Law School vs. Startup? Forum

[elee]

Hi TLS users, I would greatly appreciate any advice you may have on this subject.

I am currently in at Columbia (3.6, 174) but I was rejected by my top choice, Stanford. I now face a difficult choice:

1. Go to Columbia, and maybe try to transfer to Stanford.
2. Join my friend in a startup as a cofounder, and try to re-apply to Stanford later.

I was wondering if anyone knows what happens if you withdraw from a school, then try to re-apply later. Do they look negatively on the fact that you declined to defer and instead tried to shoot higher the next cycle?

My fear is if the startup does not work out and I try to return to law school, that I will not be able to get at least Columbia again if I don't defer now. However, if my startup boosts my resume and I want to return to law, I would want to shoot for Stanford, but deferring will prevent me from trying for my top choice.

Any advice on how Columbia might view a former applicant?

[peeonyou]

Others will say it's just #'s, but I think they would care personally.

it'd depend on the odds of the start up taking off.

[philepistemer]

You will never get into Stanford with a 3.6. There is no point in reapplying later.

[law2015]

You are not getting into Stanford with that GPA. If you don't go this year, i don't think it will have any effect on your cycle next year.

[ManOfTheMinute]

Start a law school, best of both worlds!

[elee]

Start a law school, best of both worlds!

i grew up in princeton, i should start the law school there haha

thank you for all of your responses. I will definitely take it into consideration

[guano]

Why don't you ask Columbia to defer for a year? That way, if the startup fails you have a fallback option

[elee]

Why don't you ask Columbia to defer for a year? That way, if the startup fails you have a fallback option

I would like to, but my concern is that east coast isn't my ideal and i would really like to try for Stanford. If I defer, I am precluded from trying elsewhere again. Others have expressed that it is pointless to apply to Stanford though lol

Another concern is, if I defer Columbia and I'm still not ready, but may want to go the year after, I don't want to ruin my chance at law school by withdrawing from that contract to attend or trying to defer again.

Does anyone know if deferring means I must attend, or is it more of a non-compete where I won't go elsewhere but I won't be necessarily penalized for withdrawing later?

[untar614]

Why don't you ask Columbia to defer for a year? That way, if the startup fails you have a fallback option

I would like to, but my concern is that east coast isn't my ideal and i would really like to try for Stanford. If I defer, I am precluded from trying elsewhere again. Others have expressed that it is pointless to apply to Stanford though lol

Another concern is, if I defer Columbia and I'm still not ready, but may want to go the year after, I don't want to ruin my chance at law school by withdrawing from that contract to attend or trying to defer again.

Does anyone know if deferring means I must attend, or is it more of a non-compete where I won't go elsewhere but I won't be necessarily penalized for withdrawing later?

They can't force you to attend if you don't want to go to law school that year. That said, if you back out after deferring, I doubt they'd admit you again.

[Tom Joad]

Go do the startup. You can always go to law school and your LSAT is good for 3 years. YOLO.

[Dr. Dre]

Go do the startup.

just look at Matthew Riley

[Ti Malice]

As others have said, Stanford is simply not happening with that GPA. See if CLS will let you defer for two years if one won't be enough.

Here's how people on LSN with your stats have done over the last several years: http://myLSN.info/0amzk5. If lawschoolpredictor has tricked you into believing that you have a chance, please realize that LSP is garbage.