I have applied to a selection of colleges I wish to transfer to:
UConn - Accepted
GWU - Still waiting
Fordham - Accepted
NYU - Still waiting
William and Mary - Still waiting
BU - Still waiting
University of Rochester - Still waiting
I attend the University of Missouri and have a 3.76 GPA. I am trying to get into a t14 law school after this.
The unfortunate part of this entire situation is that I have an EFC of $30,000 and the CSS Profile likely would be interpreted as $40,000-45,000. My parents are willing to pay $40,000-$45,000 maximum. I know financial aid is scarce for transfer students, so, based off of any prior knowledge or experience, which (if any) of these schools will be most likely to close this financial gap for me?
I just turned down UConn after being accepted, because they would force me to pay the sticker of $52,000, and that is not worth it to me.
I am starting to thoroughly regret not caring about high school. If you were in this situation, what would you personally advise?
Stay put at U of MO and push that GPA upwards. Law schools don’t care much about where you went to college. They care about your GPA, your LSAT, and your letters of recommendation. Your parents can save their money to help you pay for law school.
I want to believe, but I feel like this may not be the case in my circumstance. Maybe if I went to a public school in the top 100, but I do not even have that.
It also feels unfair. I am definitely overqualified for my current school, and after I graduate I will have to look at my degree and where it’s from in shame. I have no doubt my GPA will be high and my LSAT will be high, but once I get to a law firm, I will be the one that went to a poor school.
There’s no reason to be ashamed of attending Mizzou. They have a great journalism school m, the best in the US - if you want pride, try to get into that school. Or transfer to Truman State, which is well-known for it’d academic quality and will definitely help you get into Law School if you double major in philosophy and political science or economics.
Other possibilities include Hendrix, Rhodes, Drake, Butler - all should be within budget.
Once you graduate law school, no one cares about where you went undergrad.
No college degree should be looked at in shame. Read some of the posts from kids who have parents who refuse to pay for college - or whose families have no means to send them to college - and be thankful you have parents who are supporting you while you earn your undergraduate degree. Take the most challenging courses you can and push yourself. A school like Mizzou must have a decent percentage of top-performing students - seek them out.
Focus on kicking is in your remaining time at Mizzou and getting the highest LSAT score you can. And focus on how you will pay for law school on top of undergrad - if your parents are willing to help pay for law school, will they have any money left if they max out on paying for an expensive undergrad?
Yesterday you wrote your EFC is $30k and your parents would pay $40-45k. You need to be sure what they’re comfortable paying because transfers generally don’t get much aid.
Well, the EFC changed to $30000 now and they say they can pay 40-45. They also say, however, that they will not help me pay for law school in any way, so that is completely my problem (which is fine).
It just aggravates me that I can get into Fordham, probably GWU and William and Mary and yet I could be stuck in the honors college here majoring in Philosophy.
You’re not applying to the right schools if you want schools within budget.
You’ve got Truman state instate that’s a really top public school. GWU has lousy aid and is in the top 3 most expensive schools in the country. I ddon’t think Fordham offers much aid to transfers and W&M has no financial aid for OOS applicants.
If you want to transfer, transfer to schools within budget - UMN, Indiana U, UWisconsin, Penn State, Rutgers, keeping in mind that you may NOT get into the Honors College there (or may have to prove yourself for a semester).
Honors College at Mizzou isn’t bad. And if you’re craving prestige, get a double degree or a minor from the J-school.
Do you not think William and Mary is worth the money? I also doubt any of those public schools will be affordable because I was accepted to UConn, which about in the same tier, and it was ridiculously expensive
Do you suffer from not wanting to be a member of any club that will have you? I think there is something more to your feelings about your university. This has less to do with the university than it has to do with the gray-colored glasses through which you see things. I have a hunch this type of thinking affects other areas of your life too.
Stay where you are. Achieve more. Double major. Do research. Be the president of a club or a campus leader in other ways. Graduate with honors. After you graduate law school nobody will care where you went to undergrad. If I met someone who went to University of Missouri then to law school at GW, Fordham, Hastings, Yale, or NYU, to name some examples, I would just think that that person grew up in Missouri and attended his state school.
By the way, the suggestion to double major in journalism along with your philosophy major is an excellent idea. Write for the campus paper. Achieve a leadership position there.
Your discourse on Mizzou on this thread at least sounds very negative, whereas you’re in the Honors College and doing well, all because you think you could “do better”.
If you want to attend “better” universities, look for universities that cost 40-45K or so. Not universities that cost 60K, 65K, 70K. Make a better list. People here have suggested some - look into them, apply. Once you have your acceptances, make your choices based on affordability.
W&M is very different from Mizzou. If your parents have the money and you get into W&M, why not go indeed. But I hink it’s currently 52K OOS, so, out of budget.
If you want to leave Mizzou, find affordable schools for the very generous budget provided by your parents.
Instead of focusing on transferring, focus on keeping the GPA high and doing well on the LSAT, so that you can get admitted to a top 14 law school. See http://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/ .