For WUSTL Applicants Forum

[romothesavior]

So apparently, the "no scholarships for waitlist/hold list people" was bologna.

5k is a pretty paltry sum of money for WUSTL. That place is expensive as fuck....

But these people are all GPA splitters. WUSTL has historically given out little to no money to reverse splitters. The fact that these people are getting even some money means that they are in a position where they aren't over-committed scholarship-wise anymore.

Well then they should revisit my pleas for more $$$! It would help alleviate the pessimism and depressed attitude I have towards LS at the moment.

[JCougar]

You may be the most optimistic, glass half full guy I've ever (virtually) met

Are you talking about me?

[Brdway4212]

Yes, I was accepted with 10k/ year and told at the March ASD that they would likely increase my scholarship. After over a month of utter silence following my official request letter, I was informed that they would not increase any scholarship offers because they had far exceeded the scholarship budget. Interesting to see that they are now offering scholarships, however small, to accepted hold students. For the record, I withdrew, but I don't really respect the way they've been handling this process (especially given the emails they've sent to accepted students reminding them that they can still withdraw/ defer for a year). Still, sincere congratulations to accepted hold applicants. This is just a general commentary on the actions of the admissions office.

So apparently, the "no scholarships for waitlist/hold list people" was bologna.

5k is a pretty paltry sum of money for WUSTL. That place is expensive as fuck....

But these people are all GPA splitters. WUSTL has historically given out little to no money to reverse splitters. The fact that these people are getting even some money means that they are in a position where they aren't over-committed scholarship-wise anymore.

Well then they should revisit my pleas for more $$$! It would help alleviate the pessimism and depressed attitude I have towards LS at the moment.

[finalaspects]

finalaspects, i am sure that you can answer this: has there been more movement off the hold list, or off the WL? or is there no emerging pattern thus far, with the exception of high gpa's?

movement off of both but all with high GPA's.

it really seems like they are losing those people with both high LSAT and high GPA's, as they are withdrawing to attend higher ranked schools. but since they have a lot of splitters, they need high GPA's to make up for it.

[finalaspects]

So apparently, the "no scholarships for waitlist/hold list people" was bologna.

5k is a pretty paltry sum of money for WUSTL. That place is expensive as fuck....

But these people are all GPA splitters. WUSTL has historically given out little to no money to reverse splitters. The fact that these people are getting even some money means that they are in a position where they aren't over-committed scholarship-wise anymore.

they still might be over-committed with scholarship money. but they might be worried that they can't get high GPA's without offering some sort of aid this late in the cycle.

[JCougar]

They're probably pretty close to their scholarship budget either way. Just because they're offering something doesn't mean they have a ton of money all of a sudden to toss around. But if they're over-committed, I doubt they'd be giving out more.

One thing we do know now is that the class is not over-deposited anymore, and similar to last year, as people withdraw they will fill to meet their needs. They clearly don't need any more high LSATs yet, so asking for a scholarship increase based on your LSAT score probably won't happen, no matter what it is. But also, as people withdraw, more scholarship money goes back into the pot.

[finalaspects]

They're probably pretty close to their scholarship budget either way. Just because they're offering something doesn't mean they have a ton of money all of a sudden to toss around. But if they're over-committed, I doubt they'd be giving out more.

One thing we do know now is that the class is not over-deposited anymore, and similar to last year, as people withdraw they will fill to meet their needs. They clearly don't need any more high LSATs yet, so asking for a scholarship increase based on your LSAT score probably won't happen, no matter what it is. But also, as people withdraw, more scholarship money goes back into the pot.

are you worried more about not getting scholarship $$$ or not getting accepted? they might not need more high LSAT's even after the 2nd deposit deadline. i would attend without scholarship though. (i'm a splitter like you)

[romothesavior]

They're probably pretty close to their scholarship budget either way. Just because they're offering something doesn't mean they have a ton of money all of a sudden to toss around. But if they're over-committed, I doubt they'd be giving out more.

One thing we do know now is that the class is not over-deposited anymore, and similar to last year, as people withdraw they will fill to meet their needs. They clearly don't need any more high LSATs yet, so asking for a scholarship increase based on your LSAT score probably won't happen, no matter what it is. But also, as people withdraw, more scholarship money goes back into the pot.

Maybe, but I doubt it. Schools purposefully give out more acceptances and scholarship money than they can handle. Even if more people withdraw, that doesn't mean they are going to shuffle that money back into other people's hands. And even if they do, I'd be willing to bet its more like 5k here and 3k there, not, "Hey there applicant who we didn't like enough to admit straightaway, here is a 90k scholarship!" It is possible (maybe for people who applied really late and got WL'd with great #s), but I wouldn't count on it.

[JCougar]

They're probably pretty close to their scholarship budget either way. Just because they're offering something doesn't mean they have a ton of money all of a sudden to toss around. But if they're over-committed, I doubt they'd be giving out more.

One thing we do know now is that the class is not over-deposited anymore, and similar to last year, as people withdraw they will fill to meet their needs. They clearly don't need any more high LSATs yet, so asking for a scholarship increase based on your LSAT score probably won't happen, no matter what it is. But also, as people withdraw, more scholarship money goes back into the pot.

are you worried more about not getting scholarship $$$ or not getting accepted? they might not need more high LSAT's even after the 2nd deposit deadline. i would attend without scholarship though. (i'm a splitter like you)

I don't really care much to attend WUSTL near sticker. I already have debt from graduate school, and I'm almost 30. I don't want to be paying off ridiculous loans well into my 40s, when I will need that money for a mortgage. All money being equal, it's still my first choice between Minnesota/Illinois/Wisconsin, but it looks less likely that I will be getting enough of a scholarship to make it a reasonable choice. WUSTL places very slightly better than all the above schools (we're talking about a percentage point or two into NLJ 250 firms & clerkships), but it's not that much better where I would be justified in paying more than twice as much for tuition.

[JCougar]

So apparently, the "no scholarships for waitlist/hold list people" was bologna.

5k is a pretty paltry sum of money for WUSTL. That place is expensive as fuck....

But these people are all GPA splitters. WUSTL has historically given out little to no money to reverse splitters. The fact that these people are getting even some money means that they are in a position where they aren't over-committed scholarship-wise anymore.

ah....this makes sense.
im kinda excited to see if they were able to raise their lsat median.

Raising the LSAT median is probably something you have to plan out before the cycle starts, especially if you operate like WUSTL. If they've already thrown out schollies to people with a 167 (who were basically auto-admit + scholly early on), there's virtually no way they're going to get 168 as their median with all the 167s they spent money on. What I am interested in is if they can raise their 75th %ile to 169. They'd probably have to do this for a year or two before they attempted to raise their median a point. They should be able to pick off a lot of 168s and 169s, since these scores are still a bit low for T14 if you don't have a decent GPA. But they've historically had to fill their class with a lot of 167s in addition to these people if their median is 167 and their 75th %ile is 168. It's a big leap to go from 25% of your class having a particular score to over half of your class getting that same score, especially if you're already doing it with splitters (and especially if your regional competition is picking off the same people using the same strategy). If they thought they had any hope of getting a 168, you'd see 167s not offered a decision/waitlisted early on.

[Regionality]

WL here. So what's the consensus? Overcommitment on $ or offers of admission? Any thoughts on possible movement?

[kswiss]

WL here. So what's the consensus? Overcommitment on $ or offers of admission? Any thoughts on possible movement?

take 2 minutes to read the last couple pages to answer your question.

[Regionality]

WL here. So what's the consensus? Overcommitment on $ or offers of admission? Any thoughts on possible movement?

take 2 minutes to read the last couple pages to answer your question.

Yea i was looking for more opinions.

[JCougar]

WL here. So what's the consensus? Overcommitment on $ or offers of admission? Any thoughts on possible movement?

take 2 minutes to read the last couple pages to answer your question.

Yea i was looking for more opinions.

Since they're admitting more people and giving out more scholarships, they're probably not either of the above.

[finalaspects]

WL here. So what's the consensus? Overcommitment on $ or offers of admission? Any thoughts on possible movement?

take 2 minutes to read the last couple pages to answer your question.

Yea i was looking for more opinions.

Since they're admitting more people and giving out more scholarships, they're probably not either of the above.

what about being over committed on only LSAT splitters? seemingly since everyone who has been pulled form the hold list or the wait list has been GPA reverse splitters.

[najumobi]

what about being over committed on only LSAT splitters? seemingly since everyone who has been pulled form the hold list or the wait list has been GPA reverse splitters.

what do you mean? you think they believe the gpa median they currently have for next year's entering class is too low? i don't think there's any way to tell. it makes sense for them to admit people with higher gpas if they've already satisfied their median lsat requirement. it's in their best interest to increase their median gpa if they can?

[finalaspects]

what about being over committed on only LSAT splitters? seemingly since everyone who has been pulled form the hold list or the wait list has been GPA reverse splitters.

what do you mean? you think they believe the gpa median they currently have for next year's entering class is too low? i don't think there's any way to tell. it makes sense for them to admit people with higher gpas if they've already satisfied their median lsat requirement. it's in their best interest to increase their median gpa if they can?

i mean exactly that. that they're admitting people with higher GPA's because they're over committed with LSAT splitters. And of course it's in their best interest to increase GPA. its also in their best interest to increase LSAT as well which seemingly, they must have gotten to their goals.

[JCougar]

what about being over committed on only LSAT splitters? seemingly since everyone who has been pulled form the hold list or the wait list has been GPA reverse splitters.

what do you mean? you think they believe the gpa median they currently have for next year's entering class is too low? i don't think there's any way to tell. it makes sense for them to admit people with higher gpas if they've already satisfied their median lsat requirement. it's in their best interest to increase their median gpa if they can?

i mean exactly that. that they're admitting people with higher GPA's because they're over committed with LSAT splitters. And of course it's in their best interest to increase GPA. its also in their best interest to increase LSAT as well which seemingly, they must have gotten to their goals.

...for now. Who knows how many full schollies will drop off between now and June because they get off the waitlist/get money at a T14. Or how many other LSAT splitters are double-deposited.

[finalaspects]

...for now. Who knows how many full schollies will drop off between now and June because they get off the waitlist/get money at a T14. Or how many other LSAT splitters are double-deposited.

i really hope you're right... for every splitter out there waiting...

[JCougar]

...for now. Who knows how many full schollies will drop off between now and June because they get off the waitlist/get money at a T14. Or how many other LSAT splitters are double-deposited.

i really hope you're right... for every splitter out there waiting...

There definitely will be these kind of people dropping off. Maybe a few will end up defering as well to try to see if the legal market recovers. Who knows how secure in their median they are, and whether enough people will drop off to make admitting high LSATs a priority again.

If I had something plausible to do for the next year besides work at my current job, I'd just apply the first day they accept applications next year. And maybe see if I couldn't get an LSAT waiver to take the test again and get over median at Northwestern and ED there with my work experience. But I can't stand this job anymore, and I need to do something else soon.

[finalaspects]

...for now. Who knows how many full schollies will drop off between now and June because they get off the waitlist/get money at a T14. Or how many other LSAT splitters are double-deposited.

i really hope you're right... for every splitter out there waiting...

There definitely will be these kind of people dropping off. Maybe a few will end up defering as well to try to see if the legal market recovers. Who knows how secure in their median they are, and whether enough people will drop off to make admitting high LSATs a priority again.

If I had something plausible to do for the next year besides work at my current job, I'd just apply the first day they accept applications next year. And maybe see if I couldn't get an LSAT waiver to take the test again and get over median at Northwestern and ED there with my work experience. But I can't stand this job anymore, and I need to do something else soon.

im in the exact situation you are job wise. i have the same lsat as you but lower GPA, and i really want to go to law school this year. problem being i didn't apply to a single safety...

[Vincent Vega]

I don't peruse this thread much, so this may have been said before. Is it common for WUSTL to wait until at least May to give decisions to people who applied in October? A 7-month turnaround is pretty bad. I heard back from William and Mary 14 times quicker.

[najumobi]

I don't peruse this thread much, so this may have been said before. Is it common for WUSTL to wait until at least May to give decisions to people who applied in October? A 7-month turnaround is pretty bad. I heard back from William and Mary 14 times quicker.

for wustl it pretty much just depends on your stats...the more competitive your stats are (which hinges on whether you have a 167 or higher lsat) the sooner you'll hear back. if you applied late in the cycle (february or later) or if you are a reverse splitter, you'll probably be one of the last people to get a decision.

[Encyclopedia Brown]

I don't peruse this thread much, so this may have been said before. Is it common for WUSTL to wait until at least May to give decisions to people who applied in October? A 7-month turnaround is pretty bad. I heard back from William and Mary 14 times quicker.

for wustl it pretty much just depends on your stats...the more competitive your stats are (which hinges on whether you have a 167 or higher lsat) the sooner you'll hear back. if you applied late in the cycle (february or later) or if you are a reverse splitter, you'll probably be one of the last people to get a decision.

<-----Not always the case. Applied late Oct.

[najumobi]

I don't peruse this thread much, so this may have been said before. Is it common for WUSTL to wait until at least May to give decisions to people who applied in October? A 7-month turnaround is pretty bad. I heard back from William and Mary 14 times quicker.

for wustl it pretty much just depends on your stats...the more competitive your stats are (which hinges on whether you have a 167 or higher lsat) the sooner you'll hear back. if you applied late in the cycle (february or later) or if you are a reverse splitter, you'll probably be one of the last people to get a decision.

<-----Not always the case. Applied late Oct.

yeah there's always a possibility that traditional splitters won't hear back/get accepted before april, but if you don't have at least a 167 or a 3.7 gpa you shouldn't expect to get a decision from wustl until april or later, no matter when you apply.