What school would give me a full ride with these stats?

[BigChiefHoho]

I'm reconsidering going to law school (applying in the next cycle) after a couple of years of planning to go to grad school for something else, but I'd sooner not get a ton of debt (I'd rather not be enslaved to BIGLAW to pay off mounds of loans).  I've got about a 3.7 GPA (3.9 in my majors, German and economics), a 171 LSAT, and a Fulbright (TAship, not the full deal, but still a Fulbright).  What kind of school do you think would give me a full ride, and what kind of acceptances and financial aid do you think I'd be looking at from T14 schools?  Thanks a lot for any help you can give me, or any resources you can point me to.

[$Bill]

With a Fullbright, you might as well apply to the whole T14 with an excellent regional or two in the T20 as safeties (if you're interested).  Then just pick and choose.

[mnewboldc]

I'd focus on a select number of t14 schools and then schools from the next rung down (i.e., the Fordhams of NY and the GW's of DC) in the cities where you most likely envision yourself practicing. You should get a hefty aid ride from somewhere. Though it's not an absolute science... I got 75k from Cornell and only 30k from BU.

Without knowing the relative chache of Fulbright TAships vs. Fulbright scholarships, I'd say You have a good shot at aid at any t14 school except HLS, YLS, Columbia and NYU. You might get into one or two of these but I wouldn't expect much aid to be forthcoming.

A good resource for aid info is www.lawschoolnumbers.com. If you search by schools you can get a rough estimate on what sort of numbers will net what type of aid.

UC-B, Cornell and Duke might be your best options for more substantial aid within the t14.

[_retired_]

My LSN.  I think my experience was fairly typical for someone with those numbers, based on what I saw on LSN at the time I was applying.  It also sounds like you've got a stronger application than mine.  It's at least in the ballpark for your T14 scholarship opportunities.

As far as full-rides (or close to it) go, I would think you want to look at BC, BU, USC, GW, W&M, W&L, ND, etc.  Basically the schools ranked in the twenties.  I didn't apply though, so I can't comment from experience.

[Terrible Ivan]

Had comparable numbers as you and got 7 full ride offers at T1 schools, several more with hefty aid packages, and acceptance at 5 T14 schools (a few with partial aid packages). You should do fine. I succumbed to rankings whoredom, but you could choose a respectable school in the top 20 or 30 in the region within which you want to practice who gives you the $$$.

[BigChiefHoho]

Thank you all for being so helpful.   Now, if only I can refrain from being a complete rankings whore (as is my tendency...heh) and getting into massive debt anyway.