3.4/168 Public Interest Law Forum

[nys]

I have two gpa's 3.34 and 3.49 from the school which I am getting my degree from. I took the February 2011 LSAT and scored a 168. I'm looking to go into Public Interest Law (would consider any region except the South). What are good schools for me to apply to? (White/Middle Eastern Male, strong PS, decent EC's, and very good LOR's).

[89vision]

How do you know your recs are strong? Did you read them and/or compare them to letters other students receive? Curious as to how you know they are strong.

[vanwinkle]

Retake, aim for 170+, ED to T14.

[nys]

How do you know your recs are strong? Did you read them and/or compare them to letters other students receive? Curious as to how you know they are strong.

Professors have either gone over the LOR with me or told me that they would like to write me a very positive recommendation.

Retake, aim for 170+, ED to T14.

Yeah, that's not going to happen. I have fee waivers to a couple of T14 that I will apply to as somewhat of a long shot but given that my interests are geared towards public service law or working for my dad I'm not too interested in racking up 150k+ in debt.

[89vision]

How do you know your recs are strong? Did you read them and/or compare them to letters other students receive? Curious as to how you know they are strong.

Professors have either gone over the LOR with me or told me that they would like to write me a very positive recommendation.

Retake, aim for 170+, ED to T14.

Yeah, but don't Professor's write very positive recs for all students? As in, why wouldn't a rec be very positive? Wouldn't you have to read other students' recs in order to gauge how good yours are? I mean, my Prof's did the same thing as yours, but I don't think that makes them any better than any others. I guess I can't really understand how I can say mine are any better than yours, unless I read both.

[vanwinkle]

Yeah, that's not going to happen. I have fee waivers to a couple of T14 that I will apply to as somewhat of a long shot but given that my interests are geared towards public service law or working for my dad I'm not too interested in racking up 150k+ in debt.

Public service jobs have gotten incredibly competitive lately, making where you go to school more important than ever. If you use federal loans then IBR will forgive the vast majority of your debt after 10 years of employment. Many T14s have IBR-friendly LRAPs now that will pay off what IBR doesn't cover.

Can you really go to law school without incurring any debt? Not unless you get a full ride and live with local friends/family for 3 years at their dime. Otherwise a "full scholarship" still means at least $60K in loans. At that amount or higher, your debt management options are just as important as the amount of debt you're in. And repaying any of it only matters if you can find a job, which makes going to the best school possible worth it. Schools like Penn and UVA have entire public service programs geared up to help you meet PI-oriented alumni and find PI work when you graduate. They can't work magic, but they can help more than you'll get at most lower-ranked schools.

Don't write this idea off without considering it. Assuming something simplistic like "less debt = better choice" would be a huge mistake.

[UnamSanctam]

Yeah, that's not going to happen. I have fee waivers to a couple of T14 that I will apply to as somewhat of a long shot but given that my interests are geared towards public service law or working for my dad I'm not too interested in racking up 150k+ in debt.

Public service jobs have gotten incredibly competitive lately, making where you go to school more important than ever. If you use federal loans then IBR will forgive the vast majority of your debt after 10 years of employment. Many T14s have IBR-friendly LRAPs now that will pay off what IBR doesn't cover.

Absolutely. Applying to a T14 school with a good LRAP program is definitely TCR. Retaking sucks, but it's the rest of your life you're deciding here.