Help with where to apply! Forum

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ilikebaseball

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Help with where to apply!

Post by ilikebaseball » Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:52 am

You guys know much more about this process then me, so I figure I'd ask for some advice! 168 (hopefully better come September) with a 3.3 GPA. I'll have good LOR's and PS. I live in Dallas with my grandparents, but the vast majority of my family lives in Annapolis, MD. So what I'm saying is that I'd be fine living in either of these two places. With these stats, where should I apply for good school AND scholly negotiation purposes. My grandpa is a top attorney at a BL here in Dallas (if you can call it that down here?) and although he retires next year, I'm not so sure it wouldnt be hard to get a job there. But anyway.

I know UT is on the list, and I'm applying to Maryland too. Can you guys give me about 6 more schools I should be looking at? Last time I put my list it seemed like you guys thought I should shoot for better schools.

Edit: I should add that I am indeed interested in BL, but contractual law and pension law would probably be my two main interests. That can obviously change a bunch in the next 3 years, but as of now it stands.

03152016

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by 03152016 » Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:58 am

Image
that graph is a beaut
so you're interested in biglaw in either tx or md?

ilikebaseball

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by ilikebaseball » Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:59 am

Exactly. UT would be the go to school in texas it looks like, I'm assuming on a list of about 6 more schools you guys would include Georgetown?

ilikebaseball

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by ilikebaseball » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:04 am

Also would like to know at which point in the process did you really get into taking visits? I've visited SMU, OU, Baylor, UT, and Maryland. But considering the fact that my list is likely to change (which hopefully you guys will help me with) I have to visit the other schools... would you wait until acceptance?

igo2northwestern

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by igo2northwestern » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:14 am

I'd recommend that you apply to multiple T14, in addition to what you were originally considering. It appears that your LSAT may mean more to admissions than when I applied years back? (others feel free to comment, as I might be behind the times/overstating the drop in applicants). It seems that you have a reasonable enough shot at some of those schools, such as Cornell/GT/UVA/Mich/NU.

The reason I'd apply to those schools is to potentially use them in scholarship negotiations, in the scenario that UT or whatever other school doesn't give you anything. I'd say the schools in the yellow are all fair game, but I'm a fan of applying to more schools than fewer. Good luck, OP.

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03152016

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by 03152016 » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:22 am

seems like UT would really be ideal for you
but smu, uh
uva, duke, gulc if you get in
eta: but yeah, apply broadly

ilikebaseball

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by ilikebaseball » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:25 am

SMU is pretty decent in Dallas... law firms here are usually UT, SMU, or Harvard grads. I have a friend whose a 3l at UT who used SMU to get some more from UT.

So instead of applying to schools in the area, you guys think I should just apply to schools T20? Because that makes it easier to decide on applications I guess, it would just warrant more campus visits. Absolutely not picking a school without at least seeing it in person first

igo2northwestern

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by igo2northwestern » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:33 am

choward014 wrote:SMU is pretty decent in Dallas... law firms here are usually UT, SMU, or Harvard grads. I have a friend whose a 3l at UT who used SMU to get some more from UT.

So instead of applying to schools in the area, you guys think I should just apply to schools T20? Because that makes it easier to decide on applications I guess, it would just warrant more campus visits. Absolutely not picking a school without at least seeing it in person first
That's a pretty fair decision, in my opinion. But since you've seen the SMU success story, I think it's a great idea to plug in local schools as well--those that carry some weight. From what I hear, people from Texas are earnest about the whole "Why would you live/practice anywhere besides TX?", similar to a lot of Californians, and to some degree, Oregonians. And job prospects seem much better, so I wouldn't be surprised if UT seriously considered the competition from the SMUs and Baylors, despite the arbitrary US News rank difference.

03152016

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by 03152016 » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:34 am

editing my post, cuz i misread
you're considering only applying to t20?
nah don't do that

apply t20 by all means
not necessarily to attend, but for scholly purposes
but don't go to usc for MD
or minnesota for TX

t14s and strong regionals
+ schools that place well in TX or MD (search TLS threads and check LST state reports) for $$$
Last edited by 03152016 on Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:38 am, edited 3 times in total.

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ilikebaseball

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by ilikebaseball » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:36 am

igo2northwestern wrote:
choward014 wrote:SMU is pretty decent in Dallas... law firms here are usually UT, SMU, or Harvard grads. I have a friend whose a 3l at UT who used SMU to get some more from UT.

So instead of applying to schools in the area, you guys think I should just apply to schools T20? Because that makes it easier to decide on applications I guess, it would just warrant more campus visits. Absolutely not picking a school without at least seeing it in person first
That's a pretty fair decision, in my opinion. But since you've seen the SMU success story, I think it's a great idea to plug in local schools as well--those that carry some weight. From what I hear, people from Texas are earnest about the whole "Why would you live/practice anywhere besides TX?", similar to a lot of Californians, and to some degree, Oregonians. And job prospects seem much better, so I wouldn't be surprised if UT seriously considered the competition from the SMUs and Baylors, despite the arbitrary US News rank difference.
So a decent list might be (but open to suggestion) could be:

UT, SMU, Baylor/Houston, GULC, GW, Maryland? I have to backups in both regions in MD and SMU, and

ilikebaseball

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by ilikebaseball » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:40 am

Then perhaps a couple throw ins like a UVA or a Duke or a NU?

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Attax

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Re: Help with where to apply!

Post by Attax » Mon Jun 30, 2014 12:58 pm

Also, take the UT LSNpredictor with a grain of salt. They seemed to change this year to prefer high LSATs. For my numbers it was basically a straight up denial from them, as well as others. It is pretty reliable but not when trends change.

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