How to Get a Full Scholarship to Law School

How to Get a Full Scholarship to Law School

It’s no secret that law school is expensive. Between tuition costs, books, and room and board, many students graduate with significant debt. For this reason, many students look for ways to reduce their expenses while in school. However, there’s one foolproof way to minimize your debt upon graduation: get a full scholarship to law school! Read on to learn some strategies for getting a full ride.

How to Get a Full Scholarship to Law School

How Rare Are “Full Rides” in Law School?

Almost everything about law school admissions is competitive, especially scholarship money. If you are hoping to get a full scholarship to law school, you should know that they are usually limited to the top applicants at a particular school. At best, only a handful of people out of a class of hundreds will be awarded a full scholarship. Someone at your school will get a full-ride — it might as well be you!

For precise data on how many students received scholarships to a school in recent years, check out their ABA 509 Required Disclosure. If you’re not familiar with these, check out JD Advising’s article in the National Jurist on how to read the ABA 509 Reports.

How Can You Maximize Your Chances of Getting a Full Scholarship to Law School?

Like admission, full scholarships are a numbers game. If you are shooting for a full ride, you will probably need a GPA and LSAT score that are well above the median for your school. Here’s where strategy comes in: if your priority is getting as much scholarship money as possible, you should tailor your application list to this goal and target schools where your GPA and LSAT are above the 75th percentile for that school. This is not only likely to guarantee admission but it greatly increases your chance of seeing some award money.

Is It Possible to Get a Full Scholarship to Law School Without Top Numbers?

While an excellent GPA and LSAT score will increase your chances of scholarship money, you may be able to get a full-ride even without them if you do your research. Some schools offer full scholarships based on specific criteria based on your personal background, future career, and other factors. Schools are always looking for a vibrant and diverse study body. They may be offering scholarship awards to candidates that fit certain criteria based on those targetted factors and not on merit (GPA and LSAT) alone. Private scholarship foundations are also a possible source of funding — you never know what you might find!

In many ways, getting a full scholarship is like finding a golden ticket. These tips will help you increase your chances of receiving good scholarship news in the future.

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