In at Chicago: Class of 2015 Forum

[Dany]

Hi guys. Long time lurker here. I was not expecting to be admitted to Chicago and have not looked into the school as much as many others. Anyone want to give me their opinion on Chicago vs. Michigan? I think that Michigan is a better fit for me personally, and they also gave me a small scholarship. But everyone I've talked to thinks I'm crazy to go to Michigan over Chi. Any thoughts?

Jack

I think your question of Mich v. Chi is a bit premature - visit both ASWs, wait on scholarship info from Chicago, and then decide when you have more relevant information. That said, at the end of the day, you are going to have to spend three years of your life at the school you choose, so go where you'll be happy, but remember that getting a job is the most important factor and to balance that carefully with "fit."

[skers]

Hi guys. Long time lurker here. I was not expecting to be admitted to Chicago and have not looked into the school as much as many others. Anyone want to give me their opinion on Chicago vs. Michigan? I think that Michigan is a better fit for me personally, and they also gave me a small scholarship. But everyone I've talked to thinks I'm crazy to go to Michigan over Chi. Any thoughts?

Jack

I think your question of Mich v. Chi is a bit premature - visit both ASWs, wait on scholarship info from Chicago, and then decide when you have more relevant information. That said, at the end of the day, you are going to have to spend three years of your life at the school you choose, so go where you'll be happy, but remember that getting a job is the most important factor and to balance that carefully with "fit."

+1 to all this. Plus, depends on your priorities, bro. Personally, I'd take Chicago over Michigan with a small scholly.

[lsatcrazy]

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[AmandaPB]

Anyone have any thoughts as to how/when to best communicate that if given a Ruby, I would definitely attend?

Do people actually say that? Do they really just give Rubies to people who ask for them?

[lsatcrazy]

.

[Emma.]

Anyone have any thoughts as to how/when to best communicate that if given a Ruby, I would definitely attend?

Do people actually say that? Do they really just give Rubies to people who ask for them?

lol no, but my numbers are borderline (at least one person with slightly lower got one last year) and apparently they hand them out in waves. Perhaps, like ED, it tells them that you will accept (100% yield) and thus gives you a bump. Or not, I don't know if this has ever been done...

Personally I think it is kind of a bad idea. It will be really difficult to do this without coming across as entitled. I'm sure you are a strong applicant with lots of great experience and all that, but keep in mind that the Rubenstein scholarships are decided on more than just numbers.

[Doorkeeper]

Anyone have any thoughts as to how/when to best communicate that if given a Ruby, I would definitely attend?

Do people actually say that? Do they really just give Rubies to people who ask for them?

lol no, but my numbers are borderline (at least one person with slightly lower got one last year) and apparently they hand them out in waves. Perhaps, like ED, it tells them that you will accept (100% yield) and thus gives you a bump. Or not, I don't know if this has ever been done...

The only possibly way you could do this is if you have a Hamilton, S, H, or Y. Without any of those, no way.

[amc987]

By all accounts, it's really not the same. At Yale, it's roughly 50/50 H's and P's, so you only need to be in the top 50% to get an "A", and even bottom 50% almost all get "B"s. At the very least, you don't get screwed by one bad grade.

In the rest of your post, you're confusing two different things. If, like MoC said, you think you won't gun hard/well enough to make the top half of your class, you're better off at YHS than at UChi, even with the money difference. This isn't about "amazing" opportunities, but rather about getting any market-paying job at all.

The point you're bringing up is that, if you're at the top of the class, you have a greater range of opportunities at the very highest level from YHS. So, depending on the relative value for you of money and opportunities, YHS might be worth it at the top of the class as well.

I'm not coming down on one side or the other, but I certainly don't think "Take the money and run" is the obvious call, even in a case as extreme as mine.

ETA: I didn't respond to this before, but I don't think there's any evidence to suggest that the caliber of student at any T14 is different enough from YHS to think you'd do significantly better at one school rather than the other. GPA and LSAT are fairly predictive in very broad strokes, but the differences are so small between T14 schools that you can't conclude much from them.

I see your point on both of these things. It was my mistake for not realizing that MoC was making two separate arguments. I agree with the "if you're not going to gun hard enough/well enough" to be in the top half at another T10, you are def better off at HYS. Probably Y or S actually because of class size, and the devaluation of grades based on the way both schools utilize their grading systems.

I also would agree that coming top of the class at HYS gives you opportunities that you would not be able to get anywhere else. Maybe if you're also top of the class at another T10 it would come down to interviews or something, but top of the class at HYS can usually write their ticket.

My confusion was based on thinking that these were 2 similar things. In other words, one who is going to HYS because they're worried about their gunning ability/ capacity to work as hard as they can throughout LS also isn't someone who should be trumpeting the prestige of HYS and thinking that that prestige will be what gets them exceptional opportunities alone. It doesn't make sense. Even the HYSers who want elite clerkships or fellowships or academia need to bust their asses in law school so it's clear they've distinguished themselves in school and they have the credentials to prove it. That was my main point, that being in the middle of the class at HYS will certainly get you a job, but it won't get you a job that you couldn't have gotten by doing really well at some other less prestigious t14. If you want a job that is prestigious enough that its limited to HYS grads, then you're going to have to do darn well at HYS in order to get it.

I can't really respond to your ETA point with any authority. I would say that employers make an assumption in their hiring practices that contradicts some of what you said. The fact that some firms will take a middle of the class person from HYS when sometimes they won't even consider someone outside of the top 25% at Cornell suggests that some employers think that someone with a lower class standing at HYS is at least as capable as a top 25% person from Cornell. In other words, that HYS person might have been able to do significantly better at Cornell than they did at HYS for whatever reason. I do take your point about LSAT and GPA being only predictive in broad strokes, though. I honestly think a lot of it has to do with intangible factors like how well you resonate with the environment you're in, how supported you feel, how happy you feel, whether your life is such that you feel that you're able to devote as much time as possible to studying, whether there are academic programs that interest/ excite you, etc. I'm sure that this would be a difficult question for anyone but a transfer student to answer since people's academic experiences tend to be pretty limited to their own law school.

FWIW, I think I would probably take HYS over a Ruby if I were lucky enough to have those chances.

[lsatcrazy]

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[vincanity1]

Tagging in. Sent in NeedAccess last night. Can't wait for scholarship offers to come out.

[thatkid]

(From the regular Chicago thread)

Think there's any Ruby's left?

Yes, and if last year is any indication, they'll give out more as people start turning them down.

1) I hope this is true.
2) On a similar note, do you think this:

Also, if there is some circumstance that you feel should be considered by the Scholarship Committee, it is important to submit that material in a timely manner. Petitions should be emailed to: financialaid@uclaw.uchicago.edu.

means that it would be worthwhile to let them know before they make an initial offer if you have a full tuition offer elsewhere (MVP)? I had planned on waiting, but this threw me off a little.


Please give me a Ruby, Chicago. Please please please please.

[Nelson]

Also, if there is some circumstance that you feel should be considered by the Scholarship Committee, it is important to submit that material in a timely manner. Petitions should be emailed to: financialaid@uclaw.uchicago.edu.

means that it would be worthwhile to let them know before they make an initial offer if you have a full tuition offer elsewhere (MVP)? I had planned on waiting, but this threw me off a little.

I would definitely let them know if you have a big scholarship somewhere else. You can always renegotiate after you get an offer as well.

[seniorgoon]

Also, if there is some circumstance that you feel should be considered by the Scholarship Committee, it is important to submit that material in a timely manner. Petitions should be emailed to: financialaid@uclaw.uchicago.edu.

means that it would be worthwhile to let them know before they make an initial offer if you have a full tuition offer elsewhere (MVP)? I had planned on waiting, but this threw me off a little.

I would definitely let them know if you have a big scholarship somewhere else. You can always renegotiate after you get an offer as well.

Do people think this would include a possible offer (e.g. a Levy invitation)? Otherwise, I don't think 66.5k to Michigan or something similar would be useful if one is hoping for the super-long reach of a Ruby, yeah?

[Doorkeeper]

Also, if there is some circumstance that you feel should be considered by the Scholarship Committee, it is important to submit that material in a timely manner. Petitions should be emailed to: financialaid@uclaw.uchicago.edu.

means that it would be worthwhile to let them know before they make an initial offer if you have a full tuition offer elsewhere (MVP)? I had planned on waiting, but this threw me off a little.

I would definitely let them know if you have a big scholarship somewhere else. You can always renegotiate after you get an offer as well.

Do people think this would include a possible offer (e.g. a Levy invitation)? Otherwise, I don't think 66.5k to Michigan or something similar would be useful if one is hoping for the super-long reach of a Ruby, yeah?

Yea...you can't use the 67k from Mich to get a Ruby. You could use it to see if you could get 10-15k per year from Chicago though.

[Dany]

(From the regular Chicago thread)

Think there's any Ruby's left?

Yes, and if last year is any indication, they'll give out more as people start turning them down.

1) I hope this is true.
2) On a similar note, do you think this:

Also, if there is some circumstance that you feel should be considered by the Scholarship Committee, it is important to submit that material in a timely manner. Petitions should be emailed to: financialaid@uclaw.uchicago.edu.

means that it would be worthwhile to let them know before they make an initial offer if you have a full tuition offer elsewhere (MVP)? I had planned on waiting, but this threw me off a little.


Please give me a Ruby, Chicago. Please please please please.

I would absolutely not let them know about offers from other schools before your initial award. They were very open to negotiating last year, so you won't help yourself by preempting them and could likely come off as entitled.

[Xifeng]

Also, if there is some circumstance that you feel should be considered by the Scholarship Committee, it is important to submit that material in a timely manner. Petitions should be emailed to: financialaid@uclaw.uchicago.edu.

means that it would be worthwhile to let them know before they make an initial offer if you have a full tuition offer elsewhere (MVP)? I had planned on waiting, but this threw me off a little.

I would definitely let them know if you have a big scholarship somewhere else. You can always renegotiate after you get an offer as well.

Do people think this would include a possible offer (e.g. a Levy invitation)? Otherwise, I don't think 66.5k to Michigan or something similar would be useful if one is hoping for the super-long reach of a Ruby, yeah?

Don't do it with just an opportunity to get a full-ride elsewhere. They also won't run out of money, and people started negotiating earlier and later and last year everyone pretty much heard back in April.

Y'all can PM me if you want specifics about how I negotiated for aid (had full-ride at MVP) or if you have questions, but I waited until after I got those scholarships for sure and after I heard back from Chicago. There's still plenty of time left, everyone!

[thatkid]

I would absolutely not let them know about offers from other schools before your initial award. They were very open to negotiating last year, so you won't help yourself by preempting them and could likely come off as entitled.

Yeah, that was my fear. I obviously don't feel entitled to one, but I'm not sure I could make that apparent in a preemptive email. I just haven't seen anything at other schools ambiguously encouraging you to let them know about circumstances to consider "in a timely manner," etc. It's good to know they were open to negotiating last year. Thanks!

[kolokena]

anyone attending the Feb. 27th "day in the life" in lieu of the March ASW? GULC's ASW is the same wknd as Chicago and I want to be able to visit both before making any decisions.

[Champion]

Anyone know when do scholarship offers start to come out for all of the non-ruby admits.

[Dany]

Anyone know when do scholarship offers start to come out for all of the non-ruby admits.

They came out Friday, February 18th last year for people in the first batch of admits.

[Champion]

Anyone know when do scholarship offers start to come out for all of the non-ruby admits.

They came out Friday, February 18th last year for people in the first batch of admits.

Thanks for the info!

Edit: Email from UChi just gave the details on when they'll be out.

[FidusAchates]

I am beyond thrilled to be checking into this thread!

[nametaken]

I am beyond thrilled to be checking into this thread!

+1

[vincanity1]

I am beyond thrilled to be checking into this thread!

"Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight..."

[icedflames]

At this rate, it's looking like NYU vs Chicago, thoughts anyone?