How much are local connections worth? Forum

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[timmyd]

For the love of God, retake and go to UDub

[Bikeflip]

You are missing, however, that TCR is to retake in June, get that 165/166, and apply early next cycle.

Can't, I work full time and my department is being shut down in August. I would have to look for a new job if I don't go to law school this year.

Ah, so you don't want to spend months looking for a jerb. While you may have your reasons for not wanting to look for a jerb, the fact is if you went either one of those schools, we a have a thread for you to read.

Wait op. What I dont understand is why you arent getting a bigger scholarship from either school. Especially at SU with your numbers. They are third tier and you have a top ten percentile lsat and very reasonable gpa. How much of that 120,000 is living costs?

50% living cost. I could reduce the total to 90k by using my savings.

So you have $30K in savings, and you're worried about losing your jerb 6 months from now? But somehow you'd wanna go to law school ASAP instead of retaking for a reasonably good chance of getting $30K+ in financial incentives from law schools? Also, did you factor in the notion that your law school loan interest will now compound while you're in law school? To say nothing of tuition increases? Chances are $120K in debt translates into $145 after interest and tuition increases.

[Gooner91]

I think it also matters how strong your connections are. Are any of them in a position to hire you? If so, have any of them said they will hire you?

[Bikeflip]

I think it also matters how strong your connections are. Are any of them in a position to hire you? If so, have any of them said they will hire you?

If they could hire OP, OP would know, and we wouldn't have this thread.

[Gooner91]

I think it also matters how strong your connections are. Are any of them in a position to hire you? If so, have any of them said they will hire you?

If they could hire OP, OP would know, and we wouldn't have this thread.

Fair point.

[gma221]

It can be good advice. However I was not asking if I should retake. When I first got my score I did some research. 50% of the people who retake get the same score or lower. Of those that score higher, 75% of them increase by 1-2 points. I was PTing at 167-168 with a few outliers, if I did increase my score it probably wouldn't be by much. A score of 165 would be offset by a latter application so I decided not to retake. The problem was that I wasn't asking if I should retake or not.

I live in Portland, absolutely love it, and don't really want to leave for law school. Lewis & Clark is the only option here, so when I started studying for the LSAT I made it my mission to score highly enough to get a $90k+ scholarship out of them. I'm naturally debt-averse, but especially so when it comes to attending a regional law school with mediocre job prospects. I got a 164 the first time I took the LSAT in June, but I managed to bring it up to 171 in December. My L&C acceptance/scholarship letter just arrived in my mailbox today, and they awarded me $102k. As many others here have said, the LSAT is totally learnable. If you're willing to put in the work (and it does take a lot of work), you will reap the rewards. My GPA is only slightly higher than yours, so I think you'd have a good chance of getting a significant scholarship from L&C with a better LSAT score.

Also, I'm about to turn 30 and put off applying to law school wayyy longer than I wanted to due to personal circumstances, but I'm making it happen now. Delaying your application for a year in order to save tens of thousands of dollars hardly seems like a sacrifice.

[Cellar-door]

Can't speak for Seattle, but from talking to lawyers on hiring committees they all say:
1. Depends on the market
2. Depends on the employer
3. You can overcome not having ties with a good interview
4. Ties usually don't make up for weaknesses elsewhere in an application.

[Domke]

After looking hard at the cost of attending I've decided to reevaluate whether I should go to law school or get an MSN. I never did the whole college experience thing and I think I might of been blinded by the idea of finally getting a chance to get a traditional college experience.

Barring a full ride to somewhere I actually want to go. I'm going to either retake or not go to law school.

The responses I got to my initial question did feel like an attack. I know you all meant well but just flatly telling someone to retake doesn't really work well. What ultimately convinced me was explaining the money situation.

[ManoftheHour]

I never did the whole college experience thing and I think I might of been blinded by the idea of finally getting a chance to get a traditional college experience.

That ship has sailed. You're probably not going to find that in law school.

You're smart enough to know that there are other options.

GL!

[Kimikho]

I didn't actually read all the responses, but it looked like no one had commented on this yet.

You mentioned you have savings but will take out loans. I wouldn't do that if I were you. Other, more seasoned TLSers can chime in, but with that plan you'll end up paying way more.

If I'm not right or this is bad advice someone let me know.

[Bikeflip]

After looking hard at the cost of attending I've decided to reevaluate whether I should go to law school or get an MSN. I never did the whole college experience thing and I think I might of been blinded by the idea of finally getting a chance to get a traditional college experience.

Barring a full ride to somewhere I actually want to go. I'm going to either retake or not go to law school.

The responses I got to my initial question did feel like an attack. I know you all meant well but just flatly telling someone to retake doesn't really work well. What ultimately convinced me was explaining the money situation.

No shame in walking away from what probably would have been a bad choice. Congrats and hold your head up high, brosef! Best of luck in the new job search. Once you find something new, smile at us unemployed JDs, knowing that $1,500 of every one of your paychecks isn't going to repay a big loan.