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[elizaalexa]

I have factored in cost of living. Those numbers are the total cost of attendance. Sorry for the confusion.

[somethingElse]

[OutOfTheQuestion]

I don't think you're going to get the answer you want here. Nobody on TLS would advise going to one of the schools you listed with that amount of debt. Even if you think you'll never get much better at the LSAT, even just a 165 would save you tens of thousands of dollars at one of those schools. If you value work life balance like you say, you should seriously consider taking a year off and reapplying so you aren't a debt slave upon graduation, forced to work the hours you hate because your monthly payments demand that type of job. Hell, a 4.0/165 might even get you close to a full ride at Ohio State.

[hairbear7]

I will shed a tear IRL if you squander this opportunity to retake. plz dont make me cry. Let TLS save your life

[Dcc617]

In June 2011 I took my first LSAT. I sort of studied for it, but I was already in ROTC and planning to be to delay my commission to be a JAG lawyer. So it REALLY did not matter where I went to school. I scored a 165 and was getting ready to apply to schools when I started looking at employment prospects and decided to hold my horses. So I went active duty for a few years.

Fast forward to 2014. I'm starting to think about law school again. However, I REALLY don't want to take the LSAT again. So I apply to a few T14 schools and figure that if I get into one then I won't retake. I get wait listed or rejected from all of them. At this point I finally suck it up and in April 2015 decided to bunker down and fucking study. At this point I'm still active duty and in command of a company of 100 soldiers. But I study after work, on weekends, and sometimes on my phone when a meeting is really pointless. And, after a little under 2 months of intense studying, I absolutely crush the June 2015 LSAT, improving my score by double digits.

Fast forward to April 2016 and I've just committed to enroll at Harvard.

My point is that the LSAT sucks, but it's just one stupid test. You owe it to yourself to give it your all. Maybe you've topped out on your score and these are the best options you're going to have. But do you believe that? And if you don't, then why on earth would you settle? This is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make, professionally, financially, and personally.

Take the goddamned year off.

[hairbear7]

In June 2011 I took my first LSAT. I sort of studied for it, but I was already in ROTC and planning to be to delay my commission to be a JAG lawyer. So it REALLY did not matter where I went to school. I scored a 165 and was getting ready to apply to schools when I started looking at employment prospects and decided to hold my horses. So I went active duty for a few years.

Fast forward to 2014. I'm starting to think about law school again. However, I REALLY don't want to take the LSAT again. So I apply to a few T14 schools and figure that if I get into one then I won't retake. I get wait listed or rejected from all of them. At this point I finally suck it up and in April 2015 decided to bunker down and fucking study. At this point I'm still active duty and in command of a company of 100 soldiers. But I study after work, on weekends, and sometimes on my phone when a meeting is really pointless. And, after a little under 2 months of intense studying, I absolutely crush the June 2015 LSAT, improving my score by double digits.

Fast forward to April 2016 and I've just committed to enroll at Harvard.

My point is that the LSAT sucks, but it's just one stupid test. You owe it to yourself to give it your all. Maybe you've topped out on your score and these are the best options you're going to have. But do you believe that? And if you don't, then why on earth would you settle? This is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make, professionally, financially, and personally.

Take the goddamned year off.

Damn, that's an amazing story. Congrats! Love seeing hard work pay off.

[Danny Mothers]

You're concerned about months of stressing for the LSAT, so instead you're going to go to a school that will require not just months but years of stress and anxiety and effort in order to land ANY LEGAL JOB. And you're going to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for it.

[SFSpartan]

In June 2011 I took my first LSAT. I sort of studied for it, but I was already in ROTC and planning to be to delay my commission to be a JAG lawyer. So it REALLY did not matter where I went to school. I scored a 165 and was getting ready to apply to schools when I started looking at employment prospects and decided to hold my horses. So I went active duty for a few years.

Fast forward to 2014. I'm starting to think about law school again. However, I REALLY don't want to take the LSAT again. So I apply to a few T14 schools and figure that if I get into one then I won't retake. I get wait listed or rejected from all of them. At this point I finally suck it up and in April 2015 decided to bunker down and fucking study. At this point I'm still active duty and in command of a company of 100 soldiers. But I study after work, on weekends, and sometimes on my phone when a meeting is really pointless. And, after a little under 2 months of intense studying, I absolutely crush the June 2015 LSAT, improving my score by double digits.

Fast forward to April 2016 and I've just committed to enroll at Harvard.

My point is that the LSAT sucks, but it's just one stupid test. You owe it to yourself to give it your all. Maybe you've topped out on your score and these are the best options you're going to have. But do you believe that? And if you don't, then why on earth would you settle? This is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make, professionally, financially, and personally.

Take the goddamned year off.

This is an absolutely incredible story - congratulations!

[crescentstars]

In June 2011 I took my first LSAT. I sort of studied for it, but I was already in ROTC and planning to be to delay my commission to be a JAG lawyer. So it REALLY did not matter where I went to school. I scored a 165 and was getting ready to apply to schools when I started looking at employment prospects and decided to hold my horses. So I went active duty for a few years.

Fast forward to 2014. I'm starting to think about law school again. However, I REALLY don't want to take the LSAT again. So I apply to a few T14 schools and figure that if I get into one then I won't retake. I get wait listed or rejected from all of them. At this point I finally suck it up and in April 2015 decided to bunker down and fucking study. At this point I'm still active duty and in command of a company of 100 soldiers. But I study after work, on weekends, and sometimes on my phone when a meeting is really pointless. And, after a little under 2 months of intense studying, I absolutely crush the June 2015 LSAT, improving my score by double digits.

Fast forward to April 2016 and I've just committed to enroll at Harvard.

My point is that the LSAT sucks, but it's just one stupid test. You owe it to yourself to give it your all. Maybe you've topped out on your score and these are the best options you're going to have. But do you believe that? And if you don't, then why on earth would you settle? This is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make, professionally, financially, and personally.

Take the goddamned year off.

This is awesome, and congrats on your success! I feel really lucky to get to go to school with people like yourself next year!

OP, I really hope you listen to this advice (and everyone else's). I don't have a story like this, but retaking the LSAT gave me huge results, and I'm lucky to say that things are working out for me this cycle. I know the LSAT is awful/waiting sucks, but you *can* make some serious improvements if you work hard at it!

Also, I understand the struggle that is the job search. But even if it doesn't work out immediately, you can try volunteering your time at organizations you might be interested in working at in the future (or ones you're just interested in). I've been volunteering all over my city (while saving money by living at home) for the last 4ish months, and I can pretty definitely say that it did not hurt my admissions outcomes. It actually helped me strengthen my own reasons for law school/gave me more to discuss during my interviews. Good luck!

[Rigo]

And don't make bad Elle woods jokes when you scored 19 points below her on the LSAT

savage

But yeah please retake OP.

[barkschool]

In June 2011 I took my first LSAT. I sort of studied for it, but I was already in ROTC and planning to be to delay my commission to be a JAG lawyer. So it REALLY did not matter where I went to school. I scored a 165 and was getting ready to apply to schools when I started looking at employment prospects and decided to hold my horses. So I went active duty for a few years.

Fast forward to 2014. I'm starting to think about law school again. However, I REALLY don't want to take the LSAT again. So I apply to a few T14 schools and figure that if I get into one then I won't retake. I get wait listed or rejected from all of them. At this point I finally suck it up and in April 2015 decided to bunker down and fucking study. At this point I'm still active duty and in command of a company of 100 soldiers. But I study after work, on weekends, and sometimes on my phone when a meeting is really pointless. And, after a little under 2 months of intense studying, I absolutely crush the June 2015 LSAT, improving my score by double digits.

Fast forward to April 2016 and I've just committed to enroll at Harvard.

My point is that the LSAT sucks, but it's just one stupid test. You owe it to yourself to give it your all. Maybe you've topped out on your score and these are the best options you're going to have. But do you believe that? And if you don't, then why on earth would you settle? This is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make, professionally, financially, and personally.

Take the goddamned year off.

awesome

[ndirish2010]

Just checking in to say that your GPA is awesome and you should retake to take full advantage of it. Hell, I went from 161 to 168 without too much extra prep, just having a much better day.

[griffinz]

I agree with everyone's assessment of retaking the LSAT. You really will be burning potential otherwise. However, I can say that I know for a fact that Dean Butler at George Mason will give you a full ride if you have a 162 & 3.65+. I have a 161 and 3.65+, and he offered me 90% (36.6k of about 40k) with the potential for a full ride if I'm in the top 10% of my 1L class (or retake and get a 162). Of course, I turned it down because I want to retake and reapply myself. I don't even think GMU is worth it nearly tuition free, especially considering the CoL in the area. Since you like the idea of DC, I would at least encourage you to retake in June to get an extra two points if you really want to go to school this year AND go to a DC area school. Plus, you may do way better than that and realize you should reapply. BUT, your very best bet is to take a year, study all summer, and take the test in September.

[ponderingmeerkat]

Hi! Elle Woods here again -- So I gave this post a lot of thought. A LOT of thought. I've spent time thinking about the opportunity cost of taking a year off to take the LSAT. The year's salary I would be forgoing by matriculating in the fall, the stress and rigor of retaking the LSAT in October have me thinking I should just go now. I ultimately realized that it's not even personally important to me to have a degree from a t-14 school and if I retake and land t-14 my debt will most likely be the same as t-50. I very much value work-life balance and fear a career working 15 hr days to pay off debt.
I see myself living in a city be it DC, NYC, etc. I have a close network of friends in both the DC and Columbus areas.



Ohio State and George Mason have both increased my scholarships. Here is now what I'm between. Thoughts?

#19 USC Gould-- COA: $193,923
#30 Ohio State-- $99,264
#42 George Mason-- $102,954
#97 West Virginia-- Full Tuition Scholarship so just cost of living

This thread is proof there is no helping some people. They'd rather take a shitty, expensive option rather than retake in an effort to avoid the social prestige hit they think they'd absorb if they told everyone about a year-long delay.

Seriously Elle Woods, there's absolutely zero downside (ZERO DOWNSIDE!) to waiting this one out and retaking. Who gives a shit if people you don't really like aren't really impressed by your decision. Do what's right for you (35 year old you, not this frivolous 22 year-old you that's currently making fucked up decisions for fucked up reasons). If you spend a couple hundred more hours studying (almost guaranteed all it would take) and get a 165+, you'll be looking at solid options at solid schools.

If you attend any of these current options, you are immolating yourself financially...Tibetan-monk-style.

[laliforevar]

OP, for a bit of perspective on how taking some time/working/learning can make a difference, would recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-People-Shou ... 0062292048

Written by the founder of the fellowship I'm currently doing (Venture for America). He actually went to CLS and advises in strong terms not against law school, but law school at the wrong time or for unclear reasons. The argument is that it can really be a machine (as can many big 'systems' - consulting, banking, finance etc.) that, if you don't have strong convictions about something (why you're there, what you want to achieve) when you get there, will sweep you along until you end up in a job where you're either 1) a cog in a wheel paying off debt or 2) doing something that was totally what you intended when you started out.

A few years out from college, I can see how this is already happening to some of my friends who did something that seemed like 'the thing to do' in the eyes of others or that they had just talked themselves into and were too afraid to let go for other, perhaps more unknown opportunities.

You don't have to have it all figured out before law school, I don't think. But see the world a little! It's a very different place than the classroom. I don't know if your T-50 degree will get you the kind of job you want in NYC, DC, etc. - but you can go now!

There is some risk for sure - but I think everyone else has pointed out some of the potential rewards to giving it some time.

//soapbox

[pancakes3]

dumbs are going to dumb. 3.9x or not, people in this thread have laid out the arguments. if she doesn't get it, she doesn't get it.

[Mikey]

3.98? Retaking is literally the ONLY option you need to consider. With that GPA, these schools shouldn't even be in your options with a retake.

[gazorpazorp]

It would be nothing short of a life-ruining decision to not sit out the cycle and retake the LSAT.

[Dcc617]

Any updates from OP?

[Nachoo2019]

Any updates from OP?

Elle Woods definitely went to HLS