how to narrow down app list? Forum

[Barbie]

How do you narrow down what schools to apply to? What is most important to you? I am struggling in making my list smaller (it is quite large) because I really don't have time to visit all these places, and I have pretty much never been anywhere except GA and FL, so I don't want to rule anywhere out. I am not against mountains, flat grounds, beaches, warm, cold, anything weather. And being a mid-numbered person, I wanted to apply to a wide range of schools, from T2 to low T1 and a few mid T1s.. which leaves a HUGE range of schools!! I don't know how to narrow it down to just a few without visiting, and fear that if I don't apply somewhere, it would have been the place I would have liked the most had I visited. Advice?

[vanburen81]

Narrow your list down by geographic preference. Obviously you're saying that you might like Colorado or New York or wherever else. But if you're not going to a top 10 or so school and/or you're not top 10% in your class, the best thing you can have going for you is commitment to an area. Most small or medium sized markets (especially places in the South including Florida and Georgia) seem to assume nobody would want to live in their city except people from there who went to undergrad and law school there. So your best bet for career prospects is to make a commitment to the state you're from and stick with it.

[Barbie]

Narrow your list down by geographic preference. Obviously you're saying that you might like Colorado or New York or wherever else. But if you're not going to a top 10 or so school and/or you're not top 10% in your class, the best thing you can have going for you is commitment to an area. Most small or medium sized markets (especially places in the South including Florida and Georgia) seem to assume nobody would want to live in their city except people from there who went to undergrad and law school there. So your best bet for career prospects is to make a commitment to the state you're from and stick with it.

I don't really want to practice in FL (I don't liek the humidity..) but the in-state tuition is nice. SO I am applying to schools in FL, but I really want to concentrate on other places. I'm not really qualified for UGA or Emory, and GA state and Mercer I don't know if they are worth it... so GA is hard. (I am retaking the LSAT and with a point or two might swing UGA, but between now and then...) so its rough...

[manbearwig]

I bought Princeton Review's book on the top 172 law schools (however they came up with that number). Each school has about two pages on it with headings like Academics, Career Placement, Atmosphere, Social Life. I thought the segments about the last two things were the most helpful to get even a vague idea about what the school was like. That helped me narrow it down some.

(Though, in the end, I realized I definitely wanted to be in a certain region and I wound up (happily) going with what was my last ditch safety.)

[hoopsguy6]

Send out mass emails to the schools you're looking at for fee waivers. Apply to the places that end up giving you the waiver, plus a few more that you really like.

Spend some time in the "Discuss your law school" section too to see what students have to say about their schools.

[Bumi]

I went back and forth on this a bunch of times, and I had a lot of trouble hacking my list down. But ultimately I decided that I would (a) go to any T14 that let me in but (b) consider any T50 that I could graduate from with a small and manageable amount of debt and lastly (c) for the ones that I really liked and weren't in the first two categories, I'll just apply anyway. I used hourumd and LSN, along with checking up on cost of attendance, to identify reasonable shots at (a) and (b). I also read profiles on TLS of everything I had any interest in, and I'm applying to those, too. My list has about 15 on it for now which seems about right for uncertain numbers.

I figure I'll worry about visits to schools once I'm admitted. I'd hate to get my hopes up.

[Barbie]

Send out mass emails to the schools you're looking at for fee waivers. Apply to the places that end up giving you the waiver, plus a few more that you really like.

Spend some time in the "Discuss your law school" section too to see what students have to say about their schools.

how do you apply for a fee waiver?? how do you get the contact info for the right person, and then how do you word it?

[merichard87]

I doubt a school in Florida is going to take you too far away from Florida and that includes UF. What are your numbers? Your best bet would be to find a state flagship school where you have a decent chance of getting in.

[Barbie]

I doubt a school in Florida is going to take you too far away from Florida and that includes UF. What are your numbers? Your best bet would be to find a state flagship school where you have a decent chance of getting in.

What in the world does that mean?

[dabbadon8]

I doubt a school in Florida is going to take you too far away from Florida and that includes UF. What are your numbers? Your best bet would be to find a state flagship school where you have a decent chance of getting in.

What in the world does that mean?

If you go to school in florida don't plan on working anywhere but florida because it is unlikely.

Decide where you would be ok living. If you can't now then don't narrow down the list too much because the 1000 dollars spent applying is a small price to pay for being able to decide where you will spend your life.

[Barbie]

I doubt a school in Florida is going to take you too far away from Florida and that includes UF. What are your numbers? Your best bet would be to find a state flagship school where you have a decent chance of getting in.

What in the world does that mean?

If you go to school in florida don't plan on working anywhere but florida because it is unlikely.

Well I have family that works in Atlanta (I'm from there) but, not much besides that. Atlanta is prob my goal. I think with work there are UF students who can go to NC, SC, GA.... my numbers are 3.1/163 but I'm retaking the LSAT in October and I have a kick-ass GPA addendum so I'm hoping for a good amt of leniency in that or they at least look a little more at my degree GPA (3.8+)

[jayn3]

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... A+pictures is useful.

also, think hard about how close you want to be to friends and family. even if you don't have geographic preference in terms of climate/scenery, the chance to get away for a weekend might help you stay sane.

[camstant]

Well I have family that works in Atlanta (I'm from there) but, not much besides that. Atlanta is prob my goal. I think with work there are UF students who can go to NC, SC, GA.... my numbers are 3.1/163 but I'm retaking the LSAT in October and I have a kick-ass GPA addendum so I'm hoping for a good amt of leniency in that or they at least look a little more at my degree GPA (3.8+)

I don't think you should be limiting yourself to lower T1 then. Concentrate on improving your LSAT, start working on apps, and narrow your list down later. If you're retaking and atl is your true preference then you should really shoot for emory or vandy (assuming a reasonable LSAT jump)

[lawprospect12]

What is the typical number of schools people apply to?

EDIT: I changed my search function and got the answer .

Anyway, to the OP, good luck narrowing it down---I've thought about this myself a lot.

[Barbie]

Well I have family that works in Atlanta (I'm from there) but, not much besides that. Atlanta is prob my goal. I think with work there are UF students who can go to NC, SC, GA.... my numbers are 3.1/163 but I'm retaking the LSAT in October and I have a kick-ass GPA addendum so I'm hoping for a good amt of leniency in that or they at least look a little more at my degree GPA (3.8+)

I don't think you should be limiting yourself to lower T1 then. Concentrate on improving your LSAT, start working on apps, and narrow your list down later. If you're retaking and atl is your true preference then you should really shoot for emory or vandy (assuming a reasonable LSAT jump)

UGA <3 Even though I have like, 6 fam members at Emory right now.

[manbearwig]

Well I have family that works in Atlanta (I'm from there) but, not much besides that. Atlanta is prob my goal. I think with work there are UF students who can go to NC, SC, GA.... my numbers are 3.1/163 but I'm retaking the LSAT in October and I have a kick-ass GPA addendum so I'm hoping for a good amt of leniency in that or they at least look a little more at my degree GPA (3.8+)

Just a warning that they're really not going to give you a lot of leniency with regards to your GPA. They may be more understanding, and perhaps willing to take you over another candidate with the same GPA, but they're definitely not going to treat you as a 3.8+. I've read a bunch of GPA addenda on here and even when people have had legit reasons, the consensus has been that you're not going to get a huge bump. However, with that said, 3.1 isn't a terrible awful GPA, and with the right LSAT, you could get into some pretty nice schools.

[Barbie]

Well I have family that works in Atlanta (I'm from there) but, not much besides that. Atlanta is prob my goal. I think with work there are UF students who can go to NC, SC, GA.... my numbers are 3.1/163 but I'm retaking the LSAT in October and I have a kick-ass GPA addendum so I'm hoping for a good amt of leniency in that or they at least look a little more at my degree GPA (3.8+)

Just a warning that they're really not going to give you a lot of leniency with regards to your GPA. They may be more understanding, and perhaps willing to take you over another candidate with the same GPA, but they're definitely not going to treat you as a 3.8+. I've read a bunch of GPA addenda on here and even when people have had legit reasons, the consensus has been that you're not going to get a huge bump. However, with that said, 3.1 isn't a terrible awful GPA, and with the right LSAT, you could get into some pretty nice schools.

The adcomm at UF told me to make sure my addendum is strong, and to help I am also providing documentation directly from the cancer center that shows my treatments and the effect they had on specific semesters. Since my treatments have stopped I've essentially been a straight A student, and he said that will help me a LOT. My GPA is really bad for UF, and would prob put me on the waitlist, but the guy was really nice and said he would bet money on me getting an acceptance first round. So at least one school might take it seriously

[manbearwig]

Well I have family that works in Atlanta (I'm from there) but, not much besides that. Atlanta is prob my goal. I think with work there are UF students who can go to NC, SC, GA.... my numbers are 3.1/163 but I'm retaking the LSAT in October and I have a kick-ass GPA addendum so I'm hoping for a good amt of leniency in that or they at least look a little more at my degree GPA (3.8+)

Just a warning that they're really not going to give you a lot of leniency with regards to your GPA. They may be more understanding, and perhaps willing to take you over another candidate with the same GPA, but they're definitely not going to treat you as a 3.8+. I've read a bunch of GPA addenda on here and even when people have had legit reasons, the consensus has been that you're not going to get a huge bump. However, with that said, 3.1 isn't a terrible awful GPA, and with the right LSAT, you could get into some pretty nice schools.

The adcomm at UF told me to make sure my addendum is strong, and to help I am also providing documentation directly from the cancer center that shows my treatments and the effect they had on specific semesters. Since my treatments have stopped I've essentially been a straight A student, and he said that will help me a LOT. My GPA is really bad for UF, and would prob put me on the waitlist, but the guy was really nice and said he would bet money on me getting an acceptance first round. So at least one school might take it seriously

Good luck with it all. Hopefully they will be understanding. If you talk about it at all in your PS (or even from your addendum), it seems as if the adcoms will definitely see your strength and determination.

[ArchRoark]

Place names on a dartboard and have at it.

Nah honestly I am in the same boat.

I would apply to a handful of safeties you would be happy to go to with decent schollys. Load up on targets in regions you would happy to practice and then throw in a few reaches that you would be elated to go to without scholly money.