Top Law Schools

WUSTL (25k/yr)
Illinois (instate +25k/yr = ~35k/yr)

WL: (Mich, Vandy, Cornell, UCLA)

Stats in profile. I applied Mid to late November at all schools.

I'm torn about what I want to do. I have my UG degree in Mechanical Engineering and want to practice patent law either at Big Law or at boutique firm paying market/near market.

Mainly looking to settle in major metro area with SO in a few years. However, she's not sure just yet whether that will be NYC or Chicago or possibly DC. I was doing practice tests 172+ and dropped a stinker on the real deal. However, its been 7 or 8 months now since I did any prep and there's only a month and a half before June LSAT. I can devote a lot of time to it till then though.

Is it worth putting it off a year to retake/reapply for a better school that offers a more national name, or should I bite the bullet and take one of my options? Is patent law any more portable from a regional school than other type?

Also, if anyone feels like going the extra mile for me, if I got my LSAT up 3 points do I have a realistic shot at the Top 10 with any money, given splitter status?

Thanks a bunch everyone.

MyManKanye wrote:WUSTL (25k/yr)
want to practice patent law either at Big Law or at boutique firm paying market/near market.

Because of this, go with option #3.

Is it worth retaking assuming I only can go up 3 points to a 172? I really wanted to attend Michigan and if 3 points still doesn't give me a shot at that, is it even worth retaking? Do schools look down on re-applicants at all?

MyManKanye wrote:Is it worth retaking assuming I only can go up 3 points to a 172? I really wanted to attend Michigan and if 3 points still doesn't give me a shot at that, is it even worth retaking? Do schools look down on re-applicants at all?

A 172 is a huge difference. That puts you at the median for the T6 and above the median for the lower T14. That is a big deal. I'm not sure whether you'd get money at the T14 with a 172 though, that depends on your GPA.

As a reapplicant myself I am fairly sure that reapplicants are not looked down on at all if they have improved their application significantly (and upping your LSAT to a 172 is significant).

Thanks for the input. I'm just leary to retake/reapply because everyone on TLS (or it seems that way) recommends that in most cases, but there is a startling lack of data for how reapplicants do being posted here. I don't want to just spend a year waiting to end up right back where I started.