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3.56(Overall CAS)/4.0(Major) Gradating SCL.
LSAT 150.
Choices Texas Southern(Thurgood Marshall) or University of Houston.

Softs - Very soon to be 100% Disabled Vet. 90% now.

These are my only two options for schools as I am using my Hazlewood exemption and have exhausted my GI Bill benefits. I have to attend publicly funded school within commuting distance.

Income not an issue attending school, my wife is medically retired any my income from VA, and Chapter 35 (Wife is 100% DV) covers all of our expenses comfortably.

Lower GPA is from classes from 15+ years ago, GPA since 2017 is 3.96.

Due to personal issues leading up to LSAT I didn’t do so hot and scored 11 points under my practice average.

I have two choices, I have a decent chance Of being accepted late admission to Thurgood Marshall and have glowing letters of academic recommendation from two prominent alumnus. However the school is not my first choice. I would start this fall.

However I am 100% confident I will be able to bring my LSAT up to 160 or higher before next year’s admission cycle begins.

Should I go to Thurgood Marshall now, and focus on doing very well in my 1L year and go into UH as a transfer, or should I wait, improve my LSAT and apply directly to UH next year?

What are some of the pros and cons of both?

I’m 41 and this is going to be a second career and at my age I’m not that interested in Big Firm track, I’m interested in either Federal Government to secure retirement, or disability law.

Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome!!

Thank you in advance.

U of H has a solid rep in Houston. It's much weaker than UT, of course, but if you must attend law school in Houston, and are prepared to spend the rest of your career in Houston, then U of H's the way to go.

Under no circumstances matriculate to any school hoping to do well enough in 1L to transfer. You cannot count on outperforming 80-90% of your classmates, most of whom will be just as (or even more) determined to knock it out of the park grades-wise. And even if you outwork everyone else, you can't guarantee you won't get hit with a migraine the morning of a final exam. Come down with a bad cold the week of finals and your transfer hopes would go up in smoke.

Don't go to TSU. It had horrific employment stats during a good hiring market, and I can't imagine how bad things are going to get for its grads in the next few years.

So if you're stuck choosing between there and UH, go to UH. But make sure you understand your likely outcomes. You mentioned federal government, and the vast majority of UH grads won't have a shot at federal positions. And as Q mentioned, you need to be prepared to spend your career in Houston.

Second what the mods have said. Don't go to Thurgood. UHLC is a fine school, and if you need to retake and reapply to go there, you should do so.

If you’re sure you can get lsat up, this seems like a no brainer...

Thank you so much for the replies. I have already with my wife bought our retirement home outside of Houston do plan on spending the rest of career and retiring here.

When I say Federal Government, I am only referring to any staff attorney position regardless of agency.

Cavalier, those were the exact same concerns I had, I was worried that that a law degree from TSU would actually count against me more than help in any potential job search. I’ve also seen their abysmal bar passage rates.

Normally I would have no issues being a weekly commuter for something outside the area like Dallas or Austin, however I have two daughters who are 15 and 14 living with me and I really don’t want to miss the last few years they will be with me as children especially since I missed so many years during the custody battle with my ex’s family that led to my decision to go to law school in the first place.

It looks like I’ve been accepted into a Masters program at my current school I believe I will just work on that while I wait to attend UH.