Sorry for taking this thread so OT with my personal BS lol. I wanted to take a moment to tie the conversation back into sports.

I have seen a lot of talk on here about operating losses in athletic departments being worth it, as a successful athletic department is essentially free marketing. I am a perfect example of how true this is. Had the old Big East never split up, my team would've never shared a conference with great schools like SMU, Tulane and Tulsa, and I would likely have no interest in attending any of them. But playing against the schools every year, coming on this board, etc opened my eyes to not only how great these institutions were academically, but how great the areas they are located in are as well.

To further reinforce this point, I went to an LSAC forum in Manhattan during the fall of 2018. Who was the first school I went up to? Houston, since pulling for them in football had made me start to develop an affinity for the university. (Side note, your representative didn't seem to give a rat's ass about football, which I found shocking considering he was from Texas lol.) Hell, when I went to the Connecticut State Law Fair at Quinnipiac this past September, the first booths I went to were Villanova, Seton Hall and Syracuse because they were all familiar brands from my childhood.

Anyways, as happy as I am to play some more regional teams again next year, I've realized being on a geographic island in conference had some cool little quirks to it. Playing against and rooting for schools I likely wouldn't have known much, if anything about before the formation of the AAC has honestly been fun. I've said it before but I'll say it again, I hope the conference keeps growing and gaining notoriety. It's fun to watch, and some of these universities deserve the spotlight that will come with true "power conference" status.

(01-28-2020 10:31 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 09:39 PM)GoOwls111 Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 05:09 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 04:43 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 04:33 PM)Nameless Wrote:  Thank you!

While I'm on the subject, for any SMU and Tulane fans reading this, I am considering applying to both of your schools. But I know private schools tend to be a little less generous with scholarship money, which is important to me. To fans of each respective school, any info as to whether or not your university tends to give decent financial aid? I know I can find general info on the web but it's nice to hear things from people personally connected to a university.

Thanks in advance!

In my experience, Private schools tend to give MORE scholarship funds, but when it's all said and done, the costs between the private vs the public end up being roughly the same. Tulsa was always really generous with their scholarships. I would look at how much a school increases tuition year to year though. Sometimes you think you have enough scholarships in your freshman year, only to be overwhelmed by your senior year.

Great advice that I will definitely keep in mind. Thanks

Not to suggest something out of what you are already considering, but being from the Northeast, have you looked into Fordham Law School? I know several grads from there that are very happy and successful.

Just a thought...

Thanks for the advice! I actually am well aware of Fordham, it's a great school. Just more looking to get out of the Northeast, preferably down south (although I've been accepted into a grad program in IR out in Cali as well, so that's a possibility too.) There's one school I'm applying to in CT (Quinnipiac, since they have a fellowship that would pay me to go to school there) but other than that I think every school I apply to will be further south than DC

I get it, I want to get out of here more often than not, good call on Quinnipiac... Good luck.

(01-28-2020 10:52 PM)Nameless Wrote:  Sorry for taking this thread so OT with my personal BS lol. I wanted to take a moment to tie the conversation back into sports.

I have seen a lot of talk on here about operating losses in athletic departments being worth it, as a successful athletic department is essentially free marketing. I am a perfect example of how true this is. Had the old Big East never split up, my team would've never shared a conference with great schools like SMU, Tulane and Tulsa, and I would likely have no interest in attending any of them. But playing against the schools every year, coming on this board, etc opened my eyes to not only how great these institutions were academically, but how great the areas they are located in are as well.

To further reinforce this point, I went to an LSAC forum in Manhattan during the fall of 2018. Who was the first school I went up to? Houston, since pulling for them in football had made me start to develop an affinity for the university. (Side note, your representative didn't seem to give a rat's ass about football, which I found shocking considering he was from Texas lol.) Hell, when I went to the Connecticut State Law Fair at Quinnipiac this past September, the first booths I went to were Villanova, Seton Hall and Syracuse because they were all familiar brands from my childhood.

Anyways, as happy as I am to play some more regional teams again next year, I've realized being on a geographic island in conference had some cool little quirks to it. Playing against and rooting for schools I likely wouldn't have known much, if anything about before the formation of the AAC has honestly been fun. I've said it before but I'll say it again, I hope the conference keeps growing and gaining notoriety. It's fun to watch, and some of these universities deserve the spotlight that will come with true "power conference" status.

I'm going to take an educated guess and say that you are still young, if so travel and see what this great country of ours is truly all about, first hand experience is worth every penny spend on travel, I was lucky enough to travel for a living and got to see most of the US, wouldn't trade that experience for anything in the world, .. Again good Luck

(01-28-2020 11:22 PM)GoOwls111 Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 10:52 PM)Nameless Wrote:  Sorry for taking this thread so OT with my personal BS lol. I wanted to take a moment to tie the conversation back into sports.

I have seen a lot of talk on here about operating losses in athletic departments being worth it, as a successful athletic department is essentially free marketing. I am a perfect example of how true this is. Had the old Big East never split up, my team would've never shared a conference with great schools like SMU, Tulane and Tulsa, and I would likely have no interest in attending any of them. But playing against the schools every year, coming on this board, etc opened my eyes to not only how great these institutions were academically, but how great the areas they are located in are as well.

To further reinforce this point, I went to an LSAC forum in Manhattan during the fall of 2018. Who was the first school I went up to? Houston, since pulling for them in football had made me start to develop an affinity for the university. (Side note, your representative didn't seem to give a rat's ass about football, which I found shocking considering he was from Texas lol.) Hell, when I went to the Connecticut State Law Fair at Quinnipiac this past September, the first booths I went to were Villanova, Seton Hall and Syracuse because they were all familiar brands from my childhood.

Anyways, as happy as I am to play some more regional teams again next year, I've realized being on a geographic island in conference had some cool little quirks to it. Playing against and rooting for schools I likely wouldn't have known much, if anything about before the formation of the AAC has honestly been fun. I've said it before but I'll say it again, I hope the conference keeps growing and gaining notoriety. It's fun to watch, and some of these universities deserve the spotlight that will come with true "power conference" status.

I'm going to take an educated guess and say that you are still young, if so travel and see what this great country of ours is truly all about, first hand experience is worth every penny spend on travel, I was lucky enough to travel for a living and got to see most of the US, wouldn't trade that experience for anything in the world, .. Again good Luck

Thanks. Probably young by your standards but old for someone who just finished up their Bachelor's (26) lol

(01-28-2020 10:52 PM)Nameless Wrote:  Sorry for taking this thread so OT with my personal BS lol. I wanted to take a moment to tie the conversation back into sports.

I have seen a lot of talk on here about operating losses in athletic departments being worth it, as a successful athletic department is essentially free marketing. I am a perfect example of how true this is. Had the old Big East never split up, my team would've never shared a conference with great schools like SMU, Tulane and Tulsa, and I would likely have no interest in attending any of them. But playing against the schools every year, coming on this board, etc opened my eyes to not only how great these institutions were academically, but how great the areas they are located in are as well.

To further reinforce this point, I went to an LSAC forum in Manhattan during the fall of 2018. Who was the first school I went up to? Houston, since pulling for them in football had made me start to develop an affinity for the university. (Side note, your representative didn't seem to give a rat's ass about football, which I found shocking considering he was from Texas lol.) Hell, when I went to the Connecticut State Law Fair at Quinnipiac this past September, the first booths I went to were Villanova, Seton Hall and Syracuse because they were all familiar brands from my childhood.

Anyways, as happy as I am to play some more regional teams again next year, I've realized being on a geographic island in conference had some cool little quirks to it. Playing against and rooting for schools I likely wouldn't have known much, if anything about before the formation of the AAC has honestly been fun. I've said it before but I'll say it again, I hope the conference keeps growing and gaining notoriety. It's fun to watch, and some of these universities deserve the spotlight that will come with true "power conference" status.

Classy post.

Good luck.

LOL there are no great academic institutions in the AAC, within the normal definitions. that doesn't mean that graduates from AAC institutions won't go on to great things, and they have.

Seriously SMU and Tulsa. Do you want to have this debate? Great? no? better than your average state university? probably. But do the ROI and it usually doesn't make sense.

(01-29-2020 10:33 PM)pvtlamb Wrote:  LOL there are no great academic institutions in the AAC, within the normal definitions. that doesn't mean that graduates from AAC institutions won't go on to great things, and they have.

Seriously SMU and Tulsa. Do you want to have this debate? Great? no? better than your average state university? probably. But do the ROI and it usually doesn't make sense.

Jesus man, my comment really struck a nerve for some reason eh? Lol.

"Great" is a subjective term. I would consider Tulane (#40 I'm US News 2019) and SMU (#59) to be "great schools" considering there's thousands of schools in the country. I understand USNews rankings are subjective and can be taken with a grain of salt... But to finish well within the top 5% of universities by any measurement is impressive. It's not like the rankings are so skewed by bias it would be difficult to defend their placement.

I know I didn't mention Annapolis and being a Wichita State fan you probably forget about them, but do you really think the Naval Academy doesn't qualify as a "great" academic institution? Lol.

Sorry for complementing a few of the private universities for their strength in academics. I'll make sure I apply to a bunch of **** state schools since my ROI will be the same anyways

(01-28-2020 10:31 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 09:39 PM)GoOwls111 Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 05:09 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 04:43 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 04:33 PM)Nameless Wrote:  Thank you!

While I'm on the subject, for any SMU and Tulane fans reading this, I am considering applying to both of your schools. But I know private schools tend to be a little less generous with scholarship money, which is important to me. To fans of each respective school, any info as to whether or not your university tends to give decent financial aid? I know I can find general info on the web but it's nice to hear things from people personally connected to a university.

Thanks in advance!

In my experience, Private schools tend to give MORE scholarship funds, but when it's all said and done, the costs between the private vs the public end up being roughly the same. Tulsa was always really generous with their scholarships. I would look at how much a school increases tuition year to year though. Sometimes you think you have enough scholarships in your freshman year, only to be overwhelmed by your senior year.

Great advice that I will definitely keep in mind. Thanks

Not to suggest something out of what you are already considering, but being from the Northeast, have you looked into Fordham Law School? I know several grads from there that are very happy and successful.

Just a thought...

Thanks for the advice! I actually am well aware of Fordham, it's a great school. Just more looking to get out of the Northeast, preferably down south (although I've been accepted into a grad program in IR out in Cali as well, so that's a possibility too.) There's one school I'm applying to in CT (Quinnipiac, since they have a fellowship that would pay me to go to school there) but other than that I think every school I apply to will be further south than DC

I got accepted to Baylor(similar to Smu in price) out of high school and their scholarship for a 4 year degree was something like $80,000, and I’m not a genius or anything. SAT was a 1250 and my high school gpa wasn’t all that great

Private schools know they’re competing with public schools for talent so they want the cost to be similar. So while a private my cost 2x as much, if you have a good resume that makes you a desirable student they don’t want money to be the thing that keeps you from admission either, so my advice would be to submit your essays and try and see what money they are willing to invest in you.

Also, Ive had the same experience in being in the American, following schools I would otherwise consider to be like Akron or something if I was flipping thru the channels, but since I do follow them you see the investment and growth happening all around the country.

Good luck to you

(01-30-2020 12:42 AM)vcoog Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 10:31 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 09:39 PM)GoOwls111 Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 05:09 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(01-28-2020 04:43 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  In my experience, Private schools tend to give MORE scholarship funds, but when it's all said and done, the costs between the private vs the public end up being roughly the same. Tulsa was always really generous with their scholarships. I would look at how much a school increases tuition year to year though. Sometimes you think you have enough scholarships in your freshman year, only to be overwhelmed by your senior year.

Great advice that I will definitely keep in mind. Thanks

Not to suggest something out of what you are already considering, but being from the Northeast, have you looked into Fordham Law School? I know several grads from there that are very happy and successful.

Just a thought...

Thanks for the advice! I actually am well aware of Fordham, it's a great school. Just more looking to get out of the Northeast, preferably down south (although I've been accepted into a grad program in IR out in Cali as well, so that's a possibility too.) There's one school I'm applying to in CT (Quinnipiac, since they have a fellowship that would pay me to go to school there) but other than that I think every school I apply to will be further south than DC

I got accepted to Baylor(similar to Smu in price) out of high school and their scholarship for a 4 year degree was something like $80,000, and I’m not a genius or anything. SAT was a 1250 and my high school gpa wasn’t all that great

Private schools know they’re competing with public schools for talent so they want the cost to be similar. So while a private my cost 2x as much, if you have a good resume that makes you a desirable student they don’t want money to be the thing that keeps you from admission either, so my advice would be to submit your essays and try and see what money they are willing to invest in you.

Also, Ive had the same experience in being in the American, following schools I would otherwise consider to be like Akron or something if I was flipping thru the channels, but since I do follow them you see the investment and growth happening all around the country.

Good luck to you

As far as the bolded goes, I've been seeing a mixed bag (probably because it's law school and not undergrad.) Just as an example, Richmond is a top 50ish school and their average scholarship award last year was over 30k, roughly 70% of tuition. Seton Hall gave scholarship considerations to 90% of accepted students that ranged between 10k and a full ride. Others such as SMU and Tulane are a little more difficult to find info on, but I also was unable to meet with a representative from either university, which could also be the reason.

Anyways, thank you for the advice, and encouragement