Emory People Generally Talking Amongst Ourselves

[Captain]

I'm an Emory 2L. I'll toss my hat into the ring here too.

(1) Don't pick a school because you think it will have an awesome student body
This is going to differ every year for your school.  Our 1L class is markedly different from our 2L class socially.

Seriously dude. This year's 1L class is LAME. The 3L's are more in-line with my class socially, so there is some continuity. Not all of you guys are socially incompetent though, I still have hope for class.

(2) Keep in mind that people on here are unique and have different perspectives
The second day of school some of my classmates were stressing.  At week 7, I am not stressed at all.  Some people think the people at the school are total alcoholics and not serious.  Some others think we don't go out enough.  It's all about where you come from and what your personality is like.

Who thinks we're alcoholics? What a loser . . . 1L isn't hard, it's all about institutionalized stress. I refused to participate in that (and if you keep up that trend, it sounds like you won't either), and I did just fine.

(3) I wouldn't look much into what the undergrad population of various schools is like, nor the general population of the surrounding city.  I'm pretty outgoing, but neither I nor really any of my classmates has a real group of friends outside the law school.

Yeah, for the most part, you have to bring your non-law friends with you. I have a friend outside the law school who happens to be one of my undergrad friends who also moved to Atlanta after college. I still mostly hang out with law people though.

Various groups try to organize mixers with other grad students, but that really doesn't result in too many lasting friendships.

[Captain]

What are the scholarship cutoffs?

It's going to change every year, and the GPA/LSAT scores are most likely going to go up a little every year.
. . .
I'm not sure how much of an effect this had on our 25-75 rankings.  Also, before someone asks, I don't know much about this year's numbers other than that our median GPA is about 3.55 and LSAT is "92%" (my LSAT was 166 and I was 93%, FWIW).

Your class's median LSAT is 165. Median GPA is 3.55. I signed up to give tours, so they tell me these things. Medians for my year were slightly lower, something like 164/3.45-ish.

The current 1L class' scholarships were bigger than those offered to my year, FWIW.

[Number81]

I remembered you posting on here last year.  I'm trying to figure out who you are!


But yeah, the 1L class this year is like two-tiered.  We have a group of maybe 70-100 or so people that go out at least twice a week and are a lot of fun, and then we have people that do nothing but read cases.

[Captain]

Where do most Emory student say they want to go?  To clarify, what is the consensus geographical and concentration preference (if any)?  Also, does Emory offer anything above full tuition scholarships (such as a stipend) and if so, what kind of numbers do you need to get it (or, selfishly I'll cut to the chase and say will my numbers make me competitive for it?)

Emory places MOST students in Atlanta and the southeast. That said, students are interested in, and do go all over the country. You probably need to be in the top 25% to top 1/3 in the class to be guaranteed your choice of firms in any given market. Emory has a rep. in Atlanta of having a lot of kids go back north, so if you have a "northern" resume, Georgia firms will be wary of you. Also, a lot of smaller markets like to see some connection.

FWIW, I have a summer associate position lined up in New Jersey. A lot of my classmates are going to be working in NY or DC as well.

Emory has the Woodruff Fellowship, which covers tuition and fees plus a $3000 stipend per year.

Finally, could you justify going to Emory over a better school (let's say 11-16 range) if it saved you $40,000+?

If Emory were free, I'd take it, but in this Economy, I'd play it safe.

Would you classify Emory as a school, which is primarily interested in GPA/LSAT score?

Aren't they all?

What LSAT score do you think I need to get into Emory with a GPA of 3.71 (LSAC GPA)? How low is too low?

A 165 should seal the deal for you. That was the median this year, but your LSAC GPA is higher than the median of 3.55. That said, you might be able to go as low as 164 to be safe. I don't know if they will give you any special consideration as an international student, I would assume that there is some "diversity bonus in there, but I still wouldn't stray too far from the medians.

Emory, like most schools puts more weight on the LSAT than on GPA these days.

I remembered you posting on here last year.  I'm trying to figure out who you are!

Everyone knows who I am. 

[,.,.,.;.,.,.]

I wouldn't worry about the people who read cases all day.  We have them at my school, too, and all of the upperclassmen tell me that they don't do better than others.

Besides, it's not like there's gold in the cases.  Most of them are relevant for their holding and some reasoning -- nothing more.

[Sarahpi]

(I'm probably going to post this dilemma over on a general financial aid thread, but I'd love to get an Emory-person's read on it.)

In brief- Emory is my first choice, by far. My LSAT is 174, and last year they gave out the highest scholarships to people in the 166-167 range, with higher-scoring applicants getting less money. I totally get this from a yield/average-boosting perspective. But in my case, I will definitely attend, and I obviously want as much aid as possible.

So, do you think it would be worth bringing this up at some point? I'm thinking of requesting a meeting with a financial aid representative when I visit the campus, and letting them know that Emory is my definite top pick and I will definitely enroll, if given enough financial aid to make it feasible. I don't want to say I'll enroll no matter what, since in that case they might just give me no aid at all; but truly, I will enroll if it's at all possible.

Thoughts?

[Refused Party Program]

For those of you interested in Woodruff, I can tell you the range of extras from all those who were considered last year because I met them all when they came up for Woodruff weekend. I also know many of them from my class. Most have something that was really unusual. A few had PhDs. One had been in Iraq. More than one was into law and religion, which is a focus here. Many had a very strong interest in public interest and the background backed that up. Almost all had some sort of work/life experience. I do think it is more than numbers, but numbers are important as well. Most of the candidates had opportunities at top 10 schools.

I don't know if would say the 1L class is "LAME" but I do get a more serious vibe from them. I'm heavily involved with one the student orgs and many 1Ls were straight up rude to me because the org wasn't going "to do something from them." However, I know many that are very cool, very down to earth people, and I am very happy they came to Emory because they will go out in the world and help give our school a good name.

I also want to piggy back on what Captain said about Atlanta firms: if you aren't from these parts but want to work in Atlanta, you better say in your interview that you are ONLY looking in Atlanta. They are sensitive about that. Ironically, it seems many of the people I know (myself included) had better luck in NYC than here.

[Number81]

(I'm probably going to post this dilemma over on a general financial aid thread, but I'd love to get an Emory-person's read on it.)

In brief- Emory is my first choice, by far. My LSAT is 174, and last year they gave out the highest scholarships to people in the 166-167 range, with higher-scoring applicants getting less money. I totally get this from a yield/average-boosting perspective. But in my case, I will definitely attend, and I obviously want as much aid as possible.

So, do you think it would be worth bringing this up at some point? I'm thinking of requesting a meeting with a financial aid representative when I visit the campus, and letting them know that Emory is my definite top pick and I will definitely enroll, if given enough financial aid to make it feasible. I don't want to say I'll enroll no matter what, since in that case they might just give me no aid at all; but truly, I will enroll if it's at all possible.

Thoughts?

I definitely agree with Reez.  A couple people on LSN got 90k scholarships with 170's, and I'm guessing it was because they wrote letters showing interest.  Basically, I think it works out like this:
You apply, get accepted, get 75k.  You write, very frankly, that Emory is honestly your top pick even though you are aware you can get into a T10 school and you know that people with lower scores got more money than you and you just want to be equal and plan to attend if that is the case.  They'll give you the money.  Call if they don't, but they will.

I think the issue is that they wanted to provide a compelling offer, but they knew people weren't going to attend with 170's, so they wanted to keep some of the money freed up.

Also, this is assuming the adcomm works in a way similar to how it did last year...

[Refused Party Program]

Were you the guy sitting at the Health Law Society table?  I wasn't being rude.  It was witty banter.

Thats a negative. Honestly, I'm just an old curmudgeon that think kids these days have it easy and have a false sense of entitlement. I'm kidding, but only a little. Getting questions like "why should I join your club, what are you going to do for me?" and being serious about it, is a little ridiculous if you ask me. You should be asking what you can do for the club, not what if can do for you!

For all of those 0Ls out there, I'm pleased with Emory, and frankly, looking at my job prospects, I couldn't ask for anything better, so I'm glad I took the money and ran. I really love Atlanta. Certain professors I have had are outstanding. With the money they throw around, coupled with the low cost of living here, I don't think there is a better value out there for students with "Emory type numbers."

[JeNeSaisLaw]

I'm not asking this question to be a male private part or anything, but how are things working out with career services? That made me very nervous last year.