Top Law Schools

Hi everyone,

Just got my September test score back - 157. I was hoping for something higher and will keep studying for the November test. I PTed around 161. My GPA is a 3.85 with honors credit. Lots of softs - president of Mock Trial, volunteer with refugees, worked at the State Appellate Defenders and Michigan Supreme Court. What is the best school (in terms of ranking) that I can get into? I am 1/2 URM too, - Native American and Asian. Thank you for your thoughts!

Spartan98 wrote:What is the best school (in terms of ranking) that I can get into?

This is a dangerous way of thinking. Best and highest-ranked are very different things, especially for the kind of school you'll be able to get into with a 157.

Yes, with a 157 you shouldn't be looking at rankings, you should be looking at what is best for your career. The best thing you can do is retake and get into the 160s on your LSAT.

After that, you need to decide what and where you want to work after law school. Unless you get into a top 13 law school, geography becomes really important. If you want to stay in Michigan and you can't get into Michigan law or another t13, then going to Michigan State on a full ride is the better play than going to say Emory even though Emory has a higher USNews ranking.

Agree with the above. What do you want to do with your JD?

I want to litigate and/or work for the ACLU. I have been receiving fee waivers from really great schools (like the University of Pennsylvania), and I wonder if it's even realistic/why they are sending me them. Also, I don't really know what state I want to live in, so going to a school because I want to work there isn't a huge factor for me.

Spartan98 wrote:I want to litigate and/or work for the ACLU. I have been receiving fee waivers from really great schools (like the University of Pennsylvania), and I wonder if it's even realistic/why they are sending me them. Also, I don't really know what state I want to live in, so going to a school because I want to work there isn't a huge factor for me.

Litigation is an incredibly broad swathe of law, on the one hand, and the ACLU hires like two lawyers a year on the other hand. You have time to think about this, but you should probably do a lot more looking into what kind of career you want to have after law school: what kind of day-to-day work? how much money do you expect to make? are you okay with the fallback options for people who miss out on ACLU-style "unicorn" positions? Your answers to these questions will inform what kind of law school you need to go to and at what price.

You'll get fee waivers from all kinds of places. They use very crude filters (e.g. you might have gotten picked by Penn because your GPA is over a 3.8, or because you live in a certain state) and their primary aim is to get as many applications as possible, even if that includes a lot of applicants who don't make sense for the school, because it makes their job easier.

Do you guys think I have a T14 chance? I hope/wonder if my URM status will really help.

Spartan98 wrote:Do you guys think I have a T14 chance? I hope/wonder if my URM status will really help.

Not with your current score. But if you can get into the mid-160s, your URM status is absolutely going to help.

Hi guys! Just wanted to update. Got a call, two days ago. Got into Cornell. Keep your options open and apply, even if you don't think you have a good chance!