Cardozo/Fordham/Georgetown/Waitlists

[sartorialism]

Hey everyone,

I was accepted at Cardozo and offered a full scholarship, at Fordham I was ofered a 50% scholarship and Georgetown is offering me a small scholarship. I'm waitlisted at Columbia, NYU, Chicago, UPenn, Duke etc.

What do you recommend I do? Should I take the offers at Cardozo and Fordham and stay on the waitlists, or do I stay with Georgetown, and remove myself from the waitlists? (Georgetown demands a commitment if I accept their scholarship). What would you do in my position?

My first choice is NYU, followed by Columbia, followed by Stanford.

[Maddie]

Hey everyone,

I was accepted at Cardozo and offered a full scholarship, at Fordham I was ofered a 50% scholarship and Georgetown is offering me a small scholarship. I'm waitlisted at Columbia, NYU, Chicago, UPenn, Duke etc.

What do you recommend I do? Should I take the offers at Cardozo and Fordham and stay on the waitlists, or do I stay with Georgetown, and remove myself from the waitlists? (Georgetown demands a commitment if I accept their scholarship). What would you do in my position?

My first choice is NYU, followed by Columbia, followed by Stanford.

FWIW, I would go with Georgetown before either Fordham or Cardozo.  Maybe I just haven't encountered this with any of my schools, but are you 100% obligated to attend GULC, even if you get in off a WL?  I didn't realize some schools did that...

[JeNeSaisLaw]

Yuck, this is a sticky situation. The question is whether or not the risk (i.e. having to go to Cardozo and Fordham instead of GULC) is worth it for the gains you get from going to NYU/Columbia/Stanford over GULC.

That's a toughie. What are your numbers and are you an under represented minority? I think evaluating your chances off of the WL by cross referencing lawschoolnumbers.com is in order.

Also, would you be happy at Cardozo or Fordham? Do you want to work in NY? Must you work in NY? Do you want to work for a large, prestigious firm in NYC?

[sartorialism]

Yes, I'd need to commit 100%.

And while it's not a MUST, I'd want to work in NY.

My LSAT is 172, and my GPA is 4.0. And no, not a minority.

[JeNeSaisLaw]

Did you apply late?

[sartorialism]

Yes, it was late.

[JeNeSaisLaw]

Would you be willing to take a year off? It seems there's little reason for you to not get into NYU and Columbia if you applied earlier than late. Maybe your best option is to not take the GULC offer, wait to see if you get into 1 of the WLs, and if not, take a year off and reapply early.

[sartorialism]

Hmmm. I was considering that. But how can I be sure they'll take me next year? What if they don't, and I'll have just waited an entire year for no reason at all!

[JeNeSaisLaw]

Well does the order for you go: NYU/Columbia/Stanford at the top, then Georgetown, with nothing in between? If so, the risk might be not worth it. However, if you'd also consider Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Berkeley, Michigan, UVA, Duke, Northwestern, Cornell, you have an enormous chance of getting into half of these schools...and a shot at getting them all or all but 2 or so.

You also have a shot at some huge scholarships if you apply earlier.

[sartorialism]

I don't really care much for the other schools on the list... I see Georgetown as the prototype, so once i was accepted there, it's that cluster (with Georgetown as it's representative) vs my top choices (Columbia, NYU, Stanford).