University of San Diego 2011 Forum

[SFnative]

Called today, and the person on the phone told me a very large chunk of decisions will be happening mid-April, she also said many of which may be getting scholarship money as well.

Hang in there people...

[motionseditor]

Hey, Prospective Students,

You might be interested in checking out the official student newspaper of USD Law (Motions), which has both print and online versions. Here's the link to the online version: http://www.motionsonline.org.

Our latest issue came out today, and next issue we will be analyzing the latest USNWR Rankings and announcing the new Dean (among other information and entertainment).

Hope to see you next year!

http://www.motionsonline.org

[toster19]

I met with a USD 2L today and he gave me some interesting info on scholarship renewal. All first year students are placed into 1 of 5 sections. You have all the same students in your sections and each class within each section is curved. Thus, you are competing with students within your own section for grades. Supposedly, in order to save some money on scholarship renewal, almost all scholarship recipients are placed in the same section so it is near impossible for everyone to be in the top 33%.

[risktaker]

I met with a USD 2L today and he gave me some interesting info on scholarship renewal. All first year students are placed into 1 of 5 sections. You have all the same students in your sections and each class within each section is curved. Thus, you are competing with students within your own section for grades. Supposedly, in order to save some money on scholarship renewal, almost all scholarship recipients are placed in the same section so it is near impossible for everyone to be in the top 33%.

wow, wut bs. It's insane that law school's pull stuff like this.

[smittelman6]

I met with a USD 2L today and he gave me some interesting info on scholarship renewal. All first year students are placed into 1 of 5 sections. You have all the same students in your sections and each class within each section is curved. Thus, you are competing with students within your own section for grades. Supposedly, in order to save some money on scholarship renewal, almost all scholarship recipients are placed in the same section so it is near impossible for everyone to be in the top 33%.

how reliable is this source? do they have a scholarship, and speak from direct knowledge that x% of students in their class had a scholarship as well? i have not heard anything about section stacking at usd, and have asked several students, so this surprises me a lot!...

[nelaw2010]

I met with a USD 2L today and he gave me some interesting info on scholarship renewal. All first year students are placed into 1 of 5 sections. You have all the same students in your sections and each class within each section is curved. Thus, you are competing with students within your own section for grades. Supposedly, in order to save some money on scholarship renewal, almost all scholarship recipients are placed in the same section so it is near impossible for everyone to be in the top 33%.

Are you sure about the accuracy of this info?

[toster19]

It was just a student I met through a mutual friend. I wouldnt read it as concrete fact, just passing along information I got this afternoon. He claimed he and his friends deduced this from the disproportionate amount of scholarship recipients in their section as opposed to others, nothing stated by the school itself. However, it is interesting that the scholarships are contingent on your section standing, not the more logical class standing.

[Salty]

Just to pass along another little tidbit of info, when I tried to negotiate away my stip(which I was unsuccessful at) I also asked what percentage of students keep their full scholarship into their second year and I was told 60%.

[jarofsoup]

When is the cycle done?

[smittelman6]

Just to pass along another little tidbit of info, when I tried to negotiate away my stip(which I was unsuccessful at) I also asked what percentage of students keep their full scholarship into their second year and I was told 60%.

that's actually not so bad, considering their stipulations are so tight (50% for most, 33% for the higher ones) it makes me feel a little better... do you think that's a low percentage, or did you think it was okay/fine?

did anyone have any luck with negotiating stip? or at all? i got what seemed like a form reject letter, saying that the scholarship i received has that stip and it can't be removed blah blah blah

[piilehua]

my scholarship letter actually states I need to place xyz% in the entering division to keep $xzy. I hope division in this case means the entire 1L class and not my section. I feel like that makes more sense? I emailed them anyway to clarify.

[gothamm]

my scholarship letter actually states I need to place xyz% in the entering division to keep $xzy. I hope division in this case means the entire 1L class and not my section. I feel like that makes more sense? I emailed them anyway to clarify.

it means section.

[piilehua]

my scholarship letter actually states I need to place xyz% in the entering division to keep $xzy. I hope division in this case means the entire 1L class and not my section. I feel like that makes more sense? I emailed them anyway to clarify.

it means section.

well this is the response I just received:

My name here,

the stipulation applies to the entire class of students. Thank you for your inquiry. Have a great day!

[toster19]

my scholarship letter actually states I need to place xyz% in the entering division to keep $xzy. I hope division in this case means the entire 1L class and not my section. I feel like that makes more sense? I emailed them anyway to clarify.

it means section.

well this is the response I just received:

My name here,

the stipulation applies to the entire class of students. Thank you for your inquiry. Have a great day!

I believe mine says something like "the full-time division that you enter".

[gothamm]

somebody needs to clear this up, because that it not what i was hearing in some previous posts.

[smittelman6]

i am going to call as soon as i get home from work... this definitely needs to be cleared up and explained more clearly... if someone else calls before that please update us

[dswimmer]

my scholarship letter actually states I need to place xyz% in the entering division to keep $xzy. I hope division in this case means the entire 1L class and not my section. I feel like that makes more sense? I emailed them anyway to clarify.

it means section.

well this is the response I just received:

My name here,

the stipulation applies to the entire class of students. Thank you for your inquiry. Have a great day!

I believe mine says something like "the full-time division that you enter".

I am almost certain that division refers to the part time versus full time programs. It wouldn't make sense otherwise.

[piilehua]

Here the the response I got after I asked for more information:

my name here,
the class rank is done with the entire entering class broken down only by Full time students and Part Time students, not just the section. Thank you.

[borderlinecreep]

So I got my financial aid award and there was an honor scholarship on it of $21,000 but I never got a letter saying I got a scholarship. Has anyone else had this happen?

[smittelman6]

Here the the response I got after I asked for more information:

my name here,
the class rank is done with the entire entering class broken down only by Full time students and Part Time students, not just the section. Thank you.

the thing is, this doesn't mean anything in relation to section stacking. because if one section has all of the scholly kids, the curve will force some of those kids to get Cs or Bs, and therefore probably be below the top 33. do you think they'd answer me honestly if i called and flat out asked if they section stack? i.e. just say hey, what is the highest percentage of kids with schollys that could be in one section?

[Scott Tenorman]

Here the the response I got after I asked for more information:

my name here,
the class rank is done with the entire entering class broken down only by Full time students and Part Time students, not just the section. Thank you.

the thing is, this doesn't mean anything in relation to section stacking. because if one section has all of the scholly kids, the curve will force some of those kids to get Cs or Bs, and therefore probably be below the top 33. do you think they'd answer me honestly if i called and flat out asked if they section stack? i.e. just say hey, what is the highest percentage of kids with schollys that could be in one section?

I'd love to hear what they say, but it would be tough to know how honest any answer really is.

[toster19]

Here the the response I got after I asked for more information:

my name here,
the class rank is done with the entire entering class broken down only by Full time students and Part Time students, not just the section. Thank you.

the thing is, this doesn't mean anything in relation to section stacking. because if one section has all of the scholly kids, the curve will force some of those kids to get Cs or Bs, and therefore probably be below the top 33. do you think they'd answer me honestly if i called and flat out asked if they section stack? i.e. just say hey, what is the highest percentage of kids with schollys that could be in one section?

I doubt they'd address it directly. The student I met said a possible way to avoid this is to join the afternoon section. He said a friend tried to do this and the admin was awkwardly trying to dissuade her from this move. Again, this is just one student's take on the matter.

[gothamm]

took a campus tour recently and met up with a friend of a friend who is a 2L.


If someone would like me to post my impressions, they are not good

[Justathought]

I'd like to hear them. If you don't want to bash the school in its thread, feel free to PM your thoughts instead. Either way works.

Thanks very much!

[smittelman6]

took a campus tour recently and met up with a friend of a friend who is a 2L.


If someone would like me to post my impressions, they are not good

please post (or PM them to me... although i think you might be doing a lot of PMing in that case, and it may be easiest just to post) thanks!