Splitter Game Plan (170/2.9) Forum

[slowboat]

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[bk1]

You don't seem to be focused on splitter-friendly schools (e.g. NU/UVA/GULC and a few others). You should be focused on those rather than Berk/Penn. Life sucks for a splitter who wants to be in CA, but your best bet is probably a splitter-friendly T14.

You also probably won't be leveraging money between UCI/UCH/UCD. UCH/UCD are splitter-unfriendly so you'd be lucky to get in and likely won't get much if any money if you do.

[slowboat]

Thanks for the response. Will certainly add GULC to the list. I was under the impression that Northwestern was more or a less a non-starter without work experience? The past year (and likely the coming year) has been a patch work of tutoring and other part time things just to get by while training.

Bummer about Hastings and Davis, I guess I just clumped them in with UCI and figured my previous acceptance to that school boded well for those two as well.

[Samara]

Thanks for the response. Will certainly add GULC to the list. I was under the impression that Northwestern was more or a less a non-starter without work experience? The past year (and likely the coming year) has been a patch work of tutoring and other part time things just to get by while training.

Bummer about Hastings and Davis, I guess I just clumped them in with UCI and figured my previous acceptance to that school boded well for those two as well.

Northwestern wants post-graduate work experience. Pretty much anything after graduation counts for that. While Olympic training may not be a job per se, I bet they count it and look at it favorably. I would definitely apply.

Based on your situation, it sounds like ED to Penn is the way to go. Chances are not great, but with an ED, I think you have a shot, especially since apps will likely be down again. Blanket the other splitter-friendly schools like UVa/GULC/WUSTL and top splitter-neutral schools like Mich/Cornell/Vandy and you should get at least one or two T14s. Good luck!

[slowboat]

Northwestern wants post-graduate work experience. Pretty much anything after graduation counts for that. While Olympic training may not be a job per se, I bet they count it and look at it favorably. I would definitely apply.

I appreciate the insight. Good to know that schools may look favorably (or at least not negatively) upon a year spent focused on post-collegiate athletics (your naming it Olympic training is flattering, yet more than just a little inaccurate).

Based on your situation, it sounds like ED to Penn is the way to go. Chances are not great, but with an ED, I think you have a shot, especially since apps will likely be down again. Blanket the other splitter-friendly schools like UVa/GULC/WUSTL and top splitter-neutral schools like Mich/Cornell/Vandy and you should get at least one or two T14s. Good luck!

The ED option is something I'll have to think about. This might be a dumb question, but would sticker at Penn (likely with $0 COL) be enough of a slam dunk to forfeit flexibility with trying to bargain at a lower ranked regional? Or can beggars (splitters) not be choosers? I guess maybe my thought (and please correct me if it is out of touch) is that I really would not want to be paying sticker at any non-Penn t-14 outside of California. Mostly I imagined using a potential acceptance to a t-14 school (again, outside of Penn/Boalt) as a way to negotiate with UCH/I/D down to a level where failure would not leave me with life ruining amounts of debt, and I would still be in my home state. Failure at sticker at a school 3000 miles from where I want to ultimately work/live sounds, well, terrifying.

And I realize all of this is wildly hypothetical until I actually apply and get decisions, so I appreciate you or anyone else giving it consideration.

[mr.hands]

Penn just won't work out w a 2.9 (neither will Berkeley or Duke)

UVA, GULC, and NU are your best bets. They will all be at sticker

[slowboat]

Penn just won't work out w a 2.9 (neither will Berkeley or Duke)

So would you advise against a Penn ED?

UVA, GULC, and NU are your best bets. They will all be at sticker

Gotcha. I will definitely start to focus my attention more on these school/apps.

[Samara]

The ED option is something I'll have to think about. This might be a dumb question, but would sticker at Penn (likely with $0 COL) be enough of a slam dunk to forfeit flexibility with trying to bargain at a lower ranked regional? Or can beggars (splitters) not be choosers? I guess maybe my thought (and please correct me if it is out of touch) is that I really would not want to be paying sticker at any non-Penn t-14 outside of California. Mostly I imagined using a potential acceptance to a t-14 school (again, outside of Penn/Boalt) as a way to negotiate with UCH/I/D down to a level where failure would not leave me with life ruining amounts of debt, and I would still be in my home state. Failure at sticker at a school 3000 miles from where I want to ultimately work/live sounds, well, terrifying.

There's no simple answer to this, but it mostly comes down to what your goals are. Do you want biglaw? If so, which of the following two scenarios is preferable to you?

1) CA biglaw -> NYC/Chi/any biglaw -> CA under- or unemployment
2) CA biglaw -> CA under- or unemployment -> NYC/Chi/any biglaw

[slowboat]

There's no simple answer to this, but it mostly comes down to what your goals are. Do you want biglaw? If so, which of the following two scenarios is preferable to you?

1) CA biglaw -> NYC/Chi/any biglaw -> CA under- or unemployment
2) CA biglaw -> CA under- or unemployment -> NYC/Chi/any biglaw

Hmm. I'm not sure I fully understand your question/scenario.

It seems to me my options would be:

1) Need biglaw to pay back t-14 sticker:
CA biglaw = NYC/Chi/any biglaw >>>>>>>>>>> seppuku

2) Serviceable debt level from UCI/D/H:
CA biglaw->CA midlaw/under/unemployment/private sector->NYC/Chi/any big law

I guess I'm hoping for either a solid shot at CA biglaw or a situation where I wouldn't need biglaw anywhere as a matter of necessity. Or is that having my cake and eating it too?

Again, thanks for your help.

[Samara]

There's no simple answer to this, but it mostly comes down to what your goals are. Do you want biglaw? If so, which of the following two scenarios is preferable to you?

1) CA biglaw -> NYC/Chi/any biglaw -> CA under- or unemployment
2) CA biglaw -> CA under- or unemployment -> NYC/Chi/any biglaw

Hmm. I'm not sure I fully understand your question/scenario.

It seems to me my options would be:

1) Need biglaw to pay back t-14 sticker:
CA biglaw = NYC/Chi/any biglaw >>>>>>>>>>> seppuku

2) Serviceable debt level from UCI/D/H:
CA biglaw->CA midlaw/under/unemployment/private sector->NYC/Chi/any big law

I guess I'm hoping for either a solid shot at CA biglaw or a situation where I wouldn't need biglaw anywhere as a matter of necessity. Or is that having my cake and eating it too?

Again, thanks for your help.

haha, yeah, dude, sorry. With a 2.9, you're not going to be in a situation where you have a solid shot at CA biglaw and a debt load that is manageable without biglaw.

Sorry, I think my example was confusing. I meant to write greater than signs instead of arrows. For some people, going on IBR in CA is preferable to biglaw in NYC. It sounds like you would be okay with doing NYC biglaw for a few years before heading back to CA. That's good because Penn's strength in biglaw placement is concentrated in NYC. If you do well at Penn (not sure of the approx. cutoff) you won't have trouble getting back to CA. If you are at median, CA biglaw will probably be tough, but you'll have a good shot at NYC biglaw. Penn, or UVa/NU/GULC, would not be worth sticker IMO if you weren't willing to do NYC/Chi biglaw for a few years to pay off the debt.

Good luck!

[bigvinny]

Stats:
LSAT: 170 (Oct 2010)
GPA: 2.90
non-urm
Degree: Mathematics (spring 2011)
UG Institution: UCLA

Softs: Not unless being a total hard body counts for something.

Ties: Born, raised, schooled in southern CA. Ultimately want to end up here.

0L career goals: IP, either patent litigation or maybe tradmark/copyright. Am not patent bar eligible and have no plans to become so.

I currently live in Philadelphia, where I row full time (18-20+ training hours a week), with Rio being "the goal", though at this point to even call it a long-shot would be generous; more realistically just trying to get better everyday and put off the real world for as long as possible. And of course maintain aforementioned hard body.

I applied very late last cycle (either Jan or Feb, I don't remember) to UCI and was accepted with 15k/yr. I asked for more money, but was not given any, so I chose not to attend as I could not justify spending 100k+ for what is at best the 5th best school in CA.

Here is my current plan of attack for 2012-2013 cycle, with notes on each.

Penn-obvious extreme reach/auto-reject, but it would afford me the opportunity to continue to train and live on the cheap (my living situation is potentially going to become rent free soon, and could theoretically remain so if I was accepted to Penn)
Berkeley-bigger reach than Penn, but with their IP reputation, I would regret not trying
UVA/UM/Duke-again, long shots and no burning desire to attend aside from their top-14 sheen, but theoretically could I use a Penn/Boalt acceptance to leverage money at one of these?
UCLA/U$C-would not be wild about attending either of these schools at what would surely be a sticker offer, though I imagine same strategy could be employed in the event of the Penn Hail Mary actually working?
UCI/Hastings/Davis-I realize that ultimately my cycle will probably come down to leveraging money between these three (or however many I get into). I could/would live at home for UCI.
University of Washington/BC/BU-strictly rowing motivated, but if I can get fee waivers would send them apps

Am I way off base in my analysis? Are there any schools I should add to the list?

I might also mention that there is a small chance that should the Rio goal move from "not even a long shot" to "an actual possibility" in the next couple years, there is the possibility that I would seek to take off my 3L year. Would this sink my employment prospects?

Thanks for any insight.

tl;dr- 2.9/170 B/P/M/V/D/UCLA/USC/UCI/HAST/DAV?

Have you looked into Santa Clara? As I understand it, they have a fine program.

[rickgrimes69]

Stats:
LSAT: 170 (Oct 2010)
GPA: 2.90
non-urm
Degree: Mathematics (spring 2011)
UG Institution: UCLA

Softs: Not unless being a total hard body counts for something.

Ties: Born, raised, schooled in southern CA. Ultimately want to end up here.

0L career goals: IP, either patent litigation or maybe tradmark/copyright. Am not patent bar eligible and have no plans to become so.

I currently live in Philadelphia, where I row full time (18-20+ training hours a week), with Rio being "the goal", though at this point to even call it a long-shot would be generous; more realistically just trying to get better everyday and put off the real world for as long as possible. And of course maintain aforementioned hard body.

I applied very late last cycle (either Jan or Feb, I don't remember) to UCI and was accepted with 15k/yr. I asked for more money, but was not given any, so I chose not to attend as I could not justify spending 100k+ for what is at best the 5th best school in CA.

Here is my current plan of attack for 2012-2013 cycle, with notes on each.

Penn-obvious extreme reach/auto-reject, but it would afford me the opportunity to continue to train and live on the cheap (my living situation is potentially going to become rent free soon, and could theoretically remain so if I was accepted to Penn)
Berkeley-bigger reach than Penn, but with their IP reputation, I would regret not trying
UVA/UM/Duke-again, long shots and no burning desire to attend aside from their top-14 sheen, but theoretically could I use a Penn/Boalt acceptance to leverage money at one of these?
UCLA/U$C-would not be wild about attending either of these schools at what would surely be a sticker offer, though I imagine same strategy could be employed in the event of the Penn Hail Mary actually working?
UCI/Hastings/Davis-I realize that ultimately my cycle will probably come down to leveraging money between these three (or however many I get into). I could/would live at home for UCI.
University of Washington/BC/BU-strictly rowing motivated, but if I can get fee waivers would send them apps

Am I way off base in my analysis? Are there any schools I should add to the list?

I might also mention that there is a small chance that should the Rio goal move from "not even a long shot" to "an actual possibility" in the next couple years, there is the possibility that I would seek to take off my 3L year. Would this sink my employment prospects?

Thanks for any insight.

tl;dr- 2.9/170 B/P/M/V/D/UCLA/USC/UCI/HAST/DAV?

Have you looked into Santa Clara? As I understand it, they have a fine program.

cool story bro

[dpk711]

Stats:
LSAT: 170 (Oct 2010)
GPA: 2.90
non-urm
Degree: Mathematics (spring 2011)
UG Institution: UCLA

Softs: Not unless being a total hard body counts for something.

Ties: Born, raised, schooled in southern CA. Ultimately want to end up here.

0L career goals: IP, either patent litigation or maybe tradmark/copyright. Am not patent bar eligible and have no plans to become so.

I currently live in Philadelphia, where I row full time (18-20+ training hours a week), with Rio being "the goal", though at this point to even call it a long-shot would be generous; more realistically just trying to get better everyday and put off the real world for as long as possible. And of course maintain aforementioned hard body.

I applied very late last cycle (either Jan or Feb, I don't remember) to UCI and was accepted with 15k/yr. I asked for more money, but was not given any, so I chose not to attend as I could not justify spending 100k+ for what is at best the 5th best school in CA.

Here is my current plan of attack for 2012-2013 cycle, with notes on each.

Penn-obvious extreme reach/auto-reject, but it would afford me the opportunity to continue to train and live on the cheap (my living situation is potentially going to become rent free soon, and could theoretically remain so if I was accepted to Penn)
Berkeley-bigger reach than Penn, but with their IP reputation, I would regret not trying
UVA/UM/Duke-again, long shots and no burning desire to attend aside from their top-14 sheen, but theoretically could I use a Penn/Boalt acceptance to leverage money at one of these?
UCLA/U$C-would not be wild about attending either of these schools at what would surely be a sticker offer, though I imagine same strategy could be employed in the event of the Penn Hail Mary actually working?
UCI/Hastings/Davis-I realize that ultimately my cycle will probably come down to leveraging money between these three (or however many I get into). I could/would live at home for UCI.
University of Washington/BC/BU-strictly rowing motivated, but if I can get fee waivers would send them apps

Am I way off base in my analysis? Are there any schools I should add to the list?

I might also mention that there is a small chance that should the Rio goal move from "not even a long shot" to "an actual possibility" in the next couple years, there is the possibility that I would seek to take off my 3L year. Would this sink my employment prospects?

Thanks for any insight.

tl;dr- 2.9/170 B/P/M/V/D/UCLA/USC/UCI/HAST/DAV?

Have you looked into Santa Clara? As I understand it, they have a fine program.

No they do not.