money for law school

[aleropower]

I'm new to the forums and would like to ask a question about getting money to pay for law school.  Currently I am practicing for the LSAT and starting applications. My question concerns some of the numbers I have seen on lawschoolnumbers.com concerning the money people are recieving from law schools.  I have noticed that people who have similar LSAT scores and GPAs are getting money from schools like L&C.  They say they are getting 8k a year or 10K and so on.  What does this mean?  Are they being given scholarship money because of LSAT score and GPA?  Does their race play a factor? 

Unfortunately for me I am white, male, and my paretns have a lot of money.  Furthermore, they have no intentions of helping me pay for school.  Are these scholarships common?  Can you get them if you go to a school whose average LSAT is lower than yours?  I have many question about this but I do not know where to start

Thank you for any help

[dunson]

you should check on a case by case basis.  but law schools do offer merit scholarships based mostly (or exclusively) on gpa and lsat.  they want to attract higher than average (their average) quality students, so if you are above the median you might get a bit of cash and if you above the 75 percentile, you can get a lot of money from some schools.  on lsac.org guide you can look at schools by region or an entire list and then click on finances or something.  a column indicates what percentage of their students get half to full tuition scholarships. 

p.s. i'm in a similar position and am also going for scholarship money. 

[legalkitty]

r? 

Unfortunately for me I am white, male...

Yeah, that is a real cross to bear.

[maka nani]

i know right 

[dunson]

i am white and male as well.  it is certainly a fortunate position to be in.  however, i understand the op's point.  and i think it stems from the difficulty in accepting a sacrifice we (the white men who run things) have decided to make in order to make reparations and valuing diversity.  self sacrifice is difficult, especially when everything has been handed to you or at least has come without facing much adversity. 

[maka nani]

 

[legalkitty]

You rock, Maka Nani!!

[maka nani]

   thanks LK! 

[dunson]

 

did i say something wrong?

[ErinKG]

Even though you are white and male, you must have had some interesting experiences in life, right? Play those up on your personal statement. Talk about why you need the scholarship in your scholarship addendum. Be creative. Also, a tip about L&C - rather than focusing on trying to get them to give you more money because other schools gave you some, tell them how much you love the school. What will you bring that others might not? L&C really wants to hear how much you love the school. I have a friend that used to work in the Admissions department there and she confirmed this.

Once you get your first offer, ask for more. Tell them again how great you are, how much you love the school, that you are 100% committed to going but you just need more help, etc.

Good luck!
Erin