Top Law Schools

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Accepted on full scholarship, sent in my deposit, but still not sure I'll be going. I'm in KZ currently so visiting the open houses was no option. I have a full ride at Suffolk in MA also, and while it's a crap school compared to PSU, it's at least closer in proximity both to home and to where I plan to practice.

Wondering how important y'all think PSU's ranking and maybe "name recognition" are in the job hunt. Suffolk may have horrendous employment stats, but at least local attorneys are familiar with it. Does PSU's "prestige" matter outside of PA?

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Applied really late in the cycle like March, I just got wait listed so there's still hope for lurkers of this forum lol

Got my 2nd deposit reduced to $250! DiPolvere seemed to be really cool about it. Anybody else get their deposit reduced?

In undergrad I recieved the pell grant so I got a second deposit waiver

I got mine waived also. Which was super helpful.

Glad to see some discussion on this thread! You guys were being super quiet!

Flexlijah wrote:Glad to see some discussion on this thread! You guys were being super quiet!

+1

So everyone should check into the Class of 2017 thread in class forum. I'm all alone on the Penn State list.

I think it would be awesome to learn more about you guys since in a little over two months we'll be starting the law school grind together.

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This may be old news to some, but Penn State will officially be two separate schools for next cycle.

http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/ ... eckdam.pdf

https://law.psu.edu/faqs-separate-accreditation

I'm looking to rent an apartment in Carlisle next summer. If any of you would like to sublet a 3+ bedroom home, PM me.

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I'm glad Penn is separating from the school in State College. They didn't need the whole Sandusky nonsense tarnishing their image. Gotta maintain that T14 ranking.

Unsure if I should begin a 2018 applicant thread, but seeing as this thread has the most activity, I'll post the questions I have for admitted and current students:

What are your thoughts on admission stats? I've read PSU Law admitted ~43% of their applicants last year. Now that the schools are separate and operate as different law schools (Dickinson and PSU), do you think the admissions numbers will differ?

Also, does anyone know of someone with a LSAT score under the 25% mark and was still admitted? PSU is my number one choice and my LSAT falls a little under that 25% mark (still waiting on the September score).

Application opens Wednesday!

HTBA15,

I'm a 1L at a peer school to Penn State, and I'm going to try to help you out here. Only go to PSU under the following conditions:

1. You are going for free (or close to free) or you have wealthy parents/relatives footing the bill.
2. You are ok with practicing in PA for the foreseeable future.
3. You really want to be a lawyer and realize that you may not get a lawyer job out of school.

If these conditions are met, I think PSU can be a fine choice. If you don't have independently wealthy parents who can pay your way, you need to bring up that LSAT score to at least a 160. I don't know anyone personally that was admitted under the 25% mark, but 25% of the class had LSAT scores at or beneath that mark, so it's safe to say that some were admitted. That said, you don't want to be barely admitted, because you'd then be paying full tuition. It's funny how the scholarship game goes in law school. The smarter kids (or at least the kids that have the better LSATs and GPAs) are having their tuition subsidized by those who are paying full freight.

Take a close look at the employment stats, as schools often manipulate the data to make themselves look better. For the class of 2013, only 51.5% (103 out of 200) of graduates obtained bar required jobs within 9 months. The salary information is equally as poor. The median salary for the class of 2013 is $55,000, which doesn't look that bad at first until you look more closely. You can see that only 100 of the 200 graduates reported a salary. So, the median salary listed is among the 100 reporting. This means that only 25% (or 50 grads) of the class is known to be making $55,000 or more 9 months after graduating and 75% are most likely making less. It wouldn't be bad if the average debt were only $25,000, but the average debt is near $125k. Now, if you think getting into debt to the tune of $125,000 for a 25% chance of making $55,000 is a good idea, then knock yourself out.

As for the separation of the schools, I think the school in Carlisle will be hurting and the admission standards are going to fall drastically. Carlisle was already experiencing a significant drop in enrollment, and I think this separation will further accelerate this drop.

rwhyAn:

Thank you for your help. Truly, any bit of information helps.

I'm aware of the drop in the legal market and, although strange/counter intuitive, I don't think I'm looking to go to law school solely to become a lawyer. The numbers are bleak (I know) and that does frighten me. However, I'm looking at PSU for a dual degree program only two other schools offer (T5) and Penn State's curriculum for the program seems to fit my needs perfectly.

Here's to hoping for the best.

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