Top Law Schools

3.26/169/4 years work experience (2 in marketing and then Teach for America)

I want to go to Texas, Michigan, Georgetown or Vanderbilt.

I know I need to retake the LSAT. I spent 3 months prepping. On my diagnostic exam I scored a 166 and didn't score below 170 after that. Al in all, took about 20 tests, averaging around 174. I walked in expecting a 172-176, 170 worst case scenario. Needless to say, the test was a disaster.

What do you all I think I need to get when I retake? Would a 172 do it? Or more like a 174?

Honestly if you applied ED to GULC you might get in anyway, but a few extra points on your LSAT wouldn't hurt. From what I've heard, Teach for America is a pretty good soft, but being a splitter, you might have to wait until the end of the cycle, etc, to hear from schools. Just to be clear, I'd research schools further down in the rankings also, as you could be in a position to get a substantial amount of money. As a splitter this cycle, I can tell you that its very unpredictable and I wouldn't bank on getting into schools based on high LSAT alone.

jk11287 wrote:Honestly if you applied ED to GULC you might get in anyway,

No.

jk11287 wrote:Honestly if you applied ED to GULC you might get in anyway, but a few extra points on your LSAT wouldn't hurt. From what I've heard, Teach for America is a pretty good soft, but being a splitter, you might have to wait until the end of the cycle, etc, to hear from schools. Just to be clear, I'd research schools further down in the rankings also, as you could be in a position to get a substantial amount of money. As a splitter this cycle, I can tell you that its very unpredictable and I wouldn't bank on getting into schools based on high LSAT alone.

Texas seems to hate splitters. Michigan is actually not impossible at 169, but the higher the better. Maybe ED at Mich, and write a good app. 171 for GULC. 169 might be okay for vandy, but more points is better.

Retake and aim for the sky.

I think all of these schools would put you on the waitlist with a 169.
You can still get into some good places (Wash U/Boston University/Illinois/Indiana/Notre Dame/Iowa/George Washington) with those stats.
Good luck!

Dr. Strangelove wrote:I think all of these schools would put you on the waitlist with a 169.
You can still get into some good places (Wash U/Boston University/Illinois/Indiana/Notre Dame/Iowa/George Washington) with those stats.
Good luck!

I have a 169, 3.5, 3 years good WE, and I got dinged at Michigan and Texas and WL at GULC (pt/ft). Didn't apply to Vandy. I think you need a 172+ to feel confident you'll get in at least one of those places.

Another 169 here, and I'll chance a guess:

Michigan - WL/out
GTown - out/WL
Vandy - in/WL (I was WL, but that was after straight up missing my interview, so I think you'd have a decent shot at "in" barring that kind of screw up.)

I don't know UT well enough to hazard a guess there. But basically, yeah, you'll need to retake to be in any way comfortable with your app. to these schools. That's not to say it's impossible, and there are some 169s who managed at Michigan this year, and several in at Vandy. I think that they typically had higher GPAs, though, so since you can't do anything about the GPA, increasing the LSAT is your best shot. Your work experience/TFA soft may also throw a curveball in my predictions.

I will be applying to a few target/safety schools as well (Indiana, BC, BU, Tulane, etc.) But those schools above are where I really want to go (just to clarify so you all know I'm not an idiot who's only applying to top-20 schools as a splitter).