Top Law Schools

So I'm hoping to get a high enough LSAT score to get into a T!4 school, which from what I've read would be a 168+ for most schools with my 3.3 GPA. My preferred schools would be Northwestern, Georgetown, Berkeley (longshot I know), or UVA though I''d love to practice in CA so I may accept an offer from UCLA if I were to be accepted.

However, assuming I get into a T14 I'm then confronted with unfortunate fact that all of the schooling on my end will have to be financed by loans, and I'm already over $40k in debt from undergrad debt.

I guess my question is, what LSAT score do you estimate I'd have to get to get into a T14 without going into a crippling amount of debt (I'll define as so much debt that I can't pay it off without living like a hobo for the forseeable future after law school)? Does being a "splitter" badly hurt my scholarship chances, or are some schools more forgiving if I can get a good LSAT score? What T14 schools, if any are more sympathetic to offering "splitters" scholarships; or am I basically screwed if I don't score a 170+ (or even if I do)?

Thanks for the help!

farman wrote:So I'm hoping to get a high enough LSAT score to get into a T!4 school, which from what I've read would be a 168+ for most schools with my 3.3 GPA. My preferred schools would be Northwestern, Georgetown, Berkeley (longshot I know), or UVA though I''d love to practice in CA so I may accept an offer from UCLA if I were to be accepted.

However, assuming I get into a T14 I'm then confronted with unfortunate fact that all of the schooling on my end will have to be financed by loans, and I'm already over $40k in debt from undergrad debt.

I guess my question is, what LSAT score do you estimate I'd have to get to get into a T14 without going into a crippling amount of debt (I'll define as so much debt that I can't pay it off without living like a hobo for the forseeable future after law school)? Does being a "splitter" badly hurt my scholarship chances, or are some schools more forgiving if I can get a good LSAT score? What T14 schools, if any are more sympathetic to offering "splitters" scholarships; or am I basically screwed if I don't score a 170+ (or even if I do)?

Thanks for the help!

Don't know a whole lot about the top 14 schools, but going off of some of the information gathered on LSN, you're probably going to need a 170.

I took a look at two schools, both outside of the top 15, with your GPA:

UT- A 168 should land you around 40k+

-Seems a bit stingy, but they are a state school

http://texas.lawschoolnumbers.com/applicants

WUSTL- 170 and a 2.8 landed someone 120k

http://washu.lawschoolnumbers.com/applicants

I'm not sure how high a priority T14 is, in comparison to those outside of that bubble, but both schools seem to be pretty good and give you a good chance at big law, if thats what you're going for.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/texas/2014/

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/washu/2014/

I took a look at Duke, a T14 program, even with a 170 and a 4.0, an applicant was only able to get 105k of the 159k 3 year tuition. You can find other examples on the site to give you a better idea:

http://duke.lawschoolnumbers.com/applicants

UCLA Berkley

http://berkeley.lawschoolnumbers.com/applicants

Even with 170+ and 3.6+ they are very stingy with the $$$

My advice: Maybe consider some schools outside of the T14 that allow you to attend for as close to free as possible, while still being a top notch school. I think UT and WUSTL are some good options for doing that. It seems that without an out of this world score, I don't think you're going to be able to get the type of scholarship that will allow you to exit a T14 law school with sub 100k in debt.

Shoot for a 180.

To get real money you're going to need more than a 170.

Play around with http://www.mylsn.info

Hell, you probably won't even get in the T14 with a 168. I'd say at least 172 for any real scholarship at any of them.

173+ will get you around 45k from the lower T14. you might get a full scholly from UCLA with that score if you play your cards right.

RareExports wrote:Hell, you probably won't even get in the T14 with a 168. I'd say at least 172 for any real scholarship at any of them.

Nah, he'd be in at GULC and probably Cornell. Might even have a fighting chance at Northwestern.

I had a 3.3 and a 168 and got GULC, NU, and UVA.

dabigchina wrote:173+ will get you around 45k from the lower T14. you might get a full scholly from UCLA with that score if you play your cards right.

I know of multiple examples of individuals who got more from the lower t14 with 171/172.

I have just a slightly higher GPA than you and got 60k at a middle T14 with a 171.