Top Law Schools

I have taken the LSAT three times so I can't take it again to aim for a higher score. My LSAT is between 155-160 and my GPA is below 3.0 plus I live in California.

I have been accepted to numerous T4s, waitlisted to a T3 while my applications for T2s are still pending all in California. I have also been accepted and waitlisted to T3 schools in New York. While I prefer to stay in California, I think New York is somewhere I don't mind moving to. I guess this is where how much scholarship they give matter.

Here is my dilemma, I know everyone says not to do this but I am aiming to transfer after my 1L so in theory I should shoot for a T2 and I recently got accepted into a T2 that is in a small state where I'm not sure about moving to. I really didn't think I could get into any T2s and only applied there because it was free. I know it will be easier to transfer from a T2 than from a T3 but is it worth being miserable for a year/potentially three years if I don't get the grades to transfer?

You should not go to any law school. But you already knew that.

don't attend

paying tuition any of those places is just ripping yourself off.

attending a local school somewhere you don't want to practice is going to make things really hard on you

Danger Zone wrote:You should not go to any law school. But you already knew that.

Lol, then bother posting? You should know I'm determined to do it anyways.

Nova wrote:don't attend

paying tuition any of those places is just ripping yourself off.

attending a local school somewhere you don't want to practice is going to make things really hard on you

I don't mind practicing in Cali or New York but so far I have only gotten into T3s which is why I was debating whether or not attending a T2 elsewhere would be worth the trouble. I have plenty of large scholarship offers so tuition is not too bad.

iloveturtles wrote:

Danger Zone wrote:You should not go to any law school. But you already knew that.

Lol, then bother posting? You should know I'm determined to do it anyways.

Nova wrote:don't attend

paying tuition any of those places is just ripping yourself off.

attending a local school somewhere you don't want to practice is going to make things really hard on you

I don't mind practicing in Cali or New York but so far I have only gotten into T3s which is why I was debating whether or not attending a T2 elsewhere would be worth the trouble. I have plenty of large scholarship offers so tuition is not too bad.

can you name the schools and the tuition amounts, you are being very vague so its tough for people to give you good advice. you don't state your actual lsat score so its tough. i think most people are telling you not to go to piss you off, but instead just trying to give you reasonable advice. they aren't telling you to go to law school AT ALL, they are just saying make yourself more marketable. I've been accepted to many tier 1s with decent scholarship amounts, and tier 2s with almost full tuition but still very weary of the job market, especially in california, and it scares me. please be more specific in your options and what your scholarship amounts are. a large scholarship to you is subjective if its not full.

No, this person should definitely not go to law school. She will probably never be a lawyer if she does.

Man don't go to law school. You have got to be shitting me. Its not worth it to go to a T1 at sticker...

paayter wrote: i think most people are telling you not to go to piss you off, but instead just trying to give you reasonable advice. they aren't telling you to go to law school AT ALL, they are just saying make yourself more marketable.

No, I'm saying OP should not go to law school at all. Frankly, if he's maxed out his LSAT <160 and has <3.0 GPA, there is basically no way to get a good offer.

OP, for what it's worth, T2/3/4 is not a meaningful distinction. Do you really think the 99th school is going to be much better than the 101st ranked school? It basically goes T14 (with gradations within T14) -> really good regionals (UT, Vandy, Emory, ND, UCLA, etc) - > decent regionals -> shit. This "tiers" nonsense is just something USNWR made up. If you can't get a good offer (you probably can't with your numbers) don't go to law school.

TheSpanishMain wrote: OP, for what it's worth, T2/3/4 is not a meaningful distinction. Do you really think the 99th school is going to be much better than the 101st ranked school? It basically goes T14 (with gradations within T14) -> really good regionals (UT, Vandy, Emory, ND, UCLA, etc) - > decent regionals -> shit. This "tiers" nonsense is just something USNWR made up. If you can't get a good offer (you probably can't with your numbers) don't go to law school.

preach

@OP: Good luck! Follow your dreams!

Would you spend $300K to get a PhD in English Literature? Similar employment outcomes.

.

I get it OP, real life is hard. It's much easier to enroll in the law school, sign the promissory note, and just assume you'll get some undefined white collar 75K job after three years law school and ride off into the sunset. It doesn't work that way.

Unless you have full scholarships from any of these schools do not attend them. Instead, take a few years off, try out different things, and in a few years reopen the study books and give the LSAT another crack.

paayter wrote:they aren't telling you to go to law school AT ALL

No, that's exactly what I'm saying. OP's post history indicates he has a 2.66/146 and a tenuous grasp on the English language.

Also I assume, judging by the rest of your post, that you meant to say "not go to law school."

I have plenty of large scholarship offers so tuition is not too bad.

Do any of them have requirements that you be above a certain GPA in order to maintain them? I'm thinking they do.

I guess because you seem like someone that has to learn things the hard way, enroll at whatever school gives you a full ride, and drop out after your first year if (more like when) you don't end up keeping your scholarship because of the stipulations. You'll still be wasting a year, but at least you won't be wasting three years + hundreds of thousands of dollars.

iloveturtles wrote:I don't mind practicing in Cali or New York

How do you feel about not practicing in Cali or New York after you graduate?

Yeah, the operative word there is "practice" which for most CA T2/T3s, you have between a 25%-40% chance of accomplishing.

JusticeHarlan wrote:

iloveturtles wrote:I don't mind practicing in Cali or New York

How do you feel about not practicing in Cali or New York after you graduate?

Fixed that to capture the most likely outcome.

If you really want to work in the legal field, go work as a legal assistant or paralegal for a few years then reassess how badly you want to be an attorney

Attending any of the schools you're considering will almost certainly ruin your life/credit/sanity/financial security

The California is absolutely brutal for recent grads. Attending schools like UCLA/USC without at least 100k+ scholarship is seriously risky

twenty wrote:Yeah, the operative word there is "practice" which for most CA T2/T3s, you have between a 25%-40% chance of accomplishing.

and most of these jobs are in the 35k-50k range with absolutely 0 job security

iloveturtles wrote:I have taken the LSAT three times so I can't take it again to aim for a higher score. My LSAT is between 155-160 and my GPA is below 3.0 plus I live in California.

I have been accepted to numerous T4s, waitlisted to a T3 while my applications for T2s are still pending all in California. I have also been accepted and waitlisted to T3 schools in New York. While I prefer to stay in California, I think New York is somewhere I don't mind moving to. I guess this is where how much scholarship they give matter.

Here is my dilemma, I know everyone says not to do this but I am aiming to transfer after my 1L so in theory I should shoot for a T2 and I recently got accepted into a T2 that is in a small state where I'm not sure about moving to. I really didn't think I could get into any T2s and only applied there because it was free. I know it will be easier to transfer from a T2 than from a T3 but is it worth being miserable for a year/potentially three years if I don't get the grades to transfer?

If you are really, really lucky, you will be working for $25k in a roach-infested shithole of a (shared) closet for some schmuck in a comically
oversized suit who appears on subway ads and 2 AM local TV spots touting his "Rising Star Attorney 2002" award from Top Baltimore Litigation Heroes magazine. If you are even luckier you'll remain employed there long enough to realize you will be paying off interest alone until the day you die, but at least you'll be off the street. And you'll have your J.D. to keep you company at night when you cry yourself to sleep over your ramen.

TL;DR - don't go to law school, for Christ's sake.

Almost half of law grads do not find legal employment. You're looking at institutions that dump students right into that bad half. If the stars align, fighting tooth and claw for $35k scraps is your best outcome. Your monthly loan payments will exceed your monthly income.

Law school may be worth it to you if you can score a ~168+, and given your LSAT record that is going to take a lot of hard work and determination. As another poster suggested, you should get a job in a law office for a few years to reassess your interest.

OP's post history also indicates s/he is waitlisted at Syracuse...a school with a median LSAT of 155 and a median UGPA of 3.29 (LinkRemoved).

Sorry to be blunt, but this is exactly the type of situation where the only answer is "don't go to law school."

I actually scored ~163 in practice tests but like I said, I don't have any tries left and I want to go law school now rather than in a couple years. People on here keep telling me I shouldn't do it, or that I can't...and honestly all I can say is not with that attitude!

Yeah okay, maybe T2/3/4s have a harder time competing for jobs with T1s but the fact remains they still land jobs and that's all I really need to hear. The way I view it, if you're going to wait for all the stars to align before you do anything then you're going to have a bad time. I rather take my chances, knowing I'm going to work hard and if I'm not good enough then I don't mind dropping out after my 1L with about a year's worth of living expenses as debt.

iloveturtles wrote:I actually scored ~163 in practice tests but like I said, I don't have any tries left and I want to go law school now rather than in a couple years. People on here keep telling me I shouldn't do it, or that I can't...and honestly all I can say is not with that attitude!

Yeah okay, maybe T2/3/4s have a harder time competing for jobs with T1s but the fact remains they still land jobs and that's all I really need to hear. The way I view it, if you're going to wait for all the stars to align before you do anything then you're going to have a bad time. I rather take my chances, knowing I'm going to work hard and if I'm not good enough then I don't mind dropping out after my 1L with about a year's worth of living expenses as debt.

You have a full ride somewhere?

TheSpanishMain wrote:
No, I'm saying OP should not go to law school at all. Frankly, if he's maxed out his LSAT <160 and has <3.0 GPA, there is basically no way to get a good offer.

OP, for what it's worth, T2/3/4 is not a meaningful distinction. Do you really think the 99th school is going to be much better than the 101st ranked school? It basically goes T14 (with gradations within T14) -> really good regionals (UT, Vandy, Emory, ND, UCLA, etc) - > decent regionals -> shit. This "tiers" nonsense is just something USNWR made up. If you can't get a good offer (you probably can't with your numbers) don't go to law school.

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