Appendix B: The Offer Scorecard and the Reckoning
The 2 instruments from the book, reproduced for use. Copy them onto a page, or download fillable versions at unpluggedprep.com/books.
The Offer Scorecard
One column per school you’re seriously considering. Fill the 4 rows from the chapters noted, then write the deciding sentence.
| Row | Where it comes from | School 1 | School 2 | School 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net price (3 yrs, after aid, in that city) | Chapter 6 | |||
| Outcomes (bar-required %, for my market and target job) | Chapter 3 | |||
| Fit (the test drive read: people, place, programs, placement) | Chapter 7 | |||
| The deciding sentence | Chapter 8 |
The deciding sentence format: “School A costs $______ more, all-in, than School B, for an employment profile that is [better / the same / worse] in the market I actually want.” Write it, date it, and let it hold.
A filled example (Tasha, from chapter 8)
| Row | School X (coastal, famous) | School Y (my city) |
|---|---|---|
| Net price | ~$185,000 | ~$70,000 |
| Outcomes | 84%, mostly its own market | 90%, into my city |
| Fit | Fine, competitive, not my city | Collaborative, my clinic, my city |
| Deciding sentence | “School X costs about $115,000 more, all-in, for a worse placement into a market I don’t even want to live in.” → Y |
Numbers illustrative. The card doesn’t pick “cheaper.” It just makes the trade visible and leaves the call to you. Run your own.
A note on reading the filled card. When the rows agree (one school wins on price and outcomes and fit), sign and don’t overthink it. When they conflict (cheaper here, better outcomes there, better fit somewhere else), the card has done its job. It made the conflict clear. You resolve it the way chapter 8 taught. Put the price gap in dollars. Ask whether the outcome or fit advantage is worth that many dollars. Then write the deciding sentence that names the trade. The Scorecard doesn’t spit out a winner for you. It lets you see all 3 things at once, in real numbers, so the trade you make is one you chose on purpose.
The Reckoning self-assessment
From chapter 2. Rate each statement 1 (not me) to 5 (exactly me), honestly. Don’t total it; the debrief is the point.
- If two schools had identical costs and outcomes, I’d take the higher-ranked one without a second thought. (rank-anchoring)
- I’ve already told people where I’m probably going. (social sunk-cost)
- I’d feel embarrassed to attend the less famous of my options, even if it were free. (prestige-chasing)
- I picture the title and the respect more clearly than the actual daily work. (motivation drift)
- The school I’m leaning toward, I’d struggle to name its employment rate for the job I want. (readiness)
- I can describe, in a sentence, the job I want, and name two schools that place into it. (reverse-scored: a 5 here is good)
The two questions that cut through everything:
- Imagine you never started. No fees paid, nothing told, clean slate. A stranger offers you a seat at exactly these schools at exactly these prices, today. Do you take it?
- Would you pay your own tuition, in cash? No loans. Every dollar from money you already have. Would you still go, at this price, to this school?
Your bands: Low on the biases, clear target, confident yes to the sunk-cost question = Green, you’re buying for your reasons, go read the data. One bias heavy, especially rank or prestige = Yellow, the next two chapters are your antidote. Motivation drift, a flinch on the cash question, or “no, but I’ve come this far” = Red, you may be buying something you don’t want; sit with the two questions for a day before you compare a single school.
Write it down, date it: today’s date, the job you want, your band, your one-sentence cash answer. Return to this page after you decide.
The Walk-Away Worksheet
From chapter 6. Fill it in before offers land, in the calm. Then re-run lines 4 through 10 on every offer. A fillable copy lives at unpluggedprep.com/books.
Line 1. My why-law sentence: ______
Line 2. My realistic starting salary (my job, my city, from a real person who holds it): $______
Line 3. My ceiling: line 2 x 1.0 = $__. My danger line: line 2 x 1.5 = $____
Line 4. This offer’s net tuition (sticker minus award): $__ x 3 years = $____
Line 5. Real living costs in that city, honest, x 3 years: $______
Line 6. Fees, books, health insurance, bar-prep summer: + $______ (use $8,000 if you have no better number)
Line 7. Subtotal borrowed (lines 4 + 5 + 6, minus any cash I’ll really put in): $______
Line 8. At graduation with interest: line 7 x 1.09 = $______
Line 9. Does line 8 fit inside the federal loan limits? If not, the private or family gap is $______
Line 10. The verdict: line 8 divided by line 2 = ______. At or under 1.0: sign territory. Over 1.5: the answer is no.
Then, in your own hand, dated and signed:
“Above $______ , all-in, my answer is no.”
