Should I ED at Virginia? Forum

[Nelson10]

I've posted something in here already but I've completely reevaluated my applications after researching and reading things on the forum. I have a 3.55 with a 170 LSAT. I'm applying to Chicago, Berkeley, Penn, Michigan, Cornell, Virginia, UCLA, Vandy, USC, Duke, Georgetown, Texas, Notre Dame, Washington U, and some lower ranked regional schools. I have fee waivers everywhere. I'd like to go somewhere in the T10. I also know I wont get any money there if I even get in anywhere. I think I have a shot at some money from Texas, Vandy, and Washington based on law school numbers. I would prefer to go to Vandy or Texas with decent money over a higher ranked school at sticker. My worry is that if I don't ED at Virginia I won't get in anywhere T10 and also wont get any T20 money. I'm not expecting to get into U Chicago but with a fee waiver and my interest in their Law and Econ program I figure it's worth a shot. What are my chances of getting in one of Mich, Penn, Virginia, Berkeley? How significant of a bump would ED at UVA give me? How representative of the overall app population is LSN? For Vandy I searched for apps with a 3.4-3.6 and a 170 last year and 12 out of 14 got money and everyone with a 3.5+ got at least $60,000. I'm just not sure how much to read into this. If it is realistic to expect that kind of money than Vandy is easily my number 1 choice and I definitely wouldn't ED anywhere.

[ahnhub]

I have seen no evidence that LSN is unrepresentative of the actual applicant pool with similar numbers (obviously, all of the applicants on LSN trend high on LSAT and GPA). If 12 of 14 got money you will probably get money, and if not you can negotiate.

I think 170s will be more valuable for schools this year than last, because so many T-14s have 170 as their median and there will be less of those scores to go around. I think you get at least one of lower T-14 without an ED to Virginia.

Maybe someone else can answer this but I'll put it out there--can you negotiate just a T-14 acceptance with no money for $$ with Vandy/USC/WUSTL? It makes sense to me that someone should be able to, considering how prestige-whorish all of us are, but I can't really think of a way to negotiate that point without sounding like a huge dick ("hey--I got into a higher-ranked school, give me money or I'll just go there"). If that's a bad idea, then what kind of school would Vandy be willing to negotiate $$ for? USC?

[Nelson10]

Maybe someone else can answer this but I'll put it out there--can you negotiate just a T-14 acceptance with no money for $$ with Vandy/USC/WUSTL? It makes sense to me that someone should be able to, considering how prestige-whorish all of us are, but I can't really think of a way to negotiate that point without sounding like a huge dick ("hey--I got into a higher-ranked school, give me money or I'll just go there"). If that's a bad idea, then what kind of school would Vandy be willing to negotiate $$ for? USC?

This is a good point thanks for responding and I'm be curious to see what other people think about this. This is basically the reason why I'm applying to USC and UCLA although they seem to be less willing to give money out at my numbers than Vandy and Texas. Is WUSTL a school that I could use to negotiate with Vandy?

[Tiago Splitter]

That money at Vandy seems reasonable. It's already high, so don't expect them to bump it up any further based on a WUSTL offer.

[VictoryGin]

I'm numbers twin and Penn ED. It's a shame the ED deadlines have passed for most schools, because LSN backs me up on Penn and Mich ED for our numbers. UVA would be in ED, but of course with very little money. Given the time period it is now in the cycle, your best bet is to get your apps in very soon, see where you land, and negotiate funding at Vandy. WUSTL should give you some money, but like said, you probably won't be able to negotiate Vandy with it.

Cornell, GULC, UCLA, USC, Vandy all likely RD, UVA okay RD. Mich and Penn are up in the air RD.