Top Law Schools

I have a 3.96 gpa at FIU in Florida with a major in Public Administration, but a less than stellar lsat score of 153. I rushed my studying and know I could do better, but I'm not confident that I could make the necessary improvement by the September 2017 test. I also have pretty good LORs and work experience at a small firm. I'm also only 19 years old graduating early due to early admissions credits from high school. I'm not sure if that helps me at all?
My plan is to try to apply to some decent schools this cycle and if I don't get in start prepping for the June 2018 to apply next cycle. I know I'm not getting into a top school, but I'm wondering what schools in competitive for and if going there is worth it. I'm looking primarily at Pitt with UF and GW as stretch schools. Any thoughts or advice would really be appreciated!

Retake the LSAT. You have a very nice GPA and with the right LSAT score, you can get some really good money from great schools.

Also, you're only 19.. Take at the very least a year off and live, get a job, do things you enjoy doing, etc.

Pidgeon wrote:I have a 3.96 gpa at FIU in Florida with a major in Public Administration, but a less than stellar lsat score of 153. I rushed my studying and know I could do better, but I'm not confident that I could make the necessary improvement by the September 2017 test. I also have pretty good LORs and work experience at a small firm. I'm also only 19 years old graduating early due to early admissions credits from high school. I'm not sure if that helps me at all?
My plan is to try to apply to some decent schools this cycle and if I don't get in start prepping for the June 2018 to apply next cycle. I know I'm not getting into a top school, but I'm wondering what schools in competitive for and if going there is worth it. I'm looking primarily at Pitt with UF and GW as stretch schools. Any thoughts or advice would really be appreciated!

DO. NOT. APPLY. WITH. A. 153.

I'm gonna level with you, applying with a 153 will be the biggest mistake of your life. You need to realize that law school is a professional school and prestige matters in the legal profession. A lot. You have the GPA to get into Harvard. It would be a tragedy if you settle for a school like Pitt (very random btw if you're from Florida). Retake the LSAT. The average entering age at most schools is 24-25. It won't kill you to wait a year or two.

There are also a whole lot of other reasons to not go to law school until you're at least 21, but it's far more important that you don't apply with a 3.96 and a 153.

Pidgeon wrote: I'm looking primarily at Pitt with UF and GW as stretch schools. Any thoughts or advice would really be appreciated!

you know if you practiced for the lsat you could go to harvard right?


edit: enjoyed having mullens and I have the same opinion at the same time

Mullens wrote:

Pidgeon wrote:I have a 3.96 gpa at FIU in Florida with a major in Public Administration, but a less than stellar lsat score of 153. I rushed my studying and know I could do better, but I'm not confident that I could make the necessary improvement by the September 2017 test. I also have pretty good LORs and work experience at a small firm. I'm also only 19 years old graduating early due to early admissions credits from high school. I'm not sure if that helps me at all?
My plan is to try to apply to some decent schools this cycle and if I don't get in start prepping for the June 2018 to apply next cycle. I know I'm not getting into a top school, but I'm wondering what schools in competitive for and if going there is worth it. I'm looking primarily at Pitt with UF and GW as stretch schools. Any thoughts or advice would really be appreciated!

DO. NOT. APPLY. WITH. A. 153.

I'm gonna level with you, applying with a 153 will be the biggest mistake of your life. You need to realize that law school is a professional school and prestige matters in the legal profession. A lot. You have the GPA to get into Harvard. It would be a tragedy if you settle for a school like Pitt (very random btw if you're from Florida). Retake the LSAT. The average entering age at most schools is 24-25. It won't kill you to wait a year or two.

There are also a whole lot of other reasons to not go to law school until you're at least 21, but it's far more important that you don't apply with a 3.96 and a 153.

Agree with this 100%. But also, if you are hitting the legal job market at 22, you will be at a significant disadvantage. Firms dont want someone your age because at the end of the day, this is a client-facing business.

You have plenty of time to improve your score by September. Even if you didn't, you could take the December test and still have an amazing cycle.

Being 19 won't help you. It's not going to keep you out of schools, at all, but it won't help you get into better ones. If anything being unusually young is a red flag in a professional field where experience and demonstrated maturity tend to help you.

Pidgeon wrote:I have a 3.96 gpa at FIU in Florida with a major in Public Administration, but a less than stellar lsat score of 153. I rushed my studying and know I could do better, but I'm not confident that I could make the necessary improvement by the September 2017 test. I also have pretty good LORs and work experience at a small firm. I'm also only 19 years old graduating early due to early admissions credits from high school. I'm not sure if that helps me at all?
My plan is to try to apply to some decent schools this cycle and if I don't get in start prepping for the June 2018 to apply next cycle. I know I'm not getting into a top school, but I'm wondering what schools in competitive for and if going there is worth it. I'm looking primarily at Pitt with UF and GW as stretch schools. Any thoughts or advice would really be appreciated!

You've got a great GPA that could get you into a top school, you know you could improve your LSAT with practice even if not by September, and even if you were a few years older you'd still be pretty young by law school standards (even if age were a relevant concern). Don't know what your goals are, but they'll almost certainly be better served by retaking than applying with that LSAT.

Agree with what's been said so far--study again and retake. Even if you can only go up to the mid-160s, with that GPA you still open up most of the lower T14, or better.

Pidgeon wrote:I have a 3.96 gpa at FIU in Florida with a major in Public Administration, but a less than stellar lsat score of 153. I rushed my studying and know I could do better, but I'm not confident that I could make the necessary improvement by the September 2017 test. I also have pretty good LORs and work experience at a small firm. I'm also only 19 years old graduating early due to early admissions credits from high school. I'm not sure if that helps me at all?
My plan is to try to apply to some decent schools this cycle and if I don't get in start prepping for the June 2018 to apply next cycle. I know I'm not getting into a top school, but I'm wondering what schools in competitive for and if going there is worth it. I'm looking primarily at Pitt with UF and GW as stretch schools. Any thoughts or advice would really be appreciated!

If you have the intellect to graduate literally a year after most people go to college with a 3.96, you have the intellect to rock the LSAT. Also to get a dope job which pays USD that you can put in a bank account to make law school cheaper. On average, college grads make 50k/yr. If you have 0 savings now, and save 10% of your income for the next 6 years (which would be enough time to build a DOPE resume) - you could have 60k in the bank when you enter school. You could go debt free with a good enough LSAT. Even if you did only 3 years, 30k in savings is nothing to scoff at.

.

Mikey wrote:Retake the LSAT. You have a very nice GPA and with the right LSAT score, you can get some really good money from great schools.

Also, you're only 19.. Take at the very least a year off and live, get a job, do things you enjoy doing, etc.

/thread

HennessyVSOP wrote:

Mikey wrote:Retake the LSAT. You have a very nice GPA and with the right LSAT score, you can get some really good money from great schools.

Also, you're only 19.. Take at the very least a year two years off and live, get a job, do things you enjoy doing, etc.

/thread

what's the point of LS if you can't even legally drink

Future Ex-Engineer wrote:

HennessyVSOP wrote:

Mikey wrote:Retake the LSAT. You have a very nice GPA and with the right LSAT score, you can get some really good money from great schools.

Also, you're only 19.. Take at the very least a year two years off and live, get a job, do things you enjoy doing, etc.

/thread

what's the point of LS if you can't even legally drink

Why drink when its all about the green...