LSAT and Law School Admissions Forum

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General questions relating to law school or law school admissions.
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 StefanieJock
  • Posts: 3
  • Joined: Feb 03, 2021
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#90305
I live in an area that has a public university with a quality law school program located nearby. I have no plans to move for law school (I'm married with three kids and my husband's job is here). My LSAT and GPA put me well above the medians for this school. My goal is to get as much scholarship as possible. Do I apply to other similar public law school programs outside the area (even though I have no intentions of attending any of those schools) in order to make my stock look higher or do I apply as soon as possible to my target school with early decision to attend if accepted?
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 Beth Hayden
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 123
  • Joined: Sep 04, 2021
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#90366
Hi Stephanie,

It never hurts to apply to more schools, your only cost is the application fee and the time it takes to fill it out--unless those two options you gave are mutually exclusive. Is there any reason you can't prioritize your target school, then after that application is out, apply to more places? Look closely at the early application program at the school. If you get in early do you have to give them an answer before you hear back from other places? Would it give you an edge in scholarships (some schools do, some don't). Early admission is a bit different in law school than it is in undergrad, and each school is different. Feel free to respond with more details about your program and we can give you some more nuanced advice. If they make you give a solid commitment to attend if you get accepted, you need to do some real research on your chances of money at other places. If you are confident you will get into this school based on your numbers, applying early could actually harm you, but again we can't really provide much insight on that without knowing the specifics of your program.

Aside from that concern--if you have acceptances at a better-ranked school or a good scholarship at a similar or better school, you can leverage that to negotiate a higher scholarship. You just never know which schools are going to need you the most this cycle unless you apply, and scholarships can be kind of random. For example, if you have a high LSAT score one school might randomly need an extra score to raise their median and offer a lot of money, it's not entirely predictable what each school is going to value in a particular cycle. Once you get that better scholarship, you can say something like: "X school is my top choice, but I'm concerned about money, and so I'm torn between X and Y school that offered $___. If you could match that offer, I would be ready to commit to X school tomorrow."

I would focus less on applying to other public schools and more on applying to (1) other schools in your area, (2) higher-ranked schools that you have a shot at, and (3) similar ranked schools that might give you a better scholarship. Even if you wouldn't ever attend those places, the offer/scholarship could be a huge bargaining chip. Schools in your area are good because you know you want to stay there, and those schools will feed into the same legal market.

I hope that's helpful, and good luck!

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