Will being a Washington resident make it easier to get into University of Washington law school?

Emphasis mine.

”With an annual acceptance rate of approximately 25%, Washington is a highly selective law school. In the 2008 application cycle, of the nearly 2,400 applicants who petitioned for entry into the school, 601 were accepted, 187 of whom matriculated to form the 2008 entering class. This entering class boasted a median GPA of 3.72, while the median LSAT score of the class was 163. Future applicants with numbers near or above these medians can expect to be competitive in the school’s admissions process. Of course, like other elite law schools, Washington looks beyond an applicant’s numbers in making decisions on applications, and aims to compose an entering classes diverse in ethnicity and background. As such, applicants able to successfully demonstrate ways in which they can bring diversity to the law school could significantly increase their chances at admission.

As previously mentioned, because Washington is a public law school, residents of Washington state who attend the school can attain an elite legal education at a bargain price. For the 2009–2010 academic year, tuition for resident students at the school was $22,267, while non-resident students paid $32,777. Although residents, who comprised 60% of the 2008 entering class, ”

From University of Washington

I have doubts about the sincerity of your stated desire for a legal career if it hinges on being able to go to one and only one law school.

Harsh comments such as the above aside, getting into the law school here in WA would put you into a good position because of its good reputation. That’s a second plus. But I think you ought to call the admissions office and talk to them directly. It’s not cheating to do that, you know.

@thriftymaid UW is the only law school through which I am eligible to pay in-state tuition, and also happens to be a very highly-ranked law school. The current consensus on attending law school seems to be: do not go to law school unless you can get into a highly-ranked law school and/or not accrue vast amounts (read: >$60–80k) of student loan debt.

I am sincere in my interest in becoming a lawyer, but only if I can actually find a job and am able to repay my loans without moving in with my parents, which would seem to defeat the purpose of attending law school altogether. The majority of 3rd and 4th tier private law school graduates average over $100k in debt and cannot find work because the dearth of vacant attorney positions are taken by 1st tier law school grads.

@mirifique I still find your logic to be very narrow minded. To go to law school, and to practice law, should really be a passion. If it were that you would be looking for alternatives. I understand you may be very young and not willing to consider that going out of state is where you may find your solution. I wish you luck.

@thriftymaid Trust me, I’ve looked for alternatives. To attend another state law school you need to establish residency for a period of 1–2 years. To do that I would need a job. To find a job I would need to not be in the midst of America’s worst labor market recession in the nation’s history.

@mirifique Don’t be a pessimist. There are no residency requirements for private schools. It’s about making things happen.

@thriftymaid I’m not a pessimist, but don’t want to make the mistake of many and cavalierly take out more loans than I can feasibly repay.