By now you should have heard a decision from most of the law schools you applied to, and hopefully most have made the right decision to admit you. Although they may have made their decision on you, you have not necessarily reciprocated this decision and now it is your turn to transform from a nervous wreck to a dominant decision maker. As the famous philosopher Friendrich Nietzshe argued, domination is the one innate trait that all men share and enjoy. So enjoy letting the law schools anxiously await your decision as you did for theirs, after all its in our human nature. However, this decision may not come as easily as you may have thought because of the many mitigating factors that may have presented themselves.
The first and often times most determinate factor is what schools have guaranteed you a scholarship. Law school is by no means cheap; the average law school, after three years of enrollment, will cost anywhere between 100 and 200 thousand dollars. Now, in this economic recession that is enough money to purchase a mansion in many Midwest states. But you are making a life long investment by placing that money towards law school tuition, instead of a much desired immediate satisfaction such as a house or nice car. Don't worry, saying your a lawyer champions the same respect as a new Maserati. When a school offers an admitted student a guaranteed scholarship, not only is that a huge honor, but it is also something not to take lightly. A scholarship for many people can be the deciding factor to which law school they attend, and that is often times a valid justification, but not always.
To give an example, a good friend of mine was recently accepted to Boalt Law School (UC Berkeley). Boalt is among the most highly acclaimed law schools in the world, ranking between fifth and seventh consistently on the US Ranks. In addition to their acceptance to Boalt, he also received full scholarships to both UC Davis and USD law school. Both of these schools are good law schools, ranking between fortieth and sixtieth. Normally this would be an easy decision, Boalt being the victor, but the immense total tuition of 170 thousand to attend Boalt complicates the matter considerably. In this case however, the ranking difference between these schools is so large that nothing less than UCD or USD offering to pay you to attend their school will not change your decision. My friend had chosen to attend Boalt. His fundamental justification for this decision was the future opportunities that accompany such a highly ranked law school. Estimates provided by the Princeton Review predict that a law student graduating from Boalt will be offered a corporate associate job that has a starting salary of fifty thousand dollars more a year on average than that of a graduating student from UCD or USD. In the long run, that money quickly accumulates and will surpass the loans you may have incurred in law school. Additionally, the money made on Summer Associate externships during law school is far more than it would be at a lower tier 1 school. Although my friend’s decision was not too difficult, it was not over because of a little letter they received one day.
One day before he was to send his intent to attend letter to Boalt, he received a letter from USC Gould School of Law offering a guaranteed scholarship of thirty thousand dollars a year. Now, this little white letter made his decision a lot more nitty gritty, as Gould is also among the best law schools in the country. Although it is not ranked as highly as Boalt, Gould is well within the top twenty law schools in the country. When you are faced with a decision as difficult as this, an answer is in no way universal. One must evaluate their personal preferences, while weighting those against the pros and cons of each school: location, ranking, cost, career placement, size, etc. Because of this unending list of factors, my friend has failed to make a final decision and plans to wait until the last minute to do so. Please let me know if you have any inklings as to what school he will choose or what school you would choose if you were in his predicament, if we can call this very fortunate situation a predicament.
There is one strategy that many people overlook the relates back to the concept that after you are accepted, you have the leverage. With two very competitive schools such as Boalt and Gould, my friend should approach Boalt asking for a scholarship in light of the immense one offered to him by Gould. Although this approach sounds awfully forward and blunt, this is the reality of the world. At its core, law school is a business. If they have accepted you in this insanely competitive admissions cycle, you possess something that they desire in their incoming class. Therefore, use that to your advantage. Worst-case scenario they tell you no, best case scenario you receive some type of scholarship. It never hurts to ask and after all the painstaking work you have put into this process, you deserve nothing less than the law school’s complete and undivided attention. Use this as your first practice with negotiating and self promotion, two traits imperative to being a successful lawyer
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