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reddituser wrote:I got a 146 two years ago, studied for a few months and did testmasters. in practice i got up to 170 but obviously didn't shine on test day.

How legit was that 170 PT? Was it taken under legitimate time constraints and all that ? If you were scoring the 160s or 170s consistently, then you are capable of far, far better than John Marshall. Going to JMLS would be selling yourself short, because it sounds like you are capable of going to a Tier 1 school.

romothesavior wrote:

reddituser wrote:I got a 146 two years ago, studied for a few months and did testmasters. in practice i got up to 170 but obviously didn't shine on test day.

How legit was that 170 PT? Was it taken under legitimate time constraints and all that ? If you were scoring the 160s or 170s consistently, then you are capable of far, far better than John Marshall. Going to JMLS would be selling yourself short, because it sounds like you are capable of going to a Tier 1 school.

Very legitimate. I was scoring consistent 165's. just diidn't happen for me on test day, and I have some ugly disclosures. nothing criminal or unethical, but a long list of little mistakes, plus a 3 gpa, i feel lucky to get in anywhere

reddituser wrote:

romothesavior wrote:

reddituser wrote:I got a 146 two years ago, studied for a few months and did testmasters. in practice i got up to 170 but obviously didn't shine on test day.

How legit was that 170 PT? Was it taken under legitimate time constraints and all that ? If you were scoring the 160s or 170s consistently, then you are capable of far, far better than John Marshall. Going to JMLS would be selling yourself short, because it sounds like you are capable of going to a Tier 1 school.

Very legitimate. I was scoring consistent 165's. just diidn't happen for me on test day, and I have some ugly disclosures. nothing criminal or unethical, but a long list of little mistakes, plus a 3 gpa, i feel lucky to get in anywhere

I have a 2.5. You should be more optimistic.

You need to retake if you were scoring 160s+. A 146 AND a 3.0 gpa will not work in your favor.

My LSAT is well below the median at every program I applied to. I've been accepted to "top 100" programs because I had a good gpa/work experience. You need to retake. It would be almost foolish not to if you were scoring 160s+

sparty99 wrote:You need to retake if you were scoring 160s+. A 146 AND a 3.0 gpa will not work in your favor.

My LSAT is well below the median at every program I applied to. I've been accepted to "top 100" programs because I had a good gpa/work experience. You need to retake. It would be almost foolish not to if you were scoring 160s+

i have a 157. 146 2 years ago

sparty99 wrote:You need to retake if you were scoring 160s+. A 146 AND a 3.0 gpa will not work in your favor.

My LSAT is well below the median at every program I applied to. I've been accepted to "top 100" programs because I had a good gpa/work experience. You need to retake. It would be almost foolish not to if you were scoring 160s+

A braindead monkey could get into a top 100 lolol.

sparty99 wrote:You need to retake if you were scoring 160s+. A 146 AND a 3.0 gpa will not work in your favor.

My LSAT is well below the median at every program I applied to. I've been accepted to "top 100" programs because I had a good gpa/work experience. You need to retake. It would be almost foolish not to if you were scoring 160s+

Most intelligent thing you said ITT. Reddit, I agree... I think you should work on getting a higher LSAT score, and if not, then maybe going with different career.

And fyi, "top 100" is about the most meaningless distinction imaginable. Some T3s are better than T2s, and some T2s are better than T1s, and so on. Job prospects are what matter. For example, Kent/Loyola/DePaul (T2s) are only slightly better than JMLS (T4). Hell, Kent's EIC of the law review couldn't even get a job.

reddituser wrote:

sparty99 wrote:You need to retake if you were scoring 160s+. A 146 AND a 3.0 gpa will not work in your favor.

My LSAT is well below the median at every program I applied to. I've been accepted to "top 100" programs because I had a good gpa/work experience. You need to retake. It would be almost foolish not to if you were scoring 160s+

i have a 157. 146 2 years ago

I would retake, try one more time. You have until June.

With a 157/3.0 you have an excellent shot at Loyola or Chicago-Kent, which both offer part-time programs. Did you apply there? A higher LSAT or applying early next fall will most likely net you offers. These are better options than John Marshall. I know graduates from both Loyola/Chicago-Kent. They are good regional programs.

Also, have you tried Michigan State? It is tier 3, but they give scholarships and are a strong brand name. I think you would qualify especially if you score 3 points higher.

You should definitely give it one more try. Don't let that LSAT scores go to waste.

sparty99 wrote:

reddituser wrote:

sparty99 wrote:You need to retake if you were scoring 160s+. A 146 AND a 3.0 gpa will not work in your favor.

My LSAT is well below the median at every program I applied to. I've been accepted to "top 100" programs because I had a good gpa/work experience. You need to retake. It would be almost foolish not to if you were scoring 160s+

i have a 157. 146 2 years ago

I would retake, try one more time. You have until June.

With a 157/3.0 you have an excellent shot at Loyola or Chicago-Kent, which both offer part-time programs. Did you apply there? A higher LSAT or applying early next fall will most likely net you offers. These are better options than John Marshall. I know graduates from both Loyola/Chicago-Kent. They are good regional programs.

Also, have you tried Michigan State? It is tier 3, but they give scholarships and are a strong brand name. I think you would qualify especially if you score 3 points higher.

You should definitely give it one more try. Don't let that LSAT scores go to waste.

Michigan State was my top choice until they turned me down last week. I was really excited, they asked me to write a "why MSU" essay and everything. really sucks, I would have gone there in a heartbeat

Hoping Cornell offers need based aid matching UCLA's, I would be taking on, assuming a worst case $20k/year COL loans, $150,000 in debt to attend, vs. $75,000 in debt to attend WUSTL (assuming same COL). Subtract COL loans and its $15k vs. $90k. That seems like a bad idea, but on the other hand, I have almost no interest in living in the Midwest, and want to return to NY. That'd be 6 figures of debt. I MIGHT come into some money through inheritance in the next few years that would significantly diminish my debt burden, but it's still nerve racking. I would argue that my expected values are similar between the two schools, but the best and worst cases for Cornell are better and worse.

Ahhh, I'm glad I'll be meeting with the office of financial aid when I visit Cornell.

Arbiter213 wrote:Hoping Cornell offers need based aid matching UCLA's, I would be taking on, assuming a worst case $20k/year COL loans, $150,000 in debt to attend, vs. $75,000 in debt to attend WUSTL (assuming same COL). Subtract COL loans and its $15k vs. $90k. That seems like a bad idea, but on the other hand, I have almost no interest in living in the Midwest, and want to return to NY. That'd be 6 figures of debt. I MIGHT come into some money through inheritance in the next few years that would significantly diminish my debt burden, but it's still nerve racking. I would argue that my expected values are similar between the two schools, but the best and worst cases for Cornell are better and worse.

Ahhh, I'm glad I'll be meeting with the office of financial aid when I visit Cornell.

Cornell is kind of tough to pass up given your goals to return to NYC and especially how that recent employment statistics turned out for the NLJ250.

Arbiter213 wrote:Hoping Cornell offers need based aid matching UCLA's, I would be taking on, assuming a worst case $20k/year COL loans, $150,000 in debt to attend, vs. $75,000 in debt to attend WUSTL (assuming same COL). Subtract COL loans and its $15k vs. $90k. That seems like a bad idea, but on the other hand, I have almost no interest in living in the Midwest, and want to return to NY. That'd be 6 figures of debt. I MIGHT come into some money through inheritance in the next few years that would significantly diminish my debt burden, but it's still nerve racking. I would argue that my expected values are similar between the two schools, but the best and worst cases for Cornell are better and worse.

Ahhh, I'm glad I'll be meeting with the office of financial aid when I visit Cornell.

man, I am not sure how Cornell justifies that high high tuition rate. though the room and board estimate seems low to me..

sarahlawg wrote:

Arbiter213 wrote:Hoping Cornell offers need based aid matching UCLA's, I would be taking on, assuming a worst case $20k/year COL loans, $150,000 in debt to attend, vs. $75,000 in debt to attend WUSTL (assuming same COL). Subtract COL loans and its $15k vs. $90k. That seems like a bad idea, but on the other hand, I have almost no interest in living in the Midwest, and want to return to NY. That'd be 6 figures of debt. I MIGHT come into some money through inheritance in the next few years that would significantly diminish my debt burden, but it's still nerve racking. I would argue that my expected values are similar between the two schools, but the best and worst cases for Cornell are better and worse.

Ahhh, I'm glad I'll be meeting with the office of financial aid when I visit Cornell.

man, I am not sure how Cornell justifies that high high tuition rate. though the room and board estimate seems low to me..

It's super high, but I hear that they offset it with merit/need aid. It's a much smaller class size so the aid gets spread around pretty well.

Malcolm8X wrote:

Arbiter213 wrote:Hoping Cornell offers need based aid matching UCLA's, I would be taking on, assuming a worst case $20k/year COL loans, $150,000 in debt to attend, vs. $75,000 in debt to attend WUSTL (assuming same COL). Subtract COL loans and its $15k vs. $90k. That seems like a bad idea, but on the other hand, I have almost no interest in living in the Midwest, and want to return to NY. That'd be 6 figures of debt. I MIGHT come into some money through inheritance in the next few years that would significantly diminish my debt burden, but it's still nerve racking. I would argue that my expected values are similar between the two schools, but the best and worst cases for Cornell are better and worse.

Ahhh, I'm glad I'll be meeting with the office of financial aid when I visit Cornell.

Cornell is kind of tough to pass up given your goals to return to NYC and especially how that recent employment statistics turned out for the NLJ250.

Considering the fact that Cornell's NLJ250 placement next year should be floating under the 40% mark, I'm not sure how much stock you should put into the recent statistics.

Helmholtz wrote:

Malcolm8X wrote:

Arbiter213 wrote:Hoping Cornell offers need based aid matching UCLA's, I would be taking on, assuming a worst case $20k/year COL loans, $150,000 in debt to attend, vs. $75,000 in debt to attend WUSTL (assuming same COL). Subtract COL loans and its $15k vs. $90k. That seems like a bad idea, but on the other hand, I have almost no interest in living in the Midwest, and want to return to NY. That'd be 6 figures of debt. I MIGHT come into some money through inheritance in the next few years that would significantly diminish my debt burden, but it's still nerve racking. I would argue that my expected values are similar between the two schools, but the best and worst cases for Cornell are better and worse.

Ahhh, I'm glad I'll be meeting with the office of financial aid when I visit Cornell.

Cornell is kind of tough to pass up given your goals to return to NYC and especially how that recent employment statistics turned out for the NLJ250.

Considering the fact that Cornell's NLJ250 placement next year should be floating under the 40% mark, I'm not sure how much stock you should put into the recent statistics.

How is that fact? Isn't the under 40% mark merely based on anecdotal evidence?

spacepenguin wrote:

Helmholtz wrote:

Malcolm8X wrote:

Arbiter213 wrote:Hoping Cornell offers need based aid matching UCLA's, I would be taking on, assuming a worst case $20k/year COL loans, $150,000 in debt to attend, vs. $75,000 in debt to attend WUSTL (assuming same COL). Subtract COL loans and its $15k vs. $90k. That seems like a bad idea, but on the other hand, I have almost no interest in living in the Midwest, and want to return to NY. That'd be 6 figures of debt. I MIGHT come into some money through inheritance in the next few years that would significantly diminish my debt burden, but it's still nerve racking. I would argue that my expected values are similar between the two schools, but the best and worst cases for Cornell are better and worse.

Ahhh, I'm glad I'll be meeting with the office of financial aid when I visit Cornell.

Cornell is kind of tough to pass up given your goals to return to NYC and especially how that recent employment statistics turned out for the NLJ250.

Considering the fact that Cornell's NLJ250 placement next year should be floating under the 40% mark, I'm not sure how much stock you should put into the recent statistics.

How is that fact? Isn't the under 40% mark merely based on anecdotal evidence?

Anecdotal facts. Also the OCI data was sent to Cornell students. You can find it on ATL.

What are some ways to mitigate debt?!

My school's COA is about $64K/yr. I plan to keep it down to $57K (I got a laptop and insurance)
I'll start it off:

-3 bedroom apartment instead of a two or single. I hate to say it, but no cable tv?
-Strike out fine dining (okay limit twice a month) and diet mainly off of pasta and bread (Ramen noodle lunches and dinners)
-Bus over car if available
-If celebrating a victory over finals , buy your celebration champagne at the grocery store/Wal-Mart rather than AT the venue
-Stay in school over Thanksgiving break rather than travel home (we got finals coming up anyways, right?)

Any more creative ideas anybody?

For the champagne check out barefoot bubbly...it's like $8 but actually good it's not Veuve good but it's better then most $15-$20 bottles that I've had
My idea is to convince my parents to sign me up for a wine club for a gift - case of wine every 3 months will cut down on my alcohol bill considerably!

What I'm trying to figure out is why the COL loan estimates are always at or above $20k no matter where the location. How could Americorps members survive if you needed that much.

Malcolm8X wrote:What are some ways to mitigate debt?!

My school's COA is about $64K/yr. I plan to keep it down to $57K (I got a laptop and insurance)
I'll start it off:

-3 bedroom apartment instead of a two or single. I hate to say it, but no cable tv?
-Strike out fine dining (okay limit twice a month) and diet mainly off of pasta and bread (Ramen noodle lunches and dinners)
-Bus over car if available
-If celebrating a victory over finals , buy your celebration champagne at the grocery store/Wal-Mart rather than AT the venue
-Stay in school over Thanksgiving break rather than travel home (we got finals coming up anyways, right?)

Any more creative ideas anybody?

-Use cinder blocks as the frame of the bed
-Use cinder blocks as a desk
-Use cinder blocks as decorative furnishings

As for food...

-Ramen
-Tuna
-Ramen-Tuna Casserole
-Tuna sandwiches/Ramen chips (crushed up, uncooked ramen)


And for entertainment

-Moisturizer

Law school is basically free.

Arbiter213 wrote:What I'm trying to figure out is why the COL loan estimates are always at or above $20k no matter where the location. How could Americorps members survive if you needed that much.

That's SO true! Like WTF?! I'm scraping off of $10K SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY! I did it for undergrad! And yes, kch3684, that alcohol bill can get pretty hefty! (I'm gonna try to stay sober this time)

I have eaten so many ramen chips in my lifetime. I think I like it more than the soup.

FiveSermon wrote:

This actually looks delectable! Is that sausage?! So this with some Texas toast on the side and breakfast is set! All for under $1.00!

Best believe I will take full advantage of any and all school provided luncheon/dinners with to-go plates in hand.. No shame in my game.

Malcolm8X wrote:

FiveSermon wrote:

This actually looks delectable! Is that sausage?! So this with some Texas toast on the side and breakfast is set! All for under $1.00!

Best believe I will take full advantage of any and all school provided luncheon/dinners with to-go plates in hand.. No shame in my game.

I think it's mushroom. Not sure though. Anyways having eaten ramen almost everyday during undergrad I can live off it in law school. But I would rather not.