Top Law Schools

I apologize if this has been asked before but I did some looking and couldn't find anything exactly like what I am thinking.

I took the LSAT with insufficient preparation in June - and I have an attractive offer in from a school ranked ~100 (relatively new law school). After June, I acquired better prep materials and have been feeling way better about my LSAT potential. Assuming I could do well (top 15%, which is consistent with my testing and GPA) at the TTT school, I feel like I would be able to find a job I'd be happy with. That being said, would it be in bad taste or look bad to future schools to enroll at the TTT in the fall, planning on taking the LSAT again, and then potentially dropping out in Oct. depending on my Sept. LSAT score?

At this point I'm just weighing the +/- of starting right away in the fall or taking a gap year for an unknown improvement in school rank. Thanks for your consideration. I know my situation isn't typical of TLS and that most of y'all are probably scoffing at the very idea of enrolling at a TTT. I just don't really have anyone else to ask! Thanks again.

Wait. Retake. Profit.

Do NOT enroll in any school you wouldn't be happy graduating at median from. I know people at my school whose LSAT and GPA were in the 180/4.0 range who ended up at median or below, and I conversely know people at the top of the class who had below median LSATs and/or GPAs. Being good at the things that get you into law school only very loosely correlates to being good at law school – that is, it correlates to the binary question of whether you can pass the bar, not to where you'll end up on a scale with many gradations.

By far the best thing you could do for yourself is take the year and retake. That year could potentially be worth thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands over the course of your career. I'm not saying going to a lower ranked school is always the wrong decision – depending on the school, circumstances, and market, it could be the right call, especially for free. But if the way this school gets you to your goals is only if you assume you can end up at the top of the class, you really, really ought to think again.

leslieknope wrote:Do NOT enroll in any school you wouldn't be happy graduating at median from. I know people at my school whose LSAT and GPA were in the 180/4.0 range who ended up at median or below, and I conversely know people at the top of the class who had below median LSATs and/or GPAs. Being good at the things that get you into law school only very loosely correlates to being good at law school – that is, it correlates to the binary question of whether you can pass the bar, not to where you'll end up on a scale with many gradations.

By far the best thing you could do for yourself is take the year and retake. That year could potentially be worth thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands over the course of your career. I'm not saying going to a lower ranked school is always the wrong decision – depending on the school, circumstances, and market, it could be the right call, especially for free. But if the way this school gets you to your goals is only if you assume you can end up at the top of the class, you really, really ought to think again.

Thanks for the answer. Good reminder not to count the chickens before they hatch. This has been hard for me because I don't personally know any attorneys.. don't have a pre-law advisor, didn't consider law until a couple months before undergrad graduation. Just feel swamped with making these decisions without solid advice. Most of the people I talk to personally are way out of the Biglaw/prestigious university circles and to them, turning down a full scholarship just seems crazy. But what you said makes a lot of sense.

maybeman wrote:Wait. Retake. Profit.

Appreciate the answer. TY.

Just want to reiterate the question of enrolling for FA16 and then potentially dropping out in October if I got an LSAT that could put me in a better position. Is that just completely stupid or a somewhat viable plan?

Not very wise imo. I've definitely heard anecdotes from people around here who had poor admissions cycles after having dropped out of previous law schools. Makes you look like a flake, I imagine.

There's just no reason to pull the trigger now. Even if you have a full ride at this TT school, you're gonna end up costing yourself money on books, living expenses, etc. You should get a low key job, study your ass off for the LSAT, and enter the school you really want to attend next fall.

Don't enroll in one school with the plan to retake after enrollment and drop out to reapply if you get a better score. While there are some cases of people dropping out and starting over with a new LSAT, it's pretty unusual, and I don't think I've ever heard of someone taking the LSAT while actually enrolled in school (can you even do that?). And you'd have to explain it to all the schools you applied to. They could question whether you would actually attend.

(Also, not sure this was what you're suggesting, but if you were thinking about it as a means of getting financial aid to support yourself this fall, that's illegal as financial aid is limited to educational purposes.)

Depending on where you are, what you want to do with a JD, what other law school competition is in your market, and your GPA/LSAT, going to a local school for free isn't a terrible idea. But it would depend on a lot of factors.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Don't enroll in one school with the plan to retake after enrollment and drop out to reapply if you get a better score. While there are some cases of people dropping out and starting over with a new LSAT, it's pretty unusual, and I don't think I've ever heard of someone taking the LSAT while actually enrolled in school (can you even do that?). And you'd have to explain it to all the schools you applied to. They could question whether you would actually attend.

(Also, not sure this was what you're suggesting, but if you were thinking about it as a means of getting financial aid to support yourself this fall, that's illegal as financial aid is limited to educational purposes.)

Depending on where you are, what you want to do with a JD, what other law school competition is in your market, and your GPA/LSAT, going to a local school for free isn't a terrible idea. But it would depend on a lot of factors.

Before I found TLS, I would have been thrilled to attend this school with scholarship. Law school is a recent interest for me and I had no idea about all the controversy surrounding the alleged T14 vs. Garbage dichotomy. I'd been planning on being a cop for most of my undergrad years. At the same time, the more I think about it, I really do see potential value in waiting and shooting a little higher. Good point about financial aid being applied to living expenses. I hadn't considered that aspect.

Clemenceau wrote:Not very wise imo. I've definitely heard anecdotes from people around here who had poor admissions cycles after having dropped out of previous law schools. Makes you look like a flake, I imagine.

There's just no reason to pull the trigger now. Even if you have a full ride at this TT school, you're gonna end up costing yourself money on books, living expenses, etc. You should get a low key job, study your ass off for the LSAT, and enter the school you really want to attend next fall.

Thanks for the response. Good points on the ancillary costs.