Scholarship Negotiation at Cardozo

[elinds13]

Hello!

I completed all of the applications at the end of November and am starting to get responses from schools. I know I most likely want to go somewhere in NYC, and my top pick (unless a miraculous NYU acceptance and scholarship) is Cardozo. I thought I had a chance at securing close to a full ride at Cardozo based on past stats, but have just heard back from them this morning to only receiving an annual $35,000 grant. I know this is the school I want and want some advice on how to begin the scholarship negotiation process and maybe some tips on big outside scholarship possibilities.

A bit about me: I have a 3.94 undergrad GPA, 164 LSAT, currently taking a gap year working at a small law firm, applied for full-ride public interest scholarships at many schools.

So far, I have received the following offers:
St. Johns- Full Tuition (stay in top 80% of class)
Suffolk Law - Full Tuition (unconditional)
George Washington -$23,000 per year (unconditional)
Cardozo - $35,000 per year (unconditional)

Still waiting on responses from UPenn, NYU, Duke, Cornell, Georgetown, Boston University, Fordham, Boston College, Northeastern

I would really prefer not to have to take the LSAT again, but if you think that's my best bet to get close to a full-ride negotiation, I would consider it. I really appreciate any advice you have for me!

Thank you!

[elinds13]

Hi again!

I wanted to add that I took the LSAT-Flex 3 times already, July (162), August(163) and October(164). I had been performing much better on my practice tests before the October test getting scores in the upper 160s to lower 170s, so I think nerves got the best of me there knowing it was my last test before sending in applications. So, if your advice is to retake the LSAT, I would love some advice on scoring a bit more consistently and getting the scores on an actual test closer to what I am getting in practice.

Thanks again!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi elinds13 ,

Thanks for the message!Congrats on the acceptances and offers—that's fantastic! First, you are looking at a slow cycle, and many of the offers I'm seeing so far are lower than normal. Schools are wary of what they are seeing and their financial offers so far seem to be on the conservative side. Second, I've had a few students get into Cardozo, and your offer isn't out of line with theirs at this point. And last, at this point you don't have a great "comparison" offer to use as leverage. Cardozo won't care about St. Johns and Suffolk as they will see them as "lower" schools, and GW is also not a good comparison, for the opposite reason. In Cardozo's eyes, their number will look competitive.

The above three points suggest that while you can open up a negotiation with them right now, I'm not convinced it would be successful. I'd think you might need to wait for Fordham in particular to come in, and possibly Northeastern too.

On the point of the LSAT, I can understand your hesitation to retake. But, barring really positive offers from the two schools I named, you won't have a lot of leverage this cycle. Given that you were scoring higher than any of your official results prior to your last attempt, it sure seems like you could go back in, not spend a huge amount of time prepping, and try to ease the pressure knowing that if it doesn't go well, you'll just cancel. Sometimes that pressure release of knowing it's not a huge deal makes a world of difference!

Thanks!

[elinds13]

Hi Dave,

I just wanted to give an update here. I ended up retaking the LSAT in February bringing my score to a 166! I also got into Fordham with a $25,000 per year scholarship and Northeastern with $50,000 per year. I have since negotiated with Cardozo to $50,000 per year after only one attempt at reaching out. Fordham was a bit stingy and only increased my scholarship to $30,000 per year, but I heard that Fordham isn't really open to negotiations this year, so any increase is impressive. Still waiting to hear from Northeastern and GW about negotiations and from BC, NYU, UConn, and PennState about admissions/scholarships (sent last minute applications to these last two).

I wanted to put this here in case anyone else comes across it so they can see that it doesn't hurt trying to negotiate and definitely is helpful to retake the LSAT if you want some extra leverage(Fordham literally told my my new LSAT was the deciding factor for an increase). I also believe this retake helped me get on waitlists at schools like Duke and BU. With all of this, I ended up with a lot of great options! Now comes the hard part of picking which school to choose and place my deposit down at in the next couple weeks. The LSAT retake was definitely the right choice. Thanks for the advice, Dave!

[Administrator]

Hi Dave,

I just wanted to give an update here. I ended up retaking the LSAT in February bringing my score to a 166! I also got into Fordham with a $25,000 per year scholarship and Northeastern with $50,000 per year. I have since negotiated with Cardozo to $50,000 per year after only one attempt at reaching out. Fordham was a bit stingy and only increased my scholarship to $30,000 per year, but I heard that Fordham isn't really open to negotiations this year, so any increase is impressive. Still waiting to hear from Northeastern and GW about negotiations and from BC, NYU, UConn, and PennState about admissions/scholarships (sent last minute applications to these last two).

I wanted to put this here in case anyone else comes across it so they can see that it doesn't hurt trying to negotiate and definitely is helpful to retake the LSAT if you want some extra leverage(Fordham literally told my my new LSAT was the deciding factor for an increase). I also believe this retake helped me get on waitlists at schools like Duke and BU. With all of this, I ended up with a lot of great options! Now comes the hard part of picking which school to choose and place my deposit down at in the next couple weeks. The LSAT retake was definitely the right choice. Thanks for the advice, Dave!

Hi elinds13!

Thank you for your post, and congratulations on your acceptances and scholarship $$$! You are proof that any extra points on the LSAT can make a huge difference, especially in such a competitive cycle.

We are here to help for anyone that needs assistance with boosting their LSAT score or scholarship negotiation! Just email contact@powerscore.com and we will be happy to figure out which service is best for you .

Thanks and congratulations again, elinds13. We hope that you continue to receive good news from the other schools. Let us know if you need anything else in the meantime.

Thank you!

Julie Lipscomb
Director of Tutoring and Admissions
PowerScore Test Preparation
1-800-545-1750

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Dave,

I just wanted to give an update here. I ended up retaking the LSAT in February bringing my score to a 166! I also got into Fordham with a $25,000 per year scholarship and Northeastern with $50,000 per year. I have since negotiated with Cardozo to $50,000 per year after only one attempt at reaching out. Fordham was a bit stingy and only increased my scholarship to $30,000 per year, but I heard that Fordham isn't really open to negotiations this year, so any increase is impressive. Still waiting to hear from Northeastern and GW about negotiations and from BC, NYU, UConn, and PennState about admissions/scholarships (sent last minute applications to these last two).

I wanted to put this here in case anyone else comes across it so they can see that it doesn't hurt trying to negotiate and definitely is helpful to retake the LSAT if you want some extra leverage(Fordham literally told my my new LSAT was the deciding factor for an increase). I also believe this retake helped me get on waitlists at schools like Duke and BU. With all of this, I ended up with a lot of great options! Now comes the hard part of picking which school to choose and place my deposit down at in the next couple weeks. The LSAT retake was definitely the right choice. Thanks for the advice, Dave!

Awesome, that's fantastic! It is amazing what a changed LSAT score will do, isn't it? But credit to you for retaking and posting that higher core. Clearly worth it!