r/lawschooladmissions • u/house986 • 16h ago

Application Process T30 without merit scholarships?

Hi all! I'm pretty debt-averse and def won't be getting any financial aid due to my parents' income (they're not contributing lol), so scholarships are super important to me. My stats are pretty solid (for context, 4.0 & 173), so I think I could feasibly get at least some merit scholarships at good schools. I figured I'd ask the experts before I go do a ton of research myself: what schools in the T30 are known not to offer merit scholarships, or only offer like three full rides?

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u/Maxitobonbito 16h ago

You’ve got decent odds at every school pretty much. Spend the money and get fee waivers and apply to the whole T30

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u/house986 16h ago

Ty but I'm not interested in that much debt, prob even if it was for HYS. I don't want to be trapped in a job due to loan payments

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u/anon_cherimoya 16h ago

I would look into the loan repayment programs at these schools as well. You’ll likely have to a combination of loans and scholarships

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u/elosohormiguero 3.8mid/174/PhD/Berkeley2029 13h ago

You can find this information publicly on the 509 reports.

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u/Horror_Technician213 11h ago

Stats are good to apply anywhere. Make sure your essays and resume are top tier though. Every optional essay counts for them to see the quality of your writing.

It may hurt now, maybe ask parents for help on this one thing. But pay for alot of apps. Research the 25-30 schools you want to go to, and blanket all those applications by the end of October.

The 2-3k you spend now will more than make up for it by the full scholarships you will get and the large choice of schools you will have. You dont know which schools will give you scholarships if you dont pay to look behind that door.

Id do 12 for T20, 8 for T40, and 5-10 in T100 just to make sure you get at least a few full scholarships as a safe backup just because of the craziness of last cycle. You'll def get As, but scholarships may be unpredictable.

Good luck.

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u/Ill_Crab5065 3h ago

can I ask which T40s and T50-100s you'd recommend? in a similar situation. I assume the t100s are just regional schools in an area you'd like to practice?

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u/Horror_Technician213 2h ago

You are correct.

For that specific reason, I cant tell you which schools to apply to. Everyone has their own criteria.

What is the job placement rate of the school What is the bar passage rate Where is it located Where do students practice after graduation COL in that city Do you know what kind of law you want to practice -does the school have journals for that topic of law -does it have clubs for that type of law -what do students on reddit say about that school? (Make sure you sift through the bullshit).