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Hi,

Basically I am on the fence as to whether or not it is worth it for me to retake the LSAT.

I was a football player at Columbia and have two years work experience as a paralegal at a Top 20 law firm in Chicago. My goal is to work in big law after law school; possibly at the firm I am at now. I want to end up in Chicago but would consider an East Coast city for a couple years after law schoo.

3.4 GPA (trended upwards, 3.5 without Freshman fall)
172 LSAT

President of my Fraternity, All-Ivy League Football player (not that that matters, but my commitment is part of the reason my GPA is low).
White Male

I would love to ED Northwestern or roll the dice with CCN

I think I could maybe get one or two more points on the LSAT but I am not sure what effect that would have on my situation.

Thoughts?

Looking good for money at NU, could definitely consider applying ED there. I'd prefer just applying to everywhere and seeing what you get. You're almost certainly out at HYS, a maybe at CCN, and you should have some decent lower T13 options to play around with for scholarship negotiation.

UVA2B wrote: Looking good for money at NU, could definitely consider applying ED there. I'd prefer just applying to everywhere and seeing what you get.

Do you think scholarships from other schools could match Northwestern's $150,000 ED scholarship?

Edit: thank you for getting back to me

SplitterStork17 wrote:

UVA2B wrote: Looking good for money at NU, could definitely consider applying ED there. I'd prefer just applying to everywhere and seeing what you get.

Do you think scholarships from other schools could match Northwestern's $150,000 ED scholarship?

Edit: thank you for getting back to me

It's unlikely you'll get that big of a scholarship with a 3.4, but you could definitely get to about the $90-$105k range pretty reasonably somewhere with some negotiating. You can give the NU ED a shot, and even if you don't get that (it's pretty unlikely with a 3.4), they'll roll you back to RD and you could still be in line for a decent discount.

UVA2B wrote:

SplitterStork17 wrote:

UVA2B wrote: Looking good for money at NU, could definitely consider applying ED there. I'd prefer just applying to everywhere and seeing what you get.

Do you think scholarships from other schools could match Northwestern's $150,000 ED scholarship?

Edit: thank you for getting back to me

It's unlikely you'll get that big of a scholarship with a 3.4, but you could definitely get to about the $90-$105k range pretty reasonably somewhere with some negotiating. You can give the NU ED a shot, and even if you don't get that (it's pretty unlikely with a 3.4), they'll roll you back to RD and you could still be in line for a decent discount.

Thank you. This is better news than I thought. I had no idea where I stood for NU ED but it's comforting to know. Would a possible 174/175 help there or is my GPA a deal breaker.

I think I'll take your advice and blanket from Columbia to WashU.

SplitterStork17 wrote:

UVA2B wrote:

SplitterStork17 wrote:

UVA2B wrote: Looking good for money at NU, could definitely consider applying ED there. I'd prefer just applying to everywhere and seeing what you get.

Do you think scholarships from other schools could match Northwestern's $150,000 ED scholarship?

Edit: thank you for getting back to me

It's unlikely you'll get that big of a scholarship with a 3.4, but you could definitely get to about the $90-$105k range pretty reasonably somewhere with some negotiating. You can give the NU ED a shot, and even if you don't get that (it's pretty unlikely with a 3.4), they'll roll you back to RD and you could still be in line for a decent discount.

Thank you. This is better news than I thought. I had no idea where I stood for NU ED but it's comforting to know. Would a possible 174/175 help there or is my GPA a deal breaker.

I think I'll take your advice and blanket from Columbia to WashU.

a 174-175 might get you a bump and improved shot at CCN, but that 3.4 is always going to be an anchor for scholarships to some extent. But that sounds like a good plan and good luck!

UVA2B wrote:

SplitterStork17 wrote:

UVA2B wrote:

SplitterStork17 wrote:

UVA2B wrote: Looking good for money at NU, could definitely consider applying ED there. I'd prefer just applying to everywhere and seeing what you get.

Do you think scholarships from other schools could match Northwestern's $150,000 ED scholarship?

Edit: thank you for getting back to me

It's unlikely you'll get that big of a scholarship with a 3.4, but you could definitely get to about the $90-$105k range pretty reasonably somewhere with some negotiating. You can give the NU ED a shot, and even if you don't get that (it's pretty unlikely with a 3.4), they'll roll you back to RD and you could still be in line for a decent discount.

Thank you. This is better news than I thought. I had no idea where I stood for NU ED but it's comforting to know. Would a possible 174/175 help there or is my GPA a deal breaker.

I think I'll take your advice and blanket from Columbia to WashU.

a 174-175 might get you a bump and improved shot at CCN, but that 3.4 is always going to be an anchor for scholarships to some extent. But that sounds like a good plan and good luck!

Thank you!

I commented semi-recently about sub 3.5 NU ED people recently if you want to look through my post history. Basically, it's unlikely but you should still apply for it if you want to. I don't think increasing your LSAT will have much impact on NU ED but it couldn't hurt. An increase does help at CCN imo (173 maybe not, but 174+ does).