How Many Non-T14 Schools Should I Apply To? Forum

[avvvv]

Hi All,

I'm planning to apply to law school in Fall 2020. I have a 3.87 undergraduate GPA, and on the last practice test I took, which was the first one since my diagnostic, I scored a 171. I'm planning to take the actual test in July, so I still have some room to improve my score. I want to be a public interest lawyer, and my plan is to work as a public defender after law school. I want to go to school either in the Midwest or the East Coast so I can be closer to my family. I do not know where I will end up practicing law, as my partner is in school to work as a museum archivist, so we could end up in basically any city in the US.

Ideally, I would like to get a big scholarship, if not a full ride, to the school I end up attending. A significant LRAP is non-negotiable for me regardless of the scholarship, as cost of living can be quite expensive in certain cities, so I'm definitely focused on T-14 schools. As of now, I plan to apply to Harvard, the University of Chicago, NYU, Penn, Northwestern, Michigan, Columbia, and Georgetown. I am wondering how many schools outside of these T-14 schools I should be looking at. A couple I have thought about are Washington at St. Louis and Boston University. Am I setting my sights too high? Should I expand my list further into T-30 schools? Let me know what you think. Thanks!

[decimalsanddollars]

Your chances at the listed schools, and how broadly you should apply, depends entirely on your actual LSAT score, which you don't have yet. If you're at or above, say, 174, I don't think you have to apply outside the t14. If you get a 171 and are dead-set on going somewhere with a full ride, you may have to go down to 20. If you're at or below 170, I would apply to every t30 you'd be comfortable attending, just to maximize options.

Are you planning on restricting your applications to schools in large cities in the Northeast and Midwest? If so, why? With your goals, you should blanket the t14 regardless of your score.

[avvvv]

Your chances at the listed schools, and how broadly you should apply, depends entirely on your actual LSAT score, which you don't have yet. If you're at or above, say, 174, I don't think you have to apply outside the t14. If you get a 171 and are dead-set on going somewhere with a full ride, you may have to go down to 20. If you're at or below 170, I would apply to every t30 you'd be comfortable attending, just to maximize options.

Are you planning on restricting your applications to schools in large cities in the Northeast and Midwest? If so, why? With your goals, you should blanket the t14 regardless of your score.

Thanks! That makes sense to me. I plan to re-take the LSAT in August or October if I do not get at least a 170 in July. I'm not opposed to smaller cities necessarily, but I've been living in the West for the past year, and I frankly do not like it very much. I'm from the Midwest, and I've also lived on the East Coast, and I'm happiest in those regions. I could blanket the T14 for scholarship opportunities to barter with, but I would not attend a school outside of the regions I specified. If that limits me substantially so be it. I will perform better in school if I'm in a place I feel comfortable. No offense to anyone who's a big fan of the west or the south.

[Platopus]

Just chiming to say that outside the T-14, schools are more or less regional. So "expanding" your application list to blanket the T-30 doesn't make sense. Outside the T-14 you should target strong regional schools in the geographic location in which you want to practice. For the Midwest, this is WUSTL, ND, UMN, Iowa, etc. For the Northeast, this is BU, BC, GW, etc.

That said, if you a PT'ing at 171 now and have several months to improve, I doubt you'd even need to apply outside the T-14. 3.87 / 171+ will definitely net you at least a couple of the T-14. If you can bump the LSAT up a couple of points, you'll be looking at $$$.