173/2.8/URM - Where to ED? Forum

[bk1]

GPA: 2.8
LSAT: 173 (Jun 10)/166 (Dec 09)
URM: PR
Softs: Summer W/E, decent LOR's, some academic honors.

HLS
CLS
UChi
NYU
UMich
UVa
NU
Cornell
GULC

Chances and where should I ED?

LSP not being good for supersplitters, gave me 50/50 at everything except the T6/Boalt. LSN sample size is very small for 170+/3.0- URM's (roughly 5-10 per year) so it is hard to get a good grasp of what to expect. After looking at those people, I see a lot waitlists at the T14. Basically my personal preference is H>T6>UMich>UVa>Rest of T14.

Considering this, I want to target my ED to maximize my chances but not shoot too high and miss altogether. UMich would be the most conservative ED, but after seeing that people with similar numbers to mine got WL'ed at Harvard through NYU, I feel like I might be undercutting myself if I don't try an ED to NYU.

Thoughts? Specifically is NYU too much of a reach and/or UMich too low of an ED?

[Warbucks]

GPA: 2.8
LSAT: 173 (Jun 10)/166 (Dec 09)
URM: PR
Softs: Summer W/E, decent LOR's, some academic honors.

HLS
CLS
UChi
NYU
UMich
UVa
NU
Cornell
GULC

Chances and where should I ED?

LSP not being good for supersplitters, gave me 50/50 at everything except the T6/Boalt. LSN sample size is very small for 170+/3.0- URM's (roughly 5-10 per year) so it is hard to get a good grasp of what to expect. After looking at those people, I see a lot waitlists at the T14. Basically my personal preference is H>T6>UMich>UVa>Rest of T14.

Considering this, I want to target my ED to maximize my chances but not shoot too high and miss altogether. UMich would be the most conservative ED, but after seeing that people with similar numbers to mine got WL'ed at Harvard through NYU, I feel like I might be undercutting myself if I don't try an ED to NYU.

Thoughts? Specifically is NYU too much of a reach and/or UMich too low of an ED?

I think African-American males will get a higher boost than Puerto Ricans--pretty sure AA males get the biggest boost of them all--and my LSAT is a bit higher (GPA a bit lower, though) but you should check out the thread that I posted not too long ago, man. People gave really great advice which I'm sure in a general way is applicable to you.

[bk1]

I think African-American males will get a higher boost than Puerto Ricans--pretty sure AA males get the biggest boost of them all--and my LSAT is a bit higher (GPA a bit lower, though) but you should check out the thread that I posted not too long ago, man. People gave really great advice which I'm sure in a general way is applicable to you.

Yeah, your post is why I decided to post my own. The problem is that what I feel I really need advice on is ED'ing which one person in your thread said "one of CCN will take you via ED," which I am not as sure of for myself. Basically NYU vs UofM for my ED.

[bmercado]

Punch in your numbers here (lawschoolpredictor.com) it will give you an idea:

http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-co ... ograms.htm

[bk1]

Punch in your numbers here (lawschoolpredictor.com) it will give you an idea:

http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-co ... ograms.htm

Sigh. RC fail.

[JuniJrr]

How long did you study for both tests?

[bk1]

How long did you study for both tests?

First = Kaplan Book + 1 PT (10 hrs?)

Second = Powerscore LRB/LGB + 30-40 Timed PT's (100 hrs?)

[bk1]

Added poll. Looking for opinions.

[Aberzombie1892]

PR male with a 173?

I would at least consider not EDing anywhere.

Your cycle will be interesting, to say the least. I would say don't ED unless you know you want a particular school above all others. I say that because you may get into a great school with $$ and not be able to take it if you do a binding ED to a school that, if you are accepted, won't give you anything.

If I were you, I would litter applications to all schools that I would seriously consider attending (safeties, targets, and reaches).

To answer you question: You seem to prefer U of Michigan. I personally do not consider NYU to be a superior school than Michigan. As a result, I would say go ahead and ED there (if you must do an ED; I'm assuming all of these ED's are binding).

[bk1]

PR male with a 173?

I would at least consider not EDing anywhere.

Your cycle will be interesting, to say the least. I would say don't ED unless you know you want a particular school above all others. I say that because you may get into a great school with $$ and not be able to take it if you do a binding ED to a school that, if you are accepted, won't give you anything.

If I were you, I would litter applications to all schools that I would seriously consider attending (safeties, targets, and reaches).

To answer you question: You seem to prefer U of Michigan. I personally do not consider NYU to be a superior school than Michigan. As a result, I would say go ahead and ED there (if you must do an ED; I'm assuming all of these ED's are binding).

All these ED's are binding and I am probably blanketing the T30 if not most tier 1 schools.

I do prefer Michigan as a school, however, ITE, NYU's biglaw placement through OCI is very appealing especially considering the rumors that Michigan did not do very well. I would be okay with going to a T6 at sticker over a T14 at half. I understand that ED'ing locks me out of money but I have a very real fear of not getting into the T10/T14. Looking at similar applicants on LSN (the few that there are) looks like a ton of WL's for me from Harvard down through GULC.

If I were to ED to a super reach it would probably be CLS or NYU, I'm just not sure if I should take that risk or risk not doing an ED at all.

[JuniJrr]

I know you mentioned Kaplan as a good book, are the princeton reviews any good?

[ArchRoark]

I have similiar numbers (slightly lower GPA, a higher LSAT, and a different URM - Mexican-American). It will be interesting to see how your cycle goes.

Best of luck

[bk1]

I know you mentioned Kaplan as a good book, are the princeton reviews any good?

Kaplan was okay, I used it before I knew anything about the LSAT so it gave me a decent overview. Like most people on this board I would say Powerscore are the best books out there for LR and LG (don't know about RC).

I have similiar numbers (slightly lower GPA, a higher LSAT, and a different URM - Mexican-American). It will be interesting to see how your cycle goes.

Best of luck

Good luck to you too. We've got a few extreme-splitting URM's for this cycle, hopefully we can glean some decent info for those who apply after us.

[romothesavior]

Splitter cycles are unpredictable. URM cycles are unpredictable. Splitter-URM cycles? Well those are practically unchartered territory!

I would ED to NYU and roll the dice on Michigan. I agree with NR and I think you've got a good shot at acceptance without an ED from GULC and Cornell. I also think you are in at UVA/Michigan without an ED. UVA shows a number of non-URM acceptances with sub-3.0 170+ numbers. I'm guessing most of those are ED, which leads me to believe it would be better for you to apply ED to UVA than it would to apply ED for Michigan. But again, SO few data points for Michigan in your range.

What about applying ED to NYU and if rejected, applying ED to UVA? A lot of people used this type of strategy with UVA's unique ED process.

[DOOM]

keep in mind that EDing to Michigan means you will have to be a summer starter.

[romothesavior]

keep in mind that EDing to Michigan means you will have to be a summer starter.

Yes, OP... this is someting to keep in mind.

[D Brooks]

Splitter cycles are unpredictable. URM cycles are unpredictable. Splitter-URM cycles? Well those are practically unchartered territory!

[D Brooks]

GPA: 2.8
LSAT: 173 (Jun 10)/166 (Dec 09)
URM: PR

HLS - out
CLS - out
UChi - out
NYU - WL/In
UMich - ?
UVa - In
NU - out
Cornell - out
GULC - In

If your heart isn't set on NYC post-grad then I'd ED Michigan and if that fails ED UVa.

[romothesavior]

Splitter cycles are unpredictable. URM cycles are unpredictable. Splitter-URM cycles? Well those are practically unchartered territory!

You know what I mean. There is almost nothing on LSN for sub-3.0 170-175 URMs.

And D Brooks does bring up a good point... where do you want to practice? If not in NYC, then Michigan may be a good ED for you. Although again, you are looking at potentially losing out on that scholly money.

[D Brooks]

Splitter cycles are unpredictable. URM cycles are unpredictable. Splitter-URM cycles? Well those are practically unchartered territory!

You know what I mean. There is almost nothing on LSN for sub-3.0 170-175 URMs.

And D Brooks does bring up a good point... where do you want to practice? If not in NYC, then Michigan may be a good ED for you. Although again, you are looking at potentially losing out on that scholly money.

No, I was agreeing with you. I had maybe 5 or 6 data points over 3yrs on LSN to look at when I was trying to make sense of how my cycle would play out. He won't get $$ at Michigan though so that shouldn't be cause for worry.

[bk1]

I want to practice in SF or NYC, but would rather have employment prospects over anything else (preference for SF, and I would even take DC/Chi because biglaw is foremost for me). Michigan probably has the strongest SF placement out of the lower half of the T14, but NYU's strong OCI placement this past year and the horror rumors from Michigan would make me easily sacrifice some of the ability to get to SF for a better chance at biglaw.

I know about UVa's ED agreement and am probably planning on sending that in after an earlier ED and if I do not get in to a higher preference by RD by the end of December. I also know that Michigan does summer start for ED applicants and do not mind that at all. Having researched other schools, I know that NU specifically prohibits ED applicants from ED'ing at other schools even if they are rejected/WL'ed/held by NU. Below is my response from NYU, it is a little ambiguous on whether I can ED somewhere else after being rejected/WL'ed/held by NYU so I will do a follow up email asking about it.

Thank you for your e-mail. An applicant can apply early decision to one school in any given application season. For example, an applicant can apply early decision to only one school for fall 2011. Should an early decision applicant's application be put on hold (and not admitted or denied during the review process of early decision applications), and is admitted with the regular applicant pool, the applicant is not bound by the early decision contract.

I am NOT debt-averse, I would prefer employment prospects over less debt hands down. My general plan now is to ED to either Michigan or NYU first and then to UVa if I do not get in to either Michigan or NYU by the end of the year. I'm just not sure which I should ED to, I would prefer NYU to Michigan, but I would prefer Michigan (mainly due to school atmosphere, SF placement, location - I love the cold) to everything else and would rather not miss out on both of them by shooting too high.

Thanks to all who have responded. I was 75/25 in favor of Michigan ED before but I might actually shoot for the stars and try for NYU. The lack of data for this just makes it more of a gut feeling than anything and was curious as to what other people's guts were telling them .

[GMVarun]

I voted for NYU but I think this is really a toss-up. While NYU does have better placement overall (mainly NY, though of course this is probably largely self-selection, but who knows), for Cali (if that's indeed what you want) I think its worse. Mich sent us a chart that shows us where various alumni are, and California is very very strongly represented.

I think you need to make up your mind on Cali vs. NY and if its clear one way or the other, pick the school that corresponds. If truly indifferent, pick NYU.

But the reason I think its not as easy as picking NYU is COL differences between nyc and ann arbor. Even if placement is slightly better, is it worth at least 5k maybe closer to 10k/yr (esp so if you want to go to Cali)? I am not sure.

And since this decision, IMO, is very close -- you might want to consider other things: would you like Ann Arbor? NYC? campus athmosphere? (for what its worth, having visited all the t-14s i got into, i was really impressed with Mich's ASW and that's what convinced me. Maybe visit the campuses before you decide if money, time aren't an issue.) I think honestly, you are very likely to get into the school you ED but it's certainly not a lock. In any case make sure your app is the first they receive.

fyi, NYU was my top choice going in, but after receiving a decent scholarship from Mich, the cost/benefit didn't make sense for staying on their WL.

[GMVarun]

Also, you might just get into Michigan RD who really knows with URM splitters. ED NYU and click summer/regular for Michigan and submit both on Sept. 1 might be the best of both worlds. But see above.

[bk1]

Two assumptions I am making, wonder how people feel about them:

1. My chances at Michigan ED are better than NYU ED.

2. NYU places a decently larger chunk into biglaw than Michigan, ITE. (This I am assuming due to the the most recent OCI data from NYU and the above noted horror rumors about Michigan.)

Other than that, I read on LSN that in 2007 (during the boom), NYU had roughly equal CA and NY firms at OCI. I'm assuming that the NY firms have dropped off much more than the CA firms have. The question being, is it significant enough to make CA that much harder to get from NYU than Michigan?

[Kswizzie]

As an anecdote: My buddy had a 2.8 and a 170 LSAT though he wasn't a URM he had better softs then yours and he got WL or Rejected at all the T1 schools he applied. Though this correlates imperfectly with your situation I'd be worried with a sub 3 GPA and probably take the safer bet.