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Long time lurker, infrequent poster. I could really use some advice on what to do with my upcoming cycle/potential future cycle.

I received my November LSAT score and was not happy about it at all. At this point I am considering whether I should sit out this cycle or just see what happens.

My three options I feel I have are:

1) Apply with what I have

2) Sit out this cycle, quit job, self-study for 6 months, take June test.

3) Work full-time, apply this cycle with what I have, and if I am not happy with the results I am getting sign up for TestMasters in March for the June test and apply next cycle.

I am leaning towards Option 3 but I am open to what others think. Also, if I did take the June test it would absolutely be my last test.

23 year old AA male btw.

Goals:

Practice Corporate Law and get as much Real Estate related work as possible. Firm size does NOT have to be Big Law but if the opportunity presents itself I definitely would like to go Big Law. I would prefer to work at an office size of at least 25 people.

Practice for 2-3 years and if I absolutely love it I stay put but if I do not transition into Real Estate Investments and/or Development.

Another scenario, given I would not want to practice after 2-3 years, go into college athletics or try to work at a sport agency. I know becoming a sport agent is very unlikely so please do not dog me too much on this.

Other than California, the furthest west I would want to live is Texas. I do not have any living preferences other than that.

Stats:

Degree in Business Management from Top 100 University. (Took a couple of Real Estate courses as electives)
LSAC GPA: 2.82
Degree GPA: 2.76
GPA in Major Classes: 3.46 (3.3 my senior spring semester).

Master's in Sport Management
Master's GPA: 3.68

Here's the big thing.... LSAT is 150. I have 7 (!!!!!) tests on record. After my second test is when they implemented the unlimited takes and I pretty much took the test whenever it was offered, saying I would study, but cramming really about 2 weeks before the test. I obviously regret this and did not consider how an admissions committee would look at this.

My study habits for the LSAT have never efficient. When I had all the time in the world, like during undergad or the summer before my master's program, I never did a great job of reviewing answers and never took any timed PTs, just timed sections back to back at most.

My most recent score was a 5 point jump between the September test and November test. Before this jump, I have been consistently getting between a 142-145. I noticed I was studying more efficiently and got a couple of PTs in but with my master's classes and working full-time I never had a lot of time to study. I would study maybe 2 hours after work and do a PT every other weekend.

Softs:

I would say average softs.

Student Senate (3 years)
Fraternity Leadership Roles (2 Years)
Legal Aid Internship (Semester during Undergad)
Political Campaign Volunteer (Summer)
Graduate Research Assistant (1 Year - Also published a paper during this time)

Currently a full-time office assistant at a local business in my hometown.


Debt:

$50,000 at most, parents are paying the majority of tuition and 100% of living costs.

Questions:

For this cycle, what schools should I be applying to? I would probably go this cycle if I got into a bottom 50 school. Think Tulane, SMU, Illinois, etc. Do I have a chance at these schools?

Overall, I just want to go to a school that will guarantee me at least a $75,000 law job upon graduation. Again, I am only 23 so I do mind sitting out another cycle but I definitely would want to start by the fall of 2020. Also, please do not say don't go to law school. It's something I want to do, and at this point tbh I want to prove to myself I can go and be a successful law student, and I think it will benefit me long-term in what I want to do. Appreciate all advice.

Ok, that was a lot. But I feel like this paragraph neatly sums up all the red flags for me:

VandyMan32 wrote:Overall, I just want to go to a school that will guarantee me at least a $75,000 law job upon graduation. Again, I am only 23 so I do mind sitting out another cycle but I definitely would want to start by the fall of 2020. Also, please do not say don't go to law school. It's something I want to do, and at this point tbh I want to prove to myself I can go and be a successful law student, and I think it will benefit me long-term in what I want to do. Appreciate all advice.

If you've been lurking here long enough, you know that legal salaries are largely bimodal. Either you're making biglaw-money, or you're making roughly $45-60k starting. There are very, very few jobs in between, and even fewer available to new lawyers. So you need to get realistic about your likely income after school.

Why the rush? You're 23, but you're setting this artificial start time of 25. What happens when you turn 25 that makes going to law school before that point such a necessity?

The last point is the most concerning to me: it doesn't sound like you actually want to be a lawyer. Your post initially states that you kind of want to try things out for 2-3 years, see if you like it, and then bail for the job you really want (either real estate or sports, which are... divergent... fields). Law school is useful if you want to be a lawyer, full stop. It's not useful if you want to prove yourself. It isn't useful if you want to "be a successful law student" (mainly because that's too vague to have much objective meaning). It's for becoming a lawyer. If you don't know that you want to be a lawyer, don't go to law school; even if you don't mind wasting your parents' cash, it'd be a waste of 3 years of your life.

TBF, I think a lot of people here considering law school are starting to say "if I hate it/I don't get a job, I will do X instead," because people here talk a lot about how much so many people hate law (esp. biglaw). So I don't think saying "I have a backup plan if I don't like this" really means they don't want to be a lawyer, but that they're trying to address the reality (that many people point out) that it's hard to tell if they'll like it/succeed until they try it.

So your stats are 150 LSAT and 2.82 GPA?

With an AA boost your cycle will be unpredictable. But I don’t know if you will get into a decent school.

I’m going to emphasize that school placement is local so you should go to school where you want to live, going by school rank is not going to help you get back to California or out west.

Edit to add: you need to actually study well, with or without a paid prep class. At this point you took the LSAT so many times I don’t know what schools will make of it.

I would say be realistic with yourself. If you have taken the exam 7 times before and haven't scored higher than a 150, how likely is it that you will in the future? Also, some people really struggle with the LSAT and reaching a 150 is their goal, so maybe this is your peak. You gpa is below a 3.0 so I don't know how law schools will perceive that in combination with your score. Unless you can truly get your LSAT score up I would apply to some tier 3 schools now as it's still kind of early in the admissions cycle and see how it goes from there. You maybe able to get into some tier 2 schools but probably not with scholarships. Do research on Law School Number about urm's who have gotten into schools with similar numbers as you. I would also look into schools that have programs for those with lower number (Ex: Seton Hall Leo program). Some schools offer conditional programs. Hope this helps.