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Hi everyone, I am looking for some advice from those of you who are willing to give it. I have been accepted to Pitt with at least a half scholarship (14k + instate tuition) and am waiting to hear back about their public interest scholarship, but I have also been accepted to some higher ranked schools without any scholarship information as of now. (George Mason, Iowa, and American). I applied for the PIPS (full tuition public interest scholarship at American), but have little shot at it seeing as I have no work experience. I would not go there without a serious scholarship. I am waiting to hear back from several others, but seeing as we need to start making decisions in a few months time I am trying to figure things out asap. Pitt's employment data is less than ideal; however, I am local and decently connected in the area and have many friends who attend and like the faculty, administration, area etc. Ultimately I do want to work in the public service sector and cannot take on serious debt to get there, but seeing as public service jobs are increasingly competitive without a high ranked school, I am not sure what I should do. HELP!

3.9+ GPA, low 160s, non-URM, strong SOFS, no work experience
Waiting to hear from: Ohio State, Case, W&M, WVU, Temple, Seton Hall, UNC, Emory
WL: W&L
No rejects (yet)

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Yeah, retaking is the answer. Don't waste that Gpa for a half ride at a school that gives you a coin flips chance of becoming a lawyer.

3.9+ gpa and low 160s lsat should never be together.

retake. you already know this.

Thanks for the replies. With undergrad loans coming due, I'm not sure what my job offers for a short term position are going to be like with a B.S. from a respectable liberal arts college. I also already took it again once. Missing 10-15 on the reading comp. each time, while doing alright on the other sections. I have tried all the tips for improving on this section, believe me, but I'm not sure if studying will make much of a difference at this point. My highest practice test was a 166.

If all else fails I guess I can try to convince my parents to pay for community college so I can get a B.S. in something less useless than my German, English, and Political Science majors....

Thanks again

presidents42 wrote:Thanks for the replies. With undergrad loans coming due, I'm not sure what my job offers for a short term position are going to be like with a B.S. from a respectable liberal arts college. I also already took it again once. Missing 10-15 on the reading comp. each time, while doing alright on the other sections. I have tried all the tips for improving on this section, believe me, but I'm not sure if studying will make much of a difference at this point. My highest practice test was a 166.

If all else fails I guess I can try to convince my parents to pay for community college so I can get a B.S. in something less useless than my German, English, and Political Science majors....

Thanks again

How much in undergrad loans do you have? Go on IBR if the payments+interest are low enough you won't be stuck in negative amortization.

Do not go to any of the schools you have been accepted to without significant money, whatever you do. If you have to wait a few months before finding a decent job that's better than more debt.

Unfortunately about 40K is on me, with the other 20 on my parents. About a third of it is federal loans. The IBR painted a brighter picture though. am just worried that if I don't take the scholarship now though, and I know full well that Pitt will not give more than half to a non-URM, I might wait a year and not get it again.

I will just have to wait out the scholarships from other schools, hope I get my TFA acceptance (something I genuinely want to do) which will give me two more years to study for the LSAT and a small income, and worst case end up at a short term job until I can get my score up.

presidents42 wrote:Unfortunately about 40K is on me, with the other 20 on my parents. About a third of it is federal loans. The IBR painted a brighter picture though. am just worried that if I don't take the scholarship now though, and I know full well that Pitt will not give more than half to a non-URM, I might wait a year and not get it again.

I will just have to wait out the scholarships from other schools, hope I get my TFA acceptance (something I genuinely want to do) which will give me two more years to study for the LSAT and a small income, and worst case end up at a short term job until I can get my score up.

So your solution to this problem is to double down, take basically another $80k (conservatively estimated) so you have a 50/50 shot of being the same position 3 years from now? I realize a lot of people do this, but this is incredibly stupid.

Going to PItt under the current circumstances (half scholarship) is a BAD idea. Going to Pitt next year with or without a half-scholarship is a BAD idea. The only way you should go to Pitt is if it's free. Pitt is not worth paying money for.

It would be tops 43.5k for three years with in-state tuition and the scholarship. Regardless, thank you for your honest opinion.

presidents42 wrote:It would be tops 43.5k for three years with in-state tuition and the scholarship. Regardless, thank you for your honest opinion.

check your pm

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presidents42 wrote:Unfortunately about 40K is on me, with the other 20 on my parents. About a third of it is federal loans. The IBR painted a brighter picture though. am just worried that if I don't take the scholarship now though, and I know full well that Pitt will not give more than half to a non-URM, I might wait a year and not get it again.

I will just have to wait out the scholarships from other schools, hope I get my TFA acceptance (something I genuinely want to do) which will give me two more years to study for the LSAT and a small income, and worst case end up at a short term job until I can get my score up.

IBR isn't going to cover the private loans then. Don't restrict yourself to short-term options. What kind of long-term options do you have?

A retake and score bump will probably negate any effect waiting a year will have.

presidents42 wrote:It would be tops 43.5k for three years with in-state tuition and the scholarship. Regardless, thank you for your honest opinion.

What about living expenses? Are you going to live at home?

Yeah, I know you are all probably right, and my pride didn't want to hear it.

Yes, living at home.

presidents42 wrote:Yeah, I know you are all probably right, and my pride didn't want to hear it.

Yes, living at home.

The problem is the UG debt and the chance of graduating with 80 (closer to 90) thousand and still unemployed or looking for short-term work. If it was just 43K I'd say go. Pulling the trigger now is not the most terrible decision ever, but I think you'd really benefit by waiting a year and retaking while seeing what else is out there.

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Thanks everyone for trying. Any miraculous suggestions for improving terrible RC scores are also welcome.

Best of luck to everyone with their own cycles.

presidents42 wrote:Thanks everyone for trying. Any miraculous suggestions for improving terrible RC scores are also welcome.

Best of luck to everyone with their own cycles.

for me, the RC was also the section that was SIGNIFICANTLY dragging me down compared to the other two, and i didn't seem to be getting any better at it at all - i think my breakthrough was when i just started trying to spend a lot of time reading everyday, to work the muscle, and eventually got better at reading quickly and digesting the important info. but rather than practicing reading fast right away, you have to start reading as slowly as you need to to comprehend fully, and then gradually speed it up over time - this is the only way to get better at reading fast. you should try to be able to get through reading each passage in 2-3 minutes, and dont spend time trying to memorize details that you know you'll have to check back for anyway. on the other hand, memorize enough of the article that you wont have to check back at all for the more basic (less detail-oriented) questions - this saves a TON of time. as far as practicing the section, give yourself as much time as you need to do it and get perfect, measure how long it takes, and then try to go down in increments until you're doing it in 30 minutes. i got the best workout doing a full section or two each morning, and then in the evening just doing a few individual passages, taking breaks in between them - much less taxing. the bottom line is you CAN ace it - i was doing terribly on this section, and not improving, but after doing all of this stuff i eventually scored a 174, i didnt see my test but im sure it cant have been more than a -5 or so on RC at most, on my practices i seemed to average around -1 or -2 by the end. and yes generally i agree with everyone that the retake is by far your best option - dont rush into law school when you can take another year to ensure a much better career for yourself! youll be much happier decades from now..

sorry i kind of rushed this, hope it was clear/helpful, feel free to PM me with more questions - this forum has helped me a ton these past few weeks so i feel like returning the karma!

NDJ, thank you so much for taking the time to write your suggestions out. It is good to know that someone was able to overcome RC! I will definitely try everything you said, and I hope it will help me as much as it helped you.

presidents42 wrote:It would be tops 43.5k for three years with in-state tuition and the scholarship. Regardless, thank you for your honest opinion.

Including living expenses? That doesn't seem right. You will leave law school in three years with a mediocre degree and, even by your numbers, $100k in non dischargeable debt and only a 50/50 shot of getting a law job that pays $50 or $60k. Pitt has very bad odds at putting people into $160k range. Ask the handful of people who lucked out in 2011 from Pitt.

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One last question... if I already studied for a solid 3-3 1/2 months, can a year off studying still make that much of a difference?

Yes. I would assume so.