Glossary
Defined where they first appear in the book; collected here as a backstop.
509 report. The ABA Standard 509 Information Report. Every accredited law school must publish one each year. It lists employment outcomes, entering-class medians, and scholarship data, all in the same format, so you can compare schools side by side. Think of it as the spec sheet.
Bar-passage-required job. A full-time, long-term job that actually requires passing the bar and being a lawyer. It’s the best measure of who really became a lawyer. Read it instead of the all-in headline.
JD-advantage job. A job where the law degree supposedly helps but isn’t required. It counts in the headline employment number, but the category has been shrinking for over a decade. Strip it out to see the real lawyer-job rate.
Bimodal salary distribution. The two-hump shape of new-lawyer pay. There’s a narrow, tall spike at the high end (big-firm jobs around the $200,000 first-year mark, well under a fifth of jobs), and a much wider hump far below it, where most graduates land. The “average” sits in the empty valley between the two humps, so it misleads.
Cost of attendance (COA). The school’s published total annual cost: tuition plus living expenses. Multiply by 3 (with a bump for yearly creep) as the starting point for the real price.
Net price. What a school actually costs you after aid. Net tuition (sticker minus scholarship), plus cost of living in that city, across 3 years, minus real earnings. It’s the only price that matters.
Sticker. The full published price, before any scholarship. What you pay at a reach school where your numbers are below the median.
Yield. The share of admitted students who actually enroll. Schools watch it closely because it feeds their ranking. That’s why they court you and discount to win you.
Merit aid / scholarship. Tuition a school agrees not to charge you. It’s offered to win your enrollment because your numbers protect its medians. It’s a recruiting bid, not a gift, and you can negotiate it.
Median LSAT / GPA. The 50th-percentile numbers of a school’s entering class. Whether your numbers sit above or below them decides whether the school pays you or charges you.
Splitter. An applicant whose 2 numbers are far apart (high LSAT, lower GPA, or the reverse). Their results swing more than the simple buckets predict, because schools weight the LSAT heavily for their medians.
Waitlist. You’re admissible, and the school would take you if seats open. That happens as admitted students decline. It’s mostly about timing, not a soft rejection.
Hold / further review. The school hasn’t decided yet, often waiting to see how its applicant pool fills out. It’s a waitlist with less information.
Deferral. Admission granted now to start a year later. Ask in writing, and ask directly whether your scholarship carries to the deferred year.
Seat deposit. Money you put down to hold your spot. You lose it if you later move to another school. It’s the limited cost of holding a seat while you wait on one you’d rather have.
Double deposit. Depositing at 2 schools at once. Holding a seat while you wait is normal. Holding 2 commitments you intend to break is against many schools’ rules and can cost you a seat. Know each school’s policy.
LRAP / loan forgiveness. Programs that forgive some education debt for certain public-service work. They help, and they change year to year, so confirm the current terms once you’re there.
Conditional vs. good-standing scholarship. A conditional scholarship requires you to keep a GPA or class rank to hold it. A good-standing one only requires you to stay enrolled in good standing. Get the terms in writing, and price a conditional award honestly, because the condition can cost you the money.
