Top Law Schools

There was some good discussion in last year's thread so I thought I'd get one going for this year.

Hat tip to Nova, I'm copying the basic UMN format to get this started.

Online Application

The current admission deadline is March 1; I believe last year they kept it open until April 1. Early decision applications are due November 15.

Looking at other TLS threads, fee waivers seem to arrive by mail about a week after you take the LSAT, but ymmv. Old threads in this forum (last year's thread) seem to be the best place for scholarship info. UW's statistics page claims that 90% of students receive financial aid but there is not a lot of good information on the average scholarship amount, in-state vs. out-of-state status, and when scholarship information is sent out. There is some decent scholarship information on LSN (see below) but you have to do a lot of clicking through and guessing to see if your situation matches any particular range of numbers or applicant status.

[EDIT - more scholarship info] The ABA info sheet for WI seems more accurate that the 90% figure sited on WI's page (which could, now that I look at it more closely, just means 10% of students are paying tution out of pocket. They report that 39.7% of students are receiving some kind of grant or scholarship (total students, not just the incoming class); 23.6% are receiving less than half tuition; 12.3% half to full tuition; six students are receiving full tuition awards; and 24 students are receiving more than full tuition (tuition plus some kind of stipend). Anecdotal evidence and LSN clicking around suggests that URMs above both medians can expect generous offers and some out of state students are receiving offers that, more or less, bring tuition down to the in-state rate.

Current Stats
Enrolled Students: 216
LSAT 25/Median/75: 157-162-164
GPA 25/Median/75: 3.32-3.61-3.72

Change vs. last year:
Class Size, UW Madison 216/242 (-26)
LSAT & GPA, UW Madison (#35) 162 (-1), 3.61 (-.06)
Old medians: 158-165, 3.34-3.78
New medians: 157-164, 3.32-3.72

Law School Transparency Stats (LinkRemoved).

Class of 2011 NALP Report - to quote Paul Campos, "the only two things you should take into account when considering a law school are employment outcomes, and cost." NALP reports are going to give you the most realistic picture of the employment outcomes for a UW Madison Law grad.

Law School Numbers main page
2011-12 Cycle Applicants/Graph
2010-11 Cycle Applicants/Graph
2009-10 Cycle Applicants/Graph
2008-2009 Cycle Applicants/Graph
2007-2008 Cycle Applicants/Graph

US News Rank #35

Fabulous and beautiful Madison, WI (/native bias)
77 miles surrounded by reality - this is not an exaggeration.

It gets really cold here. We had a freakishly warm winter last year so don't believe anything an out-of-state 1L tells you. It also snows a lot, although not quite as much as it does in the Twin Cities.

Transportation Notes
Madison Metro - you can live here without a car and be fine. I wouldn't recommend it because you'll rarely leave Downtown Madison, but it's possible.
Dane County Airport - It's nice to fly in/out of but inventory is limited and there are rarely super cheap fare sales. Most people use this bus to O'Hare, that same bus to O'Hare and then train to Midway, or drive to O'Hare, Midway, or Milwaukee to fly on the cheap.

This is another fellow UW Law applicant checking in. I wish everybody the best and will immediately post any accepance/denial/scholarship info. I also look foreward to conversing with some potential law school classmates!

Indeed, UW gave us the 2011 NALP report: http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=wisconsin

If you guys have any questions, there are a couple of 1L's floating around here and we can try our best to answer your questions.

jenesaislaw wrote:Indeed, UW gave us the 2011 NALP report: http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=wisconsin

Thank you - I've added the link to the first post (with some editorializing).

Another 1L at UW here. Happy to answer any questions. I applied twice, so I have double the advice for you.

Some unsolicited info: So far I'm very happy with my decision (I'm paying OOS sticker, so I may not end up happy, but so far so good). Madison is a wonderful town, small but big enough. It's quiet west of campus, there is a lot to do around and east of campus. Bus system is great. I can't compare it to other schools, so I'll just say that everyone in my classes looks out for everyone else, sharing notes, writing tips, anything. I missed a day of classes and multiple people actually offered me their notes without being asked. There are some crazy competitive types, but that's law school, and the professors generally don't indulge them anyway.

Good luck to all of you, and please feel free to ask buckythebadger or me if you have any questions.

I can't add much about the law school-specific stuff, but if anyone has questions about Madison life in general, I spent 4 years there for undergrad and I loved every second of it. Let me know!

gobuffs10 wrote:I can't compare it to other schools, so I'll just say that everyone in my classes looks out for everyone else

+1

Is wisconsin pretty stingy with scholarship

From the people I know at UW and from what I have read on TLS, UW seems to be very stingy with their scholarships, especially to their in-state applicants.

patspats wrote:From the people I know at UW and from what I have read on TLS, UW seems to be very stingy with their scholarships, especially to their in-state applicants.

Any idea on out of state?

I really hope I get in this time...

Abisping wrote:

patspats wrote:From the people I know at UW and from what I have read on TLS, UW seems to be very stingy with their scholarships, especially to their in-state applicants.

Any idea on out of state?

I hear they give scholarships, but don't expect much unless you have high high numbers.

patspats wrote:

Abisping wrote:

patspats wrote:From the people I know at UW and from what I have read on TLS, UW seems to be very stingy with their scholarships, especially to their in-state applicants.

Any idea on out of state?

I hear they give scholarships, but don't expect much unless you have high high numbers.

Even with high numbers, they are really tight with scholly money

Edited the first post with some more scholarship info, also pasted below.

[EDIT - more scholarship info] The ABA info sheet for WI seems more accurate that the 90% figure sited on WI's page (which could, now that I look at it more closely, just means 10% of students are paying tution out of pocket. They report that 39.7% of students are receiving some kind of grant or scholarship (total students, not just the incoming class); 23.6% are receiving less than half tuition; 12.3% half to full tuition; six students are receiving full tuition awards; and 24 students are receiving more than full tuition (tuition plus some kind of stipend). Anecdotal evidence and LSN clicking around suggests that URMs above both medians can expect generous offers and some out of state students are receiving offers that, more or less, bring tuition down to the in-state rate. [/edit]

Data for in-state students is really thin. You can search LSN by state and, for WI residents who put that data point in their profiles, there were 15 people last cycle (hi buckythebadger!). LSN user sherman422 has the most optimistic report with a $30k award for an in-state student. LSN user bennythejetcc reported a similar award the cycle before. They were both above both medians.

If anyone would like to PM me with numbers or ranges they don't want to post under their own accounts I'd be happy to post them as data points for the rest of the thread.

Checking in.

annet wrote:Edited the first post with some more scholarship info, also pasted below.

[EDIT - more scholarship info] The ABA info sheet for WI seems more accurate that the 90% figure sited on WI's page (which could, now that I look at it more closely, just means 10% of students are paying tution out of pocket. They report that 39.7% of students are receiving some kind of grant or scholarship (total students, not just the incoming class); 23.6% are receiving less than half tuition; 12.3% half to full tuition; six students are receiving full tuition awards; and 24 students are receiving more than full tuition (tuition plus some kind of stipend). Anecdotal evidence and LSN clicking around suggests that URMs above both medians can expect generous offers and some out of state students are receiving offers that, more or less, bring tuition down to the in-state rate. [/edit]

Data for in-state students is really thin. You can search LSN by state and, for WI residents who put that data point in their profiles, there were 15 people last cycle (hi buckythebadger!). LSN user sherman422 has the most optimistic report with a $30k award for an in-state student. LSN user bennythejetcc reported a similar award the cycle before. They were both above both medians.

If anyone would like to PM me with numbers or ranges they don't want to post under their own accounts I'd be happy to post them as data points for the rest of the thread.

Sherman's 30k was total for 3 years, so it was only 10k per year. From what I know, full tuition only goes to URM's. If your in state with good numbers and non URM, 10k is probably the highest you will get offered. But you can try to negotiate that and get a slightly higher award.

buckythebadger wrote:
Sherman's 30k was total for 3 years, so it was only 10k per year. From what I know, full tuition only goes to URM's. If your in state with good numbers and non URM, 10k is probably the highest you will get offered. But you can try to negotiate that and get a slightly higher award.

That's not too bad at all given that in-state is pretty reasonable for UW's ranking. Do you know how common the 10k/year award is?

annet wrote:

buckythebadger wrote:
Sherman's 30k was total for 3 years, so it was only 10k per year. From what I know, full tuition only goes to URM's. If your in state with good numbers and non URM, 10k is probably the highest you will get offered. But you can try to negotiate that and get a slightly higher award.

That's not too bad at all given that in-state is pretty reasonable for UW's ranking. Do you know how common the 10k/year award is?

It's not all that common. This is just IMO, but I think its due to the fact that UW doesn't have much scholly money and the fact that applications have been decreasing (which is true to just about every school). People with great numbers just are not applying here. I'm pretty sure our LSAT median dropped by one point this year. So if you are in state and over 165, I'd say you would serve a decent shot at getting close to the 10k scholly.

Just remember, go somewhere that you would be ok with graduating from. Assume median and try to make the best cost/benefit decision. If you guys have any personal questions on Madison, whether you think its a right fit or not, or anything else, you can PM me and I'll try my best to answer it.

Checking in! Good luck, everyone!

"Complete."

Jumpstarted my heart this morning with an email that started with "We are pleased to inform you ..."

They just received my CAS report.

Checking in, complete since 11/5. Is anyone in review yet? Wisco is one of my top choices.

bettercallsaul91 wrote:Jumpstarted my heart this morning with an email that started with "We are pleased to inform you ..."

They just received my CAS report.

I wouldn't expect any movement for another month. The first wave of acceptances came on like the 15th of December last year. The first wave will be for people with numbers above the 75th percentiles. So most people won't hear back til after Christmas break