Kansas VS Akron with a full-tuition scholarship

[jack24]

I totally ruled Akron out, but they offered a full-tuition scholarship on friday.  I've heard some great thing about Akron, but I still think Kansas is a much better school.    The Akron scholarship is really tough to hold onto: I have to stay in the top half of my class the first semeseter, and maintain a 3.3 (top 10% of the class) for the rest of the first year, and years 2 and 3.  Any advice?

[jack24]

Okay I fixed it. Thanks.

[armyjag]

 Leaving dollars aside, there is a bit of a geographic difference there. NE Ohio and Lawrence, KS are pretty different.  Also, as you maybe know, Kansas is a big fish in a small pond, where Akron is just your average fish in a bigger pond.

Yeah, money for school is important, but I still maintain quality of life is an important consideration.  Plus that 10% thing is pretty damn onerous.  I mean it's nice, but I am not a gamblin' man, personally.  You have to plan on losing it, I think just to cover yourself, so making sure that you get in-state is important too.

Akron didn't offer me a dime, so I'm not even bothering.  I don't like the idea of living in the rust belt for the next 40 years.

[jack24]

I feel like KU and Lawrence will both me a lot better for my family, but I'm just thinking if I want to move back to Utah then it may be better to stay out of debt.  Either way, it doesn't really matter how smart you are, there is still some luck involved in being in the top 10% of the class.

[jack24]

You are above their LSAT 75% line, so I don't see what's wrong with asking them to at least get rid of some of the conditions of the scholarship.

It's worth asking, you have nothing to lose.

That's true. I guess I'll give it a shot. 

[upgrade]

I totally ruled Akron out, but they offered a full-tuition scholarship on friday.  I've heard some great thing about Akron, but I still think Kansas is a much better school.    The Akron scholarship is really tough to hold onto: I have to stay in the top half of my class the first semeseter, and maintain a 3.3 (top 10% of the class) for the rest of the first year, and years 2 and 3.  Any advice?

Top 10% of class seems like a ridiculous requirement to maintain a scholarship.  Maybe the school only awards a very small number of scholarship awards, but I would bet that they give money to more than 10% of the class.  If they do, that means they are giving money to people for the first semester that they know will not be receiving it in subsequent semesters.

I think a good rule to follow is that if a school has a strict scholarship retention policy, you should only attend if you would be willing to attend the school while paying full price.  The location/reputation for the region is definitely a big issue as well.

[jack24]

I was lucky to be accepted to the University of Kansas.  I know there can be a major difference in starting salary between a T1 and T2 school, but do you think there is much of a difference between a T2 and T3?

[jack24]

I don't really know much about Akron.  From all the research I've done it seems like Kansas would be a much better fit, but I'm wondering if I need to visit both places.
The decision is kind of premature, because I still haven't heard from 5 schools.

[jack24]

I guess I'd better get ready for a 2000 mile trip.

[upgrade]

I was lucky to be accepted to the University of Kansas.  I know there can be a major difference in starting salary between a T1 and T2 school, but do you think there is much of a difference between a T2 and T3?

While WUSTL graduates would probably have more options in KC, they do not seem to be very prevalent at large firms.  KU is probably the top school for Kansas City, placing almost twice as many associates in Kansas City as MU and more than twice as many as SLU, WUSTL, and Washburn.  KU is also pretty cheap for out-of-state students.  It's less than $20,000/year, isn't it? 

Akron has several schools ahead of it (Ohio, Case, Cincinnati) for top paying jobs in the state.