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Will it help that I've been running a business the last three years since my UG degree that does $10 million in sales (net profit is obviously SIGNIFICANTLY less and there's no future in it outside of the next five years, however, which is why I'm moving on)?

I already have a house and am happily tied into the Philadelphia region. The question is, a) can I/should I get money at Nova/Temple with those scores, and is it worth retaking in February if I think I can (should?) get a 168 (high would be around 171, low 163/164 I'd guess), or is it better just to apply now and let the chips fall where they may?

Again, looking to stay in the Philadelphia region, and Penn would be a long shot unless all the cards fell right if I retook the LSAT.

Any opinions would be helpful. Thanks.

neither of those schools are super generous if i remember correctly, and your work experience is only a soft factor, though i think a good one, as far as soft factors go, which isn't far. sorry for that terrible sentence.

temple instate with whatever they give you is probably your best bet.

twert wrote:neither of those schools are super generous if i remember correctly, and your work experience is only a soft factor, though i think a good one, as far as soft factors go, which isn't far. sorry for that terrible sentence.

temple instate with whatever they give you is probably your best bet.

That's what I'm thinking, though being above the median, I'm hoping to get $$ from Nova.

Is a February retake worth it for a 2 pt boost, or is that a bit redundant? My ceiling is probably 171, as I said.

feb is really too late to help you this cycle. its generally only a legit strategy if you're on a waitlist at the time the scores come out.
you will get money from nova. though it might not be much. they have a rep for being tight.

on lsn there was a guy last year with almost identical numbers to you, in fact its the only data point that's really helpful.he got 36k over three years from temple, which is really quite good added to in state tuition. he did not however post his scholarship offer from nova so i don't know what you should expect.

twert wrote:feb is really too late to help you this cycle. its generally only a legit strategy if you're on a waitlist at the time the scores come out.
you will get money from nova. though it might not be much. they have a rep for being tight.

on lsn there was a guy last year with almost identical numbers to you, in fact its the only data point that's really helpful.he got 36k over three years from temple, which is really quite good added to in state tuition. he did not however post his scholarship offer from nova so i don't know what you should expect.

Wonderful, thanks. Temple is cheap in state and places pretty well in Philly (if what everyone says is correct), and I won't require housing, so I'd be thrilled with that.

My advice for what it's worth:

Its too late in the cycle to have a good shot at any real money. This is certainly not an absolute statement, but at this point in time money is extremely limited.

You would be insane to go to Nova or Temple with those numbers. You may want to apply anyway and fish for a ride, but if they don't give it to you stay out. I know it isn't Philly, but have you thought about NY? I got a full ride to Cardozo with similar numbers.

lawschooliseasy wrote:My advice for what it's worth:

Its too late in the cycle to have a good shot at any real money. This is certainly not an absolute statement, but at this point in time money is extremely limited.

You would be insane to go to Nova or Temple with those numbers. You may want to apply anyway and fish for a ride, but if they don't give it to you stay out. I know it isn't Philly, but have you thought about NY? I got a full ride to Cardozo with similar numbers.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Problem is, I have a house already, so it's not as simple as just picking somewhere that's the highest rated school. I'm certainly going to apply outside of Philly. Any suggestions? I wouldn't be opposed to NY or DC, though again, my situation makes it difficult.

Also, I'm obviously a novice here, but does it hurt to apply this year, get accepted and not go? I can do this job for another year if the next cycle offers more money etc if I don't get any offers from either right now.

lawschooliseasy wrote:My advice for what it's worth:

Its too late in the cycle to have a good shot at any real money. This is certainly not an absolute statement, but at this point in time money is extremely limited.

You would be insane to go to Nova or Temple with those numbers. You may want to apply anyway and fish for a ride, but if they don't give it to you stay out. I know it isn't Philly, but have you thought about NY? I got a full ride to Cardozo with similar numbers.

for what its worth, the person i was talking about on lsn applied on january 4, got 36k from temple. i don't think its too late to get money.

also, for someone with a house in philly, going to a t2 in a seriously crowded market like cardozo, even with a full ride, is no where near as good as going to temple with some money.

Eagles_Legendz wrote:

lawschooliseasy wrote:My advice for what it's worth:

Its too late in the cycle to have a good shot at any real money. This is certainly not an absolute statement, but at this point in time money is extremely limited.

You would be insane to go to Nova or Temple with those numbers. You may want to apply anyway and fish for a ride, but if they don't give it to you stay out. I know it isn't Philly, but have you thought about NY? I got a full ride to Cardozo with similar numbers.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Problem is, I have a house already, so it's not as simple as just picking somewhere that's the highest rated school. I'm certainly going to apply outside of Philly. Any suggestions? I wouldn't be opposed to NY or DC, though again, my situation makes it difficult.

Also, I'm obviously a novice here, but does it hurt to apply this year, get accepted and not go? I can do this job for another year if the next cycle offers more money etc if I don't get any offers from either right now.

If you're willing to move a substantial distance you can hit up the usual suspects for $$ (Washington and Lee, Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Alabama), but your GPA might be a tad low. If you really want to stay in the area you don't have tons of options. I don't know a lot about T2 schools, but it seems like most of the schools in the NE are either elite or marginal. IMO you're out of the range of elite schools and it doesn't make sense to go somewhere marginal with your numbers unless you get a ride.

Selling your house would be rough. But, FWIW, I would totally sell my house to skip 1/2 ride at temple in favor of a full ride at one of the above schools.

lawschooliseasy wrote:

Eagles_Legendz wrote:

lawschooliseasy wrote:My advice for what it's worth:

Its too late in the cycle to have a good shot at any real money. This is certainly not an absolute statement, but at this point in time money is extremely limited.

You would be insane to go to Nova or Temple with those numbers. You may want to apply anyway and fish for a ride, but if they don't give it to you stay out. I know it isn't Philly, but have you thought about NY? I got a full ride to Cardozo with similar numbers.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Problem is, I have a house already, so it's not as simple as just picking somewhere that's the highest rated school. I'm certainly going to apply outside of Philly. Any suggestions? I wouldn't be opposed to NY or DC, though again, my situation makes it difficult.

Also, I'm obviously a novice here, but does it hurt to apply this year, get accepted and not go? I can do this job for another year if the next cycle offers more money etc if I don't get any offers from either right now.

If you're willing to move a substantial distance you can hit up the usual suspects for $$ (Washington and Lee, Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Alabama), but your GPA might be a tad low. If you really want to stay in the area you don't have tons of options. I don't know a lot about T2 schools, but it seems like most of the schools in the NE are either elite or marginal. IMO you're out of the range of elite schools and it doesn't make sense to go somewhere marginal with your numbers unless you get a ride.

Selling your house would be rough. But, FWIW, I would totally sell my house to skip 1/2 ride at temple in favor of a full ride at one of the above schools.

Yes, thanks and I'm considering it. In Philadelphia, this score puts me in an odd place as you said. I'm hoping my softs, which are solid, will help bump me a bit, but I'm not getting into the elite schools anyway.

I'm probably going to cast out a wide net of schools in the 'area' like GW/BC/BU/Fordham etc along with a handful of others and see what comes back.

Question though: if I don't get what I want and sit out for next cycle (maybe retake the LSAT and shoot for 168/169), will that hurt me come re-applying or do schools not penalize you for that?

Thanks for all the responses!

Eagles_Legendz wrote:

lawschooliseasy wrote:

Eagles_Legendz wrote:

lawschooliseasy wrote:My advice for what it's worth:

Its too late in the cycle to have a good shot at any real money. This is certainly not an absolute statement, but at this point in time money is extremely limited.

You would be insane to go to Nova or Temple with those numbers. You may want to apply anyway and fish for a ride, but if they don't give it to you stay out. I know it isn't Philly, but have you thought about NY? I got a full ride to Cardozo with similar numbers.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Problem is, I have a house already, so it's not as simple as just picking somewhere that's the highest rated school. I'm certainly going to apply outside of Philly. Any suggestions? I wouldn't be opposed to NY or DC, though again, my situation makes it difficult.

Also, I'm obviously a novice here, but does it hurt to apply this year, get accepted and not go? I can do this job for another year if the next cycle offers more money etc if I don't get any offers from either right now.

If you're willing to move a substantial distance you can hit up the usual suspects for $$ (Washington and Lee, Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Alabama), but your GPA might be a tad low. If you really want to stay in the area you don't have tons of options. I don't know a lot about T2 schools, but it seems like most of the schools in the NE are either elite or marginal. IMO you're out of the range of elite schools and it doesn't make sense to go somewhere marginal with your numbers unless you get a ride.

Selling your house would be rough. But, FWIW, I would totally sell my house to skip 1/2 ride at temple in favor of a full ride at one of the above schools.

Yes, thanks and I'm considering it. In Philadelphia, this score puts me in an odd place as you said. I'm hoping my softs, which are solid, will help bump me a bit, but I'm not getting into the elite schools anyway.

I'm probably going to cast out a wide net of schools in the 'area' like GW/BC/BU/Fordham etc along with a handful of others and see what comes back.

Question though: if I don't get what I want and sit out for next cycle (maybe retake the LSAT and shoot for 168/169), will that hurt me come re-applying or do schools not penalize you for that?

Thanks for all the responses!

General consensus is that there is no penalty for reapplying.