- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Mar 31, 2017
- Tue Apr 04, 2017 2:14 pm
#33904
What follows is the transcript of a conversation between a student's parent, Sonya, and one of our Admissions gurus, Dave, regarding Sonya's daughter's law school decision:
Sonya: “Hi! Having a difficult time making a decision. My daughter has several choices: UC Hastings with no money; Univ San Fran and Santa Clara with 85% scholarship; Chapman with full ride. Hastings by far highest ranked but not sure if she should take on the debt. Causing sleepless nights. Help!”
Dave Killoran: “Hi Sonya, It's extremely difficult to choose any school without having a lot of info upfront about the student
Your daughter certainly has some interesting choices, and the first step you should take is to determine the specifics of each school situation. In my response to Mary above, I made a debt/placement analysis for her schools, and that's the first thing you should do as well: use the LST School Reports to determine debt and job prospects: https://www.lstreports.com/schools/. This puts things in a clear picture: what are the costs involved and how does the school do with job placement? For example, Chapman is ranked #134, and their job placement numbers are not that good, and so something like that requires more knowledge about your daughter, such as, what are her career goals? Is she getting a degree because she wants to be a judge? Or a big-time corporate attorney? Because Chapman isn't great for those options. Or, is she looking to take a position at your family law firm? If so, then a full ride at Chapman might just be perfect.
There are other questions out there too--such as the fact that three of those schools are in the Bay Area whereas Chapman is down in Orange County. Where you go to school can have an impact on where she plans to practice, and so we need to better understand her goals here. Basically, to provide advice that is maximally useful, we need to know a LOT more about your daughter Thanks!”
Sonya: “Hi! Having a difficult time making a decision. My daughter has several choices: UC Hastings with no money; Univ San Fran and Santa Clara with 85% scholarship; Chapman with full ride. Hastings by far highest ranked but not sure if she should take on the debt. Causing sleepless nights. Help!”
Dave Killoran: “Hi Sonya, It's extremely difficult to choose any school without having a lot of info upfront about the student
Your daughter certainly has some interesting choices, and the first step you should take is to determine the specifics of each school situation. In my response to Mary above, I made a debt/placement analysis for her schools, and that's the first thing you should do as well: use the LST School Reports to determine debt and job prospects: https://www.lstreports.com/schools/. This puts things in a clear picture: what are the costs involved and how does the school do with job placement? For example, Chapman is ranked #134, and their job placement numbers are not that good, and so something like that requires more knowledge about your daughter, such as, what are her career goals? Is she getting a degree because she wants to be a judge? Or a big-time corporate attorney? Because Chapman isn't great for those options. Or, is she looking to take a position at your family law firm? If so, then a full ride at Chapman might just be perfect. There are other questions out there too--such as the fact that three of those schools are in the Bay Area whereas Chapman is down in Orange County. Where you go to school can have an impact on where she plans to practice, and so we need to better understand her goals here. Basically, to provide advice that is maximally useful, we need to know a LOT more about your daughter
Thanks!”