Top Law Schools

Hey guys!

I just joined this site and was looking for some insight on my situation.

I took my LSAT exam in February and just began applying to schools this month.
LSAT: 158
GPA (LSAC): 4.17

I am an Afro-Latino male of Guatemalan and Cuban Descent (Racially Black, 1st Generation). I will have over 21 months of full time work experience upon Graduation this spring (my undergraduate school has a co-op program). Through this program, I have been able to land positions (paralegal work) at both my state's Attorney General's Office and Morgan Lewis. My other softs include various community service experiences, honors/awards, etc. (typical softs)

As of today, I have received "merit" based fee waivers from these top schools: UPenn, Virginia, Michigan, and Northwestern. Just outside of these programs, I also received waivers from Vanderbilt and Emory (in addition to a lot of other lower ranked schools). And for some reason, Harvard also sent me a recruitment email.

Do I seriously have a chance at any of those top schools? Or, any school in the lower T-14 to be exact? With my numbers and status, what range of schools should I be focusing on for this application cycle?

Thanks for all of your support!

If this is real, the only response you will get ITT is to retake. How long did you prep?

yeah man, retake that LSAT. Even if you went to a school with a hell of a grade inflation problem and majored in something really easy, I think it's still pretty safe to say that with a 4.17 you certainly have the potential to work your way to a higher LSAT score. A 163+ will put you in a really good position when it comes to T-14 applications.

Also, as far as your current chances go...it's hard to say. There aren't very many applicants like you so the number of data points are limited. Try playing with the numbers on this link (be sure to restrict your searches to URM):

http://mylsn.info/xgw7yc/

LOL I assure you this is real. I studied from Late September 2013 to February 2014 while working full time at my firm (it is always busy). I've been trying to retake the LSAT, but have just been so busy as of lately. On my LSAC Report, it says the average GPA at my school is 3.35. haha I study psychology with minors in Economics and Criminal Justice. Do you really think a 163+ will help me out with the T-14?

amw342 wrote:LOL I assure you this is real. I studied from Late September 2013 to February 2014 while working full time at my firm (it is always busy). I've been trying to retake the LSAT, but have just been so busy as of lately. On my LSAC Report, it says the average GPA at my school is 3.35. haha I study psychology with minors in Economics and Criminal Justice. Do you really think a 163+ will help me out with the T-14?

I wasn't being mean or anything just get a lot of ppl starting fake threads on here but you need to look at law-school-numbers.com to see what just a 5 point LSAT score would get u but IMO you should shoot for, at minimum, a 167. Take some to study. No harm in sitting out a cycle and devoting a set # of hours to studying

1) The latino part of your ethnicity doesn't count towards being URM but being black does.
2) Your GPA/URM is waving you through to HYS (Harvard Yale Stanford) but your LSAT is holding you back big time both in terms of admission as well as scholarship money.
3) Working somewhere (shouldn't be that hard with your GPA) while buckling down and studying the LSAT hardcore for the next year gives you a very good chance at top schools with top scholarship money. If you force the issue and insist on applying this cycle you roll the dice on T14 (will probably land a couple if you apply to all 14) and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Waiting a year, getting work experience, gaining perspective as a paralegal has zero practical downside.

* I cannot stress how much money you're losing out on by not retaking. $250,000-300,000 in non-dischargeable debt. Put that econ minor of yours to work and crunch the numbers on what a 10 year repayment at 6-8% would be.

pancakes3 wrote:1) The latino part of your ethnicity doesn't count towards being URM but being black does.
2) Your GPA/URM is waving you through to HYS (Harvard Yale Stanford) but your LSAT is holding you back big time both in terms of admission as well as scholarship money.
3) Working somewhere (shouldn't be that hard with your GPA) while buckling down and studying the LSAT hardcore for the next year gives you a very good chance at top schools with top scholarship money. If you force the issue and insist on applying this cycle you roll the dice on T14 (will probably land a couple if you apply to all 14) and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Waiting a year, getting work experience, gaining perspective as a paralegal has zero practical downside.

* I cannot stress how much money you're losing out on by not retaking. $250,000-300,000 in non-dischargeable debt. Put that econ minor of yours to work and crunch the numbers on what a 10 year repayment at 6-8% would be.

Looks like it's time to break open my bibles again! I would love to attend a T-14, but I wouldn't be able to afford any of those schools at sticker price. I know I should shoot for the stars, but from this feedback I'm amusing a mid to high 160s score would be good enough for my situation?

amw342 wrote:

pancakes3 wrote:1) The latino part of your ethnicity doesn't count towards being URM but being black does.
2) Your GPA/URM is waving you through to HYS (Harvard Yale Stanford) but your LSAT is holding you back big time both in terms of admission as well as scholarship money.
3) Working somewhere (shouldn't be that hard with your GPA) while buckling down and studying the LSAT hardcore for the next year gives you a very good chance at top schools with top scholarship money. If you force the issue and insist on applying this cycle you roll the dice on T14 (will probably land a couple if you apply to all 14) and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Waiting a year, getting work experience, gaining perspective as a paralegal has zero practical downside.

* I cannot stress how much money you're losing out on by not retaking. $250,000-300,000 in non-dischargeable debt. Put that econ minor of yours to work and crunch the numbers on what a 10 year repayment at 6-8% would be.

Looks like it's time to break open my bibles again! I would love to attend a T-14, but I wouldn't be able to afford any of those schools at sticker price. I know I should shoot for the stars, but from this feedback I'm amusing a mid to high 160s score would be good enough for my situation?

A mid to high 160s will get you into Harvard and $$$ at plenty of schools in the T-13. A low 160 will still get you into T-13 schools but not sure what kind of money you'd be looking at. Point is, with your GPA I wouldn't settle of an LSAT score that couldn't cop me a T-13 for free or HYS.

amw342 wrote:

pancakes3 wrote:1) The latino part of your ethnicity doesn't count towards being URM but being black does.
2) Your GPA/URM is waving you through to HYS (Harvard Yale Stanford) but your LSAT is holding you back big time both in terms of admission as well as scholarship money.
3) Working somewhere (shouldn't be that hard with your GPA) while buckling down and studying the LSAT hardcore for the next year gives you a very good chance at top schools with top scholarship money. If you force the issue and insist on applying this cycle you roll the dice on T14 (will probably land a couple if you apply to all 14) and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Waiting a year, getting work experience, gaining perspective as a paralegal has zero practical downside.

* I cannot stress how much money you're losing out on by not retaking. $250,000-300,000 in non-dischargeable debt. Put that econ minor of yours to work and crunch the numbers on what a 10 year repayment at 6-8% would be.

Looks like it's time to break open my bibles again! I would love to attend a T-14, but I wouldn't be able to afford any of those schools at sticker price. I know I should shoot for the stars, but from this feedback I'm amusing a mid to high 160s score would be good enough for my situation?

If you get high 160s youre a harvard lock or will be getting full rides from several T15s. You must retake, even if it takes you a few years to get the score you need.

I about died when I saw that GPA. Retake brother if you don't you are seriously messing up

90convoy wrote:I about died when I saw that GPA. Retake brother if you don't you are seriously messing up

Yea. I think that's the plan. Psychology isn't that very difficult of a major, but you still have to work pretty hard for a 4.0. I'll definitely retake, I was just curious on what my chances would be if I didn't. Plus, I was suprised at all the emails/waivers I was receiving from top schools too. lol

Waivers don't mean squat. They're essentially saying "Here, you take my $50 now and I'll just deduct it out of your $50,000."