Boston College Applicants Thread Forum

[monnguse757]

Anyone have any advice on what an e-mail asking to up a scholarship should contain, BC is absolutely my first choice, but I have offers of 20k/year from USC and 25k per year from William and Mary. Any advice is greatly appreciated

[harrijust86]

DR today... no email WL/Rejection on the way. Add that to the Fordham waitlist I got today and the BU waitlist from two days ago and I dont think i will be going to law school in the fall. Bad Day

[tttlllsss]

DR today... no email WL/Rejection on the way. Add that to the Fordham waitlist I got today and the BU waitlist from two days ago and I dont think i will be going to law school in the fall. Bad Day

You aren't willing to do WUSTL w/ $$?

If you apply early next cycle, you might net T14

[BlueDiamond]

DR 4/1 .. no e-mail.. I know BC's games all too well though.. clearly I was accepted and their April Fools joke is to make me wait it out.. the e-mail is coming any time now.. right? BC.. please?

[mia468]

DR 4/1 .. no e-mail.. I know BC's games all too well though.. clearly I was accepted and their April Fools joke is to make me wait it out.. the e-mail is coming any time now.. right? BC.. please?

me too! Hopefully its good news! BU Waitlisted me yesterday, and i <3 boston

[BlueDiamond]

DR 4/1 .. no e-mail.. I know BC's games all too well though.. clearly I was accepted and their April Fools joke is to make me wait it out.. the e-mail is coming any time now.. right? BC.. please?

me too! Hopefully its good news! BU Waitlisted me yesterday, and i <3 boston

i was waitlisted at BU yesterday also.. we must have applied around the same time.. good luck with BC and the BU waitlist

[mia468]

DR 4/1 .. no e-mail.. I know BC's games all too well though.. clearly I was accepted and their April Fools joke is to make me wait it out.. the e-mail is coming any time now.. right? BC.. please?

me too! Hopefully its good news! BU Waitlisted me yesterday, and i <3 boston

i was waitlisted at BU yesterday also.. we must have applied around the same time.. good luck with BC and the BU waitlist

Thanks you too! Hopefully the fact that my dad is a professor at BC law means good new for both of us...

[BlueDiamond]

Thanks you too! Hopefully the fact that my dad is a professor at BC law means good new for both of us...

i take back my friendliness in previous posts and now officially hate you (read as: congrats on the acceptance wish I was in your shoes)

edit: and post here when you get accepted so i can open my email while praying

[curly3426]

BC just emailed me scholarship.... there is hope people

[Non-Chalant1]

I withdrew recently guys and I had a pretty sizable scholarship. I hope you all get a better package based on that. Best of luck to those still waiting.

[mettasutta]

IN today! So unexpected; I was totally anticipating a WL in light of the fact that I've been UR for ~2 months. #'s are 3.82/164.

[williorwonti]

So, I got decision rendered today, but above it still says "in review"...anyone know what this means? Did anyone that had a decision rendered on 4/1 have the actual status checker say "4/3" - mine does...what does this mean? Also, did anyone that got a decision rendered today get the acceptance email as well?

[mettasutta]

Has anyone tried negotiating merit aid with BC? I have not received my acceptance packet yet, but based on LSN, people with #s similar to mine have gotten nada, and I'm hesitant to pay sticker at BC when I have sizable schollies from peer schools (W&M and Notre Dame, to be specific). Hopefully I could use those as leverage.

[apple1234]

Withdrew today... hopefully my spot goes to someone on the WL (I feel your pain)!!! Good luck everyone.

[Sandstorm]

Just checked my agora yesterday and it give me only a very very small loan. The majority of the CoA is not covered by any loans. All the other schools I've been accepted to have given me loans to cover the CoA in some form. (As well as merit and need aid) Agora for me says below the one loan, "Your application was read for federal aid only. If you would like to be considered for BC Law need-based scholarships please complete the online Need Access application with all parent data".

I did fill out the Need Access application on March 13th, two days before the March 15th deadline, so this shouldn't have been a problem. I really like BC, but I'm only slightly above the 75th LSAT/GPA, so I understand them not giving me any merit aid. But is BC telling me I need to find my own loans and finance law school on my own?

[RPK34]

Just checked my agora yesterday and it give me only a very very small loan. The majority of the CoA is not covered by any loans. All the other schools I've been accepted to have given me loans to cover the CoA in some form. (As well as merit and need aid) Agora for me says below the one loan, "Your application was read for federal aid only. If you would like to be considered for BC Law need-based scholarships please complete the online Need Access application with all parent data".

I did fill out the Need Access application on March 13th, two days before the March 15th deadline, so this shouldn't have been a problem. I really like BC, but I'm only slightly above the 75th LSAT/GPA, so I understand them not giving me any merit aid. But is BC telling me I need to find my own loans and finance law school on my own?

No, you do not have to get your own loans. The federal government guarantees loans that cover the full COA for any grad school. For some reason, BC does not include GradPlus loans on Agora, but I'm sure you can get them. It's weird that they are not listed on Agora, but yes, you can get them. I'd call the school to ask about it, but don't worry about having to find your own loans.

[ylnechev]

Does anyone know what percent of BC Law students get merit scholarships? Or how many of you are receiving scholarships? Does anyone know what the average scholarship amount is? Is 12K/year ok? Is BC worth it at that cost?

[tttlllsss]

Does anyone know what percent of BC Law students get merit scholarships? Or how many of you are receiving scholarships? Does anyone know what the average scholarship amount is? Is 12K/year ok? Is BC worth it at that cost?

Using LSN for data:
--------------------------
415 total applicants
110 acceptances
26.5% acceptance rate

28 receiving scholarships
25.4% receive scholarships

18 scholarships AT or ABOVE $75,000
64.3% of scholarships are AT or ABOVE $75,000

Total amount given to LSN applicants: $2,046,000
Average amount: about $73,000

Summary:
Few students receive merit scholarships. Those who receive merit scholarships usually get large amounts. Also, the LSN acceptance rate is higher than BC's overall acceptance rate. Therefore, this data represents a more qualified pool of applicants than normal.

[BlueDiamond]

Does anyone know what percent of BC Law students get merit scholarships? Or how many of you are receiving scholarships? Does anyone know what the average scholarship amount is? Is 12K/year ok? Is BC worth it at that cost?

Using LSN for data:
--------------------------
415 total applicants
110 acceptances
26.5% acceptance rate

28 receiving scholarships
25.4% receive scholarships

18 scholarships AT or ABOVE $75,000
64.3% of scholarships are AT or ABOVE $75,000

Total amount given to LSN applicants: $2,046,000
Average amount: about $73,000

Summary:
Few students receive merit scholarships. Those who receive merit scholarships usually get large amounts. Also, the LSN acceptance rate is higher than BC's overall acceptance rate. Therefore, this data represents a more qualified pool of applicants than normal.

you should also consider that not every LSN member posts the scholarships they get

[tttlllsss]

you should also consider that not every LSN member posts the scholarships they get

Yes, I considered that, but look at Emory's LSN page. Nearly every applicant has some money posted. This led me to believe that, generally, LSN members will post their scholarship amounts

[skippy1]

Just checked my agora yesterday and it give me only a very very small loan. The majority of the CoA is not covered by any loans. All the other schools I've been accepted to have given me loans to cover the CoA in some form. (As well as merit and need aid) Agora for me says below the one loan, "Your application was read for federal aid only. If you would like to be considered for BC Law need-based scholarships please complete the online Need Access application with all parent data".

I did fill out the Need Access application on March 13th, two days before the March 15th deadline, so this shouldn't have been a problem. I really like BC, but I'm only slightly above the 75th LSAT/GPA, so I understand them not giving me any merit aid. But is BC telling me I need to find my own loans and finance law school on my own?

No, you do not have to get your own loans. The federal government guarantees loans that cover the full COA for any grad school. For some reason, BC does not include GradPlus loans on Agora, but I'm sure you can get them. It's weird that they are not listed on Agora, but yes, you can get them. I'd call the school to ask about it, but don't worry about having to find your own loans.

Spoke with financial aid and BC participates in GradPlus loans. I think the max is $100K over the course of graduate school.

[RPK34]

Just checked my agora yesterday and it give me only a very very small loan. The majority of the CoA is not covered by any loans. All the other schools I've been accepted to have given me loans to cover the CoA in some form. (As well as merit and need aid) Agora for me says below the one loan, "Your application was read for federal aid only. If you would like to be considered for BC Law need-based scholarships please complete the online Need Access application with all parent data".

I did fill out the Need Access application on March 13th, two days before the March 15th deadline, so this shouldn't have been a problem. I really like BC, but I'm only slightly above the 75th LSAT/GPA, so I understand them not giving me any merit aid. But is BC telling me I need to find my own loans and finance law school on my own?

No, you do not have to get your own loans. The federal government guarantees loans that cover the full COA for any grad school. For some reason, BC does not include GradPlus loans on Agora, but I'm sure you can get them. It's weird that they are not listed on Agora, but yes, you can get them. I'd call the school to ask about it, but don't worry about having to find your own loans.

Spoke with financial aid and BC participates in GradPlus loans. I think the max is $100K over the course of graduate school.

It's probably not exactly 100k. BC submits a total cost of attendance to the government, which I believe is around 60k. Every student is guaranteed $20,500 in stafford loans. Some students get scholaraships. So the way they calculate gradplus loans is equal to: Total Cost of Attendence (60k)-Stafford Loans (20.5k)-Any scholarships. So if you don't get any scholarships, you can get about 40k a year in grad plus loans, or 120k over three yeras.

Hope that helps.

[knotoftoads]

yea grad plus loans will cover the rest of the cost after stafford loans and any scholarships, so no need to worry.

[binghamtonalum]

for those of us who've been in review for a while now (since 2/9 for me), should we be taking it as a good sign that we haven't been rejected yet? Am I just trying to soothe myself by thinking that we're fringe admits and they're waiting to see how many send in the deposits first?

[alumniguy]

Anyone have any advice on what an e-mail asking to up a scholarship should contain, BC is absolutely my first choice, but I have offers of 20k/year from USC and 25k per year from William and Mary. Any advice is greatly appreciated

Yes, convey exactly what you just wrote. BC is your first choice, but you are very concerned about taking on increased debt compared to the scholarships you've received from peer schools. I wrote a letter to BC asking for money and got a small amount, so it definitely works (although obviously not all of the time).

I would probably include a specific reference to USC/William & Mary and the scholarships offered (figure out total costs of attendance and include that figure as well) and include the difference in the cost of attending schools at the current scholarship offers. Something along the lines of I've narrowed my choices down to these three schools and include total costs of attendance.

I would try to include some line that says you are really committed to BC (and the Boston market) if they can make the cost of attendance competitive with the other schools you've received scholarships for it would make your decision to attend BC much easier.