Confused about law school merit scholarships
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Anonymous
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DS is applying to law schools. We paid for his undergrad but he has always understood that he'll have to pay for grad school. Same deal for our other son.
We're retiring the year after he enters (husband age 73 and me age 61). We look house rich because we'll almost have paid off our $1.9M home. But total retirement savings will only be around $1.8M. We don't want to sell our house or take $300K from our retirement to put him through law school. But he also is unlikely to qualify for financial aid, right? Don't they count the parents' assets? (That seems so wrong to me, given that law school students are adults and not dependents.) So, when I look at lsd.law where there's self-reporting from law school applicants, I see a lot of "scholarship" money offered. Is that financial aid? With the right GPA, LSAT, recs, and internships, can a young man like my son receive a merit scholarship if his parents have a house and $1.8M in savings? |
Anonymous
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Yes with merit but may have to go to lower tier school and have great GPA and LSAT. Check Redditt lawschooladmissions group.
My kids are going to law school next year. One got 10k from a top 14 and the other got 20k from top 4-8 law schools. However, he is going to one of HYS for full price. That's a year by the way so 30k and 60k. But they had ivy undergrads with near perfect grades and decent LSATs, one year off, etc. Incidentally, one year off helps with admission now. 2 better. |
Anonymous
| PP here--to complete the thought--had they gone to say GW probably would have gotten close to a free ride. Also, loans easier for law school than undergrad. |
Anonymous
| My daughter went to Chicago Law from UVA undergrad and got generous merit aid offered with her admission - no requirement to show need. Apparently it’s common for strong applicants. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks for these answers. Did they get merit aid during the ED cycle or regular please? |
Anonymous
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Law schools are pretty generous with merit aid, and in my experience they were also flexible on numbers. I originally was offered 20k/yr (at a T14) and called and told them I was struggling with the decision and they moved it up to 30k/yr. Can't hurt to ask.
This was all regular decision. |
Anonymous
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Is there ED for law schools now?!
Schools give merit aid and sometimes generous tuition waivers. He should crush the LSAT and get as high a GPA as possible. Stellar letters help. |
Anonymous
| Remember too that some top law schools have generous loan forgiveness programs. People sure they want to go into public service jobs may be better off going to a more highly ranked law school with a good loan forgiveness program than taking the merit scholarship at a lower ranked law school. |
Anonymous
| Aren't regular aged grad students independent for aid purposes? Your assets shouldn't matter at this point. |
Anonymous
Exercise caution as this could end up being a well intentioned trap. Law students often change minds about career desired. |
Anonymous
What were their highest LSAT scores ? TIA |
Anonymous
Yes but law schools give almost no financial aid. OP’s kid will need to aim for merit aid. |
Anonymous
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My KJD with stats for top 10 was waitlisted everywhere they applied in the top 12.
Got nearly full ride merit to a top 15-20. The key to merit aid is usually going to a school a tier below where your stats place you. Schools are essentially buying your scores. Parent income is irrelevant. |
Anonymous
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I'm so confused. OP has only $2,M saved at retirement, and has a $2M house, and no other savings?
But full paid for college? |
Anonymous
| Lol at "I have $3.7M I don't really need, but other people should pay for my kid's law school" |