June 22

NAPLA Report Part 2

We left you last week with my notes from the NAPLA Conference on Wednesday and Thursday. But Friday and Saturday were busier days, since many prelaw advisors can't leave their desks earlier.

You!

The first presentation was "Hot Topics," and the hottest topic was you!

• You're rude and arrogant.
• You don't follow instructions.
• You think law school should be dying to have you. (Some of you actually wrote that in your essays, while others simply oozed it in behavior like showing up without an appointment or answering a wait list letter with "you're kidding, right?"

You really need to remember that the people who control your fate are old fuddy-duddies in our 30s, 40s, 50s, and, yes, even 60s. We remember the world of "please" and "thank you," and liked it better than your world of texting, "Hey! Wh R U?" Someday you may rule the world, and your method of communication may become the norm, but in order for that to happen you must learn to play our game.

One admissions officer told the story of receiving a text message saying "HEY! Whn M I going to hear?" She responded, "Right now: rejected."

So I know you're not used to sending letters in a proper business format. I suggest you learn to adapt.

If the admissions staff doesn't get a good vibe, they may google, blog and facebook you. If they find a picture of you drunk and hanging on three half-naked people, you lose.

LSAT No More?

There was some discussion of an experiment of admitting people without an LSAT score. The consensus seemed to be that we'd love to do that, as soon as someone suggests an alternative and equally reliable indicator of performance. Perhaps the new Evaluations (see below) will help serve that purpose.

Financing Your Education

The next panel I attended taught me a lot more than I knew, a lot less than I need to know, and a few things you need to know.

The "More"

The most important idea I took away from this panel is to plan a five year budget for law school, not a three-year plan. Allow at least $5,000 in the year you apply and $10,000 in the year you take the Bar Exam and find a job. Job searches apparently cost a lot of money.

The "Less"

What I didn't learn wasn't the fault of the panel, but of the economy. With so many banks folding, there was a rider to the Federal Health Plan converting some financial aid programs that used to be administered by banks into Federal Direct student Loans. That means you apply for student loans from the government instead of from a bank -- for now. No one knows for how long or what will happen afterwards. Until the feds decide, we're all in the dark. For how long? Until the people who control the economy turn the lights on.

The "Essential"

All Grants Are Not Created Equal!

School A and School B both give you a $10,000 grant. How do you know whether they're equal?

• Look at the amount of debt you need to borrow.
  • If school A costs $45k in tuition and $18k in living expenses (and, as I told you last week, that's for nine months), that's $63k and you have to borrow $53k.
  • If school B charges $38k tuition and $22k living, that's $60k. You're paying ten grand less, with or without the scholarship.
• Look at residency switches at public schools.
  • If school C charges $38k tuition and $22k living, that's $60k. You're paying $50 k in your first year.
  • But can you get residency in your second year? If tuition drops to $22 k for your second and third year, you wind up borrowing only$44k even with no grant.
  • If the school sweetens the deal with an extra $10k in your first year and $5k in your second and third, you're saving a bundle!
• Look at how you keep the scholarship or grant.
  • If you need to be in the top quarter of the class, you have a 25% chance of keeping the loan.
• And PLEASE don't make the stupid mistake of deciding you'll be in the top quarter. 100% of you are planning that.
  • If you need a 3.2 to keep the grant, ask what the school's curve is; a 3.2 may be the top third or quarter of the class.
  • Find out what proportion is need-based; if you land a hot job your 1L summer, will your grant go away?
  • Do you really need to know all of this about your financial aid package? Hey, that's only the beginning!
  • Is the amount the same all three (or four) years, or is it re-calculated based on need or loan-grant ratio each year?
  • Can you even get a grant if you need to remain a fourth year for some reason? Will a leave of absence or switch to part-time change the grant amount

Misconduct Really Does Include....

At the last session of the day I learned that not only is my hard-nosed attitude about misconduct and arrests correct, but that I'm not strict enough!

• Tax liens must be reported.
• Non-custodial arrests must be reported;
  • That means that even if you weren't cuffed and fingerprinted,if you went to court or pled guilty to anything, you probably have to report it.

• Check "yes" to academic probation if your gpa ever went below 2.0 for even a single semester, even if your cumulative gpa stayed high.
• Check your driver's (DMV) record at every state where you lived, went to school, or worked. Check your tax, check, or Quicken records to see what fines you might have paid.
• If you were evicted from an apartment, you may have broken a law; report it.

It's way better to report now than to be caught later.

Coming Soon to an Application Near You!

As I mention in my section on recommendations, LSAC has introduced a new evaluation service. In addition to having recommenders, you'll need "Evaluators" who will have to fill out an additional form about you. It sounds hard, and probably will be for the first three or four times. Then everyone will get used to it. MBA and other graduate programs already have a similar form, so it won't be alien to everyone.

I'm not going to tell you more about it now for the same reason that LSAC isn't unveiling it now: you can't use it to get off a wait list this year. It will debut in September, and not before.

DC Forum Report

It'll take a week to finish reviewing our notes and compile a school-by-school breakdown, but the preliminary report is easy

Overenrolled

Now at this stage a school is supposed to have a few extra, knowing that it will lose them in the next month. But to quote one admissions officer, "I can't tell if I'm normal over or over over."

Until everyone who's holding multiple seats narrows that number down to one, the likelihood of strong movement in the wait list arena is slim.

Applying Too High

You've been applying too high. I've been telling my clients to apply too high. Why? Because while schools have been using the higher LSAT score to admit, LSAC has been reporting the average score. So LSAC may report that a school took 20% of applicants with a 3.5 and a 168, while that school may in fact have taken no one with those numbers. It may be that all of those people took the LSAT twice, got a 165 the first time and a 170 the second time. The school is admitting the 170, but LSAC is reporting the 168.

If you want to check, get the new ABA-LSAC Official Guide 2011. This is the first book to report the higher LSAT score, rather than the average. You may find that your recs and essays weren't all that bad, but you applied too high.

The Ball Stops Rolling

Many applicants have been playing "LSAT Roulette;" that's the game in which you keep rolling the LSAT ball hoping it will land on the number you want. But you're only allowed to take the LSAT three times in two years. In order to play again, you need permission from an admissions officer.

But many admissions officers have learned the same thing that I have: if your nerves, or poor preparation, or a reading disability keep you from performing well three times, they often keep you from performing well the fourth and fifth time, too. So the consensus is becoming, "Three times is enough." Many fewer admissions officers are willing to request an additional LSAT.

What Effect Will That Have?

I think it will mean that median LSAT scores may start to decline, but I'll have to do some serious number-crunching to confirm that hypothesis.

Drop by July 1 to see the results.