SchusterFlook (2022-2023)

Attending U.Va. w/17,500 per year for 3 years. U.Va. is an awesome school and I am very pleased with how things turned out. The money definitely was the deciding factor, though. Penn was the only other school to offer money, and my decision came down to U.Va. or Penn. Both great schools, but COL made Virginia even cheaper. Penn definitely had the best admissions department, though. My best school visit was at Penn, and it was hard to turn them down. It is a great school, but U.Va. was a better fit.
Advice: Apply early, don't list your race on any application materials (unless you're in a category where it will help), and visit the schools you're interested in. Also, if you're close to the numbers where a school offers money don't be afraid to ask for it. All they can do is say NO. If they really want you they will offer money.
Discoveries: It is one thing to think about financing your legal education purely through loans, racking up $100,000+ in debt, etc., and it's another thing to actually do it. For example: To attend NYU or Chicago (if I had wanted to)would have cost well over $80,000 more than UVA over 3 years when the scholarship and COL is factored in. With interest on the loans, figuring a 5 year pay back, it is well over $100,000. That is a very significant amount of money. Bottom line: It's hard to turn down free money, especially when the difference in the education and opportunities is very small and maybe non-existent.. If I had gotten into Harvard or Stanford, then I wouldn't have even considered money an issue because there is a significant difference between opportunities/"prestige". But as for the rest of the top 10 or 15 schools, the differences are, imo, very very slight.
Good luck to everyone applying. This site was very helpful to me and I hope this helps others in some small way.