Ave Maria Scholarship offer with 24 hours left to accept? Go Forum

[optimisticidiot]

Lets see any other details...

[nealric]

How long did you study for the LSAT? How many times did you take it?

If the answer to #1 is less than 100 hours, and the answer to #2 is less than 3, wait a year and retake. Do not expect to make more than 40k out of Ave Maria- expect to make a lot less than that. A few points on the LSAT could turn that 15k into a full ride, or acceptance in to a much more well-regarded school (or both). Keep in mind that the LSAT is the easy part of law school- it's the path of least resistance.

[Aberzombie1892]

Forgive me if I'm wrong.

I'm thinking this is what many of my peers would call a flame.

[Sauer Grapes]

I agree... if you can get a job, work the next year, retake the LSAT and re-apply next year.

[Wooster33]

I think you can do better as a black male, honestly. You MAY want to consider waiting a year and reapplying if you don't get into a better school.

A couple thoughts. Call them and ask for an extension. Send a letter of continued interest to Alabama. And debate that pros and cons of waiting a year.

Best of luck.

[optimisticidiot]

Whats a flame?

[optimisticidiot]

Yeah it was a lot less than 100 hours. After taking it, I realized that its not that I couldn't do the problems I just didn't have the time to figure them out. I got the questions I was able to think through right, I just ran out of time.

[CanadianWolf]

This very well may be a situation where first prize is a $15,000 per year scholarship & second prize is a $20,000 per year scholarship. Let the deadline pass & see what develops.

[nealric]

Yeah it was a lot less than 100 hours. After taking it, I realized that its not that I couldn't do the problems I just didn't have the time to figure them out. I got the questions I was able to think through right, I just ran out of time.

One of the biggest things studying does for you is increase speed. You learn to quickly spot the question type and you know what to look for. There is also the brain-training aspect (especially on games).

You don't need to spend thousands of $$$ on a course, just spend a lot of time working practice tests and learning them inside and out.

[optimisticidiot]

Forgive me if I'm wrong.

I'm thinking this is what many of my peers would call a flame.

You're forgiven I had to search for flame using the site....I'm real so if you have any advice, I would appreciate it.

[Luis Gomez]

Yeah it was a lot less than 100 hours. After taking it, I realized that its not that I couldn't do the problems I just didn't have the time to figure them out. I got the questions I was able to think through right, I just ran out of time.

One of the biggest things studying does for you is increase speed. You learn to quickly spot the question type and you know what to look for. There is also the brain-training aspect (especially on games).

You don't need to spend thousands of $$$ on a course, just spend a lot of time working practice tests and learning them inside and out.

+ 180 for practice test.

I never took a prep course, English is my second language, I had only three months to study and was working at the time.

Keep trying, get a better score and better options.

[pinkzeppelin]

Yeah it was a lot less than 100 hours. After taking it, I realized that its not that I couldn't do the problems I just didn't have the time to figure them out. I got the questions I was able to think through right, I just ran out of time.

If this is true, I have no doubt in my mind that a more concerted effort on studying will put you at or above the 160 mark. The biggest gains are when you "get it" and you don't get it with a lot less than 100 hours. If you can hit the 160 mark you could be looking at some T1s who don't mind taking a chance on a URM splitter.

My vote is to wait a year and study hard!

[optimisticidiot]

Yeah it was a lot less than 100 hours. After taking it, I realized that its not that I couldn't do the problems I just didn't have the time to figure them out. I got the questions I was able to think through right, I just ran out of time.

If this is true, I have no doubt in my mind that a more concerted effort on studying will put you at or above the 160 mark. The biggest gains are when you "get it" and you don't get it with a lot less than 100 hours. If you can hit the 160 mark you could be looking at some T1s who don't mind taking a chance on a URM splitter.

My vote is to wait a year and study hard!

Thanks. I'm seriously considering that advice. It would suck to spend all this money and not get a decent job. I'm just so anxious to get started!

[TTH]

Retake, study hard for the LSAT. If nothing else, apply to third tier schools that do really well in their markets (Ole Miss) or places where black males have really good exit options (Howard/other HBCs).

[Fast_Fingers]

I'd second retaking the LSAT and waiting a year. This year was especially competitive with the economic downturn, and going to a fourth-tier will probably give you more debt than benefit. If you can make a local top 100 the second time, you'll do yourself and your siblings a favor.

[remotelyfeasible]

Turn it down and study HARD for the LSAT to retake. Being African-American is a huge bump, so if you could get the LSAT up 5-10 point, you'd be competitive at quite a bit better schools.

Also, I don't like the idea of a law school that just up and moves across the country. I don't think that says good things about the amount of ties to a community a school has.

[TTH]

Turn it down and study HARD for the LSAT to retake. Being African-American is a huge bump, so if you could get the LSAT up 5-10 point, you'd be competitive at quite a bit better schools.

Also, I don't like the idea of a law school that just up and moves across the country. I don't think that says good things about the amount of ties to a community a school has.

Yeah, Ave Maria is one of the worst schools in the country. If you're going to go that low, you might as well go to Pontifical Catholic and enjoy living in the Caribbean for three years.

[optimisticidiot]

Pontifical Catholic! LOL wow I think everyone is in agreement so far...but lets say I wait a year and pull off a 160+, where would that leave me with a 2.5 gpa?

[kevin261186]

DO NOT GO TO AVE MARIA.

[optimisticidiot]

DO NOT GO TO AVE MARIA.

Just got another email from them...

Care to explain?

[Drew2010]

I'm not sure how you finished ugrad in 07, then went back to school and pulled your GPA up to a 2.5 (after your semesters of better grades, which you said were after you finished, you said your GPA was then a 2.5). Law school applications don't work like that, LSAC would only count the classes up until you earned your degree. This is something I would think you would have known, having you know, applied to law school.

[84Sunbird2000]

Pontifical Catholic! LOL wow I think everyone is in agreement so far...but lets say I wait a year and pull off a 160+, where would that leave me with a 2.5 gpa?

Even if you only got up to mid-150s, these might be good examples:
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/pinkprep
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/oleary2
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/GoinHard
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/OSUGuy
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/hmiller721

Just wanted to add - Howard has amazing job prospects for AAs like yourself.

However, if you get up to a low 160s score:

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/macattaq
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/1swift

Now, there aren't really that many examples I could find on LSN to compare you to, but you'd get good scholarships to some decent southern T3s. Stetson seems pretty generous to black students - a 153, 3.25 (GPA higher, but still) got a full ride plus 5k stipend there.

However, while I'm usually reluctant to just say retake, I definitely agree in your case. Don't go to Ave Maria - it's not a good school at all.

[optimisticidiot]

I'm not sure how you finished ugrad in 07, then went back to school and pulled your GPA up to a 2.5 (after your semesters of better grades, which you said were after you finished, you said your GPA was then a 2.5). Law school applications don't work like that, LSAC would only count the classes up until you earned your degree. This is something I would think you would have known, having you know, applied to law school.

Yes, I am aware that LSAC only counts up to my undergraduate degree, however the classes that I took, (continuing education) still show up on my transcripts. I attached a note to my applications requesting that schools also consider those classes taken as a demonstration of my abilities. If they are unwilling to do so, I didn't know. I thought it made sense to do something. Hopefully, I didnt waste my time.

LSAC also appears to incorrectly categorize those undergrad level classes taken as graduate classes for some reason. I wrote them about it but it still appears that they are grad level. I explain this in my applications as well.

Beyond that, do you have any comments? Useful info is appreciated.

[Drew2010]

I'm not sure how you finished ugrad in 07, then went back to school and pulled your GPA up to a 2.5 (after your semesters of better grades, which you said were after you finished, you said your GPA was then a 2.5). Law school applications don't work like that, LSAC would only count the classes up until you earned your degree. This is something I would think you would have known, having you know, applied to law school.

Yes, I am aware that LSAC only counts up to my undergraduate degree, however the classes that I took, (continuing education) still show up on my transcripts. I attached a note to my applications requesting that Tschools also consider those classes taken as a demonstration of my abilities. If they are unwilling to do so, I didn't know. I thought it made sense to do something. Hopefully, I didnt waste my time.

LSAC also appears to incorrectly categorize those undergrad level classes taken as graduate classes for some reason. I wrote them about it but it still appears that they are grad level. I explain this in my applications as well.

Beyond that, do you have any comments? Useful info is appreciated.

Then what is your actual LSAC gpa? That's really the only one that matters. Ave Maria basically means hustling trying to get a job with Morgan and Morgan and the like. Also things like low paying crim defense. I have no idea what the pay would be like, but I know it pretty much would take connections to get a job from there right now.

[optimisticidiot]

Seriously, they won't consider political science or justice science coursework? I'm not completely sure about what my gpa was when I finished but perhaps I should consider graduate school first? There are some one year programs out there...