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Applicant wisdom

Advice applicants left on their LSD.Law profiles, searchable by topic, school, and stats.

LSAT 174 GPA 3.71 2021–22 cycle

Attending New York University

…school more likely to increase my scholarship offer in negotiations.” (I regret applying to the schools that gave me CAS waivers where I knew I wouldn’t attend It was a waste of time and may have went to another student who could have used it more.) Apply for a fee waiver through LSAC if you think it remotely could…

LSAT 171 GPA 3.93 2023–24 cycle

Attending University of California—Berkeley

…this is the highest they offer outside of Rothman. Won’t negotiate. Duke: Scholarship interview 3/4. Received email 3/8! They told me it would be three weeks, but I got the offer only a few days later. Looks like a good first offer. Sent reconsideration 4/14 heard back 4/18. It’s a lot of money, and one of their…

LSAT 172 GPA 3.79 2022–23 cycle

Attending Duke University

…weeks later. My one complaint is that Duke’s scholarship negotiation committee was not very open to negotiations, and my financial aid award did not change after requesting reconsideration. **Yale: **March 07, REJECTED - Well, we all saw this coming. I never expected to get into Yale, being below both medians, but…

LSAT 172 GPA 4.00 2022–23 cycle

Attending Duke University

…$40k/year, which should be about 55% tuition. Received a negotiated increase to $50k/year using Texas and Vanderbilt offers, or about 65% tuition. Renegotiated another increase to $55k/year using the Northwestern offer, or about 70% tuition. 1/20/2023 Chicago - WAITLISTED Sixth admissions decision, 78 days- after I…

LSAT 171 GPA 3.84 2022–23 cycle

Attending University of Michigan

…Why UVA and Resilience Essay. Attempted scholarship negotiation using Mich offer but was told they would only negotiate if I was ready to commit to UVA (which I was not!) Cal (waitlisted 3/14/23, first one to break my heart, withdrew 4/24) - Why Berkeley Essay and longer PS UMich (accepted 11/10/22, scholarship…

LSAT 177 GPA 3.92 2023–24 cycle

Attending Harvard University

…($135,000 + $24,000 for JD/LLM program), no time to negotiate. Georgetown 3/12 - Received form to be considered for possible scholarship funding. 3/25 - Received merit scholarship award ($135,000, 4/3 deadline to accept, unable to grant deadline extensions). Didn’t negotiate.

LSAT 175 GPA 3.85 2024–25 cycle

Attending New York University

Negotiate your scholarships!!!! The worst they can say is no. With the exception of Northwestern (because they said they weren’t going to negotiate with anyone this year), I got more money everywhere I asked.

LSAT 170 GPA 4.10 2025–26 cycle

Attending New York University

A cohesive narrative and clear idea of what you want to do as a lawyer goes a long way! Also apply as early as possible so you have max time for scholarship negotiations (and peace of mind).

LSAT 180 GPA 3.83 2023–24 cycle

Attending Duke University

…at UVA and NU. I don’t know why my scholarship negotiations went so poorly, so it’s hard to say what the misstep was. The one appeal that was successful (Chicago) only came after an in-person meeting with their financial aid team where we didn’t even talk about my appeal. Try to make a human connection, I suppose?…

LSAT 172 GPA 3.88 2023–24 cycle

Attending University of California—Berkeley

…as you have a decent shot of getting into, so you can then negotiate, though this worked because I extensively demonstrated why Berkeley was my top choice, but also why I would actually go to Duke without a competitive scholarship from Berkeley.

LSAT 176 GPA 4.25 2022–23 cycle

Attending University of Pennsylvania

…Yale which opened later)- Didn’t do a whole lot of scholly negotiation because by March I was between UCLA & Penn (barring Stanny) Sent several LOCIs to Stanny, which was my top pick, but a WL is simply not worth turning down that Penn bag Also sent LOCIs to Chicago and Michigan

LSAT 172 GPA 3.96 2022–23 cycle

Attending University of Texas at Austin

…It was always UT, everywhere I applied was for leverage to negotiate with UT. I have a lot of personal ties to the university and Austin that were hard to give up. Can’t wait to be a Lawhorn!

LSAT 174 GPA 3.95 2022–23 cycle

Attending University of Pennsylvania

…earlier meant As earlier –> earlier finaid –> more time to negotiate! It feels like crunch time right now (late March) and I can only imagine how stressed later applicants feel. Things I would have improved: Could have written/finalized personal statement, diversity statement, supps over the summer. Not sure why I…

LSAT 178 GPA 3.45 2020–21 cycle

Attending University of Virginia

…w/r/t a particular school’s interview and/or scholarship negotiation process. Once you apply, try to put everything out of sight and out of mind for a while. Using Reddit and checking status checkers are unproductive and bad for your mental health. Be kind, give to charity, check in on your loved ones, lie down in…