Top Law Schools

I'm an African American male; who's a first generation American, and I'm at a small public state university. I'm probably gonna get it up to a 3.49-3.50 by the end of the semester. My goal for law schools are anything in the t14. But my dream school is Columbia, but I would apply to Harvard too if I can. So my questions are:

1. What lsat scores would I need to get into an ivy?

2. Would it be a potential hindrance if I took the October LSAT?

Additional info: I'm a junior, and I graduate in the spring of 2012. I plan on attending law school in the fall of 2012.

163 or better & no. Check lawschoolnumbers.com

For Columbia, a 170 would be a minimum for your GPA, even with URM status.

No hindrance if you take the October LSAT. Make sure you're FULLY prepared before you sit for the test.

no real definitive answer but definitely 160+. Why not just try your best (aka shoot for 180) and see where you land from there?

I could get into Columbia and/or Harvard with a 163 or better? Also, I should mention my softs are weak (I just started joining clubs).

b33eazy wrote:I could get into Columbia and/or Harvard with a 163 or better? Also, I should mention my softs are weak (I just started joining clubs).

No, you can't

163 or better for Top 14 law schools, but 167 or better for chance at top 4 as an AA male, in my opinion. Check lawschoolnumbers.com

CanadianWolf wrote:163 or better for Top 14 law schools, but 167 or better for chance at top 4 as an AA male, in my opinion. Check lawschoolnumbers.com

+1

163 might be good enough for Cornell, but way too low for Columbia with that GPA

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/eskimogirl/jd

This person is semi analogous to you, I would say 165-167 would be minimum you would need for it to be worth the app fee

^ I'm not sure if she's akin to me. Would I be competitive, for an ivy, with a 3.47 and a 1.67+? Would the fact that I'm a black male help me a little more than it helped her? Would the fact that I go to a small state school hurt me?

enron123 wrote:http://lawschoolnumbers.com/eskimogirl/jd

This person is semi analogous to you, I would say 165-167 would be minimum you would need for it to be worth the app fee

Her Ivy UG was huge in determining her cycle, fyi. OP will have a steeper hill to climb coming from "small state school"

How are you a first generation but classify yourself as AA? I highly doubt you personally do which is the ironic nature of the query.

Is your family originally from an island of the Caribbean or Africa?

mez06 wrote:How are you a first generation but classify yourself as AA? I highly doubt you personally do which is the ironic nature of the query.

Is your family originally from an island of the Caribbean or Africa?

My family is from the Caribbean, Jamaica. However, I was born in Queens, New York.

RJ127 wrote:

enron123 wrote:http://lawschoolnumbers.com/eskimogirl/jd

This person is semi analogous to you, I would say 165-167 would be minimum you would need for it to be worth the app fee

Her Ivy UG was huge in determining her cycle, fyi. OP will have a steeper hill to climb coming from "small state school"

Yeah, I was thinking IVY looks better than state schools. However, I was going to go to a bigger state school (UGA), but I opted out of that and went to a smaller state school than that because I was told that it doesn't make much difference for state schools. Anyway, I was thinking that the ivy league school gave this girl the edge...

Lower than a 167 would be risky for Columbia with your GPA. Don't look at it as "what is the minimum score I need?"

Just work your ass off and do the best you can on the LSAT.

b33eazy wrote:I'm an African American male; who's a first generation American, and I'm at a small public state university. I'm probably gonna get it up to a 3.49-3.50 by the end of the semester. My goal for law schools are anything in the t14. But my dream school is Columbia, but I would apply to Harvard too if I can. So my questions are:

1. What lsat scores would I need to get into an ivy?

2. Would it be a potential hindrance if I took the October LSAT?

Additional info: I'm a junior, and I graduate in the spring of 2012. I plan on attending law school in the fall of 2012.

1. I think a 166+ would get you into CLS, 167 to be safe. For Harvard, a 169+ would probably give you excellent odds.

2. No, focus on getting a good score, you've got 8 months to prepare.

Finally, keep raising your GPA, you've got 3 semesters to go. A 3.6+ would lower the LSAT threshold you need for acceptances at CLS or HLS.

I was under the impression that senior year grades don't get factored in to the admissions decision when you apply to go straight through. So, isn't really just this semester's work being factored in?

aim for above the median lsat score at the schools you want to go to

hokie wrote:no real definitive answer but definitely 160+. Why not just try your best (aka shoot for 180) and see where you land from there?

This.

The "Ivy" distinction doesnt really matter as much for LS. One would be advised to go to stanford or nyu over the UPenn and Cornell. Of course 3 of the top 4 schools are Ivy...

gbpackerbacker wrote:The "Ivy" distinction doesnt really matter as much for LS. One would be advised to go to stanford or nyu over the UPenn and Cornell. Of course 3 of the top 4 schools are Ivy...

they're talking about for undergrad rather than law school i think? either way, ivy is a pretty meaningless distinction in general nowadays...it really just means "very good school."

OP - the best advice is shoot for the best score you can get...take a practice test soon and see where you stand.