Hi There,
This is my first post on this site and thank you all for the replies.
I've been thinking about law school for a few years now (I am 6 years removed from undergrad), as my favorite classes in undergrad were all law related, my career has led me to some policy work, and I am a huge fan of political theory and the manner in which laws shape a society.
Background:
Age:28
Undergrad: Low-tier Ivy league (Think cornell, upenn, dartmouth, brown). BA in soft social science (think public policy, political science, etc). GPA equivalent = 3.62/4.0 (while working nearly full-time to help support my parents).
Masters: MBA at top 10-15 ivy business school (Think Dartmouth, Yale, Columbia, etc) I decided to do a stint to get my MBA out of a desire to round out my knowledge (a lot of my work had been policy related, and I just wanted a more analytical toolset. It was worth it career wise but not intellectually). GPA: Not sure. I, and most of my classmate did not take business school very seriously on the academic front and the school doesn't give out letter grades. if i had to guess I would say something around 3.3-3.7. I hope this doesn't hurt me too much.
Others: Great and diversified global work experience work on some really cool stuff abroad and some critical domestic issues (I have a security clearance due to my past work experience). Grew up on 3 continents. Tons of volunteer experience.
LSAT: I have not taken it and I have no desire to prep for another standardized test. I have old GRE scores that expire next year and I'll be applying only to schools that accept the GRE. I scored above a 325 total combined score on the GRE (99% percentile on the Verbal and over 75% percentile on the Quant). The ETS' GRE to LSAT conversion scores says that my equivalent LSAT would be between 169-172 depending on which test I use or whether the school decides to combine the highest scores (I took two GRE tests).
Recommendations: Fantastic from a professor, and two leaders of our public policy practice at my firm (large F500 company in an industry related to what I want to focus on in law school).
So that's about it. too much more and I think I'll be revealing my identity.
So suffice it to say, the 2 schools that take the GRE that I really want to get into are: UChicago, YLS and HLS. What are my chances for these schools and for others in the t14 that accept the GRE?
Thanks again!!
What are my Chances? URM AA Male. Double-Ivy League Grad. Forum
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Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about bar exam prep. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
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NickBentham
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LawTweet
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Re: What are my Chances? URM AA Male. Double-Ivy League Grad.
Others might disagree, but with a 75th percentile quant, I think you should definitely study for and take the LSAT. With your verbal reasoning, it sounds like you'd probably be better suited to the LSAT anyway. Besides, LSAT will allow you to apply to every top law school and use competing offers to negotiate scholarships. With your stats, background, and an LSAT over 165 (maybe 170), you should have a breadth of great offers.
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dvlthndr
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Re: What are my Chances? URM AA Male. Double-Ivy League Grad.
URM acceptances can be a little unpredictable to start with. The way schools are evaluating and treating GRE scores is a totally unpredictable black box. Put the two together and... well... it's anybody's guess.
People can speculate how the GRE is treated by admissions offices and if it gets considered the same way as the LSAT for scholarship purposes, but the short version is that nobody has a clue. If you actually had a LSAT score around ~170, I would think that you have a decent shot at any school in the T14 (YLS included). You might have a shot if you apply with just your current GRE score, but it's hard to tell with any level of certainty.
If the options are (1) apply this cycle; or (2) study for the LSAT and apply next cycle, you could also consider applying right now and then reapplying next year if you don't get the kind of acceptances/scholarships you were hoping for.
People can speculate how the GRE is treated by admissions offices and if it gets considered the same way as the LSAT for scholarship purposes, but the short version is that nobody has a clue. If you actually had a LSAT score around ~170, I would think that you have a decent shot at any school in the T14 (YLS included). You might have a shot if you apply with just your current GRE score, but it's hard to tell with any level of certainty.
If the options are (1) apply this cycle; or (2) study for the LSAT and apply next cycle, you could also consider applying right now and then reapplying next year if you don't get the kind of acceptances/scholarships you were hoping for.
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LBJ's Hair
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Re: What are my Chances? URM AA Male. Double-Ivy League Grad.
Feel like the answer here is: Without an LSAC GPA and LSAT, we can't really answer this question.
A URM from an Ivy with a 3.6 and ~170 should get into a HCCN with money, and worth a shot at YS. But we don't really know what your stats are---no one really knows what law schools are doing with the GRE yet. There isn't enough data. And IDK what a "GPA equivalent" is---did you go to Brown and take a lot of classes for no grade? Gotta figure out with the *LSAC GPA* is, because that's what schools care about. Impacts their rankings.
More generally, not sure if law school is right for you. You said you "don't want to study for another standardized test." I understand that sentiment, but that's what law school is for most people: 3 years of studying, and taking, tests.
And most classes will not directly explore the political/public policy issues that you're interested in. Say, for example, you're interested in criminal justice reform. That's *implicated* by the law, obviously. But a class on criminal investigations is not going to focus much on empirical/sociological/whatever work on policing and drug laws. Instead, you're going to read a lot of 4th Amendment cases. What's a search? What's a seizure? When do the police need a warrant? Etc. Stuff that a prosecutor or criminal defense lawyer definitely needs to know, but that a public policy wonk probably doesn't care about.
If you're already settled into a post-MBA career which (a) you like, and (b) pays you a lot of money, it would really suck to leave that to spend three years in school reading things you're not interested in to prepare for a career you don't actually want.
A URM from an Ivy with a 3.6 and ~170 should get into a HCCN with money, and worth a shot at YS. But we don't really know what your stats are---no one really knows what law schools are doing with the GRE yet. There isn't enough data. And IDK what a "GPA equivalent" is---did you go to Brown and take a lot of classes for no grade? Gotta figure out with the *LSAC GPA* is, because that's what schools care about. Impacts their rankings.
More generally, not sure if law school is right for you. You said you "don't want to study for another standardized test." I understand that sentiment, but that's what law school is for most people: 3 years of studying, and taking, tests.
And most classes will not directly explore the political/public policy issues that you're interested in. Say, for example, you're interested in criminal justice reform. That's *implicated* by the law, obviously. But a class on criminal investigations is not going to focus much on empirical/sociological/whatever work on policing and drug laws. Instead, you're going to read a lot of 4th Amendment cases. What's a search? What's a seizure? When do the police need a warrant? Etc. Stuff that a prosecutor or criminal defense lawyer definitely needs to know, but that a public policy wonk probably doesn't care about.
If you're already settled into a post-MBA career which (a) you like, and (b) pays you a lot of money, it would really suck to leave that to spend three years in school reading things you're not interested in to prepare for a career you don't actually want.
