Pace Law Vs. Marquette Law Forum

[BasilHallward]

My LSAT was a 150. My undergrad was a 3.3GPA. If you consider that "doing very poorly" I guess you can say that. According to my research thats about the 50 percentile of all law school applicants. I also want to add that my first practice LSAT score was 134. Forgive me for being proud of my 16 point improvement. Specially since I have only been speaking English for a few years and not a lifetime.

Okay. Assume no trolling.

Scoring a 134 is objectively terrible, even for a first-time cold taker. Congrats on becoming literate with the test (I really don't mean the pejoratively), but you need to make 160 your goal. The current state of the legal market simply stacks the odds against people in your situation (numbers/goals/finances) of finding a legal job, one that gives you an income justifiable for the direct/indirect/opportunity costs that law school will inflict upon you. You are flirting with disaster. You found TLS just in time.

Google "law school is" and let Google fill it in. Start researching, seriously. You could totally overcome the odds and get a high-paying unicorn job out of Pace, but the actuarial tables don't play in your favor, AT ALL.

[ballcaps]

My LSAT was a 150. My undergrad was a 3.3GPA. If you consider that "doing very poorly" I guess you can say that. According to my research thats about the 50 percentile of all law school applicants. I also want to add that my first practice LSAT score was 134. Forgive me for being proud of my 16 point improvement. Specially since I have only been speaking English for a few years and not a lifetime.

please, please understand that nobody is trying to be mean to you. that's surely an impressive increase, especially for an ELL.

that said, it's still a very bad idea to accept either of those offers. you will have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and may not get a legal job at all.

i'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear, but it's not uncalled for either, especially since you posted in an online forum asking for advice.

i kindly urge you to reconsider your choices.

[BasilHallward]

My LSAT was a 150. My undergrad was a 3.3GPA. If you consider that "doing very poorly" I guess you can say that. According to my research thats about the 50 percentile of all law school applicants. I also want to add that my first practice LSAT score was 134. Forgive me for being proud of my 16 point improvement. Specially since I have only been speaking English for a few years and not a lifetime.

Sorry. I have couple of clarifications. First, scoring 150 places you at the 44 percentile of test takers. Second, speaking English for only a couple of years doesn't matter and you are shifting the issue. Loan collection agencies, law school professors, and potential employers don't give a rat's arse how quickly you picked up English. I'm not discounting the fact that you should feel proud for picking up a language quickly, but it is irrelevant to the discussion and should certainly not be used as a justification for being satisfied with your current law school prospects.

[Traynor Brah]

My LSAT was a 150. My undergrad was a 3.3GPA. If you consider that "doing very poorly" I guess you can say that. According to my research thats about the 50 percentile of all law school applicants. I also want to add that my first practice LSAT score was 134. Forgive me for being proud of my improvement and being hesitant to want to retake the test. Specially since I have only been speaking English for 3 years and not a lifetime.

The GPA is not terrible. As a URM, we can work with a 3.3. However, a 150 is simply an unacceptable score. If you want a reasonable option for law school, you will need to do significantly better -- there are a lot of resources on this website to help you do just that.

I don't recall the specifics, but I believe there is a cutoff somewhere in the 150s where the majority of scorers below the cutoff go on to fail the bar. It might not be for lack of intellectual ability -- it might just be a signal that you're lazy or that you have some other issue. Which brings me to my next point:

Not being able to speak/comprehend/write well in English is a terrible reason to forgo retaking and rush to law school. If your English skills were what was really holding you back, you're going to get slaughtered in law school and as an attorney (again, if you are so lucky to become one from one of these schools). High level reading comprehension and writing skills are absolutely fundamental to any level of success in this profession.

Again, please, step away from the ledge.

[stego]

My LSAT was a 150. My undergrad was a 3.3GPA. If you consider that "doing very poorly" I guess you can say that. According to my research thats about the 50 percentile of all law school applicants. I also want to add that my first practice LSAT score was 134. Forgive me for being proud of my 16 point improvement. Specially since I have only been speaking English for a few years and not a lifetime.

A 16-point improvement from your first practice test is nothing to be ashamed of. But realistically, you need to do better if you want to go to law school. Even a 5-point increase could bring thousands in additional scholarship dollars. Aim for at least a 160.

If you think improving your LSAT score is hard, trying to transfer law schools or pass the bar is WAY harder. Enrolling in law school with the goal of transferring after 1L is a terrible idea because (1) you generally need to be in the top 5% of your class to be able to transfer and law school grades are unpredictable for a 0L - there's just no way to know for sure how you'll do, and (2) transfers generally aren't eligible for merit scholarships at their new school.
With your current LSAT and GPA, the odds are against you that you will do well enough to transfer or that a T14 would even want to accept you as a transfer.

Wisconsin's diploma privilege is cool and all but you have to graduate from the school to get that. You can't transfer out after 1L. I doubt that's a good enough reason to go to a school in Wisconsin if you don't want to practice in that part of the country.

Most of the people who post on here don't consider opening a solo firm to be a good outcome for a law school grad. If that's seriously your goal all along, some of the typical advice about the school's employment statistics probably becomes less important. But I do NOT think you should try to open a solo firm with $150k in debt. You still need to do whatever you can to get the best scholarship possible. That means retaking the LSAT and reapplying.

[FirmBiz]

Please retake, I hate when others constantly tell others to do this, because some are quick to act like "Unless you get into T14 or get a full scholarship, don't go to law school", but please, please retake.

You can do much better than these two schools. A year ago I had a 148, basically had no options for schools, this year I got full scholarship offers, got into a few top 60 schools, got waitlisted at a T20 school. I'm also a URM like yourself.

Just retake, seriously, this isn't even a question, I've seen people get into UT with a sub 160 LSAT score as a URM. You would be denying yourself so many opportunities by going to Pace.

Please

[FirmBiz]

My LSAT was a 150. My undergrad was a 3.3GPA. If you consider that "doing very poorly" I guess you can say that. According to my research thats about the 50 percentile of all law school applicants. I also want to add that my first practice LSAT score was 134. Forgive me for being proud of my improvement and being hesitant to want to retake the test. Specially since I have only been speaking English for 3 years and not a lifetime.

You're already half a step ahead of me, 2 points higher on the LSAT that what I had on my first attempt, same GPA

The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156 and a 3.3, that will give you some nice options

Retake.

[wonka]

Post removed.

[PeanutsNJam]

The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156
The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156
The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156
The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156

[FirmBiz]

The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156
The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156
The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156
The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156
The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156
The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156
The average improvement is 3 points, take the test two more times, you will have a 156

Am I doing this right?

[usn26]

So you're saying he should retake?

[FullRamboLSGrad]

What's your first language OP, please say Spanish

[pancakes3]

What's your first language OP, please say Spanish

Or Algonquin?

[DavidConeSplitter]

Yes Pete it is-- it's actually pronounced Meely-walk-ayye, which is algonquin for, The Good Land

I was not aware of that.

...DO THESE GUYS KNOW HOW TO PARTY OR WHAT

[pancakes3]

Excellent.

[FullRamboLSGrad]

The only way OP makes this work is Spanish fluency in heavy Hispanic markets.