Boston College or Brooklyn Law Forum

[jingosaur]

I really appreciate what everyone's had to say, albeit mostly pretty harsh. Like I said, I can handle it and in fact, would prefer the brutal honesty. Having said that, it appears like the overwhelming majority suggests that I not "waste" my high GPA on a "shitty LSAT score." Instead of retaking, what about the potential for transferring up? At least then I'd save almost a full year's worth of school by doing so. Is this not a smart idea? Is it that difficult to do? I don't want to go into 1L with the mindset of transferring, but if I do well enough, I would certainly consider the idea of doing so. Thoughts?

Anecdotal Evidence:
My mom's friend had a son who went to Brooklyn Law, was top 10 in the class, and tied down a BigLaw job (the kid's dad was a BigLaw partner so that probably helped too). Another top 10 kid in the class transferred to Columbia and struck out at OCI and now works at a very small firm making not that much money. This also happened before 2009 when BigLaw jobs were more common.

[thenewguy]

I really appreciate what everyone's had to say, albeit mostly pretty harsh. Like I said, I can handle it and in fact, would prefer the brutal honesty. Having said that, it appears like the overwhelming majority suggests that I not "waste" my high GPA on a "shitty LSAT score." Instead of retaking, what about the potential for transferring up? At least then I'd save almost a full year's worth of school by doing so. Is this not a smart idea? Is it that difficult to do? I don't want to go into 1L with the mindset of transferring, but if I do well enough, I would certainly consider the idea of doing so. Thoughts?

Anecdotal Evidence:
My mom's friend had a son who went to Brooklyn Law, was top 10 in the class, and tied down a BigLaw job (the kid's dad was a BigLaw partner so that probably helped too). Another top 10 kid in the class transferred to Columbia and struck out at OCI and now works at a very small firm making not that much money. This also happened before 2009 when BigLaw jobs were more common.

OP, is your Dad a biglaw partner? Do you have any sort of connections that would give you a better employment shot than your classmates? In the spirit of harsh criticism I really cannot see a person performing at the top 5% of their class in law school yet not having the drive to improve their 158. Try and line up a job somewhere doing something and just study. Now you have an extra piece on your resume for recruiting/ extra soft for law app even if you don't improve. You will also have the benefit of knowing if you still even wanna be a lawyer in the first place after working for a year elsewhere.

[jingosaur]

I really appreciate what everyone's had to say, albeit mostly pretty harsh. Like I said, I can handle it and in fact, would prefer the brutal honesty. Having said that, it appears like the overwhelming majority suggests that I not "waste" my high GPA on a "shitty LSAT score." Instead of retaking, what about the potential for transferring up? At least then I'd save almost a full year's worth of school by doing so. Is this not a smart idea? Is it that difficult to do? I don't want to go into 1L with the mindset of transferring, but if I do well enough, I would certainly consider the idea of doing so. Thoughts?

Anecdotal Evidence:
My mom's friend had a son who went to Brooklyn Law, was top 10 in the class, and tied down a BigLaw job (the kid's dad was a BigLaw partner so that probably helped too). Another top 10 kid in the class transferred to Columbia and struck out at OCI and now works at a very small firm making not that much money. This also happened before 2009 when BigLaw jobs were more common.

OP, is your Dad a biglaw partner? Do you have any sort of connections that would give you a better employment shot than your classmates? In the spirit of harsh criticism I really cannot see a person performing at the top 5% of their class in law school yet not having the drive to improve their 158. Try and line up a job somewhere doing something and just study. Now you have an extra piece on your resume for recruiting/ extra soft for law app even if you don't improve. You will also have the benefit of knowing if you still even wanna be a lawyer in the first place after working for a year elsewhere.

Forgot to include my opinion. Retake and reapply.

[Humbert Humbert]

Out of curiosity - what did your LSAT prep consist of? (diagnostic, # of PTs, methods, etc)

I did testmasters over last summer and frankly did not find it helping me very much - I was scoring in the mid 150s. I was fortunate enough to take some private tutoring lessons and was scoring 157-161.

No offense, but you need to set your expectations higher. You went to U Mich and got a 3.86 - why is Fordham your dream school? I think you have untapped potential with respect to the LSAT that could be realized if you were willing to forego law school for a year and work your ass off studying. Score 10 points higher (not that hard, in that point range) and you'll be at NYU instead of Fordham. Small investment, huge payoff.

[michaelbluth]

Instead of retaking, what about the potential for transferring up? At least then I'd save almost a full year's worth of school by doing so. Is this not a smart idea? Is it that difficult to do? I don't want to go into 1L with the mindset of transferring, but if I do well enough, I would certainly consider the idea of doing so. Thoughts?

As everyone else has said (albeit a bit more kindly), this is stupid.

Transferring is *significantly* more difficult than initial admissions, especially with your GPA. It requires you to be in the top 5-10 percent of your class. I know what you're thinking. "I have a high GPA and will work hard, that's no problem." You're wrong.

Law school exams are different from undergrad exams. Law school grading is different from undergrad grading. You aren't graded based on how much you know or how well you perform on a 4-hour exam. You're graded on how you perform as compared to your 80ish classmates. And, oh yeah, all of them are pretty smart and worked hard too. Some of them had your GPA. Most of them had a better LSAT score than you.

Most people have a 10 percent chance of being in the top 10 percent. Based on this thread, I think your odds are even lower. You're displaying a remarkable inability to be rational or think critically. You're digging your heels in when faced with people saying things that you don't want to hear. You're relying on random strangers on the internet to tell you what you should be able to conclude yourself if you'd simply make use of the information and data that's readily available to you. Many of your classmates will probably be way better than you appear to be at things like reading comp, critical thinking, and rational judgments.

Everyone has said the only thing worth saying: retake, reevaluate, or don't go. It's one year of your life.

If you insist on matriculating anywhere this Fall and ignoring the excellent advice of everyone in this thread, you'll be making a mistake. Selfishly, I hope you err on the side of BC. It will put you more than six figures in debt, is unlikely to get you anywhere close to what you want, career-wise, and is ultimately a huge mistake, but at least I won't run the risk of having to deal with your stubborn, irrational BS in real life. Stop arguing against data and reason. Retake and reapply.