1 tier and more debt or 2 tier and little debt?

[Jessikally]

I have a 163 LSAT and a 3.25 GPA. I graduated from a big prestigious public school in three years. Lotsa work experience, good LORs, worked 25 hours/week during undergrad while taking 22 hours a semester....

anyway,

what kind of scholarships could I get from a school like Northern Illinois?

I want to work either for the government or a firm in a smaller city like Peoria (which has a big alumni connection to Northern)

would it be worthwhile to go to a cheaper school like this, or pay $$$ to go to a better school? I will be married right before I start school, so my fiance would have to find a new job, etc, which makes me want to stay in the area even more...

advice? what kinda scholarships would I get? would i make more if i go to a better school, to make up for the more money I would be borrowing?

[zemog]

I'm don't know specifically about your school, but I can tell you how it works with my school. 

Depending on your LSAT/UGPA combination, you can fall into a category for your prospective's school where you get a full ride. In my school (it was a 4th tier), you needed something like a 158 and you go a full ride.  Something like a 155-158 for partial ride.  You had to stay in the top 20% and you can keep it.  I would call the school and find out.  That's what I did, and they gladly told me what their scholarship cutoff was.  They couldn't make any promises but they gave me a rough ball park figure. 

At my school, if you didn't get any money in the onset, like you applied late and they ran out of money, or you just didn't make the cut, you can then apply in Spring of each year for the next year's scholarships. 

Generally, people will say that anything outside the t14, it doesn't really matter about ranking.  It's more about location, networking, and the local reputation of that school.  So, if you wanted to work in Los angeles, you would probably want to go to UCLA, USC, or Loyola.   

You can check out www.martindale.com and search under school, government, firm and see look up your specific alumni or specific firms in your area to see where they hire from mostly.  It will take some time but it worked for me.  I emailed some alumni from my school and some local firms in the area I was interested in, and they were more than happy to let me know what I needed to do.   

Also, government jobs usually are not so into ranking as are private firms.  At least that what the Attorney General's office out in california told me.  They said they were more interested in ranking within the school and specifically your legal skills class, and if you made law review. 

Many schools offer pay back to loans for if you do public interest work afterwards.  I would contact your school if you are interested.  Last year at my school, 2 people applied, and 2 people got their loans forgiven. 

If I were you, I would go to the school which is centrally located in the area you will stay. 

[Duner]

I'm curious as to what others think, but i don't think your numbers will get you significant scholarships to any 2nd tier schools unless you're a URM. your gpa would put you in the bottom quarter of most 2nds and your lsat would be in the top quarter to half of most seconds, not typically big scholarship catalysts.
 
as for northern il....beats me for scholarships, but it doesn't appear as your gpa is even w/in the median of their admittances, but you're lsat seems to be in the top quarter which is far more important. personally i'd rather have the debt of any first tier school over a fourth tier school or most thirds. i'd also take the debt of a second tier over a fourth, but that's just b/c i've spent too much time on this site and was caught up in the stigma.

finally, i'm unfamiliar with illinois, but i doubt those numbers will get you into u. of il., and i can't think of other top schools in the state...if you want to stay in illinois, are interested in public law or small firms, from my experience northern il. would still be a very logical choice.

[Jessikally]

My GPA is near the middle for NIU and bottom 25% for u of i. my LSAT is a little above average for U of I and off the charts for NIU...not sure where you got your stats.

[FUD]

fud

[isaacgames]

You are wrong-  He will likely get scholarship offers well into T1.  To go to Northern Illinois, he should not pay a dime. 

I'm curious as to what others think, but i don't think your numbers will get you significant scholarships to any 2nd tier schools unless you're a URM. your gpa would put you in the bottom quarter of most 2nds and your lsat would be in the top quarter to half of most seconds, not typically big scholarship catalysts.
 
as for northern il....beats me for scholarships, but it doesn't appear as your gpa is even w/in the median of their admittances, but you're lsat seems to be in the top quarter which is far more important. personally i'd rather have the debt of any first tier school over a fourth tier school or most thirds. i'd also take the debt of a second tier over a fourth, but that's just b/c i've spent too much time on this site and was caught up in the stigma.

finally, i'm unfamiliar with illinois, but i doubt those numbers will get you into u. of il., and i can't think of other top schools in the state...if you want to stay in illinois, are interested in public law or small firms, from my experience northern il. would still be a very logical choice.

[baseballjones]

What r u talking about scholarship to a tier 1?  He will be lucky to get into tier 1's (not saying it won't happen but would have to apply to alot of them).  Scholarship to tier 2 is fairly likely at a school who hands them out liberally (but probably not a gaurenteed 3 year scholarship) tier 3's and 4's will most likely be drooling over him to give him scholarships.

the reason this question is hard to answer is that schools give out scholarships in varying quantities and amounts, each with their own system and for different criteria.  I happen to go to a high 2nd tier school that hands out scholarships generously and mostly for high LSAT scores.

You are wrong-  He will likely get scholarship offers well into T1.  To go to Northern Illinois, he should not pay a dime. 

I'm curious as to what others think, but i don't think your numbers will get you significant scholarships to any 2nd tier schools unless you're a URM. your gpa would put you in the bottom quarter of most 2nds and your lsat would be in the top quarter to half of most seconds, not typically big scholarship catalysts.
 
as for northern il....beats me for scholarships, but it doesn't appear as your gpa is even w/in the median of their admittances, but you're lsat seems to be in the top quarter which is far more important. personally i'd rather have the debt of any first tier school over a fourth tier school or most thirds. i'd also take the debt of a second tier over a fourth, but that's just b/c i've spent too much time on this site and was caught up in the stigma.

finally, i'm unfamiliar with illinois, but i doubt those numbers will get you into u. of il., and i can't think of other top schools in the state...if you want to stay in illinois, are interested in public law or small firms, from my experience northern il. would still be a very logical choice.