Non Traditional Military 0L Questions Forum

[Luke577]

So, this will be somewhat lengthy, but I will try to organize my thoughts and questions as clearly as possible.

Me: - 25 Year old National Guardsmen deploying for a year. - ~3.0 LSAC GPA, ~3.6 Major GPA (International Relations) - 158 LSAT (taken with 0 prep, after a night out. Dumb, I know)

Situation/Plan: - Study for LSAT while overseas, focusing on the logic games (I bombed this section, missed less than 5 questions on the rest of the test) - Take LSAT while deployed if possible, or Oct 2016 if not. - Move to major city I want to go to school/practice in (Chicago/Philly, maybe Boston/NYC)

As to my above undergraduate performance/LSAT scores; I found UG to be interesting, yet wholly unchallenging, therefore I spent most of my time working and just showed up on test days, sacrificing attendance points and withdrawing from classes that bored me my freshman year. (Again, I was an idiot). I definitely have a positive trend in my grades from freshman to senior year, and I feel like the last 2 years of working professionally, managing a team of other professionals, as well as my leadership experience in the military have matured me to the point where I am finally ready to tackle law school.

Thoughts/Questions-

At 27, with 2 years of professional work experience (Sales/Marketing Management), 7 years in the reserves (1 of them deployed), and the LSAT/GPA I have now, where should I realistically look at applying? I am leaning toward Chicago; so Loyola, JM? Dream would be Northwestern. And piggybacking off of that, do I have realistic chances at Big/Mid Law?

In the case of not being able to take the LSAT overseas, I will be taking the Oct '16 LSAT. In the time between the LSAT and my 1L year, would it benefit me to try and get an admin role at a (hopefully Big Law) firm in my targeted market? Or keep working in Marketing to save as much money as possible?

I appreciate any feedback and advice (I know, dont go to law school). I can appreciate that I am looking at this from a very high level perspective at the moment, with applications being at least a year out, but as I am already behind my would-be peers, I want to be as productive and efficient with my time as possible.

[Broncos15]

The only GPA you will be primarily judged upon is the 3.0 LSAC not the 3.6 major GPA


However the military boots is very strong ( even without it NW would be very realistic as they are splitter friendly)

Thanks for your service

[Luke577]

The only GPA you will be primarily judged upon is the 3.0 LSAC not the 3.6 major GPA


However the military boots is very strong ( even without it NW would be very realistic as they are splitter friendly)

Thanks for your service

Thanks for taking time to reply!

I figured as much regarding the GPA, I just saw it mentioned in several places so I figured I would include it.
And thanks for the note about NW, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[haus]

If you have not already done so, I would suggest taking a look at the Veterans Thread.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=170257

Good luck with your cycle.

[Luke577]

If you have not already done so, I would suggest taking a look at the Veterans Thread.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=170257

Good luck with your cycle.

I've read it from page 1-72 so far haha. Thanks!

[DrSpaceman]

Definitely check out the Veterans' Thread, OP. I'll post a more detailed version here of what I posted there.

Apart from numbers, I had a very similar background to you going into this cycle- deployed reservist NCO with civilian business management experience. I felt that I had a very strong non-numerical application as well; I felt good about the writing and tone in my personal statement, I enlisted two professors who knew me very well in and out of class for LORs, etc... My background definitely helped, but only insofar as I enjoyed significantly better scholarship offers from the schools that accepted me. My acceptances shook out exactly how mylsn.info predicted they would.

All this is to say that you must take the LSAT again. 3.0/158 isn't going to do it, but you can obviously do much better, as your first take was cold. If you can get into the numerical range to be accepted to the kinds of schools that will service your goals, you may get lucky and have a scholarship offer at all of them. But you still have to get in, and I didn't experience much of a boost in acceptances.

[TheSpanishMain]

Try to rack up as much gi bill time as possible to compensate for your gpa. You have a shot at some splitter friendly schools but you may not get much in the way of scholarships

[Wipfelder]

Try to rack up as much gi bill time as possible to compensate for your gpa. You have a shot at some splitter friendly schools but you may not get much in the way of scholarships

This is true. Do whatever you have to do for Yellow Ribbon eligibility. It makes going to war an excellent personal financial decision.......

[twenty]

Dream would be Northwestern.

This dream is very possible. Northwestern is one of the few T14 schools that regularly accepts 3.0 (and below!) GPAs with good LSAT scores. Take it seriously, study hard, and rack up as much GI Bill eligible time as you possibly can.