Vanderbilt c/o 2015 Applicants (2011-2012 cycle) Forum

[jwalterweatherman]

Does anyone have any clue what kind of numbers you need to be in the running for the merit scholarships? I've searched both this thread and LSN, but it's tough to find information on the people who have earned the giant scholarships. Perhaps the people who have really impressive numbers write off Vanderbilt and don't turn in a merit scholarship application. Or maybe they just give very few scholarships (that aren't in the 70k to 90k range).

[Smumps]

Looks like the 1/24 group is WL territory. Alas!

Nevermind, came home to a shiny black box. Neato! Good luck to everyone else!

[drylo]

Does anyone have any clue what kind of numbers you need to be in the running for the merit scholarships? I've searched both this thread and LSN, but it's tough to find information on the people who have earned the giant scholarships. Perhaps the people who have really impressive numbers write off Vanderbilt and don't turn in a merit scholarship application. Or maybe they just give very few scholarships (that aren't in the 70k to 90k range).

It seems that you need competitive numbers--like HYS-competitive (or close). Not everyone who is here on the merit scholarships got into HYS (and I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from applying), but most of the offerrees are choosing between Vandy and HYS or substantial/full scholarships at higher-ranked schools.

[jwalterweatherman]

Does anyone have any clue what kind of numbers you need to be in the running for the merit scholarships? I've searched both this thread and LSN, but it's tough to find information on the people who have earned the giant scholarships. Perhaps the people who have really impressive numbers write off Vanderbilt and don't turn in a merit scholarship application. Or maybe they just give very few scholarships (that aren't in the 70k to 90k range).

It seems that you need competitive numbers--like HYS-competitive (or close). Not everyone who is here on the merit scholarships got into HYS (and I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from applying), but most of the offerrees are choosing between Vandy and HYS or substantial/full scholarships at higher-ranked schools.

Well if those are the qualifications, I'm borderline at best. But thanks for the response! I'm looking forward to hearing back one way or the other. I take it you don't regret your decision to go with Vandy over some of your other awesome choices?

[Moriarty]

Oh my, this black box is shiny! (SO EXCITED!) Now about ASW...

[Christine12456]

Decision Date : 1/27....its going to be a long weekend!

[T1hopeful]

Waitlisted. Good luck to everyone else.

[moxy]

Oh my, this black box is shiny! (SO EXCITED!) Now about ASW...

Congratulations. When did your app. go complete?

[msblaw89]

Sorry for all the WL. Has Vandy sent rejections yet?

[Dr. Filth]

Sorry for all the WL. Has Vandy sent rejections yet?

There are only a few rejections and WL's on the LSN page.

http://vanderbilt.lawschoolnumbers.com/ ... Cycle=1112

[2014]

Decision mailed 1/27, is that a waitlist imminent?

[msblaw89]

Decision mailed 1/27, is that a waitlist imminent?

Not necessarily... I think the WL were a 1/24 mail date.. but it was also a mixed bag

[thelawschoolproject]

Well...Vandy finally mailed me my decision...1/27 as well.

[Moriarty]

Oh my, this black box is shiny! (SO EXCITED!) Now about ASW...

Congratulations. When did your app. go complete?

I went complete 1/16. Wasn't expecting to hear back for months...

[kroakstool]

Oh my, this black box is shiny! (SO EXCITED!) Now about ASW...

Congratulations. When did your app. go complete?

I went complete 1/16. Wasn't expecting to hear back for months...

I went complete on 1/12 and haven't heard anything.

[goldeneye]

.

[drylo]

Does anyone have any clue what kind of numbers you need to be in the running for the merit scholarships? I've searched both this thread and LSN, but it's tough to find information on the people who have earned the giant scholarships. Perhaps the people who have really impressive numbers write off Vanderbilt and don't turn in a merit scholarship application. Or maybe they just give very few scholarships (that aren't in the 70k to 90k range).

It seems that you need competitive numbers--like HYS-competitive (or close). Not everyone who is here on the merit scholarships got into HYS (and I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from applying), but most of the offerrees are choosing between Vandy and HYS or substantial/full scholarships at higher-ranked schools.

Well if those are the qualifications, I'm borderline at best. But thanks for the response! I'm looking forward to hearing back one way or the other. I take it you don't regret your decision to go with Vandy over some of your other awesome choices?

Like I said, there are definitely people here on those scholarships without those HYS acceptances, but if your numbers aren't at least reasonably competitive for HYS, you will need to really impress in some other way. But again, I don't want to discourage anyone from trying (I certainly don't know what any of your applications look like!)--just trying to answer your question.

As for me, I don't regret it at all. I've really enjoyed my time at Vandy (as much as one can "enjoy" law school), I couldn't be happier with my job situation right now, and I am obviously very grateful to have had the scholarship as well.

[Byzantine]

Does anyone have any clue what kind of numbers you need to be in the running for the merit scholarships? I've searched both this thread and LSN, but it's tough to find information on the people who have earned the giant scholarships. Perhaps the people who have really impressive numbers write off Vanderbilt and don't turn in a merit scholarship application. Or maybe they just give very few scholarships (that aren't in the 70k to 90k range).

It seems that you need competitive numbers--like HYS-competitive (or close). Not everyone who is here on the merit scholarships got into HYS (and I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from applying), but most of the offerrees are choosing between Vandy and HYS or substantial/full scholarships at higher-ranked schools.

Well if those are the qualifications, I'm borderline at best. But thanks for the response! I'm looking forward to hearing back one way or the other. I take it you don't regret your decision to go with Vandy over some of your other awesome choices?

Like I said, there are definitely people here on those scholarships without those HYS acceptances, but if your numbers aren't at least reasonably competitive for HYS, you will need to really impress in some other way. But again, I don't want to discourage anyone from trying (I certainly don't know what any of your applications look like!)--just trying to answer your question.

As for me, I don't regret it at all. I've really enjoyed my time at Vandy (as much as one can "enjoy" law school), I couldn't be happier with my job situation right now, and I am obviously very grateful to have had the scholarship as well.

Curious. Obviously, with your numbers, you could have gone almost anywhere. Why Vandy?

[Byzantine]

Does anyone have any clue what kind of numbers you need to be in the running for the merit scholarships? I've searched both this thread and LSN, but it's tough to find information on the people who have earned the giant scholarships. Perhaps the people who have really impressive numbers write off Vanderbilt and don't turn in a merit scholarship application. Or maybe they just give very few scholarships (that aren't in the 70k to 90k range).

Vandy's scholarships are odd. They give $60-90K to lots of acceptees but only give 6 full rides (the named scholarships). To my knowledge, they do not negociate schollys either. They are pretty much the diametric opposite of a place like UVA, which seems to have lots of discretionary funding.

It's too bad, because I really want to go Vandy, but unless they give a full ride, I'd have a hard time turning down better schools.

[drylo]

Like I said, there are definitely people here on those scholarships without those HYS acceptances, but if your numbers aren't at least reasonably competitive for HYS, you will need to really impress in some other way. But again, I don't want to discourage anyone from trying (I certainly don't know what any of your applications look like!)--just trying to answer your question.

As for me, I don't regret it at all. I've really enjoyed my time at Vandy (as much as one can "enjoy" law school), I couldn't be happier with my job situation right now, and I am obviously very grateful to have had the scholarship as well.

Curious. Obviously, with your numbers, you could have gone almost anywhere. Why Vandy?

Well, it was a tough decision. I only applied to a handful of schools because I had basically decided that they were the ones that I would actually be interested in attending. I ruled out Duke pretty early because I just felt like honestly I would rather be at Vandy anyway--and I can't really articulate why (maybe I have just forgotten), but I just didn't like the vibe that much when I visited Duke. I ended up ruling out Chicago because while I liked the school, I decided the scholarship money I got there wasn't enough to make me choose Chicago over Harvard. So then it was down to UVA, Harvard, and Vandy. My experience with UVA was just bizarre, and by the time they admitted me (after I called, curious about why I had not heard a peep from them in 4 months), I wasn't able to make it to Charlottesville for their last ASW. (I tried--got to the airport and everything but my flight got cancelled.) That whole experience just turned me off from there, and I basically figured that if UVA was destined to be the place for me, then things would have gone a little smoother.

So that brings me to the Vandy vs. Harvard moment. It's tough. There were pros and cons to each alternative, and those pros and cons basically don't go away after you start law school (in my experience). I had the 2L jobs (and the permanent job) that I would want (market-paying firms with good quality of life in my chosen secondary markets), no matter where I went to school--so in that respect, as I expected, I am very happy with Vandy. Otherwise, one of the biggest pros to Vandy was, for me, the opportunity to go for free. That was huge for me. But the attractive part of Harvard is still there too--mainly, it's just frustrating to hear people occasionally say things like, "Oh, that firm hired a Harvard kid." In other words, my inner tool has occasionally wanted to let people know that I could have been a Harvard kid, etc. But the bottom line of all of that is that going to Harvard would have done nothing to advance my career as far as I can tell--it would just simultaneously stroke my ego and embarrass me when it came up in conversation. I mean, ultimately, for me, the question was if just being a Harvard person would be worth almost $200k. I said no, and in retrospect, I am glad I did.

[FWIW, I am probably about top 12-15% in our class. I've done well, but I have not been too hardcore about school. My discussion above is not meant to ignore the reality that if you are sitting right at the median at both schools, you probably are in a little better shape at Harvard median than Vandy median. But I would also say that if you are near the top at Vandy, that's enough for most jobs--and, incidentally, you are probably a much more attractive candidate than some middle-of-the-road Harvard student. On the other hand, if you want to work at WLRK or S&C, you most likely need better grades than I have (but I don't want to do that).]

[Byzantine]

Well, it was a tough decision. I only applied to a handful of schools because I had basically decided that they were the ones that I would actually be interested in attending. I ruled out Duke pretty early because I just felt like honestly I would rather be at Vandy anyway--and I can't really articulate why (maybe I have just forgotten), but I just didn't like the vibe that much when I visited Duke. I ended up ruling out Chicago because while I liked the school, I decided the scholarship money I got there wasn't enough to make me choose Chicago over Harvard. So then it was down to UVA, Harvard, and Vandy. My experience with UVA was just bizarre, and by the time they admitted me (after I called, curious about why I had not heard a peep from them in 4 months), I wasn't able to make it to Charlottesville for their last ASW. (I tried--got to the airport and everything but my flight got cancelled.) That whole experience just turned me off from there, and I basically figured that if UVA was destined to be the place for me, then things would have gone a little smoother.

So that brings me to the Vandy vs. Harvard moment. It's tough. There were pros and cons to each alternative, and those pros and cons basically don't go away after you start law school (in my experience). I had the 2L jobs (and the permanent job) that I would want (market-paying firms with good quality of life in my chosen secondary markets), no matter where I went to school--so in that respect, as I expected, I am very happy with Vandy. Otherwise, one of the biggest pros to Vandy was, for me, the opportunity to go for free. That was huge for me. But the attractive part of Harvard is still there too--mainly, it's just frustrating to hear people occasionally say things like, "Oh, that firm hired a Harvard kid." In other words, my inner tool has occasionally wanted to let people know that I could have been a Harvard kid, etc. But the bottom line of all of that is that going to Harvard would have done nothing to advance my career as far as I can tell--it would just simultaneously stroke my ego and embarrass me when it came up in conversation. I mean, ultimately, for me, the question was if just being a Harvard person would be worth almost $200k. I said no, and in retrospect, I am glad I did.

[FWIW, I am probably about top 12-15% in our class. I've done well, but I have not been too hardcore about school. My discussion above is not meant to ignore the reality that if you are sitting right at the median at both schools, you probably are in a little better shape at Harvard median than Vandy median. But I would also say that if you are near the top at Vandy, that's enough for most jobs--and, incidentally, you are probably a much more attractive candidate than some middle-of-the-road Harvard student. On the other hand, if you want to work at WLRK or S&C, you most likely need better grades than I have (but I don't want to do that).]

Wow, thanks for the response Drylo!

It sounds like you faced a decision very similar to the one I hope to face. I have already decided that, if I do go to Vandy, I'll be gunning for work at boutique firm in Nashville (I have roots there). For me, going to Harvard or Yale wouldn't be for the big law but for the opportunities in clerkships and academia. I am committed to not entering any field where I work 70 hours/week; I need time for my family and other priorities.

And secondary markets aren't all that bad, are they? I mean, making 120,000 in Nashville > 160,000 in NYC, at least in terms of purchasing power.

[southernsuperstar]

Drylo, all of that information is SUPER helpful!
I'm leaning towards Vandy right now, but I'm waiting to hear back from other schools and to see what (if any) scholarships I can get.
Could you talk about the life at Vandy? I keep hearing that it's not as competitive as other schools and it's very much 'work hard, play hard'. Would you say this is true?

[drylo]

Wow, thanks for the response Drylo!

It sounds like you faced a decision very similar to the one I hope to face. I have already decided that, if I do go to Vandy, I'll be gunning for work at boutique firm in Nashville (I have roots there). For me, going to Harvard or Yale wouldn't be for the big law but for the opportunities in clerkships and academia. I am committed to not entering any field where I work 70 hours/week; I need time for my family and other priorities.

And secondary markets aren't all that bad, are they? I mean, making 120,000 in Nashville > 160,000 in NYC, at least in terms of purchasing power.

PMed.

Drylo, all of that information is SUPER helpful!
I'm leaning towards Vandy right now, but I'm waiting to hear back from other schools and to see what (if any) scholarships I can get.
Could you talk about the life at Vandy? I keep hearing that it's not as competitive as other schools and it's very much 'work hard, play hard'. Would you say this is true?

Honestly, I don't really know what it is like at other schools, but I mean I agree that the atmosphere here is not one of tension and competitiveness. For the most part, people are really chill. There may be a few outliers, but they are few. As for the "work hard, play hard" thing... Everyone works hard when they need to, I think. That is to say, there are plenty of people who "work harder" than I do throughout the semester, but come finals, everyone will be working pretty hard. There is also a "play hard" contingent at the law school--I'm more in the "married" contingent now, though, so if you are asking about the party scene, I have been more or less absent for a while. I do know that it exists, though. I'm not sure how well I can really answer your question, but I would absolutely concur that while law school is, by its very nature, a somewhat stressful environment, Vandy students are pretty low-key about it all.

[ganggreen]

Decision mailed 1/27... expecting my first ding

164/3.9, no interview

[msblaw89]

I've been to the campus several times when I visit Nashville, and it definitely has the southern hospitality thing going for it. Plus, I am a sucker for southern food. Pancake Pantry...Loveless Cafe yum