Top Law Schools

I have a $27,000 annual scholarship to Case Western but I just received an acceptance from UConn. I should hear back on scholarships in a few days. If it comes down to choosing between these two schools, (if costs are relatively similar), which should I choose? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

In order to receive the best feedback in this forum, please provide as much of the following information in your original post as possible:

-The schools you are considering
-The total Cost of Attendance (COA) of each. COA = cost of tuition + fees + books + cost of living (COL) + accumulated interest - scholarships. Here is a helpful calculator.
-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
-Your general career goals
-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
-How many times you have taken the LSAT

Not a bad school if:
1) You're paying under $80k TOTAL COA
2) Have ties in CT
3) You dont mind living in Hartford

It has a nice building.

TheNextAmendment wrote:Not a bad school if:
1) You're paying under $80k TOTAL COA
2) Have ties in CT
3) You dont mind living in Hartford

Maybe if the 80k COA is finance without debt.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=uconn

qwertyboard wrote:

TheNextAmendment wrote:Not a bad school if:
1) You're paying under $80k TOTAL COA
2) Have ties in CT
3) You dont mind living in Hartford

Maybe if the 80k COA is finance without debt.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=uconn

Yeah I know...Im familiar with lst...I think 80k total coa is pretty much a full tuition scholly..You're telling me someone shouldnt attend the #2 law school in a state for simply COL? Cmon mannn. Not to mention very few Yale students stay in CT. Trust me- been living here 23 years.

You're telling me someone shouldnt attend the #2 law school in a state for simply COL?

Doesn't matter bro. Look at LST.

-Schools I'm Considering
Case Western 27k Annual Scholarship, Tuition 44K Annually
UConn Scholarship TBA, 48k Annually
Chicago Kent 23k Annual Scholarship, Tuition 43k Annually
UIUC: Wait list
Maryland: Pending
Tulane: Pending
George Mason: Pending
-Financing Plan: Scholarship/Loans
-Current Living Situation: Kentucky, work in Environmental Remediation (contracting so location is spread across the south, east, north east, and midwest) I'd like to continue working in this industry either consulting or with regulatory committees
-LSAT 159 (some study over the course of a month) GPA: 3.0 from a state school in Kentucky

EternalDebt wrote: -LSAT 159 (some study over the course of a month) GPA: 3.0 from a state school in Kentucky

Jesus, dude. The test that will determine your future as a lawyer more than anything else, and you did "some study" over just one month?

Retake or we'll hear from you at jdunderground.com in a few years.

I intended to study a great deal more but was working 60 hour weeks at the time. My initial cold pretest was 157, so I improved a bit on the actual test.

TheNextAmendment wrote: Yeah I know...Im familiar with lst...I think 80k total coa is pretty much a full tuition scholly..You're telling me someone shouldnt attend the #2 law school in a state for simply COL? Cmon mannn. Not to mention very few Yale students stay in CT. Trust me- been living here 23 years.

If you're familiar with LST, then you'll know that only 104 out of 199 grads from the class of 2012 found full-time long-term jobs that required bar passage. Exactly what kind of gamble do you think one should take for those chances?

TheNextAmendment wrote:

qwertyboard wrote:

TheNextAmendment wrote:Not a bad school if:
1) You're paying under $80k TOTAL COA
2) Have ties in CT
3) You dont mind living in Hartford

Maybe if the 80k COA is finance without debt.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=uconn

Yeah I know...Im familiar with lst...I think 80k total coa is pretty much a full tuition scholly..You're telling me someone shouldnt attend the #2 law school in a state for simply COL? Cmon mannn. Not to mention very few Yale students stay in CT. Trust me- been living here 23 years.

There are tons of CT natives going to top law schools. I'm sure many of them would be happy to work in Hartford or Stamford. There are also a lot of graduates from MA, NY, and NJ schools who will be taking the CT bar.

LST speaks for itself. I wouldn't go unless I had a full scholarship AND some extra savings or parental help.

EternalDebt wrote:I intended to study a great deal more but was working 60 hour weeks at the time. My initial cold pretest was 157, so I improved a bit on the actual test.

If you were/are working 60-hour weeks, then you need to study over a much longer period of time. Even one month of doing nothing but LSAT study is not sufficient for the vast majority of people to come close to their scoring potential.

Again, this test will determine your professional future more than anything else you do (aside from criminal activity). It's absurd not to give it the respect it deserves. Nothing is forcing you to go to law school now. Skip this cycle and start studying. Take it in October once you've put in several months of good studying. Most of the students I taught who (a) scored ~157 on their diags and (b) put it the necessary work ended up with scores in the high 160s to the mid-170s. With a score in the 170s, you can attend a T14 rather than one of the dumps (it's the truth -- look at the employment data) you're now considering.

I suppose I could in all likelihood score much higher. However, do you truly believe the list of schools I'm considering doesn't contain a single worthwhile prospect? I thought that Maryland, UIUC, and Tulane offered some decent employment opportunities.

EternalDebt wrote:I intended to study a great deal more but was working 60 hour weeks at the time. My initial cold pretest was 157, so I improved a bit on the actual test.

Flame?

.

Regulus wrote:

Ti Malice wrote:Again, this test will determine your professional future more than anything else you do (aside from criminal activity).

NoodleyOne wrote:

EternalDebt wrote: I intended to study a great deal more but was working 60 hour weeks at the time. My initial cold pretest was 157, so I improved a bit on the actual test.

Flame?

However, going from a 157 to a 160 is basically going from "worse" to "bad."

More like "average" to a slightly higher level of "average". Of course, if you'd rather come off as pompous as opposed to helpful, your response is more than adequate.

.

Regulus wrote:

EternalDebt wrote:

Regulus wrote:However, going from a 157 to a 160 is basically going from "worse" to "bad."

More like "average" to a slightly higher level of "average". Of course, if you'd rather come off as pompous as opposed to helpful, your response is more than adequate.

Haha yeah, that was a little bit douchey of me, but then again you are posting on Top Law Schools Dot Com. Just so you know, I even consider my 166 a "shitty" score.

TLS will consider a score in the 150s or low 160s "bad" because the law schools that you will get into with such a score are "bad" from a standpoint of their employment prospects. Use Law School Transparency as others have recommended if you don't believe me. Tulane is the only school on your list that isn't total garbage (again, from the standpoint of favorable outcomes).

Thank you for a reply that is both honest and respectful, it is greatly appreciated. I can definitely see what you intended to say and why you said it. I suppose if the consensus is T14 or a bust, then 159 to low 160s is a dreadful range. I'll look further into TLS statistics and perhaps consider retaking.

Regulus wrote:

EternalDebt wrote:

Regulus wrote:However, going from a 157 to a 160 is basically going from "worse" to "bad."

More like "average" to a slightly higher level of "average". Of course, if you'd rather come off as pompous as opposed to helpful, your response is more than adequate.

Haha yeah, that was a little bit douchey of me, but then again you are posting on Top Law Schools Dot Com. Just so you know, I even consider my 166 a "shitty" score.

TLS will consider a score in the 150s or low 160s "bad" because the law schools that you will get into with such a score are "bad" from a standpoint of their employment prospects. Use Law School Transparency as others have recommended if you don't believe me.

You hit the nail on the head, there is a huge difference between "median" and "acceptable". OP Just sit out and retake, you'd be a fool not to, you could get into a great school if you put the time into the LSAT.

I see three smart alternatives:

1. You retake the LSAT because 157 is more than a decent cold score.

2. You don't go to LS.

3. You somehow manage to finance LS without loans and end up with 0 debt after graduation.

OP, you should have studied a LOT more than you did. A 170, or at the very least the high-160s, is attainable for you.

The schools you are looking at are all very regional, and at the prices you're considering them at, they make no sense. For example, if you were from Connecticut and could go for pretty much free, I'd say knock yourself out at UConn. But it just makes no sense in your situation. You should be working on going to a T14 with at least some money, a T20ish school on a big scholly, or your flagship state school (UK, which is actually a fairly good regional school) on a full ride.

You would really be selling yourself short going to any of these schools. It sounds like you've got a job, so stay in it for one more year, study HARD for the October test, and retake. Law school will always be there.

Oh and for the record, my diagnostic was a 158-159, I got a 161 or 162 (can't remember) on my first LSAT after "some study over the course of a month," and then buckled down for a few months and got a 168 on a retake. And if I'm honest with myself, I should have retaken once more for a 170+

Point is, you can definitely improve on that 159. This is the most important exam of your life and it will set the stage for your entire financial and professional future. Put the time in that it deserves. Go check out the LSAT Forum here on TLS and you'll find a bunch of great resources and guides.

Good luck.