app now if I were you.
Meh. You can probably renege without any real consequences. But if you are feeling the need to ED T25s, you are probably better off retaking the LSAT and waiting till next year.