Mercer c/o 2016 Forum

[Nole06]

Has anyone applied or heard back from Mercer? My status was updated and said I was admitted but I haven't received any scholarship info...

[Marath0n]

Also curious about this.

I was accepted on 12/5 and they called to see if I had any questions on 12/7.

Haven't heard anything about scholarships yet, and judging from last year they let people with full scholly know within a few days of being admitted.

[scruffy556]

Also curious about this.

I was accepted on 12/5 and they called to see if I had any questions on 12/7.

Haven't heard anything about scholarships yet, and judging from last year they let people with full scholly know within a few days of being admitted.

Same on admit day and the phone call. Also got invited to some lunch and basketball shindig. I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to gsu, but the invite is tempting

[30somethingJD]

Current 1L at Mercer. Now that finals are done, I have actually found myself quite bored so I was just on here lurking on the boards. If anyone has any questions I would be more than happy to answer them as best I can and without any "admin spin". lol. I know how stressful and important this time of year is. I remember it like it was yesterday.... OP, I recieved a full scholly and I recieved an email about a week after my admin letter came. But I know that isnt always the case. The scholly reviews are done seperatley from admin so it just depends on how it falls. If your numbers are where they need to be (above 75%) I wouldnt worry about it. Im sure it will come.

[Marath0n]

Current 1L at Mercer. Now that finals are done, I have actually found myself quite bored so I was just on here lurking on the boards. If anyone has any questions I would be more than happy to answer them as best I can and without any "admin spin". lol. I know how stressful and important this time of year is. I remember it like it was yesterday.... OP, I recieved a full scholly and I recieved an email about a week after my admin letter came. But I know that isnt always the case. The scholly reviews are done seperatley from admin so it just depends on how it falls. If your numbers are where they need to be (above 75%) I wouldnt worry about it. Im sure it will come.

Would/Did you take Mercer full scholarship over UGA or GSU?

So far do you have any indication of how the competition with other in state schools seem to affect jobs and summer placement?

[Pumpkin_Pie]

Admitted today.

Did anyone write an additional scholarship essay?

[maybemercer]

I am considering Mercer. Can anyone tell me about the atmosphere there? How is Mercer U perceived by the overall populace? Is it preppy/fratty like Ole Miss?

I like that it is a very small law school and located near ATL. Thanks in advance.

[30somethingJD]

Current 1L at Mercer. Now that finals are done, I have actually found myself quite bored so I was just on here lurking on the boards. If anyone has any questions I would be more than happy to answer them as best I can and without any "admin spin". lol. I know how stressful and important this time of year is. I remember it like it was yesterday.... OP, I recieved a full scholly and I recieved an email about a week after my admin letter came. But I know that isnt always the case. The scholly reviews are done seperatley from admin so it just depends on how it falls. If your numbers are where they need to be (above 75%) I wouldnt worry about it. Im sure it will come.

Would/Did you take Mercer full scholarship over UGA or GSU?

So far do you have any indication of how the competition with other in state schools seem to affect jobs and summer placement?

I did take the full scholly at Mercer over GSU (I didnt apply to UGA) and several other "higher" ranked schools (40-100 range) Im a bit older and a bit more realistic... the partial schollys I received from other schools were dependent on maintaining a certain GPA or Class rank. Many of these schools make it IMPOSSIBLE for all students to keep scholly. (give 40% of incoming class scholly and then saying you have to be in top 20% to keep it) My Mercer scholly is guaranteed as long as I dont fail out. Its really easy to say Ill be in top 20% no problem, but actually doing it is another story. I had a 4.0 in undergrad, never made a "B" and Ill tell you, I did not feel like I was the smartest person in my classes, the way I did in undergrad.
Also if your worried about the economy, as we all should be, do the math. If you go to another school and pay full price you will need to go into debt approx 100,000-150,000 for 3 years plus living expenses your near or over 200,000. If you have any undergrad debt, tack that on. Then put that number in one of the school repayment calculators you can find online. Your repayment will comeout somewhere between 1000-2000 per month. This forces you to have to take a big law job (100k/year) just to get by. I will have 0 debt. So If I can get a "normal" legal job approx 70k per year with no repayment I will be better off financially. Biglaw jobs are hard to come by no matter what school you grad from. Sure some schools are more likely to get you there (Yale Harvard Stanford), but if your not going to one of them, it becomes a regional game. For example the Ga schools UGA and Emory do place slightly better in biglaw then GSU and Mercer... SLIGHTLY.. meaning only a few more students. Its a gamble, like going to Vegas and rolling the dice. For me I went with the odds. If I dont get big law in Atlanta (which im not even sure I want) I will still be fine, If I do, ill just be that much better.

As far as job prospects I can't really comment from personal experience. I will say that I do have a summer internship lined up in a government agency (unpaid) but summer hiring season starts when we get back from Christmas break, so im keeping my options open. I have applied for a few judicial clerkships but wont know anything till next month. Talking with 2L and 3L its hit or miss. I know several that worked for judges, some worked for local government, (DA PD), some work for Fed in Atlanta (IRS & Fed Pros) and a few worked in biglaw in Atl. A lot worked for smaller/medium local firms(Macon). Of course there are some that didnt get jobs. (not many though). One thing I have learned is grades and class rank has ALOT less to do with jobs than you think. If your in top 10% then yeah, its obvious you get hired based on grades. But I know many 2Ls and 3Ls that are at the middle to bottom of the class that got summer jobs, even some judicial clerkships. But they hustled. They networked, met people and sought out jobs. They didnt sit back and wait for career services to hand them a job. (Which they wont no matter how great your grades are). Of course most of my knowledge is second hand and not personal experience, so take that for what its worth. Like I said im a bit older and know how to hustle, so Im not overly concerned, of course I may change my tune here in a couple months as May approaches (lol).

I know this is long but I just know where you guys are as I was there 12 months ago, so im just trying to think of all the things that I wish I would have known or thought about back then. Keep the questions coming and Ill try and check on here as often as I can.

[30somethingJD]

I am considering Mercer. Can anyone tell me about the atmosphere there? How is Mercer U perceived by the overall populace? Is it preppy/fratty like Ole Miss?

I like that it is a very small law school and located near ATL. Thanks in advance.

The atmosphere here is awesome and that combined with the full scholly (that never hurts) was my main reason for coming to Mercer. There are some clicky people but youll find that anywhere. There are certain groups of people that are always together, (class together, drink together, study group together). Im not like that though. I consider myself a floater. I go from group to group and never feel ostracized. The other thing I really like is its not cut throat at all. I had several people offer me full outlines as exams approached. From my other friends at other schools this is almost unheard of. I really like how laid back it was. This goes for the Profs too. I only had 1 Prof I didnt like. And one of my Profs had a pot luck party at his house at the end of the semester and had us all there. My fav Prof I would go to his office and just sit and talk for an hour at a time, most of the time not even about school stuff, just family stuff, other schools, job prospects, and life in general. Most all of the Profs are very open to student interaction. I liked the fact that the school was small and not on main campus. (about a mile or so away) Parking is easy and there is ALWAYS room in the library EVEN during the week before exams. All in all, it had the best "vibe" of any school I visited.

Any other questions dont hesitate to ask. Ill answer as best I can and Ill try and check the bored ever so often.

[lookingin]

Hmm, someone on LSN has posted they've been offered a scholarship already... more news on the way?

[Pumpkin_Pie]

Hmm, someone on LSN has posted they've been offered a scholarship already... more news on the way?

That's good news! Thanks for the update

[lookingin]

Received my scholarship letter yesterday; they offered me $16,500 a year. I had to turn them down though as I've gotten into some other great schools with excellent offers and Mercer isn't one of my top 3 choices.

Good luck to you guys though and hopefully you all get some $$$!!!

Just wanted to update everyone and let you guys know they are sending out offers!

[ramsdancer1]

About how long from acceptance does it take to get scholarship information?

[Marath0n]

Received a scholarship offer by email on Friday. $16,500 per year with good academic standing stipulation. They don't seem to have given out full scholarships to anyone I've asked so far. Seems like an odd change this cycle.

[b1y9r]

Received a scholarship offer by email on Friday. $16,500 per year with good academic standing stipulation. They don't seem to have given out full scholarships to anyone I've asked so far. Seems like an odd change this cycle.

May I ask your scholarship offer comes with admission letter or they come separately? Thanks

[lookingin]

They come separately. And I think mine were about a month apart... If you guys look me up on LSN, though, I'm pretty sure I posted those dates I got my letters.

[lookingin]

Received a scholarship offer by email on Friday. $16,500 per year with good academic standing stipulation. They don't seem to have given out full scholarships to anyone I've asked so far. Seems like an odd change this cycle.

And also according to LSN, it looks like this is the only scholarship offer they have sent out so far... Some people just posted that per year number and others added it up for all 3 years but they all come out roughly the same... interesting.

[scruffy556]

According to lsn it looks like we all got the same dollar amount on the same day. I was expecting more money to be honest. I won't be paying more money to attend mercer when I can go for cheaper to gsu.

I do have to commend them however for at least not putting stips on the scholarship, so at least if I took it I would know I would have it all three years

[simplythebest]

I agree. I didn't receive that much money from Mercer, so I probably will withdraw for a better school/scholarship deal. :/

[jstacks]

I also got $16,500 and am turning it down since I've received better offers from higher schools. 4.0 GPA, 162 LSAT.

[ramsdancer1]

Thoes of you who got scholarships, did you apply for the woodruff scholarship? Also how long did it take to get you scholarship info after acceptance?

[Marath0n]

Thoes of you who got scholarships, did you apply for the woodruff scholarship? Also how long did it take to get you scholarship info after acceptance?

Did not apply for Woodruff. I was accepted in early December and got the scholarship info about a week ago. They send the scholarship info by email and snail mail. Financial aid called me about a week before I received the email. Hope that helps.

[ramsdancer1]

Thoes of you who got scholarships, did you apply for the woodruff scholarship? Also how long did it take to get you scholarship info after acceptance?

Did not apply for Woodruff. I was accepted in early December and got the scholarship info about a week ago. They send the scholarship info by email and snail mail. Financial aid called me about a week before I received the email. Hope that helps.

Yea that helps, thanks! I should hear back soon. I called today and they said I was the next application to be reviewed but they could have just been saying that. That's a long time to wait for scholarship information though. I don't know if I will be able to wait that long because I plan on putting a seat deposit down in late Feb for Wake unless I get an offer I can't refuse ( a full ride but I doubt that).

[scruffy556]

Thoes of you who got scholarships, did you apply for the woodruff scholarship? Also how long did it take to get you scholarship info after acceptance?

Did not apply for Woodruff. I was accepted in early December and got the scholarship info about a week ago. They send the scholarship info by email and snail mail. Financial aid called me about a week before I received the email. Hope that helps.

Yea that helps, thanks! I should hear back soon. I called today and they said I was the next application to be reviewed but they could have just been saying that. That's a long time to wait for scholarship information though. I don't know if I will be able to wait that long because I plan on putting a seat deposit down in late Feb for Wake unless I get an offer I can't refuse ( a full ride but I doubt that).

Doesn't seem like they are just tossing out full rides this year. I thought I would at least get more than less than half tuition a year. Still probably going to the little ASD thing because I like receptions though.

[ramsdancer1]

Doesn't seem like they are just tossing out full rides this year. I thought I would at least get more than less than half tuition a year. Still probably going to the little ASD thing because I like receptions though.

Yeah from what other people are saying it dosn't seem like they are giving out full rides. Did you apply for the Woodruff? That is supposed to be a full ride scholarship. I did get accepted today which is true to what they said yesterday about reviewing my application today. If I don't get a full ride I honestly wouldn't even consider going to Mercer. And even if I do get a full ride I still don't know that I would attend. To me Wake Forest with some money is more tempting than Mercer with a full ride.