Wayne (50% tuition) v. MSU (Full ride)

[ericptk2000]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to find out what my best option is and need some advice.  I have been given 50% tuition to Wayne State along with a fellowship that is given to a select few incoming students and the presidents of the two law journals and the moot court president along with others who have done very well there.  I need to maintain a 3.25 GPA and can get it back for the 3rd year if I lose it.  The other option is to go to MSU-DCL with 100% tuition and need to maintain a 3.0 GPA and also have the opportunity to get it back if I lose it.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[holler21]

I know more about MSU than I do Wayne, so I don't think I can give you very sound advice as to which one to choose.  One thing that you might want to consider, however, is how each school curves.  For example, if the school curves low (say around 2.6 or so), maintaining a 3.25 will be much tougher than it would be if the curve was higher (say around 2.9).  Obviously you have shown strong potential, otherwise you would not have received these offers, so you probably will not have as great of difficulty in maintaining your grades.  Still, take nothing for granted as I have seen (and heard) of so-called "all stars" lose scholarships because of their moderate academic performance despite their strong LSAT scores (the ability to write is usually the biggest problem).

Either way, congratulations on these offers.  Hope I gave you something to think about.

[gibbsale]

In terms of reputation, Wayne is the better deal. But it is also harder to maintain a 3.25 than a 3.0, and I think that is true for both schools. That is, I think it will be easier to maintain your scholarship at MSU.

 I know many Wayne grads, and they all loved it. Personally, I would choose Wayne.

[jd4me2010]

I would take the full ride at MSU. No debt is much better and whether you are looking to practice outside the state of Mi or inside the state I think that you will get more bang for your buck at MSU. I am in my second semester at Cooley (top 25% of my class) and have talked to a lot of attorneys here in Michigan - many, believe it or not, had rather hire a Cooley grad than one from U of Michigan (no laughs, I'm quite serious). In terms of state reputation Wayne runs behind MSU and Cooley.
Hope that helps!

[bigfatbox]

Neither school's curve will be a picnic.  I would use the offer from MSU to try to negotiate more $$$ from Wayne. If that doesn't work, I'd still go with Wayne if you have in-state tuition. If you lose the scholarship at MSU you will wind up paying a bit more than if you lost it at Wayne. Do not bet on your class rank.

http://www.nalplawschoolsonline.org/

Look up both schools here under "advanced search" to get an idea of how class rank breaks down.

[jcarroll17]

I would take the full ride at MSU. No debt is much better and whether you are looking to practice outside the state of Mi or inside the state I think that you will get more bang for your buck at MSU. I am in my second semester at Cooley (top 25% of my class) and have talked to a lot of attorneys here in Michigan - many, believe it or not, had rather hire a Cooley grad than one from U of Michigan (no laughs, I'm quite serious). In terms of state reputation Wayne runs behind MSU and Cooley.
Hope that helps!

seriously youre told that cooley is more respected than msu??

[ericptk2000]

 

I would take the full ride at MSU. No debt is much better and whether you are looking to practice outside the state of Mi or inside the state I think that you will get more bang for your buck at MSU. I am in my second semester at Cooley (top 25% of my class) and have talked to a lot of attorneys here in Michigan - many, believe it or not, had rather hire a Cooley grad than one from U of Michigan (no laughs, I'm quite serious). In terms of state reputation Wayne runs behind MSU and Cooley.
Hope that helps!

Thanks for all the great advice, if anyone else has insight feel free to send it to me.  I like the NALP school list, it is very helpful.  Also, you have to be kidding about someone preferring Cooley over UofM!! Are they Cooley graduates?

[speaker city]

I agree that it depends on where you want to practice, but if you're at all interested in the Detroit metro area, I would pick Wayne St.  As someone said above, they are much stronger there.  While the full ride sounds good, I tend to be a worst case scenario kind of person, and if you were to lose the scholarships, Wayne would be the better degree to pay for (and cheaper). 

[andrewje]

I would pay first tuition deposits to both for now and then see how MSU does in this year's USNWR rankings.  If MSU goes back to T3 or possibly even T2 (I said possibly) like they hope, then your decision gets tougher.  If MSU still ranks T4, then your decision is easy, IMO. 

[holler21]

I thought MSU was T3...no?