Top Law Schools

Plenty of good answers. Thanks for the input!

You already know the right answer...

You've got a decent GPA. I think you owe it to yourself to retake, score 8-9 points higher (or more), and reapply next year. Loyola definitely isn't worth a $125k COA. Law school isn't going anywhere, so you have nothing to lose by retaking the LSAT.

It seems to me very unlikely you'll get a high enough score on a retake that'll get you into USC/UCLA or higher.... I assume you understand the unemployment/underemployment risk you are taking... And that you are not a special snowflake... And that everything will probably not be okay.... But yeah, whatever. Go.

LLS '12

goldbh7 wrote:You already know the right answer...

Yup. It has taken me a considerable amount of time to be even remotely happy about it, though. Lol.

Definitely retake

BigZuck wrote:Definitely retake

He'll need, what, 168-170 to get into USC/UCLA? Seems unlikely from his post.

What *exactly* did you do to prep for the LSAT and how much time did you put into it?

forget CoA, there's no way 3 years of my life with lost job experience and income are worth a 40% shot at a legal job, almost half of which are in 2-10 lawyer firms and pay ~60k.

study for that RETAKE like a raging aspie, score 170+, get into T14 with $/$$, profit.

definitely retake

Danteshek wrote:

BigZuck wrote:Definitely retake

He'll need, what, 168-170 to get into USC/UCLA? Seems unlikely from his post.

I would think 168+ would do it, yes.

The problem as I see it is that there are 4 schools in CA that are worth attending (maybe 5, sorry Dre...). If you want a job as a lawyer in CA you have got to go to one of those 4 or a national school that can get you back. The national schools are out so the OP has to go to one of those four. If he doesn't then I don't think he should even go to law school.

Every other school in CA is objectively pretty terrible. I'm sure the OP is bright and a hard worker and all that but I wouldn't stake 100K+ and 3 years of my life on a less than 50% chance of employment, especially if I had a family to think of.

untar614 wrote:forget CoA, there's no way 3 years of my life with lost job experience and income are worth a 40% shot at a legal job, almost half of which are in 2-10 lawyer firms and pay ~60k.

Yes, all of this

WokeUpInACar wrote:What *exactly* did you do to prep for the LSAT and how much time did you put into it?

Worked the first half of the LG and LR Bibles, followed by three practice tests, followed by 3 months in the onsite Blueprint course, accompanied by about 20-30 hrs. a week outside of class and about another 8-10 PTs. I have stacks of additional questions, though, as well as my books and all the PTs I've already worked, which can be reworked. I think repetition would help in spotting the flaws. There is an issue with there being only a fixed period of time to work in; by this point in my life I think my reading speed is only subject to minimal improvement.

BigZuck wrote:
The problem as I see it is that there are 4 schools in CA that are worth attending

1. Stanford

2. none

3. none

4. none

Danteshek wrote:

BigZuck wrote:Definitely retake

He'll need, what, 168-170 to get into USC/UCLA? Seems unlikely from his post.

ETA: I'm a dumb and read his GPA as 3.9

Dr. Dre wrote:

BigZuck wrote:
The problem as I see it is that there are 4 schools in CA that are worth attending

1. Stanford

2. none

3. none

4. none

Lol. Comeon! Not even Berkeley??? (And with all that $$$ Dre kicked to USC..man.)

Even though I work with this kind of data all the time I still get shocked by the actual numbers. Perhaps 20% of Loyola LA's 2012 class had what could under an extremely generous definition be considered an arguably good employment outcome. This includes all FT/LT jobs with firms of more than 25 lawyers, all PI jobs, all judicial clerkships (state and federal), and all "government" jobs. Basically anything that might (I emphasize might) constitute a positive outcome relative to average COA.

Nearly a quarter of the class was completely unemployed, and that's not counting the 34 people in make-work law school funded jobs (most of which were both short-term and part-time).

No, berkeley is a liberal cesspool and boalt will limit you only to california.

CO2016YEAH wrote:
It is really only pragmatic for me to stay in Ca, due to a number of personal factors.

Dr. Dre wrote:No, berkeley is a liberal cesspool and boalt will limit you only to california.

wut

CO2016YEAH wrote:

WokeUpInACar wrote:What *exactly* did you do to prep for the LSAT and how much time did you put into it?

Worked the first half of the LG and LR Bibles, followed by three practice tests, followed by 3 months in the onsite Blueprint course, accompanied by about 20-30 hrs. a week outside of class and about another 8-10 PTs. I have stacks of additional questions, though, as well as my books and all the PTs I've already worked, which can be reworked. I think repetition would help in spotting the flaws. There is an issue with there being only a fixed period of time to work in; by this point in my life I think my reading speed is only subject to minimal improvement.

If I'm reading this right, that's ~13 PTs. There are people who have taken all 68 PTs two or three times. You can absolutely push that score up.

CO2016...from the bunches of posts that I have seen you put up the past few months, you definitely should have known what the response from TLS would be. You know your life, your preferences, and what TLS would say. If you are set on going to law school but do not necessarily feel like you can do better than your 162 (or at least a couple points better) then do not wait any longer. If you think you can do better, then take that extra year and make the LSAT a priority from now until October.

Dre hates the Cali market for good reasons. Seriously, it's terrible.

With that out of the way, you need significant money at USC/UCLA (and I'm talking small law paying it off reasonably) to make that worthwhile, Berkley (which is barely worth sticker), or Stanford if you want CA. With a 3.6, you can make one of those things happen with a great score. Also, apply at t-14's just for negotiating power.

If ur stuck in socal, you should at least be able to shoot for UCLA/USC. To have a decent shot, you probably want at least a 168. That's only 6 points more, and you got -6 on LG, so that should definitely be doable.

untar614 wrote:If ur stuck in socal, you should at least be able to shoot for UCLA/USC. To have a decent shot, you probably want at least a 168. That's only 6 points more, and you got -6 on LG, so that should definitely be doable.

But still UCLA/USC at full tuition sucks...