Top Law Schools

What do you think peeps? Do I have a shot?

Chance of success is 32.333%...repeating of course.

Based on?

any work experience?

What kind of URM? You should try posting this in the URM Forums.

Don't know where the 32.33 came from but it's much lower than that. Even if LSP said 32.33 it's off because of the split between stats. I would put it at less than 10%. URM would help but I dunno where that came from.

Work Experience:

Been out of school for three years. I have been a manager at a fortune 50 financial institution in the Anti Money Laundering department for the past two.

I have a pretty interesting story.

My grandmother was half Mexican half Honduran. Pretty diverse ethnicity actually but that is the highlight in terms of how it related to URM status.

I think that you have a decent shot (37 percent). If you are portable, you should most definitely apply broadly. Apply to Stanford as a super far reach, and then Berkeley on down for a ways, I would think.

Here is my list (so far):

Northwestern (dream)
Cornell

Loyola Chicago
UCONN
Tulane
Loyola New Orleans
University of Vermont

Retake the LSAT

ED at UVA. They need the occasional 4.0 to offset all of their low GPA/high LSAT splitters.

That's good work experience but I still think a 160 is just too low. The URM will also help but you would be one of the absolute lowest LSATs in most T-14 classes. Hae you considered a retake?

I don't understand the pessimism in this thread. Some of this is just plain bad advice. The OP's URM status is a little bit complicated and schools will treat it differently, but if he or she applies to Berkeley on down to Vanderbilt, the OP will get into a few. If the OP applies to Southern Cal through, say, BU, the OP will get into a number of those schools.

I just don't want to go through that again. I work full time so I don't have time to take tons of prep tests which is why I was only able to get the 160 (I believe). Worst case is I will go to Loyola Chicago. It wouldn't be the end of the world.

joeshmo39 wrote:That's good work experience but I still think a 160 is just too low. The URM will also help but you would be one of the absolute lowest LSATs in most T-14 classes. Hae you considered a retake?

Yes, but the OP will have the highest GPA, so that's a wash. Also, it is hard to tell if some of the people on LSN are flames, but if they are not, then the OP will not be at the bottom of those classes in terms of LSAT (and a lot of people with low numbers don't post their data on LSN).

Nola wrote:I just don't want to go through that again. I work full time so I don't have time to take tons of prep tests which is why I was only able to get the 160 (I believe). Worst case is I will go to Loyola Chicago. It wouldn't be the end of the world.

I see, so you are not portable. Well, if you are willing to pay sticker, then apply to NW ED (for a few years in a row if that's what it takes). Talk to some one who knows the Chicago market really well before making a decision about going to any bottom Chicago school.

I am somewhat portable. Chicago would be ideal however. New Orleans, Connecticut, Vermont, NY, or east coast would also work.

Nola wrote:I am somewhat portable. Chicago would be ideal however. New Orleans, Connecticut, Vermont, NY, or east coast would also work.

It is too bad that Chicago has two really great schools and then drops off so much. Your problem is that Loyola Chicago's median LSAT is 161, so you might not get a good scholarship there (and without a good scholarship, it is tough to justify financially). I'm not sure about Chicago-Kent's median LSAT. But URM's are hard to predict. The further down you go, the bigger scholarship you need to make it a wise investment. If you really can settle down in the places you suggest, then just apply broadly and go either to a top school or a lower school on scholarship.

Why is everyone so intent on only going to a top school? Don't lawyers who don't go to top schools survive. Or are they all waiting in the bread lines trying to figure out what went wrong? Let's say you pay full price for a law degree from Loyola Chicago then graduate with substantial debt. You will likely get a decent job after school. The average for that school was 95k. After paying your loans off in ten years, you would be set. Is everyone just that shortsided?

rant continued...How about kids who have LSATs of 140-155 and have GPAs in the 3 range. Should they just kill themselves because they don't have a chance at a tier 1-2 school. Let's put this into perspective and say that we are all lucky to even be discussing this.

Why are you ranting? You asked a question and people are giving you their opinion. Generally, the advice will be to go to the best school you can get into, barring geographic or financial factors.

Nola wrote:Why is everyone so intent on only going to a top school? Don't lawyers who don't go to top schools survive. Or are they all waiting in the bread lines trying to figure out what went wrong? Let's say you pay full price for a law degree from Loyola Chicago then graduate with substantial debt. You will likely get a decent job after school. The average for that school was 95k. After paying your loans off in ten years, you would be set. Is everyone just that shortsided?

You can start practicing for your LSAT retake right now. Spot the faulty assumption.

Nola wrote:Why is everyone so intent on only going to a top school? Don't lawyers who don't go to top schools survive. Or are they all waiting in the bread lines trying to figure out what went wrong? Let's say you pay full price for a law degree from Loyola Chicago then graduate with substantial debt. You will likely get a decent job after school. The average for that school was 95k. After paying your loans off in ten years, you would be set. Is everyone just that shortsided?

Logical Fallacies 101

EDIT: big mediocre beat me to the response

I know that but who doesn't love a good rant. I am just getting a little tired of people (including myself) losing their shit over this whole process. An associate of mine's husband went to a state school and he is rolling in the dough. Just wanted to keep it in perspective that's all. We are all going to some law school. The question is: Which one? Not a bad spot to be in overall.

Nola wrote:rant continued...How about kids who have LSATs of 140-155 and have GPAs in the 3 range. Should they just kill themselves because they don't have a chance at a tier 1-2 school. Let's put this into perspective and say that we are all lucky to even be discussing this.

I won't get into a big fight over this. I would encourage you to look into many and diverse sources of and about law school employment data.