Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Cooley is in play...

Although scholarship determinations are made on a rolling basis, I don't think I'll be getting a scholly to UT.  I really like the internet age when it comes to applying for schools.  Basically, all the law schools go by the same credential assembling service.  So, they can evaluate me for scholarships, etc., without me ever officially applying.

I have scholarship offers to three schools.  Ave Maria is one, in Florida.  Oddly, they used to be in Ann Arbor.  The other is Phoenix College of Law, which is in Arizona.  Love to go there, but I can't.  The third is from Cooley.  I already qualify for a 75% scholarship at Cooley based on my LSAT score. 

However, I am almost certain I can re-take the LSAT and get a better score that would qualify me for a 100% scholarship.

The idea is actually growing on me quite a bit.  UT is affordable for a law school, but it's still $20 grand a year.  With the scholarship, even at 75%, Cooley is less than half that price.

That's the pros of Cooley.  The cons are that it's perceived as a really bad law school and that it's farther away.  Figure University of Toledo Law is about 15 minutes away.  Cooley is more like 50.

As for being perceived as a bad law school, though, the rankings just came out and Toledo placed in the 4th tier.  (That's the worst schools in the country.)  So, yeah, Cooley isn't considered to be very good, but Toledo isn't either.

I was sort of resigned to just taking out the loans and going to Toledo, but now, I'm not so sure.  $60,000 is a heck of a lot of money, especially considering that I don't think I'll be offerred a job after all this.  (Hiring market is just awful and the best jobs don't want a guy who's almost 50).

I mean, yeah, MBAs aren't quite the quants that engineers are, but even my meagre business math courses give me the ability to see that "free" is preferrable to $60,000.

Now, Cooley has some advantages that actually probably contribute to it's bad rankings.  For one, they cater to a largely nontraditional student base, meaning they have a lot more flexible schedules, etc.  The caliber of students isn't considered to be very selective at all.  That, of course, probably means an easier curve to try and climb.

Now, to make this happen and get free tuition, I would need to re-take the LSAT.  I know exactly what happened last time.  Other than the logic portion, I beat the living piss out of those sections.  The logic portion, I had poor time management and got flustered by a tough question.  Based on my performance, I guessed that I got a 160, and when the results came in, I got a 159.  So, I think I have a firm grasp on what I did and how I did it.

I should spend some time practicing for the logic section.  I basically went into the last one cold, after having just gone over one sample exam.  I think I can bring the score up to something in the ballpark of a 166, maybe a tad higher.  That would get me a full ride at Cooley.

Now, I have no illusions about landing a job after Cooley.  That will pretty much seal my fate as far as that's concerned.  However, it will allow me to sit for the bar and it will allow me to practice.

Ultimately, if I just hate Cooley and feel like I made a mistake, I can always transfer to UT Law and finish out, there.

The only thing I could ever see being a drawback to Cooley is that if I wanted to transfer, it might be a little easier from Toledo, but based on their fourth tier ranking, I think that is probably not that big of a factor.  Plus that only matters if I transfer.  Because of my geography, I doubt I'll be transferring anywhere.

I have a lot of time to think about this.  Toledo wants me to reserve my seat on April 1st with a deposit, but I'm going to let that deadline come and go.  I may shoot them a note explaining that although I'd love to attend, the lack of a scholarship means that I'm evaluating my other acceptances.

As for passing the bar, I think the best quote about that is, "Law School isn't supposed to be a 3 year barbri course".  A lot of the better schools actually have lower bar passage rates than their less prestigious counterparts.  So, I think if I study and take barbri, I'll do just fine.

The other thing is, with a full-tuition scholly and flexible class schedules, Cooley may actually work better if my life takes a turn for the worse (financially), like it shows every indication of doing.

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