Cornell vs SMU Forum

[BigZuck]

Not retaking in June to try and squeeze out some more points is an unbelievably poor decision. Like, unbelievably poor.

[favabeansoup]

Also, my parents are helping me financially and their stipulation is to start school as soon as possible given my current cycle turnout.

Are your parents helping with tuition or just general cost of living while you are in school? Can you estimate the extent of their contribution?

If their help will be considerable over the three years, it might make both much more attractive options given reduced debt you'd need to take out. My only hesitation with SMU was the price tag, so if that's lowered it's definitely a viable option.

Cornell I'd still say only go if you are comfortable with ending up in NYC.

[arielsm23]

I don't understand the people belligerently telling him to retake. Like he said he isn't going to. He took 2 courses, obviously he feels maxed out and doesn't want to waste more time not going to law school since he's clearly set on going. For whatever reason, some people can't improve past the 150's, if he got into Cornell, and even SMU frankly, with money at a 155 he should obviously go. That's unusual and in another cycle he may not get in at all. And fuck the LSAT. Go to Cornell.

[favabeansoup]

I don't understand the people belligerently telling him to retake. Like he said he isn't going to. He took 2 courses, obviously he feels maxed out and doesn't want to waste more time not going to law school since he's clearly set on going. For whatever reason, some people can't improve past the 150's, if he got into Cornell, and even SMU frankly, with money at a 155 he should obviously go. That's unusual and in another cycle he may not get in at all. And fuck the LSAT. Go to Cornell.

There are an incredible host of reasons why it can be beneficial to take an extra year off before going to law school. I understand that there are often situations where one can't (as may be the case here) , but simply feeling "maxed out" is not a good reason.

Your career as a lawyer can spam decades. Large law school debt repayment can easily last for 10+ years. Taking an extra year at the beginning to give yourself the best possible school and scholarship combination, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in loan interest and unlocking more long term career opportunities, is almost never a "waste" of time as you put it.

I'm already out of law school but I wish, so badly, that I had taken a year and did a retake, just so I wouldn't need to spend a significant chunk of my paycheck every month to my loans for the next 5 freaking years. I'm in big law too. If you can't understand why people stress retakes so much it's because you fail to see what life is like after law school, and why that is what actually matters.

OP here has actually really good options for his numbers. But, he has other practical concerns like family, geography, and likelihood of the type of firm career he wants.

[BigZuck]

I don't understand the people belligerently telling him to retake. Like he said he isn't going to. He took 2 courses, obviously he feels maxed out and doesn't want to waste more time not going to law school since he's clearly set on going. For whatever reason, some people can't improve past the 150's, if he got into Cornell, and even SMU frankly, with money at a 155 he should obviously go. That's unusual and in another cycle he may not get in at all. And fuck the LSAT. Go to Cornell.

Not retaking the LSAT would be a colossally poor decision, but retaking in June doesn't necessarily mean reapplying in the fall. Even if the OP is deadset on going to Cornell then not retaking in June is a very, very bad decision.

You really don't understand how that could be? Think about it. Any time a person is set on a school and an LSAT improvement could get them more scholarship money, they should retake in June. The vast majority of people should be retaking June. They don't even need to prepare any more if they don't want to, they should just take it. It's a free roll that costs a couple hundred bucks and a few hours of their time. There is no downside if they score lower. Not retaking June is incredibly short-sighted most of the time.

[A@M_or_bust]

EDITED:

Hey all,

So I'm in a bit of a weird situation trying to decide where to attend school. I am a reverse splitter with a lower LSAT and a high GPA. LSAT 155, GPA 3.7. This was my second time retaking the LSAT after taking one year off. First LSAT was a 147. I just didn't test well in the LSAT. I am not retaking the LSAT and I'm not going to take another year off. A little background on my cycle, I got in everywhere in my home state of Texas except UT, which was my top choice.. SMU was always my second choice, I never really liked UHLC. Out-of-state offers included OU, UC Davis, Penn state. All out-of-state schools gave me great offers, but I was not swayed. I am also on the waitlist for Notre Dame, which I like a lot, and WUSTL.

Whatever scholarships don't cover will be supplemented by parent contributions and maybe a small loan. However, whatever I borrow from my parents I will be paying back, just not with interest really... If I do go to SMU, I will be living with my fiance and not at home, which will probably put some financial stress on her.

Now to my future preferences. I want to end up in Texas and get something in a biglaw, or something that is semi big. Ideally I want around a starting 100K salary, am I right. Who doesn't? Right now, I only see myself ending up in Texas. I am from the DFW area with all my family living in DFW as well as my fiance, who just landed a great consulting job in Dallas. Also, I should say that I do see this being long term since we have been dating for half a decade.

So, I ended up getting into SMU pretty early on. They gave me 15K a year, which is around a 30% scholarship with their 50K per year tuition. Tried to get them to bump it up and they were not having it. Early on, I was happy to believe SMU was where I was going to end up. But, Cornell accepted in March. They awarded me 25K a year, which makes it a 40% scholarship given their 61K tuition per year.

I visited Ithaca for their ASW. City wasn't too bad considering I have always lived near a big city. I didn't really get to spend much time in Ithaca so I'm still unsure of the city as a whole or its college atmosphere. If there are any Cornell peeps out there give me your opinion of Cornell/Ithaca.

Questions is: Will a Cornell degree help me get back to Texas, preferably in DFW/Austin area ? Is SMU better suited to get me into biglaw in DFW? (granted I know I would have to be in the top half of the class at SMU for that)
Are there any Cornell peeps on here who have had success getting a job straight out of CLS in another state other than NY? What kind of GPA/rank will I need to get a job out-of-state at Cornell?

1. I don't care how steadfast you are, you should take the LSAT again in June and see what happens. Law school is one of the biggest decisions of your life and a 155 is not acceptable - especially since you know you can score in the 160s. Seriously, there is no excuse for not retaking in June for shits.

2. 100k salaries in the legal field ar few and far between. The most likely outcomes are 160k (big law) or 55-75k. It is a very bimodal sphere.

3. SMU on a 15k scholarship is indefensible. I don't care if your parents are paying for it - it would be a tragedy for them to spend that much on an SMU law degree.

4. As for Cornell - I am shocked that you got in, and even more shocked that you received a 25k scholarship. This is really nothing to sneeze at, but it is still a pretty penny (36k per year) to attend. If you want Texas, it can realistically get you back here. However, UT and SMU (probably) will still have a slight leg-up on Cornell. However, if you are open to other markets (particularly in the northeast), then Cornell is great.

5. And really, you need to be top 1/4 at SMU to have a legitimate shot at big law in DFW. I am sure there is the occasional student at median who cracks big law, but again, top 1/4 if you want a legitimate shot.