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Irundistance

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School List

Post by Irundistance » Sun Aug 25, 2013 12:28 pm

I'm trying to narrow down my list of schools I'll be applying too. I'm an AA Male with a 3.75 GPA. I'm taking the LSAT in Oct. I'm in a prep course now and I feel its going really well for me. What is a realistic number of schools to apply too? And which of these could I get into with lets say a 155-157 score? I have good softs and a good personal statement/resume. The sample size on LSN Is too small. I have a lot of them and I know I cannot possibly apply to them all. Here they are:
Harvard(hoping for a miracle)
NYU
UPenn
Cornell
UCLA
USC
UC Davis
Georgetown
UC Hastings
Fordham
Iowa
University of Texas
Temple

Redfactor

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Re: School List

Post by Redfactor » Sun Aug 25, 2013 12:43 pm

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Last edited by Redfactor on Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Irundistance

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Re: School List

Post by Irundistance » Sun Aug 25, 2013 1:02 pm

Redfactor wrote:Just from your writing I can tell you're capable of scoring much higher than a 155-157 with proper study, especially with that GPA.

Which prep course are you taking because some are better than others. It might be advantageous to supplement your course with some specific self study. There are a lot of people on these boards willing to help and guide through the LSAT.

If you can get a 165, that miracle for Harvard becomes a more reasonable expectation.

What I am trying to say is that if you score a 155-157, you need to retake in December and apply later in the cycle. Hell, as an AA male, I bet you could even take the Feb LSAT for a decent score and still be able to get into HYS.
I'm taking a Blueprint course now. I've made some gains on question types from my inital diagnostic. My games were terrible, now I've gotten fairly good at them. I'm working on my weaknesses in LR though. I feel like I'll be sufficiently prepared for Oct. And what you said makes sense, although I would want to avoid having to take the test twice lol.

californiauser

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Re: School List

Post by californiauser » Sun Aug 25, 2013 1:03 pm

Don't accept anything less than mid-160s. If you do, you're leaving money on the table.

Redfactor

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Re: School List

Post by Redfactor » Sun Aug 25, 2013 1:39 pm

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Last edited by Redfactor on Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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twenty

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Re: School List

Post by twenty » Sun Aug 25, 2013 1:52 pm

I'm surprised Davis and Hastings were on this list, but Berkeley wasn't.

Anyway:

1) Retake for 164+
2) Only apply for T14 schools
3) ???
4) profit <- and I actually do mean profit.

toothbrush

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Re: School List

Post by toothbrush » Sun Aug 25, 2013 2:00 pm

Redfactor wrote:Just from your writing I can tell you're capable of scoring much higher than a 155-157 with proper study, especially with that GPA.
Is this a thing? People can gauge LSAT success for URM's based on how they write ?

ZVBXRPL

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Re: School List

Post by ZVBXRPL » Sun Aug 25, 2013 2:03 pm

Redfactor wrote:Just from your writing I can tell you're capable of scoring much higher...
Pathetic.

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twenty

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Re: School List

Post by twenty » Sun Aug 25, 2013 2:40 pm

Shit you guys, way to misinterpret the guy's comment. 157 is not a score you settle on unless you have a difficult time reading English (i.e, not your first language), or you have a legitimate learning disability that prevents you from comprehending text properly (i.e, severe dyslexia.) Anyone else should be able to study up to at least a 164, if not a 167+.

Redfactor

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Re: School List

Post by Redfactor » Sun Aug 25, 2013 3:07 pm

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Last edited by Redfactor on Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:59 pm, edited 3 times in total.

californiauser

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Re: School List

Post by californiauser » Sun Aug 25, 2013 3:45 pm

twentypercentmore wrote:Shit you guys, way to misinterpret the guy's comment. 157 is not a score you settle on unless you have a difficult time reading English (i.e, not your first language), or you have a legitimate learning disability that prevents you from comprehending text properly (i.e, severe dyslexia.) Anyone else should be able to study up to at least a 164, if not a 167+.
Lol. This is ridiculous. You honestly think 100% of "normal" college graduates can score 90%+ on a standardized test?

You do realize the median LSAT score is 150?

Irundistance

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Re: School List

Post by Irundistance » Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:15 pm

twentypercentmore wrote:I'm surprised Davis and Hastings were on this list, but Berkeley wasn't.

Anyway:

1) Retake for 164+
2) Only apply for T14 schools
3) ???
4) profit <- and I actually do mean profit.
I knew I forgot to add a school. Berkeley is definitely on that list!

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twenty

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Re: School List

Post by twenty » Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:16 pm

californiauser wrote:
twentypercentmore wrote:Shit you guys, way to misinterpret the guy's comment. 157 is not a score you settle on unless you have a difficult time reading English (i.e, not your first language), or you have a legitimate learning disability that prevents you from comprehending text properly (i.e, severe dyslexia.) Anyone else should be able to study up to at least a 164, if not a 167+.
Lol. This is ridiculous. You honestly think 100% of "normal" college graduates can score 90%+ on a standardized test?

You do realize the median LSAT score is 150?
You're typically pretty fast to criticize me for having the audacity to re-suggest what should otherwise be common sense; at least for TLS. Have you stopped to think about the fact that you know, maybe people suggest study->retake for reasons other than donating money to LSAC? This may be difficult for you to understand, but the LSAT is a fairly learn-able process. What usually holds people back is their disinterest in putting in work to study for it.

TLS, if nothing else, is obvious evidence that people can go from 140-150 scores to 170+ scores. I went up 19 points from my diagnostic to my final score, and I don't even speak English as a first language. Hell, I know if I can make that kind of a jump, your run of the mill liberal arts graduate certainly can.

So yeah, there's, you know, that.

Irundistance

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Re: School List

Post by Irundistance » Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:18 pm

Redfactor wrote:
Irundistance wrote:I'm taking a Blueprint course now. I've made some gains on question types from my inital diagnostic. My games were terrible, now I've gotten fairly good at them. I'm working on my weaknesses in LR though. I feel like I'll be sufficiently prepared for Oct. And what you said makes sense, although I would want to avoid having to take the test twice lol.
Alright, cool. That's one of the better ones out there.

Games are very learnable. You shouldn't be dropping more than 2-3. Aim for -0s and -1s.
LR is learnable too. If you're dropping more than 10 over both sections then you've got some room to grow.
RC is well... RC. Practice makes (kinda close to) perfect.

As for taking the test multiple times, just suck it up and do it. As an AA, minor increases in your LSAT give a larger boost to your application when compared to applicants as a whole. And I'm sure you've read TLS enough to know that there are many, many people who choose to retake in hopes of adding just one or two points to their scores. It's worth it.

You should shoot for a 170+. If you're not getting that on your PTs you need to keep with the diligent studying and do it smartly. 165 gives you a shot at Harvard. A 170 puts you in the driver's seat for any school in the country.
Thanks. I have room to grow forsure. I'll get an answer wrong on LR because I'll second-guess myself. I've been putting in major work on all sections. About 25-30 hours a week only because I take my time with the questions and go over all the ones I got wrong and even the ones I got right.

Irundistance

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Re: School List

Post by Irundistance » Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:28 pm

twentypercentmore wrote:
californiauser wrote:
twentypercentmore wrote:Shit you guys, way to misinterpret the guy's comment. 157 is not a score you settle on unless you have a difficult time reading English (i.e, not your first language), or you have a legitimate learning disability that prevents you from comprehending text properly (i.e, severe dyslexia.) Anyone else should be able to study up to at least a 164, if not a 167+.
Lol. This is ridiculous. You honestly think 100% of "normal" college graduates can score 90%+ on a standardized test?

You do realize the median LSAT score is 150?
You're typically pretty fast to criticize me for having the audacity to re-suggest what should otherwise be common sense; at least for TLS. Have you stopped to think about the fact that you know, maybe people suggest study->retake for reasons other than donating money to LSAC? This may be difficult for you to understand, but the LSAT is a fairly learn-able process. What usually holds people back is their disinterest in putting in work to study for it.

TLS, if nothing else, is obvious evidence that people can go from 140-150 scores to 170+ scores. I went up 19 points from my diagnostic to my final score, and I don't even speak English as a first language. Hell, I know if I can make that kind of a jump, your run of the mill liberal arts graduate certainly can.

So yeah, there's, you know, that.
That's an impressive jump, congratulations on that!

Irundistance

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Re: School List

Post by Irundistance » Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:31 pm

Redfactor wrote:
toothbrush wrote:
Redfactor wrote:Just from your writing I can tell you're capable of scoring much higher than a 155-157 with proper study, especially with that GPA.
Is this a thing? People can gauge LSAT success for URM's based on how they write ?
Umm... nothing racial about what I said. If your statement was implying anything other than that, I take offense.

And as twentypercentmore stated, a language barrier or being slow are the only real explanations for a properly prepared test taker to get a 155-157 (excluding test anxiety). OP writes in a way that demonstrates a command of the English language and he has a 3.75 GPA. So, even if he's slow, he is capable of doing well on tests.

I believe OP is capable of surpassing a 155-157 score.

If my opinion of people's LSAT scores has touched on a sore subject with you or ZVBXRPL, then I apologize; I am not on the board to be elitist or put down others due to their capabilities.

Now, back to OP, I have reread what I wrote earlier and stand by it.

Now, let's get this thread back on track to help OP!
I didn't take your statement as racial, its nowhere near being racial in my view. So, can I get some answer to my question haha

PRgradBYU

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Re: School List

Post by PRgradBYU » Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:11 am

Hit 165+ and enjoy any school on your list with $$$ (only need-based $ from Harvard, obviously).

Redfactor

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Re: School List

Post by Redfactor » Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:59 am

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Last edited by Redfactor on Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:59 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Irundistance

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Re: School List

Post by Irundistance » Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:21 am

Redfactor wrote:
Irundistance wrote:Thanks. I have room to grow forsure. I'll get an answer wrong on LR because I'll second-guess myself. I've been putting in major work on all sections. About 25-30 hours a week only because I take my time with the questions and go over all the ones I got wrong and even the ones I got right.
I fully believe that the absolute best way to study is to take a practice test and then take a few hours going over it.

With logical reasoning, there is always one right answer and four wrong answers. When I took a test, I always used process of elimination. I never picked what I thought was the right answer. I always eliminated answers that I logically proved could not be true and then ensured that the last answer made sense.

I think the vast majority of LSAT takers simply don't understand this concept and try to choose "the best" answer. This is a bad, bad approach. There isn't a "best" answer. There is only one answer that works and four answers that don't and it's easier to find the flaws in the answers than to prove them right.

I feel the majority of the learning comes after the test. When you go over the answers, don't use a key. Work through the problems again - whether you got them right or wrong. Go over each answer choice and prove that it is wrong to yourself and prove the validity of the correct answer. Many times I would catch an aspect of the question and be like, "...damn... it's B obviously!" Those are the moments that I feel really improve your scoring. After that, I would get the key, score my test (using the initial answer choices) and then go over answers I got wrong both times again. If I still could not understand why an answer didn't work while the correct selection did, I would seek out explanations.
Our approaches are similar then. I find myself when I go over a question I got wrong saying "you had that as one of your two potential answer choices" and then I figure out where my thought process strayed. Other questions I know right off the bat what the answer is using the techniques I'm being taught. I think with anything its just going to take a lot of practice and dedication which I have, and eventually I will reach my full potential.

Irundistance

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Re: School List

Post by Irundistance » Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:22 am

Redfactor wrote:
Irundistance wrote:Thanks. I have room to grow forsure. I'll get an answer wrong on LR because I'll second-guess myself. I've been putting in major work on all sections. About 25-30 hours a week only because I take my time with the questions and go over all the ones I got wrong and even the ones I got right.
I fully believe that the absolute best way to study is to take a practice test and then take a few hours going over it.

With logical reasoning, there is always one right answer and four wrong answers. When I took a test, I always used process of elimination. I never picked what I thought was the right answer. I always eliminated answers that I logically proved could not be true and then ensured that the last answer made sense.

I think the vast majority of LSAT takers simply don't understand this concept and try to choose "the best" answer. This is a bad, bad approach. There isn't a "best" answer. There is only one answer that works and four answers that don't and it's easier to find the flaws in the answers than to prove them right.

I feel the majority of the learning comes after the test. When you go over the answers, don't use a key. Work through the problems again - whether you got them right or wrong. Go over each answer choice and prove that it is wrong to yourself and prove the validity of the correct answer. Many times I would catch an aspect of the question and be like, "...damn... it's B obviously!" Those are the moments that I feel really improve your scoring. After that, I would get the key, score my test (using the initial answer choices) and then go over answers I got wrong both times again. If I still could not understand why an answer didn't work while the correct selection did, I would seek out explanations.
Did you take a prep course?

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Clearly

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Re: School List

Post by Clearly » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:11 am

Redfactor wrote:
Irundistance wrote:Thanks. I have room to grow forsure. I'll get an answer wrong on LR because I'll second-guess myself. I've been putting in major work on all sections. About 25-30 hours a week only because I take my time with the questions and go over all the ones I got wrong and even the ones I got right.
I fully believe that the absolute best way to study is to take a practice test and then take a few hours going over it.

With logical reasoning, there is always one right answer and four wrong answers. When I took a test, I always used process of elimination. I never picked what I thought was the right answer. I always eliminated answers that I logically proved could not be true and then ensured that the last answer made sense.

I think the vast majority of LSAT takers simply don't understand this concept and try to choose "the best" answer. This is a bad, bad approach. There isn't a "best" answer. There is only one answer that works and four answers that don't and it's easier to find the flaws in the answers than to prove them right.

I feel the majority of the learning comes after the test. When you go over the answers, don't use a key. Work through the problems again - whether you got them right or wrong. Go over each answer choice and prove that it is wrong to yourself and prove the validity of the correct answer. Many times I would catch an aspect of the question and be like, "...damn... it's B obviously!" Those are the moments that I feel really improve your scoring. After that, I would get the key, score my test (using the initial answer choices) and then go over answers I got wrong both times again. If I still could not understand why an answer didn't work while the correct selection did, I would seek out explanations.
I mean thats fine, but calling knowing what your looking for a bad, bad approach is dumb. Most answers can be prephrased and predicted with practice, frankly I didn't even read at least half the LR answers on the page because I knew outright what the assumption was, or the flaw committed, etc. I mean, I narrowed shit down as well, but its not as cut and dry as having to eliminate 4 wrong answers for every question.

Redfactor

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Re: School List

Post by Redfactor » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:31 am

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Last edited by Redfactor on Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:59 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Redfactor

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Re: School List

Post by Redfactor » Mon Aug 26, 2013 5:46 am

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Last edited by Redfactor on Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:59 pm, edited 3 times in total.

californiauser

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Re: School List

Post by californiauser » Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:15 pm

twentypercentmore wrote:
californiauser wrote:
twentypercentmore wrote:Shit you guys, way to misinterpret the guy's comment. 157 is not a score you settle on unless you have a difficult time reading English (i.e, not your first language), or you have a legitimate learning disability that prevents you from comprehending text properly (i.e, severe dyslexia.) Anyone else should be able to study up to at least a 164, if not a 167+.
Lol. This is ridiculous. You honestly think 100% of "normal" college graduates can score 90%+ on a standardized test?

You do realize the median LSAT score is 150?
You're typically pretty fast to criticize me for having the audacity to re-suggest what should otherwise be common sense; at least for TLS. Have you stopped to think about the fact that you know, maybe people suggest study->retake for reasons other than donating money to LSAC? This may be difficult for you to understand, but the LSAT is a fairly learn-able process. What usually holds people back is their disinterest in putting in work to study for it.

TLS, if nothing else, is obvious evidence that people can go from 140-150 scores to 170+ scores. I went up 19 points from my diagnostic to my final score, and I don't even speak English as a first language. Hell, I know if I can make that kind of a jump, your run of the mill liberal arts graduate certainly can.

So yeah, there's, you know, that.

Right. Because the average TLS poster = the average college graduate.

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Dr.Zer0

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Re: School List

Post by Dr.Zer0 » Mon Aug 26, 2013 8:42 pm

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Last edited by Dr.Zer0 on Fri Jan 17, 2014 3:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

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