Applying to multiple schools to encourage scholarship offer?

cvaldez74

My UG GPA is 3.82; I haven't taken the LSAT yet (July or September) but I believe I can conservatively expect high 150s-low 160s. I also have 10 years of work experience in the legal field and a fairly decent lifetime-of-struggles type of personal story.

I'll be applying this fall to Stetson Law School in the Tampa area (where I live). I'm choosing this school strictly because of location - I'm in my mid-40s with a family, a home, a husband with a career, friends, etc. I don't exactly have the flexibility that younger students have. As it's a private school and my goal is to work in the public sector, I'm banking on a full scholarship.

What I'm wondering is whether or not I should apply to additional schools to hopefully encourage Stetson to offer me a scholarship. Will they even know if I've applied to and been accepted at other schools or would I share that info somehow? Florida State is a viable (albeit not ideal) option, as are Florida (though less so) and Miami - basically, I need to stay in Florida.

Leah M B

Yes, it could potentially help in negotiating scholarships if you apply to other schools. Stetson won't know if you applied elsewhere, but what happens is that they will make you an offer, and you can negotiate with them. In that conversation, you can say things like... "I'm weighing my options and finances are an extremely important part of my decision. I've been offered X amount of scholarship at Y University. Would it be possible to match that same offer?" It gives you a little bit more power if you receive a better offer at a competitor school, which could be either schools similarly or more highly ranked, or other local schools that they compete with.

LSAT_Wrecker

I’m in your exact “place in life" boat and agree with @"Leah M B" . Apply to a couple of schools and leverage their offer with the school you really want. That is my plan for the upcoming cycle as well.

LivingThatLSATdream

You can also apply to schools you don't plan on attending and use their acceptances or scholarships as leverage, you don't necessarily have to limit your applications to schools in Florida. Typically, you want to have acceptances to higher ranked schools and/or scholarships to schools around the same ranking as Stetson. You can use sites like http://mylsn.info/r/pre-law/scholarships/graph/ to see what schools are likely to offer a scholarship with your uGPA/LSAT score. Once all your apps and acceptances are in then follow what @"Leah M B" said!

AudaciousRed

Yep. That's my game plan, too. Apply to get competitive offers. Really, there's only two schools that really have a shot of me going there, unless some insanely good offer comes through for an amazing school.