American University Class of 2016 Forum

[dirtrida2]

These scholarship offers are really sub-par, especially given the lsat/gpa of the recipients and the cost of attendance.

I assume the one time offers are final, or will more money trickle down later in the cycle?

Am I missing something here:

Total, annual, COA: $70,204
http://www.wcl.american.edu/finaid/cost.cfm

Employment: 35.8%
http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=american



:edit:

Top of page gif!

[kmh504]

So nervous - I applied last year and was accepted ( only took them two weeks!) but realized I wanted some more experience that would benefit my future legal career - i.e. moving to Paris, working, and perfecting my French.

Needless to say, I am dying for them to accept me again because I have very specific reasons for wanting to attend - their dual international j.d program that allows me to earn a j.d here and in france (well their equivalent) and essentially practice in both countries!! Very few law schools have such a degree program.

I wonder how they view applicants who reapply after turning them down :/ Totally articulated why though on my application....


And yeah ditto to that PIPS scholarship....full ride please! I wish a current student on that scholarship was on here - I want to know what the process is like.

[espressocream]

Got the 10k email as well yesterday.

wut.

[Wyse]

So nervous - I applied last year and was accepted ( only took them two weeks!) but realized I wanted some more experience that would benefit my future legal career - i.e. moving to Paris, working, and perfecting my French.

Needless to say, I am dying for them to accept me again because I have very specific reasons for wanting to attend - their dual international j.d program that allows me to earn a j.d here and in france (well their equivalent) and essentially practice in both countries!! Very few law schools have such a degree program.

I wonder how they view applicants who reapply after turning them down :/ Totally articulated why though on my application....


And yeah ditto to that PIPS scholarship....full ride please! I wish a current student on that scholarship was on here - I want to know what the process is like.

That is the same reason I applied to this school. I have been trying to perfect my French so that I can get into the dual-degree program. Just got in yesterday but still waiting to hear from other schools, though that program and the fact that the school is nine minutes away from home has me wanting to go.

[timbs4339]

This might clear up some confusion: http://insidethelawschoolscam.blogspot. ... ategy.html

USER BANNED FOR VIOLATING FORUM RULES

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 7&t=146613

[Jdawgie]

This might clear up some confusion: http://insidethelawschoolscam.blogspot. ... ategy.html

Was this... just written... about this thread? I wonder if I'm the referenced over 75th LSAT over 25th GPA admit..?

[simplycatalina]

This might clear up some confusion: http://insidethelawschoolscam.blogspot. ... ategy.html

Was this... just written... about this thread? I wonder if I'm the referenced over 75th LSAT over 25th GPA admit..?

This is an interesting read. I wonder if any other schools have similar strategies and stingy scholarships, or if American is the only one.

[ak362]

For what it's worth, and based on my (imperfect) understanding, the Dean's Merit Scholarships are relatively new. By and large, grants/scholarships were need-based a few years ago; I think that has since changed.

WCL offers additional merit scholarships (the "restricted" scholarships) once you've enrolled -- you apply for these during the fall. They vary as to amount, but they can help somewhat in defraying the cost of attendance. Dean's Fellow positions and Gillett-Mussey money can also help blunt some of the costs. In some respects, I think WCL is a bit different in that the merit money it gives centers on performance during law school, whereas most schools focus on giving merit money before 1L year and provide few opportunities to obtain merit scholarships during your time at the school (so it's more of a yours-to-lose scenario than a earn-as-you-go situation). So -- if you're not a stellar law school candidate but rock your 1L year, you'd probably have better odds of getting merit money from WCL than from other schools. That's not to say other schools don't have merit scholarships that you can apply for during the year, but this is just to give you an idea of the model that WCL has been working with for the past few years.

As I mentioned above, they seem to be transitioning away from this model (or supplementing it) by implementing the Dean's Merit Scholarships. I don't have an opinion as to which system is "better" -- just wanted to give some perspective as to why the scholarship figures you're getting from WCL may be lower than other peer schools. All that having been said, it's still pricey to attend (tuition is high, but so is the cost of living in D.C.). I enjoyed my time at WCL, but the decision to attend shouldn't be made impulsively -- it's a complex decision to make, one with variables that you can't accurately predict far in advance.

[jstr00az]

As I mentioned above, they seem to be transitioning away from this model (or supplementing it) by implementing the Dean's Merit Scholarships. I don't have an opinion as to which system is "better" -- just wanted to give some perspective as to why the scholarship figures you're getting from WCL may be lower than other peer schools. All that having been said, it's still pricey to attend (tuition is high, but so is the cost of living in D.C.). I enjoyed my time at WCL, but the decision to attend shouldn't be made impulsively -- it's a complex decision to make, one with variables that you can't accurately predict far in advance.

Obviously no one should go to American University at $70k a year Cost of Attendance with the terrible job prospects that the school provides. Do not be fooled by this.

Getting a $10k scholarship is worthless. You're competing against students from good schools, like UVA, Georgetown, William & Mary, and the host of people who come from Harvard, NYU, Columbia etc. to DC to work.

Going to American is idiotic. There's a reason they've dropped their admissions standards, to draw in the suckers.

[2012Lsatscore]

.

[dirtrida2]

"This thread [is] in the Accept/WL/Deny forum. We treat that particular subforum differently because it's a place for people who have already decided to apply to share information. People who want to discuss whether or not they want to apply at all are free to do so in other forums…Posters should not "troll" threads in that forum by telling people not to apply. The rationale for this is simple: The people who use that forum need it to share information about the application cycle, which will get drowned out if we allow folks to keep endlessly shouting "why you shouldn't attend this school" diatribes at them…So we developed a hard rule against "don't attend, here's why" posts…The short version is, please don't go telling people in the Accept/WL/Deny forum not to apply somewhere. We view such posts as defeating the point of those forums, so we tend to be harsh on them."

-Excerpts from the explanation from the mod that banned me.

*puts foot in mouth*

+1

[FallingHigher]

As I mentioned above, they seem to be transitioning away from this model (or supplementing it) by implementing the Dean's Merit Scholarships. I don't have an opinion as to which system is "better" -- just wanted to give some perspective as to why the scholarship figures you're getting from WCL may be lower than other peer schools. All that having been said, it's still pricey to attend (tuition is high, but so is the cost of living in D.C.). I enjoyed my time at WCL, but the decision to attend shouldn't be made impulsively -- it's a complex decision to make, one with variables that you can't accurately predict far in advance.

Obviously no one should go to American University at $70k a year Cost of Attendance with the terrible job prospects that the school provides. Do not be fooled by this.

Getting a $10k scholarship is worthless. You're competing against students from good schools, like UVA, Georgetown, William & Mary, and the host of people who come from Harvard, NYU, Columbia etc. to DC to work.

Going to American is idiotic. There's a reason they've dropped their admissions standards, to draw in the suckers.

Personally I agree that American is not worth it. However, calling the decision to go 'idiotic' is unnecessary and unwarranted. For some people it may be the right decision. Furthermore, the insinuation that students with an LSAT below 165 (or whatever you deem the to be the level of dropped standards) are suckers and would automatically jump to go to a school in DC without doing research is ludicrous. You can go away now.

[kmh504]

So nervous - I applied last year and was accepted ( only took them two weeks!) but realized I wanted some more experience that would benefit my future legal career - i.e. moving to Paris, working, and perfecting my French.

Needless to say, I am dying for them to accept me again because I have very specific reasons for wanting to attend - their dual international j.d program that allows me to earn a j.d here and in france (well their equivalent) and essentially practice in both countries!! Very few law schools have such a degree program.

I wonder how they view applicants who reapply after turning them down :/ Totally articulated why though on my application....


And yeah ditto to that PIPS scholarship....full ride please! I wish a current student on that scholarship was on here - I want to know what the process is like.

That is the same reason I applied to this school. I have been trying to perfect my French so that I can get into the dual-degree program. Just got in yesterday but still waiting to hear from other schools, though that program and the fact that the school is nine minutes away from home has me wanting to go.

+1 congrats!! Yeah, it really is unique. Georgetown has a similar program but it is more strict and they only select two students as oppossed to 4 ( and their program is with La Sorbonne - I'm there right now and they are a bit stuffy lol). Cornell comes in a not-so close 3rd because they only offer dual LLM degree or something like that, nothing that would allow us to actually practice in France. Ughh - I really want this program! Bonne chance!

[Wyse]

So nervous - I applied last year and was accepted ( only took them two weeks!) but realized I wanted some more experience that would benefit my future legal career - i.e. moving to Paris, working, and perfecting my French.

Needless to say, I am dying for them to accept me again because I have very specific reasons for wanting to attend - their dual international j.d program that allows me to earn a j.d here and in france (well their equivalent) and essentially practice in both countries!! Very few law schools have such a degree program.

I wonder how they view applicants who reapply after turning them down :/ Totally articulated why though on my application....


And yeah ditto to that PIPS scholarship....full ride please! I wish a current student on that scholarship was on here - I want to know what the process is like.

That is the same reason I applied to this school. I have been trying to perfect my French so that I can get into the dual-degree program. Just got in yesterday but still waiting to hear from other schools, though that program and the fact that the school is nine minutes away from home has me wanting to go.

+1 congrats!! Yeah, it really is unique. Georgetown has a similar program but it is more strict and they only select two students as oppossed to 4 ( and their program is with La Sorbonne - I'm there right now and they are a bit stuffy lol). Cornell comes in a not-so close 3rd because they only offer dual LLM degree or something like that, nothing that would allow us to actually practice in France. Ughh - I really want this program! Bonne chance!

Yeah I looked at the Georgetown program but I don't have the GPA for that, though my aunt is a graduate of the law center and I know two profs but I wouldn't want to use them because I will feel I didn't earn my way in. I really hope you get in...again. Bonne chance.

Also I saw the employment numbers and they don't scare me. There are Harvard grads without jobs (albeit very few haha). Your opportunities are what you make them. Distinguish yourself at a mid-level school and you will be fine.

[dirtrida2]

So nervous - I applied last year and was accepted ( only took them two weeks!) but realized I wanted some more experience that would benefit my future legal career - i.e. moving to Paris, working, and perfecting my French.

Needless to say, I am dying for them to accept me again because I have very specific reasons for wanting to attend - their dual international j.d program that allows me to earn a j.d here and in france (well their equivalent) and essentially practice in both countries!! Very few law schools have such a degree program.

I wonder how they view applicants who reapply after turning them down :/ Totally articulated why though on my application....


And yeah ditto to that PIPS scholarship....full ride please! I wish a current student on that scholarship was on here - I want to know what the process is like.

That is the same reason I applied to this school. I have been trying to perfect my French so that I can get into the dual-degree program. Just got in yesterday but still waiting to hear from other schools, though that program and the fact that the school is nine minutes away from home has me wanting to go.

+1 congrats!! Yeah, it really is unique. Georgetown has a similar program but it is more strict and they only select two students as oppossed to 4 ( and their program is with La Sorbonne - I'm there right now and they are a bit stuffy lol). Cornell comes in a not-so close 3rd because they only offer dual LLM degree or something like that, nothing that would allow us to actually practice in France. Ughh - I really want this program! Bonne chance!

Yeah I looked at the Georgetown program but I don't have the GPA for that, though my aunt is a graduate of the law center and I know two profs but I wouldn't want to use them because I will feel I didn't earn my way in. I really hope you get in...again. Bonne chance.

Also I saw the employment numbers and they don't scare me. There are Harvard grads without jobs (albeit very few haha). Your opportunities are what you make them. Distinguish yourself at a mid-level school and you will be fine.

[Wyse]

LOL. I'm a risk taker...and I know that Harvard grad. Passed the bar and everything. Hard to get a job in D.C. period. At the same time have another buddy that graduated from North Carolina the same year and makes 180,000. The shocked thing had me holding my stomach though.

[gjk07fsu]

LOL. I'm a risk taker...and I know that Harvard grad. Passed the bar and everything. Hard to get a job in D.C. period. At the same time have another buddy that graduated from North Carolina the same year and makes 180,000. The shocked thing had me holding my stomach though.

I wholeheartedly agree that your opportunities are what you make them. All of the numbers you see can be frightening, but those that stand out at any school are not desperately running around looking for jobs.

[babasil1]

Hey everyone,

I recently got accepted to the WCL on early decision with an inent to receive a scholarship. The scholarship awards will be announced in March, however. If I do not get one, I will probably spend 2013 honing my LSAT and aiming for a better university. My question: Am I legally allowed to refuse attending WCL in Fall of 2013 despite the early decision option? And if yes, will that somehow negatively reflect on my future applications? All help is appreciated!

[2012Lsatscore]

.

[babasil1]

Hey everyone,

I recently got accepted to the WCL on early decision with an inent to receive a scholarship. The scholarship awards will be announced in March, however. If I do not get one, I will probably spend 2013 honing my LSAT and aiming for a better university. My question: Am I legally allowed to refuse attending WCL in Fall of 2013 despite the early decision option? And if yes, will that somehow negatively reflect on my future applications? All help is appreciated!

The Dean Merit schollies are already out. Are there more?

Was the ED binding? Read the wording in the ED agreement. It's in there.

It is binding, but it doesn't say anything about not attending law school period.

[2012Lsatscore]

.

[babasil1]

Hey everyone,

I recently got accepted to the WCL on early decision with an inent to receive a scholarship. The scholarship awards will be announced in March, however. If I do not get one, I will probably spend 2013 honing my LSAT and aiming for a better university. My question: Am I legally allowed to refuse attending WCL in Fall of 2013 despite the early decision option? And if yes, will that somehow negatively reflect on my future applications? All help is appreciated!

The Dean Merit schollies are already out. Are there more?

Was the ED binding? Read the wording in the ED agreement. It's in there.

It is binding, but it doesn't say anything about not attending law school period.

What does it say? (You really should call them no matter what I say.)

It's on their website - here's the relevant parts:

If admitted to American University Washington College of Law under the Early Decision Option you must:
Submit a non-refundable tuition deposit of $900 by January 31, 2013
Enroll at AUWCL
Withdraw all applications at other law schools regardless of your status
Not initiate any new applications
Not defer admission to a later year
Not switch between the full-time and part-time programs prior to enrollment

[2012Lsatscore]

.

[jstr00az]

Roommate is a 3L here. They are getting slaughtered. Don't go unless significant $$!!!!11111oneoneone

What do you mean they are getting slaughtered?

He means, the employment out of American is TERRIBLE. Do not go unless you are offered a free ride, or unless you are independently wealthy. American has virtually no ability to actually place its graduates into legal jobs. Look at the recent stats on http://www.lawschooltransparency.com

[jstr00az]

Hey everyone,

I recently got accepted to the WCL on early decision with an inent to receive a scholarship. The scholarship awards will be announced in March, however. If I do not get one, I will probably spend 2013 honing my LSAT and aiming for a better university. My question: Am I legally allowed to refuse attending WCL in Fall of 2013 despite the early decision option? And if yes, will that somehow negatively reflect on my future applications? All help is appreciated!

The Dean Merit schollies are already out. Are there more?

Was the ED binding? Read the wording in the ED agreement. It's in there.

You absolutely are legally entitled to refuse to attend WCL. Just because you say you are going to attend, cannot obligate you to spend $70k times 3 years on this law school. THEY HAVE TERRIBLE employment statistics. Do not attend this school unless you are getting a completely free ride. If you attend without a free ride, you can expect (based on statistics over the last 5 years) to NOT get a law degree, but have more than $200,000 in debt.