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Apologies in advance, this might be a bit long. While reading through the forum, I've seen several snarky responses from people who seem to think that only those who entered at 22/23 are serious about attending law school, so I feel it's important to give some backstory.

I am 36. I have been teaching in my field (I was not an education major) for about 13 years. When I was in undergrad, despite the fact that I wanted to go to law school, I chose my major (a social science) based on pressure from my family and then went to graduate school, instead. I was recently diagnosed with a chronic (not fatal) illness, and nothing will highlight your regrets for you like a health scare. I've decided that if I want to go to law school, it's now or never--and never is not an option.

I earned my B.A. cum laude and my M.A. with distinction. My overall combined GPA was 3.68. Other relevant information: I am not married and have no children, I am published in my field (not primary author; research/coding assistant), my current teaching field is tangentially related to the type of law I'm interested in, and I am Chahta (I am enrolled and carry CDIB and Adult Tribal Membership cards.)

I am registered for the LSAT in July, and what I would like to know is what my target score should be to even begin to seem like an appealing candidate to a law school worth attending.

(Also, semi-related: Do I address the "Why now?" in my personal statement?)

Thank you.

JGermaine wrote:While reading through the forum, I've seen several snarky responses from people who seem to think that only those who entered at 22/23 are serious about attending law school, so I feel it's important to give some backstory.

I'm not sure where you've seen those. The vast majority of snarky responses I see are telling 22/23-year-olds to slow the hell down and not go to law school right away. Make sure you aren't confusing criticism of people expressing a sudden desire to leave a lucrative career to spend $300k on a T2 school for the "experience" with criticism of their age.

JGermaine wrote:I earned my B.A. cum laude and my M.A. with distinction. My overall combined GPA was 3.68. Other relevant information: I am not married and have no children, I am published in my field (not primary author; research/coding assistant), my current teaching field is tangentially related to the type of law I'm interested in, and I am Chahta (I am enrolled and carry CDIB and Adult Tribal Membership cards.)

I am registered for the LSAT in July, and what I would like to know is what my target score should be to even begin to seem like an appealing candidate to a law school worth attending.

Only your undergrad GPA counts for admissions purposes, so what was your standalone undergrad GPA?

With regards to your target LSAT score: Your target is 180. Once you have a score, you can evaluate whether you have a reasonable shot at a school worth attending. But determining which schools are worth attending is going to depend on your career goals.