Good information re Scholarships from South Florida Schools

[jtgain]

Talked to a few adcomms last night, and here are the results:

Florida International University:  Does not offer full tuition scholarships anymore. Maximum award is $10,000/yr, which would leave a Florida resident with about a $2,000/yr bill at the end.

U Miami:  If you have a 160LSAT and a 3.4GPA, you will most likely receive merit aid.

Nova Southeastern:  New dean nixed all full tuition scholarships.  If you have a 3.2GPA and a 154 LSAT, you get $10,000/yr in scholarships. A 156LSAT gets you $15,000/yr, and a 158LSAT gets you $20,000 yr.  This is max award.

I asked, "What if I have a 180LSAT, a 4.0GPA from Harvard, and save small children and puppies in my free time?"  Doesn't matter, the most I get at Nova is $20,000/yr, leaving me on the hook for $12,000/yr.

I threw all of my Nova materials in the garbage.

[Ninja1]

Good call trashing Nova. I'd be concerned about anywhere that gives scholarships in a similar fashion to Florida Coastal.

[jtgain]

Good call trashing Nova. I'd be concerned about anywhere that gives scholarships in a similar fashion to Florida Coastal.

It disappointed me.  I've heard for years that Nova is taking steps to improve its reputation.  One of the top things that will improve a school's reputation is attracting quality students into your program.  By eliminating full scholarships, and leaving even your best students with a $12,000/yr tuition bill, you are making the statement that "We want money now". 

They have a very short term outlook, and along with their summer program that lets unqualified students pay a huge sum of money to flunk out of 1L three months later shows a lack of committment to the study of law and a desire to rip as much money out of students as possible.

[Ninja1]

As Florida International is rising, Nova is falling.

Nova used to be the 5th best law school in Florida and the obvious best choice for the Miami market if you couldn't get into the big three or Stetson. However, with FIU showing up a few years ago and outperforming Nova right out of the gate, the game is changing. It's just a matter of time until FIU is considered the clear cut 5th best law school in Florida (maybe even fighting it out with Stetson for 4th) and Nova is relegated to the "all the rest" group.

I suspect that the Nova administration is aware of this and they're trying to milk as much cash as they can out of their name while it's still worth something. Sure it will @#!* up their numbers when people turn them down for comparable schools that are giving them better deals, but big deal, their numbers are going to probably trickle down over time as FIU poaches most of the better students with their lower tuition and improving name value anyway. If that's the case, it's actually very pragmatic of Nova to just eat a numbers hit over the next few years, get it out of the way, and save some cash.

[jollyrog]

Good call trashing Nova. I'd be concerned about anywhere that gives scholarships in a similar fashion to Florida Coastal.

By eliminating full scholarships, and leaving even your best students with a $12,000/yr tuition bill, you are making the statement that "We want money now". 

They have a very short term outlook, and along with their summer program that lets unqualified students pay a huge sum of money to flunk out of 1L three months later shows a lack of committment to the study of law and a desire to rip as much money out of students as possible.

That very summer program caused me to toss Nova's info into file-86 18 yeas ago. IMO, their priority is making as much money as they can.

So, here I am again taking another kick at the can in September, but none of the Florida bottom-feeders are on any of my lists.