Syracuse c/o 2015 Forum

[loblaw016]

20k scholly in the mail today

[z0rk]

Ditto, 27k per year. Equates to 60% of tuition.

[NYC KID]

Ditto, 27k per year. Equates to 60% of tuition.

Tuition or tuition+cost of living?

[z0rk]

Ditto, 27k per year. Equates to 60% of tuition.

Tuition or tuition+cost of living?

Tuition only.

[NYC KID]

Ditto, 27k per year. Equates to 60% of tuition.

Tuition or tuition+cost of living?

Tuition only.

You're right I forgot tuition was $45,000.

[paradox]

What are the conditions for you to retain your scholarship?

If the requirement is a specific GPA (rather than a position in the class) then be careful because the grading curve that was implemented this academic year has made it more difficult to get an A, A-, or B+.

Good luck.

[z0rk]

What are the conditions for you to retain your scholarship?

If the requirement is a specific GPA (rather than a position in the class) then be careful because the grading curve that was implemented this academic year has made it more difficult to get an A, A-, or B+.

Good luck.

2.8 GPA, good academic standing, and full time enrollment status.

[zuckaz48]

Ditto, 27k per year. Equates to 60% of tuition.

same here. you thinkin about taking it?

i went to undergrad in upstate new york and dont know if i would want to live there again

[caller10]

What are the conditions for you to retain your scholarship?

If the requirement is a specific GPA (rather than a position in the class) then be careful because the grading curve that was implemented this academic year has made it more difficult to get an A, A-, or B+.

Good luck.

2.8 GPA, good academic standing, and full time enrollment status.

The standards might be different for each scholarship. I got $33,000 and my GPA requirement is a 3.00

[Sherlock1708]

Received acceptance packet and scholarship award. Do you think I can ask them to send a size small t-shirt instead of a large???

[iceicebaby]

$10k/year? It's not even worth negotiating... they are barely even a TT and they come at me with that noise? Poppycock I say!

[MarcusAurelius]

Received acceptance packet and scholarship award. Do you think I can ask them to send a size small t-shirt instead of a large???

No, however I do think you can hit the gym - make filling out that t shirt your motivation

[Sherlock1708]

Not sure anyone wants to see a 5'1'' female become the size of a man who can fill out a large shirt lol. Sadly for me, this shirt will go into my boyfriend's collection.

Received acceptance packet and scholarship award. Do you think I can ask them to send a size small t-shirt instead of a large???

No, however I do think you can hit the gym - make filling out that t shirt your motivation

[cch24]

I withdrew a few days ago but still got the scholarship in the mail. $33,000 with a 3.0 stipulation. Pretty harsh.

[benburns214]

Deans Scholarship letter came in the mail yesterday... $54,000 over 3 years (18k a yr) with 2.75 stip.

[Sherlock1708]

Just wanted to let people know that if your "To Do List" on My Slice looks inaccurate it probably is. I logged on and had 10 initiated items relating to drug conviction, bankruptcy, non-citizen status, etc.... none of which pertain to me. The admissions office said they are having an error in their system and to check back early next week to see what you actually have pending.

[Jimbola]

Iceicebaby I sincerely enjoy your use of the word poppycock. It needs a come back.

Oh yeah, I got the $27k with a 2.80 stip

[Tothemoon]

Hi! So, how does everyone feel about a Facebook group so that we can discuss more fun topics, as well as get to know each other before arrival in the fall? That way, we can discuss social events, potential roommates, etc....? I don't mind making the group if anyone else is interested. Please indicate interest if it's there because it's really depressing to create an empty (read: lame) page! Thanks! Can't wait to meet everyone in the fall! If there is interest, I will make the group and post the group name here.

[alba0321]

Anyone else applying to Syracuse?

Hey guys,

I am a current 1L at SU... feel free to ask me questions on here or PM me!

Just a little background info:

I applied to a large number of schools and ended up choosing Syr because of the generous scholarships they awarded me.
I am from upstate and would not mind having a career here.
I am hoping to break into the health or disability law area.

[paradox]

alba0321

Please talk about the new grading curve which SU College of Law implemented this academic year.

One of your fellow SU 1L students told me that SU's new trading curve has made the lives of all 1L's unpleasant and caused a number of academic casualties. The 1L I spoke to also indicated that many of the !L's that received scholarships will lose their $ because they will be unable to hit the 3.0 because of the new grading curve. My understanding is that 60% of each 1L class will receive a grade of B- or below and that 20% of each class receive a grade below the 2.2 gpa required to stay in school.

Can you confirm? Your thoughts?

Thanks.

LINK to new SU grading curve:
--LinkRemoved--

[iceicebaby]

Iceicebaby I sincerely enjoy your use of the word poppycock. It needs a come back.

Oh yeah, I got the $27k with a 2.80 stip

I like the cut of your jib. Congrats on the scholly!

[alba0321]

alba0321

Please talk about the new grading curve which SU College of Law implemented this academic year.

One of your fellow SU 1L students told me that SU's new trading curve has made the lives of all 1L's unpleasant and caused a number of academic casualties. The 1L I spoke to also indicated that many of the !L's that received scholarships will lose their $ because they will be unable to hit the 3.0 because of the new grading curve. My understanding is that 60% of each 1L class will receive a grade of B- or below and that 20% of each class receive a grade below the 2.2 gpa required to stay in school.

Can you confirm? Your thoughts?

Thanks.

LINK to new SU grading curve:
--LinkRemoved--

Hey, just a forewarning, most of my answer is based on speculation, I don't have hard facts to back up as to why the school implemented the grading curve...just seems to be the student consensus on such ideas.

The grading curve is a huge source of stress for 1Ls. Every class is curved, however some of the upper level electives are off of the curve. The section mean has to fall between 2.9 and 3.1. Only 5% get As, 10% get A-s; between 70% and 75% get from a B+ to a C; and somewhere between 5% and 10% get C- and below.

This grading curve is even applied to your writing section, which has between 15 and 20 students (do the math - only 1 person gets an A and 2 get A-s). Most of the core subjects have 60-80 students per section.

A lot of the scholarships have a 3.0 or 2.8 GPA stipulation, but its actually somewhat difficult to get a 3.0 -- for instance to make dean's list this semester (top 25%) the cut off was 3.229. I'm not positive what the top half GPA cut off was, but I'm guessing it was somewhere around 2.9 for this semester (basing this estimate on the few people who share their rank/grades).

As for 1Ls losing their scholarships and leaving the school, its too soon to know for sure. You have the cumulative Fall and Spring semester GPAs to get to your required GPA in order to keep your scholarship. So by the time Spring grades come out and the cumulative GPAs are calculated, then we will know for sure how many people will lose their scholarships. I spoke with the Financial Aid office before I enrolled about students losing their scholarships and they told me it was rare (but again take that with a grain of salt).

The school has not been explicit as to why they implemented this new grading curve, but from what I've gathered from other students is that it is to help increase the bar passage rate. The last few graduating classes apparently have had abysmal bar passage rates and that's mostly why SU's ranking has dropped. In addition to the new grading curve, the school has also implemented a structured curriculum for anyone with a 2.7 GPA or lower. Apparently if your GPA is this low, you have a very low chance of passing the bar. The structured curriculum makes these students take the bar subject classes, rather than their choice from all the electives.

Hope this answers your question, if not, let me know and I'll try again

[cpinker3]

Hopefully I will hear something this week. It seems like almost everyone on TLS and LSN who applied around the same time as me (including many who applied after me) have already heard whether they are in or not.

[paradox]

alba0321

Thanks for your considered reply.

In my opinion Syracuse's new grading curve is unfair because it causes a set number of students to do poorly because of a programed formula which has no relationship to the quality of their work.

Unfortunately the programed grades will cause many bright students to lose their scholarships upon which they based their selection of the school and also cause some students who have borrowed considerable money to attend to become academic casualties.

The Dean of Syracuse University College of Law should question why most of the law schools have better bar pass rates than SU but less onerous grading policies.

[Mr Cooper]

alba0321

Thanks for your considered reply.

In my opinion Syracuse's Law School's grading curve is unfair because it causes a set number of students to do poorly because of a programed formula which has no relationship to the quality of their work.

Unfortunately the programed grades will cause many bright students to lose their scholarships upon which they based their selection of the school and also cause some students who have borrowed considerable money to attend to become academic casualties.

The Dean of Syracuse University College of Law should question why most of the law schools have better bar pass rates than SU but less generous grading policies.

FTFY. Most of the law schools have better bar passage rates than SU because most law schools accept brighter students than SU. There are 15 law schools in New York (aka the most over-saturated legal market in the country). Of those 15 at least 8 are better options than Syracuse in terms of legal employment and debt-to-salary ratio.

You need to understand why law schools give out scholarships that hard to maintain. It is how they "buy" LSAT scores to improve their rankings. The higher the ranking, the more justification they have to raise tuition. Many law schools are merely "cash cows" for the university.

Like I pointed out earlier in this thread, I know several people who attend SU law school so hear me out on this. Syracuse is financial suicide for many of its students. More than half of its incoming class maxed out their student loans for this year (thats a total of 60k for one year of law school). This was stated by the financial aid department during a lifestyle budget management assembly during orientation. With subsidized graduate loans being eliminated at the end of this school year and the interest rates being so high for graduate students, and interest accumulating during the school year, that is at least $65k for one year of law school. Now consider that SU gives out minimal amounts of grant money, and many students are losing their scholarships (particularly due to the tighter curve), you have most SU law students paying at least $40k/year. The SU career services department has also been known to be completely useless after you have graduated.

I hate to come off as an SU hater, because I have nothing against SU in particular, but I do know some students there and have been curious about various aspects of law school (particularly financial aid) during my cycle, and from what I have come to understand is that like MANY of the law schools out there, SU is not a good decision for most.