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Scholarships and number of schools applied to

hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
edited June 2015 in General 323 karma
Does anyone think it hurts your chances of scholarship if you only apply to one school? my question is basically: Does having multiple applications and offers out there foster an environment of competition for qualified candidates, Basically rewarding u for attending their schools, OR do u get rewarded the same way if you have good qualifications and only apply to one school?!

Comments

  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    i've only applied to one school this fall is why i ask and i SHOULD be in the range of scores for a scholarship. And since i've gotten my LSAT score much higher i am capable of getting accepted into many schools, but that;s only recently, and i'm likely to go there especially because of the location of my family and i plan to practice in this area...
  • ddakjikingddakjiking Inactive ⭐
    2116 karma
    Did you just get the higher score on the feb LSAT? Use that to leverage your scholarship with the current school. If they don't budge, withdraw and reapply in the fall.
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    naw i'm anticipating a higher score from yesterdays exam,,, even if i am +/- 3 of my average i will be AT LEAST 7 points above Feb.
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    my average is exactly ten points higher than my feb score which i bombed, and my school is waiting on my june score now, and i have seen numbers on the Law school numbers website and i should be in a good position to get money except for the fact that it's june, and then i keep wondering if they use the thought process of " Oh he only applied here i bet he would pay full price since we are his only option"

  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    and i dont feel bad about the test yesterday at all just wanna know! unless i made some kinda dumb mistake i should be fine. I only took the feb exam trying to get in for the fall, and they told me before the scores came out that they would also accept my June score, so i wouldn't have even taken it in feb. So now they will see both scores for the "first time" if it's true that they won't review your application until they have ur score anyway i'm just babbling at this point but i cannot find much information about this question of applying to one school and how they exactly decide when and to whom they give money.

  • Student76Student76 Alum Member
    edited June 2015 324 karma
    .
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    i bet we are lol! i dont know what are the odds? i'm in the biggest city of a state with no professional sports teams =) I'm just hoping im above their 75th by enough this time and maybe i;ll get some kind of break on all that money! but i will also be looking to earn and apply to any and all scholarships during school as well... And in my state's best school, they had 12 transfers in last year, 6 were from the school i'm hoping to get scholarship at, so theres that
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    Yeah the people withdrawing that i've seen on law school numbers are leaving some nice money on the table but how many people are on Law school numbers....? i'm not...
  • Student76Student76 Alum Member
    edited June 2015 324 karma
    .
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    oh no i'm from alabama
    i have a top 25 and a top 150 both within a 40min drive and an hour drive... u can probably guess now !
  • Student76Student76 Alum Member
    edited June 2015 324 karma
    .
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    sweet i have an old band member of mine just moved out there to teach school! i'm glad we aren't competing either!
  • Student76Student76 Alum Member
    324 karma
    Does he have any pull with law school admissions? lol.
  • ddakjikingddakjiking Inactive ⭐
    2116 karma
    Be wary of Summit
  • Student76Student76 Alum Member
    edited June 2015 324 karma
    .
  • inactiveinactive Alum Member
    12637 karma
    Anyone have an answer for @hrjones44 ' question?
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    @hrjones44 While I'm not an admissions expert, I have read up on things like this a lot so I'll give it a go. It was hard to tell if a) you had already gotten into this school and were telling them to wait on the score for scholarship purposes, b) you were on the waitlist, or c) asked them to hold off on reviewing your application until June.

    As far as I know, schools shouldn't be able to see what other schools you have applied to. After deposit deadline dates however, they can run reports to see if you have double deposited, which is part of the brinkmanship of scholarship negotiation. Since scholarship negotiation is largely about utilizing leverage, it will likely be difficult to secure money, especially this late in the game.

    Assuming you're already in, there are possibly some caveats to my last statement. First of all, even if you have deposited to this one school and they run a report, it doesn't mean you aren't waitlisted elsewhere and are waiting on that, so I would not under any circumstances tell the school that they are the only one you applied to. Second, you might be able to use a well written LOCI after your score is submitted to indicate your interest but also indicate that you would need more scholarship money in order to attend this fall versus applying to better schools next year with your fancy new score.

    A great person to ask would be Dean Spivey. I know this borders on the kind of advice people pay him for, but he might be able to give you some general answers. He just joined 7Sage @"Mike Spivey" but I'm not sure if he wants to use this as an advice forum like he does on TLS. If not, then you might try to go here and pose a question:

    http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=197451&hilit=spivey&sid=57bf1cad5ddb65b4f6494aee49e26654&start=4275

    Good luck!
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    @Pacifico Thank you for response it is very much appeciated!

    Unfortunately i have asked them to wait to review it until my june score. once i knew i could take it in june i knew i would score higher than february so i asked them wait. What u said was a lot of what i thought to be the case, except i was under the impression that they could and would see where people apply...
    The main problem is, while my primary leverage is probably to wait and apply to more schools with my new score, or even test again and apply to more schools, I am somewhat limited in that i have a one year old son and his family is here in Birmingham and willing to help. They will be very important for us to have the help we need.. So in reality we probably won't be moving from here, meaning i probably won't attend another school outside of the two in my area, so long as i am accpted into one.
    I guess now that i've made so much LSAT progress my goals have changed from getting accepted o now knowing that i could get scholarship money at this school. I;m anticipating a much higher LSAT and i'll lknow if i'm admitted by July 10th. Waiting another cycle is only now becoming more appealing to me, because i realize i may actually stand a chance at getting some money, but while i wait i work part time at a bank and play live music some evenings, Also i would definitely take the test once more if i hold off. I could be far above my local schools numbers if not this test then definitely if i sit it once more. And i guess i know the play i need to make if i'm not offered any money... Just looking for advice i guess
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    to be clear, if you are early and a good applicant, you can get a scholarship because of your numbers alone? i really thought it was just to lure you away from other schools, i guess in essence if they don't know where you've applied they could still be trying to attract you.

    ALso i didn't realize at all that people could negotiate for scholarships could u maybe speak on that for a second or two and maybe apply it to my case, i don't know if they know i've only applied there, but i think i'm going to submit one more application for this fall from the better school in my area, I went there for undergrad and have great recomendations from there, my original goal was to try to transfer there but now i may could get in, especially if i waited. Also if someone tells a school theyre only applying there does that mean they wont give money?

    Thanks for dealing with these questions i'm just wanting some clarity on this process and some advice in my case
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    @"Mike Spivey" Any thoughts on this?! i emailed your consulting address from your website, and some insight about all this would be amazing..! Hoping for a response!
  • brna0714brna0714 Alum Inactive ⭐
    1489 karma
    I'm no Spivey but people can (and arguably should) negotiate scholarship money especially in today's market. To do that effectively, I'm of the belief that you pretty much need offers from other law schools. Otherwise, when you get the Dean of Admissions on the phone, what would you say? "Uh, you're my only options but...can I have more money please?" That certainly doesn't sound as convincing as, "I've received an offer with scholarship from [insert higher-ranked school here] but am very interested and committed to attending your school. Can anything be done to make this more feasible for me financially?"

    Just as an aside, you probably don't need to comment on the other school's ranking. They are likely well aware of where they stand.

    Second point- I am be wrong and a hold may be a special situation but it seems to me that if they'll be reviewing your application for the first time only after having received your June score, it's pretty late in the game for you to receive what you deserve in terms of scholarship for this coming academic year. That stuff is largely first come, first served.

    Third point- I wouldn't apply somewhere with the aspiration of transferring out. That can be difficult/not possible for a whole myriad of reasons. Enough reasons to warrant an entire post of its own so suffice it to say, you should attend a law school you'd be happy graduating from.

    Have said all that, here's my advice. Defer. Wait until you have your June score and reapply at a bunch of schools for admission in '16- '17. Email around (include your LSAT score/GPA) for fee waivers if you're worried about money. You won't get them all but it should help offset some of the cost.

    If you do that, you'll be in a much better position to negotiate scholarships and possibly at a much better law school entirely.

    Good luck.
  • hrjones44hrjones44 Alum Member
    323 karma
    @brna0714 I really appreciate the respone, i really do.I would be happy with graduating from this school but not as happy as graduating from Alabama which is my undergrad institution, and the better school in this state within an hour drive. I have great recomendations from people at that institution. I guess my goals have changed now that i'm doing better on this lsat because i can get an even better score if i sit for my third time, assuming i can get my games under control. Anyway, i guess i probably should wait because ur right even if i don't anticipate attending other schools i can still use their offers to help me get what i want and should.
    It's so crazy earlier this year i wasn't even thinking about scholarships.. I guess i just need to wait on my score and see what happens! It just means waiting longer and working another year struggling it out, but i guess overall it would be best for my family, i'm 29 in september and basically i've waited this long... I dont know, my girlfriend could be out of nursing school just a little longer than that, and that might mean i could expand my options for attending schools outside of this state. Crazy how things change when u work so hard for something, you just get more hungry and focused. LSAT prep has changed my life whether or not i even get in this fall, i know now that i have the potential of getting accepted into some pretty good schools ..
  • LSATislandLSATisland Free Trial Inactive Sage
    1878 karma
    I haven't read all responses so might have been answered. But it is useful to apply to more schools, especially to schools on a comparable level with the one you applied to. If you receive a higher scholarship from a 2nd school (on a comparable level), you can mention higher scholarship to your first choice. Tell them they are your first choice, but higher scholarship is attractive, and they might match that other scholarship.
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    @LSATisland yes it is better not to apply to just one school. You don't need to apply to 20 to get leverage for scholarship negotiations, you just need one or a few other schools with scholarship offers and then you can tactfully use that leverage for negotiation. I don't know how comparable a school actually needs to be to afford you this leverage as I'm sure a school in the high teens would be good leverage against a school on the bottom half of the T14, but there are a lot of other factors that go into it, so your mileage may vary.
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    edited August 2015 7965 karma
    @LSATisland said:
    Tell them they are your first choice, but higher scholarship is attractive, and they might match that other scholarship.
    Interesting advice!
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    @nicole.hopkins no offense but if you're PTing in the 99th percentile, may I ask why would you not aim much higher? I would assume from your intellectual tenacity that you've got a pretty decent GPA. I'm sure you have plenty of good reasons for your choice but at the same time it sounds like you're selling yourself short. :)
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    edited August 2015 7965 karma
    @Pacifico said:
    I would assume from your intellectual tenacity that you've got a pretty decent GPA.
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    I appreciate the candor @nicole.hopkins and it does sound like you've got a great plan. Northwestern is my top semi-realistic choice due to its long and storied love affair with splitters. That and they just changed their GI Bill stipulations so I could attend for free, and after drowning in 90k in student loan debt from undergrad, I couldn't imagine having to take out loans again. So I'm lucky in that respect, though I did have to give the Army six and a half years of my life, but for free law school it's totally worth it. Anyways, I hope everything works out for you! :)
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    edited August 2015 7965 karma
    @Pacifico said:
    So I'm lucky in that respect, though I did have to give the Army six and a half years of my life, but for free law school it's totally worth it.
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    From some anecdotal evidence I've seen on TLS it seems they're more willing to throw money at super splitters than most other schools, so if I can't get in ED and secure that 50k a year I'm hoping I can still negotiate something for living expenses.
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