Just got my LSAT 140 and 3.08 what can i do? Forum

[DanInALionsDen]

--Assuming this isn't a flame--

I don't know if this has been said already, but the answer is simple:

If you're going to go to law school, in your case, you'd be best off going somewhere for free. So study A LOT more, and get into the 160's. Then go to a lower T2/T3 for free. At least you won't have a ton of debt when you graduate, because finding a job in law is going to be rough for you I'd imagine.

To be honest, I would seriously rethink the whole law school thing. If it is really your dream, go for it (but do it for free). A lot of the most famous politicians, lawyers and judges didn't come from the best schools, but they're the lucky exception.

[JustDude]

Agreed, OP sounds lazy. business savvy lawyers are dangerous b/c they only have to compete with other lawyers, which in most cases are not the most business savvy. Your assuming he's paying, maybe his parents are paying. 3 years of law schools is much more fun than 3 year of working. yeah, i get it OP is not going to come out making 6 figures, but ceteris paribus, its better to have a JD than not, no?

Dude... This is utterly retarded statement, and your use of latin only excacerbated the situation (Not sure I spellled that corrcetly).

[Sean Bateman]

dude this is not meant as a direct jab at you, but in general many people need to start recognizing this test for what it is.

I know a kid, smart kid too, who didn't take even one practice test and now he can't believe how he only scored a 145. Just because you've always been an above average student, and your grades are above average does not mean you can rock this test without studying. the LSAT is no joke. to be perfectly blunt, your study habits really sucked (PM me if you want to hear about an efficient study plan). Three practice test, one month...who told you that was a good idea?

Truth be told, I cannot imagine your numbers will get you in anywhere, but I could be wrong. But then you begin to wonder if the schools who do accept you are even worth going to. Study your ass off this summer. You wont have classes, just make LSAT your life more or less. re-take in sept. I'll bet your capable of 160+ if you put the required time and effort in. If not, start thinking about other career paths.

[JustDude]

I agree with the spirit of your general post, but I will need proof of the bolded text. Besides on Yale's website, it plainly states that the lowest LSAT score was a 154.

154 or 151, the difference isn't much, considering that YLS is a school that routinely turns down the applicants with scores of 175+ left, right and center. It conveys my point that even the top schools do in fact will take a holistic approach if you can illustrate as to why your score (or GPA) isn't up to par.

And to the discussion going on above about business leaders... LMAO!!!!! If there was ever a correlation of high LSAT score to success in business ventures, then I'd like to see it. Rhodes Scholars and Fulbright scholars don't exactly run Fortune 500 corporations.

Speaking of which, right off my head, Cisco Systems' Chairman/CEO John Chambers (who has a had history of ADHD/dyslexia) scored much lower on his LSAT and went to graduate from a lower ranked school. For the past 20 years he's only not been voted America's Top CEO on several occasions, but he continues to run arguably one of the most successful companies in the world (Cisco was the most valuable company in the world with a market cap of over $500B in 2000). Ditto for world's largest enterprise software company Oracle's Corp's President Charles Phillips who happen to go to a non-T20 law school, as a part-time night student. So many more examples out there...

Like 6???

[Fark-o-vision]

Uh, this is fake. Right? OP didn't really do this, and doesn't really expect to get anywhere with those numbers. I mean, he's probably just looking for some fun on an internet site that takes itself way, way too seriously. Right?

[JustDude]

Uh, this is fake. Right? OP didn't really do this, and doesn't really expect to get anywhere with those numbers. I mean, he's probably just looking for some fun on an internet site that takes itself way, way too seriously. Right?

Thee sad truth is that it probably is not a flame. We've seen flames here. Thats unfortunately is not one of them.

[flawyer]

Agreed, OP sounds lazy. business savvy lawyers are dangerous b/c they only have to compete with other lawyers, which in most cases are not the most business savvy. Your assuming he's paying, maybe his parents are paying. 3 years of law schools is much more fun than 3 year of working. yeah, i get it OP is not going to come out making 6 figures, but ceteris paribus, its better to have a JD than not, no?

Dude... This is utterly retarded statement, and your use of latin only excacerbated the situation (Not sure I spellled that corrcetly).

Justdude! if im retarded, than let us all know: what great law school did u get into, with what great LSAT score? AND why do you want to go to law school? Do you know you'll be a great lawyer cause you've done it before? Do you know what type of law you want to practice, and if so WHY?!

[JustDude]

Like 6???

And how many Fortune 500 executives are there that (presumably) had a high LSAT score? Like 0???

Right off the top of my head, I'm thinking Harvard JD/MBAs like Mitt Romney, the late Bruce Wasserstein (Lazard CEO) and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein (HLS JD). But back then the LSAT was totally different than what it is today (heck, HBS made GMAT scores compulsory only a decade or so ago!)

Quoted for posterity. This is awesome

[flawyer]

Agreed, OP sounds lazy. business savvy lawyers are dangerous b/c they only have to compete with other lawyers, which in most cases are not the most business savvy. Your assuming he's paying, maybe his parents are paying. 3 years of law schools is much more fun than 3 year of working. yeah, i get it OP is not going to come out making 6 figures, but ceteris paribus, its better to have a JD than not, no?

Dude... This is utterly retarded statement, and your use of latin only excacerbated the situation (Not sure I spellled that corrcetly).

when you call someone retarded, make sure there are no typos in that sentence. Than later in the one sentence post you admit you can't spell either? good luck on written exams!!! Everybody knows what ceteris paribus means, everybody!

I'm retarded, but you have half the thread basically calling you an idiot...

[Veyron]

Like 6???

And how many Fortune 500 executives are there that (presumably) had a high LSAT score? Like 0???

Right off the top of my head, I'm thinking Harvard JD/MBAs like Mitt Romney, the late Bruce Wasserstein (Lazard CEO) and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein (HLS JD). But back then the LSAT was totally different than what it is today (heck, HBS made GMAT scores compulsory only a decade or so ago!)

Uh, this is fake. Right? OP didn't really do this, and doesn't really expect to get anywhere with those numbers. I mean, he's probably just looking for some fun on an internet site that takes itself way, way too seriously. Right?

Whether or not the post is a flame/troll, that is up to each individual person to decide. That said, however, it's appalling that people (on here) actually discourage others from applying to law school just because they have a sub-par score of 140.

Sorry bro, in-spite of what they may have told you in kindergarden, not every person can grow up to be a firefighter.

[Bigpoppa88111]

Thank you for all of the responses. One more question for me to get in my law school of choice i would need around a 160-161. Do you think this significant of a leap is possible and do you think that law school will be reluctant to take me because of my poor score on the first test?

[catharsis]

If I were you, I would both retake and aggressively seek out another professional field during the one-year minimum break between now and 1L. You may find that you like something else a lot, and you want to use this last opportunity that you have now to find that out. The test not working out could be an opportunity for a blessing in disguise ... Do both: LSAT and Seek entry to new field.

[catharsis]

Thank you for all of the responses. One more question for me to get in my law school of choice i would need around a 160-161. Do you think this significant of a leap is possible and do you think that law school will be reluctant to take me because of my poor score on the first test?

most schools will take the highest of your scores. with a nice addendum you could still explain your low score. also, it's TOTALLY possible to get up to a 160-161 from your lsat.

[D. H2Oman]

Honestly, I would just forget about law school if I were you.

[Trifles]

Like 6???

And how many Fortune 500 executives are there that (presumably) had a high LSAT score? Like 0???

Your examples of success stories for low LSAT scorers are all people who went into a different field, lol. Maybe he should just go take the GMAT instead and forget this whole law school thing?

[letsdoit1982]

I'm surprised nobody asked if OP is an URM. This could change things a little.

[98234872348]

really?

[Kohinoor]

I'm surprised nobody asked if OP is an URM. This could change things a little.

word?

[Lomax]

I'm surprised nobody asked if OP is an URM. This could change things a little.

No.

[invisiblesun]

You can't really resign until you've given it the proper treatment. Obtain as many PT's as possible and START TAKING THEM. Start now, you have a long time til June, and take a PT every 2/3 days. Slow and steady wins the race. If after that you haven't drastically improved your score in PTs, you might want to consider resources that are more instructive (I'm not going to cover that because it's been given adequate treatment in the prep forum). If after that, you're still not seeing any improvement from the 140s, it might be time to consider an alternate path. But don't give up hope until you've really given it effort.

[Cavalier]

Don't go to law school. If you can't leave the 140s, this profession is not for you. And even if you do find a fourth tier school that will accept you, it will only leave to a life of document review while you struggle to pay off student debt and spend what little money you have on enough cheap liquor to drown your sorrows.

[Grizz]

I think FAM U will take those numbers.

Hahaha I hope this is a joke; do NOT go to FAMU.

[Lomax]

Don't go to law school. If you can't leave the 140s, this profession is not for you. And even if you do find a fourth tier school that will accept you, it will only leave to a life of document review while you struggle to pay off student debt and spend what little money you have on enough cheap liquor to drown your sorrows.

Sadly, I have to agree.

[jsoell]

OP - if you've managed to read through all of the posts here, I'm not telling you anything completely new, but maybe it will give you a new angle to use to look at all of the replies.

This is TLS, and the opinions are going to be skewed to the top tier, and in many cases to the top 14, or in the extreme, the top 6 (HYS CCN) or top 3 (HYS) law schools.

You basically have three sets of folks on here. The ones who come here casually for specific advice and read through the rest of the posts for fun, the ones who are loyal TLS readers and posters, but who have not yet succumbed to a doomsday attitude, and, finally, those who believe that, if you're not going to one of those schools that are on their list of "acceptable" law schools (a list that, for many, has gotten shorter in this economy), you're throwing money away. I'm from Mississippi (which you could interchange with LA for the sake of drawing a comparison here), and a quick look at the law school rankings tells me that Ole Miss is a tier 3 and Mississippi College is a tier 4 law school.

What that means to someone in the third category is that deciding to go to either of those schools would be throwing money away. If you actually look at graduates from those two schools, but especially from Ole Miss (which I'm choosing because I know the story there better than at MC), you would find that there are lots of successful lawyers who have graduated from recent years. I'm not talking about the top 1% or even the top 10%. There are a lot of successful folks who have done relatively well at Ole Miss law, made connections (it is a regional school with great contacts within the state), worked hard during their summers, and are now working their way up the ladder. Are they making $160 their first or second year out. No. But they are making a comfortable living in a state where it is cheap to live comfortably.

The schools you mentioned aren't going to ignore you until you hit 165. That is not to say that they're going to gobble you up with a 140, but take the advice of everyone on TLS with a grain of salt. After all, most of us are 0Ls, and even the ones who have reached the holy grail of law school and thus attained greater insight than the rest of us are, by and large, still in law school, and therefore only marginally if at all better versed in the reality of finding work post law school.

This post doesn't answer your original question, but it may help you read through the posts to find advice. Or, you may consider this one of the junk posts. In any case, good luck.

[Lomax]

This is TLS

And OP still isn't getting into law school. Not any law school. Not even Mississippi College. And OP should still be considering other paths in life right about now, because the bridge leading to this one, for him, is out.

Your lengthy post would have done quite nicely in a similar thread created by someone with, say, a 152 LSAT and 3.3 GPA.