solucky wrote:I sincerely appreciate all of the insights. TLS is a lifesaver for many reasons, but also has made me very paranoid that law school is HYS or bust.
My resume (significant leadership) and LORs are very strong, especially compared to the 3.9/171 peers I know that have gotten into H this cycle. Both parents are high school drop outs, so I think that does have a little pull. Also first in immediate and extended family to attend graduate/professional school.
If the application numbers remain low, I am confident that with a 170+ I would at least get H (as H emphasizes numbers and it has a much bigger class than S or Y). I didn't even apply to Y this cycle because I knew my LSAT was too low, although now hearing about people that get WL/dinged at S and H but get into Y, I maybe should have.
The problem with this is that (1) everyone around me, I mean everyone, is unsupportive of a retake and (2) if I don't score 168+ then I basically spent the months before starting 1L studying intensely and feeling down if I don't improve. I think I am more worried about the mental letdown of not scoring well in June posing a huge risk for my mindset prior to the hardest year of law school.
ANOTHER OPTION: I am currently in third-round interviews for a legal assistant position with a reputable tech company (think Yahoo!/Google/Microsoft), and if I land the job, I'm looking at $60k plus $5-8K bonus. In this case, I think the obvious option is to let Chicago and Berkeley know I am not enrolling this fall so I can save up and gain WE before law school. Re-take, then re-apply. I would re-take October. I think I'm cutting it close with June because I have two months, plus I'm going out of town for a week. This way I have ample time to prepare and I would apply early (by late October). This cycle I applied mid- to late Jan (stupid, I know).
I honestly think you did so well because of first bolded. I think Yale would really like someone like you if you brought that LSAT up (and maybe even now, see second bolded). Assuming you are getting a huge boost, then 168+ will likely help, a lot. Otherwise, please score at least a 171/2 on a timed practice test before turning down what is essentially a free ride at Chicago. In general, I can't imagine it would be particularly smart to turn down Chi considering how low your LSAT is (assuming you don't realistically have a shot at bringing it above a 168.) If you have a job to fall back on, though, maybe taking a year off would be the best option - assuming you will actually do better on the LSAT.
I love how people here think that Chicago doesn't place in academia anymore based on the fact that their numbers have dropped. A decent amount of people who end up in Academia clerk first, so I can't see how class of 2012/3 numbers would really indicate much/anything.
