Top Law Schools

Hi Everyone - Longtime lurker here looking for some advice...

Stats: .

Current Status:
Accepted: Duke $$$
Waitlisted: Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Penn, Michigan, Georgetown (Planning to withdraw from Mich and GTown very soon)
Rejected: Berkeley
Pending: Stanford (Not sure why I haven't been rejected yet)

Now here's the kicker, and I know I messed up with it, I applied late to all the schools listed above. I was still heavily involved in campus activity, holding down a 20 hr/wk campus job, and had come off of some serious hours over the summer break - no excuses. Short of it, I want to end up in NYC big law, leaning corporate and securities. Not ruling out the potential for a clerkship should my course track lead me down that road. Duke's scholarship offer is excellent for me, but I'm a little wary about heading down to North Carolina and I'm wondering whether I truly underperformed on my stats or not. All the waitlists have my head in a mumbojumbo. Appreciate any advice this!

Get some WE and reapply early next cycle. You could have substantial scholarships at most of your WL schools which would also set you up better for your NYC biglaw goal. Retaking for a few more points would also probably get you into one of HYS.

Get a job, reapply in the fall, live life for a year. You won't regret it.

Lincoln wrote:Get a job, reapply in the fall, live life for a year. You won't regret it.

Indeed. If you're smart, you'll live life for at least two or three years before going.

rpupkin wrote:

Lincoln wrote:Get a job, reapply in the fall, live life for a year. You won't regret it.

Indeed. If you're smart, you'll live life for at least two or three years before going.

this

That's a solid offer from Duke, but if you don't mind waiting, it's rarely a bad choice and should give you more options. If you're really shooting for the stars, might as well also retake if you have any LSAT tries left.

To a certain extent, it depends what you'll be doing for that year and the opportunity cost of deferring legal employment a year, but I think it's reasonable to go either direction here.

Thanks everyone for the replies! I've only taken the LSAT once so there is room for improvement, would only a marginal improvement (say 1-2 points) reflect negatively? I'm also worried about having experiences deemed "worthwhile" by admissions committees after waiting this long to find other employment or opportunities.

Lithium94 wrote:Thanks everyone for the replies! I've only taken the LSAT once so there is room for improvement, would only a marginal improvement (say 1-2 points) reflect negatively? I'm also worried about having experiences deemed "worthwhile" by admissions committees after waiting this long to find other employment or opportunities.

Gaining 1 or 2 points on the LSAT will never be looked at negatively. In fact, it would help you get into some of those schools you were waitlisted at, especially if you apply earlier in the cycle. However, Duke with a 35k scholarship is nothing to scoff at. Personally, I would go to Duke and never look back but that's just a personal choice. Either decision could be defended here, good luck!

Lithium94 wrote:Thanks everyone for the replies! I've only taken the LSAT once so there is room for improvement, would only a marginal improvement (say 1-2 points) reflect negatively? I'm also worried about having experiences deemed "worthwhile" by admissions committees after waiting this long to find other employment or opportunities.

That's a very generous offer from Duke. They liked something about you besides your numbers. With extra 1-2 points you have a fair chance to be in a position of praying for exactly the same offer. If you like Duke, take it.

Lithium94 wrote:Thanks everyone for the replies! I've only taken the LSAT once so there is room for improvement, would only a marginal improvement (say 1-2 points) reflect negatively?

Even a decline wouldn't likely hurt you. Any improvement would only help.

I'm also worried about having experiences deemed "worthwhile" by admissions committees after waiting this long to find other employment or opportunities.

For all intents and purposes, this is a numbers game. Don't think about this one way or the other or do (or don't do) anything solely for this reason.

Edit: I will say that my perception is that you outperformed your numbers with the size of scholarship Duke has offered, so whatever you do, don't be surprised if you wouldn't get quite this same amount or higher from Duke again next year. This should give you pause if you really like Duke, but as it sounds like you're not too enthused about it, I'm not sure you should be worried (because you should at least have decent offers from other schools you may prefer next year).

izha wrote:

Lithium94 wrote:Thanks everyone for the replies! I've only taken the LSAT once so there is room for improvement, would only a marginal improvement (say 1-2 points) reflect negatively? I'm also worried about having experiences deemed "worthwhile" by admissions committees after waiting this long to find other employment or opportunities.

That's a very generous offer from Duke. They liked something about you besides your numbers. With extra 1-2 points you have a fair chance to be in a position of praying for exactly the same offer. If you like Duke, take it.

I got 30K a couple years ago with worse numbers. I wouldn't call that a very generous offer, tuition is probably pushing 60K at this point I'm guessing. If anything, I think the OP was somewhat lowballed.

I agree on taking at least a few years off before top-law-schools.com is too short to spend your early 20s in law school. If you're hellbent on doing it then YOLO but I would press Duke for more money.

BigZuck wrote:

izha wrote:

Lithium94 wrote:Thanks everyone for the replies! I've only taken the LSAT once so there is room for improvement, would only a marginal improvement (say 1-2 points) reflect negatively? I'm also worried about having experiences deemed "worthwhile" by admissions committees after waiting this long to find other employment or opportunities.

That's a very generous offer from Duke. They liked something about you besides your numbers. With extra 1-2 points you have a fair chance to be in a position of praying for exactly the same offer. If you like Duke, take it.

I got 30K a couple years ago with worse numbers. I wouldn't call that a very generous offer, tuition is probably pushing 60K at this point I'm guessing. If anything, I think the OP was somewhat lowballed.

I agree on taking at least a few years off before top-law-schools.com is too short to spend your early 20s in law school. If you're hellbent on doing it then YOLO but I would press Duke for more money.

Mylsn says 105 is on the high end of what Duke gives out for OP's numbers but im a k-jd who hasnt turned 21 yet so yall are probably right about taking time off. Even if Duke wont give OP the 105 next year someone else will, especially with a higher lsat.

Thank you everyone for the feedback! Removed stats to remain anon. I've decided to accept the money from Duke, and will ride the waitlist at Harvard and Columbia while withdrawing from other schools. This summer I'll be out over in Europe traveling the countryside and will enjoy being a 20something!

BigZuck wrote:

izha wrote:

Lithium94 wrote:Thanks everyone for the replies! I've only taken the LSAT once so there is room for improvement, would only a marginal improvement (say 1-2 points) reflect negatively? I'm also worried about having experiences deemed "worthwhile" by admissions committees after waiting this long to find other employment or opportunities.

That's a very generous offer from Duke. They liked something about you besides your numbers. With extra 1-2 points you have a fair chance to be in a position of praying for exactly the same offer. If you like Duke, take it.

I got 30K a couple years ago with worse numbers. I wouldn't call that a very generous offer, tuition is probably pushing 60K at this point I'm guessing. If anything, I think the OP was somewhat lowballed.

I agree on taking at least a few years off before top-law-schools.com is too short to spend your early 20s in law school. If you're hellbent on doing it then YOLO but I would press Duke for more money.

Everyone on Lawschoolnumbers with the same award has better numbers.

izha wrote:

BigZuck wrote:

izha wrote:

Lithium94 wrote:Thanks everyone for the replies! I've only taken the LSAT once so there is room for improvement, would only a marginal improvement (say 1-2 points) reflect negatively? I'm also worried about having experiences deemed "worthwhile" by admissions committees after waiting this long to find other employment or opportunities.

That's a very generous offer from Duke. They liked something about you besides your numbers. With extra 1-2 points you have a fair chance to be in a position of praying for exactly the same offer. If you like Duke, take it.

I got 30K a couple years ago with worse numbers. I wouldn't call that a very generous offer, tuition is probably pushing 60K at this point I'm guessing. If anything, I think the OP was somewhat lowballed.

I agree on taking at least a few years off before top-law-schools.com is too short to spend your early 20s in law school. If you're hellbent on doing it then YOLO but I would press Duke for more money.

Everyone on Lawschoolnumbers with the same award has better numbers.

Interesting, I assumed the scholarships would have gone up a bit over the last 3 years but that was a silly assumption on my part. Looks like I'm the billy this time.

I would still press them for more, the OP will likely still be in 140K+ debt, which is a butt ton. I also think it's a bad idea to go to law school as a K-JD.

But then again the OP probably one lives once so #YOLO I guess