Native American boost? Forum

[Firewater]

I have a 3.0 GPA, and have not taken the LSAT yet, but I expect mid to high 150's. I am enrolled member of my tribe, and have lots of community involvement predom native church, native related non-profit work, intern tribal court etc. Will this factor considerably in my law school choices? Which schools should I consider? Any advice would be appreciated.

[qwertyboard]

You should take the lsat get a score and come back. As an hypo, even with NA boost I find it highly unlikely you will get into a school worth attending unless you somehow get a full ride. With that gpa I would say you need at least 167+ to get into a decent school worth spending 100-150k total coa.

edit study your ass offf at least 3 months 20+ tests

[biznardos]

Score above 160 and blanket T-14

[dawyzest1]

Native Americans get a very strong boost, but I very strongly agree with qwerty that landing in the 150s isn't going to get you where you need to go. Your GPA is low and you don't get much of a boost on your GPA, so you've got to bring it on your LSAT. I'd say 163 minimum for a shot at a T14.

Your extra curriculars will only help you to the extent they are affirming that you're NA. You should consider every school, of course, but realistically with a 167+, you probably have a shot at CCN down. HYS are probably out unless you get a stratospheric LSAT (175+) and then, only H.

[Firewater]

Thanks for the clarification dawyzest1 and others! If I get a 165 what are my chances at schools like Cornell, UVA, UCLA, Berkeley, BYU, ASU, Wisconsin, or Vanderbilt?

[dawyzest1]

Thanks for the clarification dawyzest1 and others! If I get a 165 what are my chances at schools like Cornell, UVA, UCLA, Berkeley, BYU, ASU, Wisconsin, or Vanderbilt?

I'm bored at work, so here ya go:



Now, in words, forget about Berkeley, your GPA is disqualifying. UCLA doesn't look good either. You have a shot at Vandy, UVA and Cornell. You should be good to go with the others.

[qwertyboard]

Imo i can say almost certainly you will get into at least one of the higher ranked schools you mentioned at sticker. I doubt its worth it to attend asu wisconsin byu without a lot of money.

[Firewater]

qwertyboard & dawyzest1 thanks so much for the help!! I am trying to weigh whether I want a top school or a school with scholarship money... I doubt that I will want to work for a big firm, my interests are more along the lines of public interest or federal prosecutor. If you were me where would you try to get in?

[bosmer88]

qwertyboard & dawyzest1 thanks so much for the help!! I am trying to weigh whether I want a top school or a school with scholarship money... I doubt that I will want to work for a big firm, my interests are more along the lines of public interest or federal prosecutor. If you were me where would you try to get in?

Considering the type of work you would like to do, make a list of schools you'd like to attend and take a good look at their PI career statistics and departments/programs that help students find such jobs. I do think that some schools fare better in placing their students in PI careers than others (think NYU versus Columbia). Keep in mind, these PI jobs are also very competitive. I was looking at the bios of some federal public defenders and almost all of them attended the T14 schools, often T10 schools (I realize this is not scientific nor representative, but simply my observation).

Another major thing to take into consideration is that technically PI jobs often do not make law school a sound investment unless you can count on some type of scholarship or a strong loan repayment program (LRAP). Before you apply, I would take a very close look at the LRAP programs, their eligibility requirements, the length of the program, etc. Each school has their own program with their own unique characteristics. Chances are good that if you don't receive a scholarship or have extra money lying around, this is what might make your PI career a real possibility. Thus, it is pretty important that you know what you are getting yourself into.

While I don't have schools to recommend, I do think the above is what you should take into consideration when choosing law schools to apply to.

[bosmer88]

qwertyboard & dawyzest1 thanks so much for the help!! I am trying to weigh whether I want a top school or a school with scholarship money... I doubt that I will want to work for a big firm, my interests are more along the lines of public interest or federal prosecutor. If you were me where would you try to get in?

Considering the type of work you would like to do, make a list of schools you'd like to attend and take a good look at their PI career statistics and departments/programs that help students find such jobs. I do think that some schools fare better in placing their students in PI careers than others (think NYU versus Columbia). Keep in mind, these PI jobs are also very competitive. I was looking at the bios of some federal public defenders and almost all of them attended the T14 schools, often T10 schools (I realize this is not scientific nor representative, but simply my observation).

Another major thing to take into consideration is that technically PI jobs often do not make law school a sound investment unless you can count on some type of scholarship or a strong loan repayment program (LRAP). Before you apply, I would take a very close look at the LRAP programs, their eligibility requirements, the length of the program, etc. Each school has their own program with their own unique characteristics. Chances are good that if you don't receive a scholarship or have extra money lying around, this is what might make your PI career a real possibility. Thus, it is pretty important that you know what you are getting yourself into.

While I don't have schools to recommend, I do think the above is what you should take into consideration when choosing law schools to apply to.

Except that I think PSLF/IBR has changed this metric. Admittedly, you have to be able to get/hold onto a PI job for 10 years, but it makes going into these positions much easier than it used to be.

Thanks for adding. I forgot about IBR. Though you better be pretty sure you want PI since 10 years is a long time.

[dawyzest1]

qwertyboard & dawyzest1 thanks so much for the help!! I am trying to weigh whether I want a top school or a school with scholarship money... I doubt that I will want to work for a big firm, my interests are more along the lines of public interest or federal prosecutor. If you were me where would you try to get in?

Your specific interests don't change my advice--go to the highest ranked school you get into within the top 20 that gives you the best balance between employment outcomes and scholarship money.

If you had to choose within a tier then you'd look more closely at programmatic strengths. The most cited one would be choosing NYU over Columbia or Chicago because you want to do PI.

[Trips_93]

Do you have an interest in doing Indian law? If so you should check out schools with good Native law program. Harvard, Cornell, and I think Columbia do have good Indian law programs, but so does Michigan State, Arizona State, New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, and Wisconsin.

A 3.0 with a mid-150s LSAT and a NA boost could probably get you into a few of them. Plus, you never know, about the financial aid packages, some schools have fellowships specifically for minorities.

[Firewater]

Thanks guys! In your opinions, from which T1 and T2 schools would I likely get a full ride or close to it, assuming I am able to get mid 160's LSAT score?

[elcee1987]

I'm NA, planning on studying and going into Native law, with a 159 lsat. I got into MIchigan State (not UMich though) with a 75% tuition scholly, Arizona State and U of Arizona, both with half scholarships, Lewis & Clark with a 10k scholarship, and was waitlisted at UCLA, but removed myself since I'll be going to either ASU or UA. My lsac gpa is 2.3, but I had an anomaly semester, so my graduating gpa is 3.7. For you then, it's doable. Apply everywhere. See if you are eligible for an LSAC waiver, that will save money. Study for the LSAT. If you want to study Indian law though, going to a school with a strong program is important for networking and internships/jobs, since it's such a small niche. I chose not to apply to many T14 schools because of their lack of a solid Indian law program. Just depends on where you want to go with it.

If you just want to use your heritage to get INTO law school, but don't plan on studying Indian law, then get as high a freaking score on the LSAT as you can and you'll be able to go practically anywhere, usually with a scholarship. I chose to focus on school rather than studying hardcore for my LSAT, since I wasn't needing to get into a T14 school, and I don't regret that decision, but it's different for everyone. Hopefully though, you want to study Indian law at some point. The profession needs more NA lawyers experienced in tribal and Indian law.

Feel free to message me if you want to hash out ideas or get more information.

[Brixton]

Is being a NA really that big of a benefit? I plan on taking the LSAT next June (2014) and currently have a 3.8 GPA. No clue as to what to shoot for when aiming for T-10 other than the obvious answer of (180, bro!). It was never a serious consideration to use being a NA to help me, but if it helps that much, why not?

[Trips_93]

Is being a NA really that big of a benefit? I plan on taking the LSAT next June (2014) and currently have a 3.8 GPA. No clue as to what to shoot for when aiming for T-10 other than the obvious answer of (180, bro!). It was never a serious consideration to use being a NA to help me, but if it helps that much, why not?

It made quite a difference for me. Particularly in terms of scholarship money.

If you're enrolled, you definitely should.