UF law worth going to? Forum

[MischiefManaged16]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum but I'm really torn about whether going to UF would be worth it or not. I have a STEM background, and want to do IP law which they're not particularly known for or anything. Want to work in Florida if possible, but I know UF's employment stats aren't great. My GPA is a 3.57 and LSAT is awful (152). Took it once during finals week in December and didn't really prepare at all except for taking a PT. I wanted to retake and actually study, but haven't had the time off to prepare for June. I also noticed UF doesn't seem to give out much in scholarship money though, so even if I do retake I don't know if they'd offer any $. Is my GPA decent enough to get into a better school if I would drastically improve my LSAT? Or should I just go with UF since I want to work in Florida? I'd be able to work full-time next year and have enough time to study for October LSAT. Thanks for any advice.

[BigZuck]

Yeah, definitely retake in October, the only thing holding you back is the lsat score.

Make sure you have the qualifications to do the type of IP you envision doing.

[Clemenceau]

People get into top schools with money with GPAs like yours all the time. You absolutely should retake. Having a stem background is nice, but UF law's employment numbers are pretty grim. Study like hell for the october lsat and reapply next cycle. You will have much better choices available to you.

[OhBoyOhBortles]

People get into top schools with money with GPAs like yours all the time. You absolutely should retake. Having a stem background is nice, but UF law's employment numbers are pretty grim. Study like hell for the october lsat and reapply next cycle. You will have much better choices available to you.

[TasmanianToucan]

Welcome to TLS. If you're new here, you may not be familiar with the following websites:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/ for employment data
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/ to follow a cycle
http://mylsn.info/ to get a good idea of your chances with a given set of numbers

Your GPA is no problem. Study hard for the Octover LSAT and you'll have a much more interesting set of options for us to argue about next year!

[MischiefManaged16]

Thank you guys. That's what I was leaning towards, but wanted to get some outside input. Going to register for October.

[AT9]

And about the UF being stingy thing, that's not necessarily true - if you get your score into the low/mid 160's, you'll almost certainly get a decent scholarship that may make UF a good option (speaking from personal experience). Obviously if you can do better and get into a T14 w/$, then that may be better. But UF with a large scholarship is definitely attainable and probably your best option for staying in FL outside the T14.

[Cicero76]

At sticker? Nah

[hearsay77]

OP, definitely retake. I have the same GPA as you and had multiple scholarship offers from T14s, and full rides from T20s. PM me if you want to discuss it more.

[MischiefManaged16]

And about the UF being stingy thing, that's not necessarily true - if you get your score into the low/mid 160's, you'll almost certainly get a decent scholarship that may make UF a good option (speaking from personal experience). Obviously if you can do better and get into a T14 w/$, then that may be better. But UF with a large scholarship is definitely attainable and probably your best option for staying in FL outside the T14.

Thanks for the advice~ That's good to hear about UF scholarships

OP, definitely retake. I have the same GPA as you and had multiple scholarship offers from T14s, and full rides from T20s. PM me if you want to discuss it more.

thank you! I will definitely take you up on that

[MischiefManaged16]

Welcome to TLS. If you're new here, you may not be familiar with the following websites:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/ for employment data
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/ to follow a cycle
http://mylsn.info/ to get a good idea of your chances with a given set of numbers

Your GPA is no problem. Study hard for the Octover LSAT and you'll have a much more interesting set of options for us to argue about next year!

thank you, I'm sure those will prove to be incredibly helpful

[Mr.Scoops]

Yeah I took the LSAT twice and got 159 both times. 3.1 undergrad GPA. I'm from FL and want to practice in the state so UF made the most sense for me and luckily I just got in.

If you know you want to practice in FL:

From what I've observed, unless you're getting into top 20 UF is the best option. UVA and Vandy seem to do pretty well here. I've ran in to a few Emory's as well and one WUSTL. I didn't feel like after taking twice and getting a 159 both times I was going to increase my score enough to make up for my 3.1, but if I had had a 3.57 I almost certainly would have tried again. All I would've had to of done was gotten in the 163-165 range to have been competitive at UVA/Vandy with a 3.57.

One of my best friends is a pretty big splitter. 3.1 GPA like me. Got a 167 his first time and 170 his second time. He's gotten in to GW and Emory at sticker but no where better. I don't think I would've been able to up mine to a 170 and I'm not too impressed with either GW or Emory especially at sticker so I'm glad I didn't waste another cycle.

If you're not set on FL and have a solid GPA like you do, definitely re take. Changing your LSAT can lead to huge gains later in life. One can't change their GPA once they're done unfortunately

[POTUSorSCOTUS]

UF or UMiami will be the best schools you can attend in Florida - that said, you need to be top10-15% to have a big law chance. If BL is the goal, I would recommend any T14 over UF or UM - however, Vandy might be worth it depending on scholly.

If you go to UF (or UM) w/ significant scholarship money, but don't end up in the top 10%, I wouldn't call you a fool ... but if you're goal was BL all a long, then I likely would because the means of achieving your goal would be objectively unreasonable (see LST)

[lavarman84]

Definitely retake the LSAT. Is UF law worth going to? It depends on what you want to get out of it. As a current UF law student, I can tell you that I really like it here. Haven't had any issues with people being overly competitive or people not being social. Made a lot of friends and had some great professors. But that's solely talking about how it's been as a student. Most people aren't going to law school caring as much about being happy as a student. They see it as a means to an end. In that vein, it depends on what "end" you're shooting for.

[SquedTheScholar]

RETAKE

[POTUSorSCOTUS]

You need to study for LSAT for real and then retake. Going to UF at sticker is not the worst decision you can make, but it's also not a good decision when only 10-15% of the class gets a job that can finance debt.

I'd recommend T14 [$-$$$] + UT/Vandy [at $$$] or UF [at $$$$] ... sticker is retarded

[84651846190]

Do not pay to go to UF law. WTF

[wat]

UF or UMiami will be the best schools you can attend in Florida - that said, you need to be top10-15% to have a big law chance. If BL is the goal, I would recommend any T14 over UF or UM - however, Vandy might be worth it depending on scholly.

If you go to UF (or UM) w/ significant scholarship money, but don't end up in the top 10%, I wouldn't call you a fool ... but if you're goal was BL all a long, then I likely would because the means of achieving your goal would be objectively unreasonable (see LST)

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm not sure I'd recommend UM while omitting FSU. FSU Law is generally a better deal than UM (unless you are targeting Miami, specifically) and both UF and FSU are generally ranked higher.

[jbagelboy]

Retake. Going to UF at sticker with that much room to improve would be a catastrophic error.

[Hat.trick]

UF for IP? That's a mistake. Anyway, you should retake. Theres no way UF gives you a decent scholly with those numbers.

[Tennis Dude]

I just graduated from here. TBH, everyone seems to have a very different conception of what exactly "big law" is. I have no idea what it actually menas myself. If you graduate in the top 1/3 and impress enough people over the summer, you can get in at a place that is FL only with 100+ attorneys. That is what happened to a bunch of my classmates. To some people, that is Big Law.

[basedvulpes]

Post removed.

[Tennis Dude]

I just graduated from here. TBH, everyone seems to have a very different conception of what exactly "big law" is. I have no idea what it actually menas myself. If you graduate in the top 1/3 and impress enough people over the summer, you can get in at a place that is FL only with 100+ attorneys. That is what happened to a bunch of my classmates. To some people, that is Big Law.

That being said, I would not recommend going here.

[dasani13]

And about the UF being stingy thing, that's not necessarily true - if you get your score into the low/mid 160's, you'll almost certainly get a decent scholarship that may make UF a good option (speaking from personal experience). Obviously if you can do better and get into a T14 w/$, then that may be better. But UF with a large scholarship is definitely attainable and probably your best option for staying in FL outside the T14.

Just to have a different perspective: I was above both 75th percentiles, applied on time, got $$$ from t20s, and nothing from UF. I also know several others who got $$ and $$$ from UMiami but nothing from UF, so I don't think it was yield protection.

[fredfred]

And about the UF being stingy thing, that's not necessarily true - if you get your score into the low/mid 160's, you'll almost certainly get a decent scholarship that may make UF a good option (speaking from personal experience). Obviously if you can do better and get into a T14 w/$, then that may be better. But UF with a large scholarship is definitely attainable and probably your best option for staying in FL outside the T14.

Just to have a different perspective: I was above both 75th percentiles, applied on time, got $$$ from t20s, and nothing from UF. I also know several others who got $$ and $$$ from UMiami but nothing from UF, so I don't think it was yield protection.

I was at one median and above another and got a full ride from UF (pre june retake). I had to negotiate three times but they will give full rides to people who aren't above both 75%. Also I am a non-URM. They just want people to show how much they really want to attend and constant negotiating is the key. Went from 20 a year to full ride.