Top Law Schools

I could use some advice. I'd love to hear peoples opinions. I've read much about the necessity of rankings. I'd like to attend law school, but under good circumstances and with the least amount of debt possible.

I am 25 years old, I've been working as an Engineer for 2 years and am interested in law school for intellectual property. I have my masters degree in Electrical Engineering. I was focused on getting into a T14 law school, but did horrible on my LSATs because I was working full time while attending school part time. I got a 157 on my LSATs (embarrassing to even say, oh well). I know I am capable of 168+. I was going to wait another year, but then decided to just apply to a few schools to keep my options open. I've gotten into Fordham and Yeshiva Law School. I am interested in attending Law School in New York City only. (obviously other options would be NYU, Columbia, and Cornell). I know either of these 3 would be ideal when compared to Fordham or Yeshiva.

So my question is, should I wait and improve my LSAT score, then reapply to T14 next year. Or just attend Fordham or Yeshiva this Fall. What are transfer options? I suppose I could just transfer out to one of these schools. Is that common to do? What's the process? Is it something that will likely happen, or do these top tier schools want fresh applicants?

Can you negotiate prices with acceptances? How do you go about this?

Now I heard Yeshiva has an excellent intellectual property program, but I've also read multiple articles saying these "niche rankings" don't mean much. Anyone have any knowledge about this school? Thank you.

So my question is, should I wait and improve my LSAT score, then reapply to T14 next year.

You absolutely should retake and reapply, especially since you are capable of a much higher score.

no

Transferring up is never a reliable strategy. A couple of bad grades could completely sink you.

Bad idea to attend either in this circumstance. And planning to transfer is terrible idea, too. Also, speciality rankings or "program reputation" are worthless. Retake and reapply. Good luck.

I go here.
Don't go here.

100% retake, especially since you think you can do much better. Matriculating with a 157 is a very foolish decision.

You would have to be top 3-5 percent to transfer into Columbia from Cardozo, maybe even better, and at least top 15 percent for Cornell. Transferring is also more of a black box than admissions so it's possible you still wouldn't get in. It isn't like LS admissions where numbers automatically get you in. It's very likely you'll wind up never making what you make now without a retake.

Regarding your IP interest, these niche rankings don't mean much. The same legal concepts apply across most areas of law including copyright law. You still ask what's reasonable, and still interpret federal statutes. The practice is very different, yes, but you won't learn very much that is useful to practice in law school. It's not like top IP practices will pursue Cardozo over Cornell because it has a more intensive IP program. In addition, pigeonholing yourself into IP may be bad. You want to present yourself as able to work in almost any practice area, but say that IP sparked your initial interest to go into law.