I was accepted at Transy and W&L and it’s coming down to the wire and I’m trying to decide what to do. Transy has given me a generous scholarship and I’d get to play soccer there while W&L has given me no financial aid. I’m applying to be a Bonner at W&L and I’ll do work study if I go but it’ll still be a hefty bill, and I will go into some solid debt. I love W&L and its much more prestigious than Transy and I think I would strive there, but the price causes some uneasiness as I have a little sister who needs to go to college in 2 years (even larger burden on my parents). I want to study Econ/Politics and attend law school (hopefully intern and get a job in DC). Thoughts?
C’mon y’all, help a guy out.
Would you play soccer at W&L?
Transylvania. Take the scholarship. Ace your classes. Law school admissions is much more dependent on GPA and LSAT score than it is on the name of the university on your diploma. Save your debt for law school.
@LBad96 Probably would not play soccer at W&L.
As much as I love W&L, I think I agree with @happymomof1 . If you’re going to have to pay for law school too, it sounds risky to go into debt just for your undergrad
@collegebound1516 I understand where y’all are coming from. I just feel like W&L has more opportunities and I would grow there more during undergrad. Sure the debt sucks but could going to W&L get me into a better law school and then get a better job? Thanks for the responses.
Admission to law school will be about your LSAT and GPA, as @happymomof1 stated. I’d bet you will have a higher GPA at Transylvania because you’re a bigger fish in their pond, and that can only help you for law school. The two campuses will feel pretty similar with white-columned buildings and Greek life. I’d take the scholarship, enjoy playing soccer, and spend your money on a big name law school. That’s the name that will be important for your job prospects.
As I recall, there are very few political science faculty at Transy, and Econ is also a small department; but if you major in Philosophy, Politics & Economics, you have all the combined faculty from which to avail yourself.
And, as previous posters have stated, it’s about the GPA and LSAT scores anyway. Go with the low-debt opportunity at Transy.
I know a female soccer player at Transy, and she loves it there.
To put the debt in perspective, I’d be going into at most, $22K over the 4 years at W&L and would deplete my education savings during undergrad. I’m interested in Georgetown law, Vandy law, or UVA law after undergrad.
W&L is outstanding, but If you will deplete your savings during undergrad and want a law school education that will cost $180K (maybe less if you are instate for UVa), minimizing undergrad debt is critical.
Definitely take Transylvania. Best choice really. May not be nearly on W&L’s level academically but it’s the best value all things considered.
Considering your goals and the fact you’d play soccer at Transylvania, it makes the most sense. You get a better shot at high grades, automatic leadership (through sports), and you don’t run the risk of capsizing your little sister’s ability to choose a college. (We see many parents who overextend for the first child and the second one gets the short straw, forced to commute to whatever is nearest or attend community college, unless the oldest one leaves his/her college to attend the state school, without scholarship due to being a transfer…)
The one exception I see is if you’re staunchly conservative and can’t imagine being at a college that is not as conservative as you are, in which case I’d pick W&L. But for law school the big deal is GPAXLSAT, which need to be as high as possible + low debt if possible.
I just don’t want to sell myself short
When you are admitted to a highly ranked school but find that a less selective school is more affordable, I get that it’s hard. You feel like you are giving up something or settling for less. I promise you that your future success is much more dependent on what you do in college than where you go to college. I also guarantee you, having dealt with student loans that meant my husband and I didn’t buy our first house until our mid-thirties, that getting out of undergrad without saddling yourself with large loan payments will free you in a way you may not be able to imagine now.
If you were planning to major in something highly marketable like computer science or engineering and did not have grad school plans, $22K would not be an insurmountable debt. However, an Econ/Politics major is unlikely to get a high-paying job right out of school (in the event that you don’t go directly to law school), and if you wind up working in DC, the cost of living is so high that it would be doubly difficult to pay back loans.
The other consideration is that with the job market for lawyers having been tough for some time now, the name brand law school grads are the only ones getting good offers. If you graduate summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Transy with leadership experience, you will be a stronger candidate for those big name law schools than someone who graduates in the middle of the pack at W&L. Read Malcolm Gladwell or Frank Bruni on this.
https://ash.myschoolapp.com/ftpimages/401/download/download_1009994.pdf
You won’t be able to afford Georgetown, UVA, or Vanderbilt law schools if you deplete your savings and go into debt just to satisfy your vanity and attend W&L. Here is a link to the rankings and costs (tuition and fees) for law schools: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings. Take the tuition and fees for whatever law school you’re interested in, add $10,000-$12,000 for room and board, then multiply by 3 and round up; that should give you a conservative estimate of the cost of the law schools that you are considering.
Committed to play ball at Transy, thanks for all the help!
Congratulations!
Take Transylvania by storm, and come back to let us know how it’s going. We’ll be rooting for you!
Congrats man, you made the right decision indeed!