Top Law Schools

Hi guys, looooong time lurker, first time poster.

The schools I'd really like to go to are Harvard, CLS, NYU, Penn, and Cornell (I've visited them all and they seem great). Honestly, I'd be happy with any T-14 and would probably apply to them, but these are schools I particularly wish to attend. This may seem like a long ways out, but I'm planning on taking the coming June LSAT and will be applying next cycle. I'm pting now in the 166 range and I hope that I will improve if I keep at it. I would like to know what LSAT score I would need and shoot for in the coming months to have a good chance (>60%) at getting into these schools I've mentioned. The reason I'm asking this forum instead of JUST using Lawschoolnumbers or lawschoolpredictor (I've used those, and I'll get into why not just them later) is because TLS seems like a decently-sized and active community and because I've been hearing a lot of talk here about dissimilarity WITHIN URMS; for example: an AA is generally given a bigger boost than other URMS and high GPA AA Males are even more elusive. Law school numbers was and is a great tool, but I only found a handful of people over the past recent cycles who are in my situation to use as a point of reference. Also, TLS seems to have a bigger community, so I wanted your input as well. As for Lawschoolpredictors, they only have a URM check box, which again doesn't factor exactly what type of URM you are and gender. I've looked over other posts on the forum and read that with my GPA, I'd need a 160, others say 165, some say still 170 for HLS or CLS and so on. There is a huge gap between a 160 and a 165 and a 170 and I wanted a clearer picture.

Thanks.

PS: I don't really have any good softs outside of moot court, mock trial, and some volunteer work. How bad would this hurt me, if at all during the applications process?

Anything in the 160s or better will get you into essentially any top 14 other than Yale. You will probably need something like a 168 or so to get into Yale. But even without a 168 you'll have a great chance.

Decent chances at Cornell with a 160 or higher. Probably need a minimum of a 163 LSAT to be considered for the others. With declining law school applications, predictors are a bit outdated even with stats from the most recent cycles.

3.84 AA Male with mid-high 160's is golden. As is posted above, you will likely have the choice of any school you want (maybe not Yale) with a 168. But this is all hypothetical and generally when hypothetical threads are posted on here they get the following response:

lawschoolnumbers.com

Search URM users on there, study for the LSAT, and get a real LSAT score and then come back

Yale doesn't typically like URMs below 170, but there's really not enough data to support anything on that front.

twentypercentmore wrote:Yale doesn't typically like URMs below 170, but there's really not enough data to support anything on that front.

I have heard that Yale prefers AA females over AA males, but I have no proof of that either...except for the incoming classes photos that seem to show more black women than black men. I think the gender bias is potentially a bigger obstacle.

OP, what do you think? Your softs will probably be fine. AA applications are down; even when there were more AA's people with sub-3.8 GPA's and LSAT's hovering around 160 (or even slightly below: 158?) have gotten into HYS. Stanford and Harvard will certainly be options.

If you want to take it out of the adcoms' hands get a 170, but statistically speaking a 160+ will put you in good position. Be sure your essays are good. One other reason you want to shoot for a 170 is outside scholarships. An AA with 3.8/170+ can write his own ticket. Are you applying for SEO?

I feel 165 would be okay but I don't wanna get too comfy. What are adcom and SEO? (forgive me, for I am a noobie)

Typhoon24 wrote:I feel 165 would be okay but I don't wanna get too comfy. What are adcom and SEO? (forgive me, for I am a noobie)

Adcom = admissions committee
Read up on SEO here.

If you haven't seen this thread, check it out:
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 4&t=195443

Statistically, you're in a very good position with a score in the 160-162 range, especially with that GPA-a score in that range puts you close to the 98th percentile for AA test-takers, and your GPA already puts you in elite company for an AA (average GPA for black applicants is just a hair under 3.0, likely lower still for the men). You could probably get a 159 and actually still have a shot at Cornell.

Anything north of that will make you very competitive for Penn and Cornell. A 163-165 should place you very well for the other schools on your list.

For some perspective, consider this: Harvard, Yale and Stanford, combined, took 81 African Americans after the most recently recorded cycle. In that same year, the number of blacks with a 164 or above was just under 90, and you can bet that most of those didn't have your GPA.
Given these numbers, you should expect to be very competitive for all of the schools on your list (including Harvard) with a 164, maybe even a 163. Anything north of that is further insurance (and possibly more scholarship money).

Bottomline: Get at least a 160-162 for Cornell and Penn, and shoot for 164+ to secure higher T14s.

[quote]Get at least a 160-162 for Cornell and Penn[quote]

Wow, I wasn't expected Cornell and Penn to be in the same range. Anyway, this help is tremendous.