HELP!! Forum

[gravityrides0]

I mostly frequent the acceptances/denials/waitlists forum, so some of you may be familiar with my cycle as a wait list magnet. I am writing this because the only school I have been admitted to is BU. if I go to their Preview Day, I leave tomorrow, and their deposit is due in April.

I honestly have no idea whether to go to BU or not. Even if I go to BU and love Boston and enjoy the weekend, am I going to regret attending a school that is a caliber lower than everywhere else I applied to (and was waitlisted at) in terms of prestige/employment/everything? I don't mean to be a snob, but I feel like I was "this close" at getting into a top 20 or even T14 school, or else half of the schools that waitlisted me would have rejected me.

admitted: BU
rejected: Harvard, Berkeley , expecting Stanford
WL -- don't laugh! : Columbia, Penn, Georgetown, GW, Duke, UCLA, USC, Texas, Virginia, expecting NYU
^ I think that if my LSAT score had been 168+ I could have at least gotten into 2-3 of those?

...anyway, I know rankings are not everything but, at the same time, they kind of are... especially once you graduate and search for a job. Sooo my main question is: Should I give BU a shot, or should I just ride out the waitlists, get a job, and accept that I need to raise my LSAT score and reapply in October?

[wolverine10]

I never write this but in your case retake. You have a 4.0 don't waste it

[pillowpet]

it seems like you REALLY want to get into one of those top law schools, so settling with BU doesn't really seem like an option for you. You don't wanna be miserable and end up wondering "what if", especially during law school. if you have the time and resources to retake, then that will be your best option.

You can always just place a deposit down at BU and see how the waitlists turn out. You're still in the running at a handful of schools, I'm sure at least one of those WL schools will pick you up. good luck.

[gravityrides0]

thanks for the advice-- i'm so torn because reapplying seems so daunting. i may just put the deposit down for security in case I decide to attend, and LOCI the shit out of my waitlist schools/ study for the LSAT all summer...

[Geneva]

perhaps visit BU just in case you fall in love with it and get money thrown your way? even though i've gotten into schools ranked much higher than BU, i'm going to preview day bc the prospect of minimal debt at a decent school is worth investigating.

i really don't think t15-t25 (except possibly vandy/ucla/texas) are *that* much better than schools that have never been ranked below unless u want to stay in the surrounding region after school. above t15ish range schools bounce around quite a bit. E.g. Wash was 30 in '2012' and is now 20, W&M used to be 28 and is now 35.

you'll probably see some waitlist action, but prepping to retake can only help you. if u crack 170, u will be presented w/ an entire different universe of possibilities. what did u get on ur first diagnostic lsat/how hard did u try the first time around?

[timbs4339]

thanks for the advice-- i'm so torn because reapplying seems so daunting. i may just put the deposit down for security in case I decide to attend, and LOCI the shit out of my waitlist schools/ study for the LSAT all summer...

If you think working for a year and applying to the same law schools again is daunting you are going to have a hell of a time with 1L or with 2L/3L if you end up jobless.

[gravityrides0]

perhaps visit BU just in case you fall in love with it and get money thrown your way? even though i've gotten into schools ranked much higher than BU, i'm going to preview day bc the prospect of minimal debt at a decent school is worth investigating.

i really don't think t15-t25 (except possibly vandy/ucla/texas) are *that* much better than schools that have never been ranked below unless u want to stay in the surrounding region after school. above t15ish range schools bounce around quite a bit. E.g. Wash was 30 in '2012' and is now 20, W&M used to be 28 and is now 35.

you'll probably see some waitlist action, but prepping to retake can only help you. if u crack 170, u will be presented w/ an entire different universe of possibilities. what did u get on ur first diagnostic lsat/how hard did u try the first time around?

Thanks Geneva- I think even a 168 would completely change the game for me and at least give me options. My first diagnostic score was a 161, and I brought it up to 165 through a terrible princeton review class that was clearly geared towards people who had 150ish diag scores... At the time, I felt like I studied a lot (for maybe a month or two), but I was juggling hard classes and a job at the same time (like everyone else). so I definitely did not study nearly as hard as I could have, and I relied too heavily on a mediocre course... at the time, I was too naive to realize how much a couple of points can hold you back, but I've learned my lesson!

and I know that BU is a great school, but I am not particularly interested in moving to Boston and paying sticker for my last choice school... A scholarship might sway me, but I don't think I am impressive enough stats wise for a schol and won't qualify for need.

thanks for the advice-- i'm so torn because reapplying seems so daunting. i may just put the deposit down for security in case I decide to attend, and LOCI the shit out of my waitlist schools/ study for the LSAT all summer...

If you think working for a year and applying to the same law schools again is daunting you are going to have a hell of a time with 1L or with 2L/3L if you end up jobless.

to clarify, reapplyng in and of itself does not seem daunting... aside from the LSAT, the daunting part is a mixture of having to find a job, possibly having to move home with a crazy controlling mother, stay in AZ for another year, play the waiting game, etc.. so I am mostly just phased by personal/emotional crap. it's not enough to keep me from reapplying, but until now I have been very eager to get out of my current situation-- I've hated AZ for a solid 10 years and only stayed here for my undergrad to save money.

[Indifferent]

Career goals? Geographic preference?

BU is a solid regional school and does well in Boston and alright in NYC. I wouldn't go there is NYC biglaw is your goal, and I wouldn't recommend attending at sticker.

If you can break a 170, with a 4.0 you have a good shot at any school outside of YSH.

[StarLightSpectre]

Exact same position with the exact same schools. In at BU but waitlisted everywhere south of Columbia/NYU to which I applied. I'm going to retake in June cause while Boston is good/great, it's not elite. They'll be getting my seat deposit but I'm doing all I can to bump up my LSAT score.

But what complicates my situation is that they also gave me 115K. So while it I don't want Boston, idk what I'll if I get off the waitlist at Cornell or something similar and have sticker price bearing down on me vs only 65k at BU.