Top Law Schools

I just got my scores from the February LSAT (first time) last night. I had promised myself I would hold off from posting on law school admissions forums again until I actually had an LSAT score, so here I am.

I'm planning on applying to most of the T14 + UT-Austin for Fall 2019. (Some days I'm "Yale or bust" and others I think about how awesome going to Berkeley for law school would be.) I went to one of HYS for undergrad, where I majored in an interdisciplinary STEM-like field. By the time I get to law school, I'll be 2 years out of undergrad, with a public service fellowship and a Masters degree in a cognate field to my undergrad under my belt. I have two LORs, one from a NYT best selling author and instructor at my school and the other from a mathematician I took several classes with and grew close to, in the pipeline that I feel really good about.

I'm curious what you all think my chances are at schools ranging from Yale to Berkeley as well as merit scholarships at these schools. What schools (including those outside the T14 + UT-Austin) can I consider a safety, a match, and a reach?

I'm also curious what you all think the value of a retake might be. My PT average/median leading up to the test administration date was a 170/169 across 9 tests, but twice I scored in the 174-5 range, once as early as December and the other time the weekend before my exam. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

My current short list is:

• Yale
  Stanford
  Harvard
  Columbia
  NYU
  Virginia
  Berkeley

I think you are out at YS, maybe a smidgen chance at H... Good odds for the rest, except for B, which is known to value higher GPA over LSAT.

silenttimer wrote:I think you are out at YS, maybe a smidgen chance at H... Good odds for the rest, except for B, which is known to value higher GPA over LSAT.

Thanks for your input! This is heartening, considering I would love to end up at Columbia or NYU. What LSAT do you think I should shoot for to have "good odds" at HYS?

GasStationCoffee wrote:

silenttimer wrote:I think you are out at YS, maybe a smidgen chance at H... Good odds for the rest, except for B, which is known to value higher GPA over LSAT.

Thanks for your input! This is heartening, considering I would love to end up at Columbia or NYU. What LSAT do you think I should shoot for to have "good odds" at HYS?

Those three schools have a some a GPA floor. While I don't think you are below it, it is likely at the very low end. If you can get your LSAT to 175, you have a shot. Check out LSN.

silenttimer wrote:

GasStationCoffee wrote:

silenttimer wrote:I think you are out at YS, maybe a smidgen chance at H... Good odds for the rest, except for B, which is known to value higher GPA over LSAT.

Thanks for your input! This is heartening, considering I would love to end up at Columbia or NYU. What LSAT do you think I should shoot for to have "good odds" at HYS?

Those three schools have a some a GPA floor. While I don't think you are below it, it is likely at the very low end. If you can get your LSAT to 175, you have a shot. Check out LSN.

I guess I might have overestimated the effect of the URM boost with respect to being Puerto Rican/Hispanic. In any case, I have signed up to retake the LSAT in June already. I appreciate your advice!

I had a 3.76 and a 170 when I applied PR/hispanic/white and I got in at H and S. waitlisted at Y. So don't count yourself out, but if you think you can score higher than retake because it will help you get better scholarship offers at other t-14s.

cdotson2 wrote:I had a 3.76 and a 170 when I applied PR/hispanic/white and I got in at H and S. waitlisted at Y. So don't count yourself out, but if you think you can score higher than retake because it will help you get better scholarship offers at other t-14s.

Thank you for the encouragement! Can I ask what other schools you got into and what kind of scholarships you might have been offered at them?

If you were black I would say you could walk into any school you wanted. I still think you're in at Harvard for sure and everything below. Y and S idk.