Surprisingly I have been offered acceptance at Dartmouth College for the class of 2019! I had previously been all ready to go to my Midwestern state flagship university, as I have been offered a full-ride scholarship/financial aid package there (my family is very low income). My dilemma is that Dartmouth wants my family to pay $9,000 toward my education (our EFC is zero, so how they got that # I know not) how can I justify paying that price? I want to someday go to a top 14 law school, and I know a school like Dartmouth can help with that, but then again I would rather not be in debt from undergrad on-top of my law school debts. Any advice? Thanks in advance!
Decisions: you can definitely make a top 14 law school from your State flagship. If you are certain that law school is your goal I would even encourage it given the financial scenario you describe above. I have three acquaintances / friends who went to Harvard Law School. Their undergraduate schools were an Ivy, a southern flagship, and a Midwestern flagship. You will need to keep your grades very high, you will need to ace the LSAT, and you can further help your chances with complementary ec’s and internships. But you can do it for sure. Congratulations on your accomplishments so far. Best of luck to you in the future.
That’s a tough one. $9K this year. If the FA folks are operating on a percentage basis (and I assume they are), it will be a bit more each year. Graduating with maybe $50K (I’m possibly being pessimistic) is not ideal, but not horrible. That said, law school is going to take an even bigger bite, although there are the public service/debt forgiveness programs – if they survive the next election, but let’s not go there …
Not knowing your circumstances at all, it’s hard to answer your “how they got that #” question. Midwest, you say. Is a possibly valuable farm involved? Your family might have low income but assets. I forget what they target.
There is a form for requesting review of the FA award. Use it. At the very least, you should get an explanation for why they think you should come up with that amount.
As far as law school is concerned, being a top student is good no matter where you go. Well, I guess that has to be qualified a bit, but if you have the desire & ability to be valedictorian at your state flagship school (or at least near that level), you should not worry too much about law school. Maybe not Harvard or Yale, but top 14 offers a lot of possibilities. Also, I don’t think you should look at Dartmouth just for its prestige/pull in applying to law school. I’m assuming there is more to your interest in the college than that. If not, just go to the state school.
For what it’s worth, I hire annual/two-year law clerks every year/every other year. I care less about the school’s “ranking” by US News or whatever as opposed to the applicant’s performance. Some of my best clerks have been top performers at second tier law schools. Undergraduate degrees from Kansas/Iowa/etc. did not stand in their way. (Please note, folks, I am not trying to denigrate those schools; I don’t know what school OP is talking about.)
Bottom line: Ask Dartmouth for more money. If it doesn’t come through, you need to balance the burden of undergraduate debt against the prestige/pull of a Dartmouth degree when it comes time to apply to law school – and what a fantastic time you might have in Hanover.
Kaukauna, thanks for the reassuring post! I know that my parents want me to go to the state school due to their generous aid, plus they accept my many AP credits (Dartmouth accepts none). Everyone else however hears Dartmouth and expect that if I got in I HAVE to go there. Definitely not an position I ever expected to be in haha.
Congrats! You will do great whichever route you choose. Dartmouth is very tough to pass up with that kind of aid. Unless your state school is Michigan, I’d go to Dartmouth. It will open a lot of doors.
AboutTheSame: Thanks for the post, I just visited Hanover for the First Dimension and loved it, and while I was there I talked to FA who said they would review my decision. I just heard back today and it went from 16k to 9k, not as low as I was hoping. I’m glad to hear that undergrad school does not matter as much, mind you the public school I’m considering is I considered a “public ivy” so I’m sure I would get a quality education there as well.
Well decisions I hope others weigh in. Obviously AboutTheSame knows whereof he speaks. If you have specific questions I would think he could answer them. The main thing that bothers me about your situation is how certain you are about law school. Broadly generalizing, I would say the more certain about law school, the more I would recommend the flagship. But I don’t know anything about how important the Dartmouth experience would be for you. I expect you are doing this, but seek out advise from parents, trusted teachers, counsellors etc. We all wish you the best. One thing. When you and your parents make the decision, go full speed ahead in the direction you’ve chosen and don’t look back.
^ Agree with everything kaukauna says here and above.
OP, if your “public ivy” is Indiana, go for it. As much as I love Dartmouth, I can’t see starting out with debt just to go there over a superb state school.
kaukauna said: “Broadly generalizing, I would say the more certain about law school, the more I would recommend the flagship.”
So true. I changed my major four times and my intended career at least twice. Another recent post on a different thread here touched on this. Dartmouth offers so many opportunities if your goals change.
How certain are you about law school? Why are you that certain? I have many thoughts & concerns about young people thinking that law is what they want to do. I won’t go into them here, but you can PM me if you want to have a conversation about what the practice of law is actually about these days. Maybe your mom or dad is a lawyer, and you don’t need a reality check. I’m happy to offer advice, whether you end up at Dartmouth or elsewhere, The fact you were admitted indicates that you have the ability to succeed in whatever you choose to do.