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Oh infinitely knowledgeable fellow 0Ls and experienced Law School applicants, I just can't decide what to do with my life.

I finished UG May 2010, have been working at a Fortune 500 company since then. Good pay, but the work doesn't interest me and I don't see potential to advance in the company unless I make some major changes to my career goals. I'm ready to move on. The timing is just right for me to go this fall. However, with work being my primary interest at first and law school only an afterthought, I didn't look too much into the application process and thought as long as I got apps in before March 1 I would be fine.

Wrong. I got rejected at a few reach schools, but I got WL at pretty much all the schools I really wanted/thought were doable. Currently my options are:

WUSTL w/ $40K/year and no stips
W&M w/ $28K/year
WL at Vanderbilt, Gtown (SPWL), Duke, and NW


All my apps were sent out mid-late Feb, and some were held until the Feb LSAT came in.

I took the December LSAT and thought I really bombed it. I even had to take a bathroom break during a section and I was frazzled the whole time. I figured I was too dumb for law school and should give up. Turns out I got a 167 so I figured I still had a shot at a decent Law school, but knew I could do better. Retook in Feb. I thought I killed it. I got a 168. I took around 10 PTs with my average right around there, but my last few were consistently 168 or higher, and I broke 170 4 or 5 times. I'm just not 100% certain a retake will be 170+.

I liked WUSTL and W&M on my visits; I just want somewhere better in all honesty. I don't know where I want to work longterm, and want a degree I can take across the country. I really loved my WL schools, but don't want to take out $200K debt either. Not sure what I'm looking at career wise, but now it seems like my options are go to WUSTL and if I do well explore transfers, take the June LSAT and hope it convinces someone to give me money off the WL, Take the June or October LSAT and reapply in the Fall and stay with my job another agonizing year. If I can somehow get $20k/year from any WL schools I will go without thinking twice about it.

Any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

Whats your gpa?

If it is high a retake could help. Although it is not uncommon for someone to consistently get 2 or 3 point below their normal good pts. If you think that you likely can get better and have a great gpa then by all means wait. If not, I think Wustl that cheap is a really great option. I had a lower scholarship there and I thought about it a lot before deciding to go to UVA. I think if they would have upped it to 40/year after I asked them to, I may have seriously considered going there. Also, your first impression visit probably isnt a true indicator of how well you will actually like it there. Even if your visit was just ok, you may love your time in school there.

In short, there is no certainty that you will do better than nearly a full ride at a top 20 school. You will have to do well, but not a lot of doors will be closed just by going there. I'd go to wustl with sweet scholarship and not worry about it at all.

I'm facing a similar problem. Similar LSAT problem and a similar (smaller) offer from WUSTL. I'm thinking I'll put my deposit down for now and retake in June. If things go well I'll probably withdraw and reapply in the fall. However, my GPA puts me in splitter territory, don't know if yours does the same.

If you want to work in the midwest and understand that you will probably end up at a small firm then I think your WUSTL scholarship is a good deal.

If you want somewhere other than the midwest or want biglaw or something prestigious then I would not take WUSTL in this case.

My GPA is 3.79 so solid but nothing special

With that 3.79/168 you may be able to do better but like I said before its not certain. It seemed that you did fine/well for those numbers. If you get to 3.79/170, you definitely should do better. Essays, resume, etc also can be important and could always get better. Basically, you may be able to do a little better, but you havent done poorly at all so far. Like I said, I'd take your wustl offer but I am not too worried where I'd practice. If you already know, know that you hate the midwest, maybe you shouldn't go (but I dont know why you would think that unless you had never lived there.)

For your numbers your about where you should be, wouldn't want to be paying sticker or near sticker for any lower t14 you could get into.

Just put your deposit down retake in June and withdraw if you get a 170+

enron123 wrote:Just put your deposit down retake in June and withdraw if you get a 170+

I would agree with this sentiment.

I was planning on at least going with the first deposit to keep my options open that way

Stringer Bell wrote:

enron123 wrote:Just put your deposit down retake in June and withdraw if you get a 170+

I would agree with this sentiment.

+2

Gonna give myself the Friday morning bump. I'm selfish.