168 / 3.06 Forum

[Granfalloon12]

Now that my applications are officially all in, all I have to do is wait and speculate as to whether I'll get into some of my reach schools... anybody care to help, please? (I've applied to many lower schools in hopes of $$$ but) On LSN I'm often right at the corner of where red begins turning to green, so I was wondering if anyone had any anecdotal or cycle-specific notes or just plain speculation on whether I'll get into the following...

George Washington
William & Mary
Minnesota
Boston College
Boston University
Maryland

I have average softs (worked for PD office, some community service, DI athlete) and average LOR's, I think. Non-URM.

Any input would be much appreciated!

[rebexness]

[alwayssunnyinfl]

No WUSTL?

[Granfalloon12]

I've been to St. Louis before, and frankly I just can't see myself living there or enjoying working around there... I think I may have a fee waiver hiding in my inbox from them, though, so maybe I'll throw an app that way. You guys think it'd be a good idea?

[rebexness]

[alwayssunnyinfl]

I've been to St. Louis before, and frankly I just can't see myself living there or enjoying working around there... I think I may have a fee waiver hiding in my inbox from them, though, so maybe I'll throw an app that way. You guys think it'd be a good idea?

They tend to be much more generous with scholarship money than most schools. Even if you don't plan on going, you could use their offer as leverage to try to eek money out of another school.

[Granfalloon12]

Well, St Louis is apparently ridiculously hard to crack anyway, but WUSTL does love those 168s.

I've been to St. Louis before, and frankly I just can't see myself living there or enjoying working around there... I think I may have a fee waiver hiding in my inbox from them, though, so maybe I'll throw an app that way. You guys think it'd be a good idea?

They tend to be much more generous with scholarship money than most schools. Even if you don't plan on going, you could use their offer as leverage to try to eek money out of another school.

Great to know, thanks erryone.

[Nova]

Im had basically the same split last cycle. Youll probably get in to UMN with a scholarship (45-80k). Pretty good shot at the other schools you mentioned too.

[Granfalloon12]

Im had basically the same split last cycle. Youll probably get in to UMN with a scholarship (45-80k). Pretty good shot at the other schools you mentioned too.

Wow, very glad I decided to apply, then. UMN's rising on my list.


Anyone else have insight or guesses into the original list, please?

[alwayssunnyinfl]

Im had basically the same split last cycle. Youll probably get in to UMN with a scholarship (45-80k). Pretty good shot at the other schools you mentioned too.

Wow, very glad I decided to apply, then. UMN's rising on my list.


Anyone else have insight or guesses into the original list, please?

Scratch Maryland off your list, and if you can't (or won't) retake, go to the school that offers you the most money and is where you can see yourself working.

[Granfalloon12]

Scratch Maryland off your list, and if you can't (or won't) retake, go to the school that offers you the most money and is where you can see yourself working.

Scratch it off because it's not worth going to, or because I have little chance of getting in?
Presuming the first... it's a school I got a fee waiver to, I love aspects like their student:professor ration, and I'm intrigued by the fact that many of their graduates end up going into the sports world. Also, I currently go to school in Baltimore and would love to stay here. That being said, I'm not set on it by any means.

The bolded part is my general decision-making, balanced with the quality of the school and where I could see myself going. Do you think I have a good / ok chance at the rest of those schools? Even by waitlist?

[alwayssunnyinfl]

Scratch Maryland off your list, and if you can't (or won't) retake, go to the school that offers you the most money and is where you can see yourself working.

Scratch it off because it's not worth going to, or because I have little chance of getting in?
Presuming the first... it's a school I got a fee waiver to, I love aspects like their student:professor ration, and I'm intrigued by the fact that many of their graduates end up going into the sports world. Also, I currently go to school in Baltimore and would love to stay here. That being said, I'm not set on it by any means.

The bolded part is my general decision-making, balanced with the quality of the school and where I could see myself going. Do you think I have a good / ok chance at the rest of those schools? Even by waitlist?

I'm not really good at chancing people, but I'm in a similar boat (171/2.7). It's going to be a hard decision to make until you have offers in hand. Don't worry so much about getting in, worry about choosing the best school that will put you in the best position vis-à-vis job prospects/debt.

[Granfalloon12]

I'm not really good at chancing people, but I'm in a similar boat (171/2.7). It's going to be a hard decision to make until you have offers in hand. Don't worry so much about getting in, worry about choosing the best school that will put you in the best position vis-à-vis job prospects/debt.

Well thanks for the reassurance -- that's basically my mindset and it's just nice to hear someone in a semi-similar position agree.
I just can't help but (a little neurotically) keep wondering whether I'll get into some of those... I applied to 14 total so we'll see

[kuttlefish]

W&M seems to be throwing lots of money to splitters this cycle... at least according to LSN. I'm in a similar boat numbers-wise, but I'm hoping the dropping number of applications will be to our benefit.

FWIW, I'm interested in IP Law so I threw an app at Santa Clara because of the fee waiver. They accepted me pretty quickly, and that was a half-assed application with a rough draft PS. That tells me that second tier schools are really feeling the hurt and if there's one that gives you decent job prospects in your field or location, you could probably end up with a full-ride.

[Granfalloon12]

FWIW I ended up applying to both WUSTL, had my interview and got in yesterday (apparently we don't receive scholarship information until much later?), applied to UMN as well and have yet to hear back, and W & M threw some money my way... anyway, thanks for the advice all! I'm glad I asked.

[Gator_Law]

Only 25% of those who attend WUSTL stay in Missouri. About 10% go to Chicago, 10% to DC and the rest in other states.

[Granfalloon12]

With these numbers, is it worth throwing an app anywhere higher-ranked, i.e. a T14 school? Part of me knows how ridiculous that is, but I keep reading about how different this cycle is, how medians and class sizes are dropping, and so far I haven't been waitlisted or rejected anywhere... I guess I would feel a little disappointed if I passed up an opportunity to get into a T14 in these circumstances.
If anyone thinks there's a sliver of a chance I could get accepted to a T14 (and if so, where do I apply? Cornell? GULC?) please let me know. And trust me - I definitely don't have my hopes up haha. I'm surprised and happy to have been accepted to schools like W & M already with a nice deal.
Thanks ahead of time for any responses!

[alwayssunnyinfl]

With these numbers, is it worth throwing an app anywhere higher-ranked, i.e. a T14 school? Part of me knows how ridiculous that is, but I keep reading about how different this cycle is, how medians and class sizes are dropping, and so far I haven't been waitlisted or rejected anywhere... I guess I would feel a little disappointed if I passed up an opportunity to get into a T14 in these circumstances.
If anyone thinks there's a sliver of a chance I could get accepted to a T14 (and if so, where do I apply? Cornell? GULC?) please let me know. And trust me - I definitely don't have my hopes up haha. I'm surprised and happy to have been accepted to schools like W & M already with a nice deal.
Thanks ahead of time for any responses!

Do you have an LSAC fee waiver, or could you get one?

The main problem is that, for real reach schools, you're pretty late in the game. You could throw an ED app at UVA if money is no issue or you have fee waivers, but I have a marginally lower GPA and a marginally higher LSAT and I was waitlisted at UVA. Cornell and GULC are not known to be particularly friendly to splitters and would most likely just be a waste of money. If you have work experience, try NU, although you're better off with a 172+ for them.

Have you thought of retaking in February to work your way off of inevitable waitlists? Just answer three or four more questions correctly could mean the difference between ending up at WUSTL at sticker or getting into a T14

[Granfalloon12]

With these numbers, is it worth throwing an app anywhere higher-ranked, i.e. a T14 school? Part of me knows how ridiculous that is, but I keep reading about how different this cycle is, how medians and class sizes are dropping, and so far I haven't been waitlisted or rejected anywhere... I guess I would feel a little disappointed if I passed up an opportunity to get into a T14 in these circumstances.
If anyone thinks there's a sliver of a chance I could get accepted to a T14 (and if so, where do I apply? Cornell? GULC?) please let me know. And trust me - I definitely don't have my hopes up haha. I'm surprised and happy to have been accepted to schools like W & M already with a nice deal.
Thanks ahead of time for any responses!

Do you have an LSAC fee waiver, or could you get one?

The main problem is that, for real reach schools, you're pretty late in the game. You could throw an ED app at UVA if money is no issue or you have fee waivers, but I have a marginally lower GPA and a marginally higher LSAT and I was waitlisted at UVA. Cornell and GULC are not known to be particularly friendly to splitters and would most likely just be a waste of money. If you have work experience, try NU, although you're better off with a 172+ for them.

Have you thought of retaking in February to work your way off of inevitable waitlists? Just answer three or four more questions correctly could mean the difference between ending up at WUSTL at sticker or getting into a T14

No fee waiver.
I'd rather not throw an ED app at UVA, it was something I considered much earlier but simply can't risk the debt that would accompany UVA at sticker. I'm still in my senior year of ug (conventional TLS wisdom might advise me to wait a few years before going to law school which, while reasonable, is made a little less attractive because my parents have offered to foot some of the bill for COL if I attend school next fall), and frankly I can't fathom having to retake in February...
Anyway, thanks for the insight, the apparent lack of options for me T14-wise sort of solidifies my general plan as of now, which is to try to get as much $$ as possible to a school like UMN, W & M, WUSTL, or BC or BU (pending acceptance of the last two) and weigh that against what I'm hoping I can negotiate up to near-full-rides from lower-ranked, relatively strong regional schools like Temple or Pitt

[crit_racer]

May be worth throwing an app to Vandy/UT/UCLA/USC

None of them are known for being too kind to splitters, but you never know w/ this cycle. If they need another 168 it may be your lucky day, and they have better employment prospects than BC/BU/GW

[Granfalloon12]

May be worth throwing an app to Vandy/UT/UCLA/USC

None of them are known for being too kind to splitters, but you never know w/ this cycle. If they need another 168 it may be your lucky day, and they have better employment prospects than BC/BU/GW

Fair enough, I'll see if I can get fee waivers from any of these four. It looks like I've exhausted many of the reach / splitter-friendly routes already (besides NU, which is realistically pretty far out of my reach)... but I think late apps to one or two of Vandy/UT/UCLA/USC is worth the $20.
Thanks fort he reply

[cahwc12]

May be worth throwing an app to Vandy/UT/UCLA/USC

None of them are known for being too kind to splitters, but you never know w/ this cycle. If they need another 168 it may be your lucky day, and they have better employment prospects than BC/BU/GW

Even without any merit aid? I have similar numbers and can't imagine either getting aid at these schools or attending them at sticker.

[alwayssunnyinfl]

May be worth throwing an app to Vandy/UT/UCLA/USC

None of them are known for being too kind to splitters, but you never know w/ this cycle. If they need another 168 it may be your lucky day, and they have better employment prospects than BC/BU/GW

Even without any merit aid? I have similar numbers and can't imagine either getting aid at these schools or attending them at sticker.

Yeah, especially since OP was wary of ED'ing UVA for financial reasons, I highly doubt any of those schools would both admit OP and offer scholarship that could come close to competing with WUSTL or UMN.

[minnbills]

Im had basically the same split last cycle. Youll probably get in to UMN with a scholarship (45-80k). Pretty good shot at the other schools you mentioned too.

+1 you should get some good cash to UMN