How many law schools should I apply to? Forum

[mynjb26]

Happy Wednesday all!!

I have been mulling over this for the past two months. It seems as though my list of schools has grown from a mere 33 to 60 schools!! Today I did some cleaning up and managed to get the list back down to 32 schools across the United States. Every part of me wants to go for it and apply to all, however, I am not sure whether LSAC will find this abundance of choices a bit erratic. Does anyone know the ideal number of schools that I can apply to without looking so indecisive?

Thanks a bunch...

[whymeohgodno]

32? Unless you're a splitter I really don't think you need to apply to that many.

[mynjb26]

Point taken! This is such a daunting process. Nervousness has taken way...I'm going to do my best to narrow it down to 15.

Thanks!!

32? Unless you're a splitter I really don't think you need to apply to that many.

[mountaintime]

32? Unless you're a splitter I really don't think you need to apply to that many.

I'm a total splitter, and I only applied to 10 schools. Apply to a handful each of reaches, targets, and safeties. I cannot imagine a good reason to apply to more than about 15 schools.

[mountaintime]

Point taken! This is such a daunting process. Nervousness has taken way...I'm going to do my best to narrow it down to 15.

Thanks!!

32? Unless you're a splitter I really don't think you need to apply to that many.

Separate those 32 schools into the three categories (reach, target, safety), and start eliminating redundancies. If you have 10 safeties, only apply to the 3 or 4 in the region you want / that you would be happiest to attend. Do this for each category.

[mynjb26]

I've gone through my list once again and have managed to bring it down to 26. Implementing your strategy I'm sure the list will be around 10-15. Thanks!!!!!

Point taken! This is such a daunting process. Nervousness has taken way...I'm going to do my best to narrow it down to 15.

Thanks!!

32? Unless you're a splitter I really don't think you need to apply to that many.

Separate those 32 schools into the three categories (reach, target, safety), and start eliminating redundancies. If you have 10 safeties, only apply to the 3 or 4 in the region you want / that you would be happiest to attend. Do this for each category.

[trudat15]

Every part of me wants to go for it and apply to all, however, I am not sure whether LSAC will find this abundance of choices a bit erratic. Does anyone know the ideal number of schools that I can apply to without looking so indecisive?

I'm not sure that really matters. Who cares with LSAC thinks? They are not the ones admitting you to Law Schools.
In terms of applying - only you know the answer. Apply to as many as you feel comfortable applying to. Sure someone else can say you should only apply to 10, and some will say 15. If you can afford to apply to more, why not? It's never a bad thing to have options.
Maybe narrow it down by taking some safeties out (applying to only the safeties you would actually go to).

[dextermorgan]

I'm applying to one. 32 is nuts.

[You Gotta Have Faith]

I'm actually going to go against the grain here and say that applying to several isn't a terrible idea. Now 32 might be a bit intense, but I don't see 20-25 as that outrageous (assuming you have the resources to do so).

But if you apply to that many, I'd spend about half of those apps on slight reaches, because you just never know. Then spend most of the other half on targets, and then 2 to 3 on safeties in places you enjoy.

Particularly if you're above a school's median on at least one number (a splitter), applying doesn't hurt. Even if you're not a splitter, I'd still apply to 10-15, unless your numbers are just fantastic.

[mynjb26]

I wasn't sure about the limit or my chances to the T20 schools which is why my list is so long. This is such a process...

Every part of me wants to go for it and apply to all, however, I am not sure whether LSAC will find this abundance of choices a bit erratic. Does anyone know the ideal number of schools that I can apply to without looking so indecisive?

I'm not sure that really matters. Who cares with LSAC thinks? They are not the ones admitting you to Law Schools.
In terms of applying - only you know the answer. Apply to as many as you feel comfortable applying to. Sure someone else can say you should only apply to 10, and some will say 15. If you can afford to apply to more, why not? It's never a bad thing to have options.
Maybe narrow it down by taking some safeties out (applying to only the safeties you would actually go to).

[mynjb26]

Yep!! 20...That's my final list. Ugh I'm a nervous wreck...I can't wait till this process is over and the decisions are in.

Thanks a million...

I'm actually going to go against the grain here and say that applying to several isn't a terrible idea. Now 32 might be a bit intense, but I don't see 20-25 as that outrageous (assuming you have the resources to do so).

But if you apply to that many, I'd spend about half of those apps on slight reaches, because you just never know. Then spend most of the other half on targets, and then 2 to 3 on safeties in places you enjoy.

Particularly if you're above a school's median on at least one number (a splitter), applying doesn't hurt. Even if you're not a splitter, I'd still apply to 10-15, unless your numbers are just fantastic.

[2014]

My list is at 21 at this point, so no shame

[hijodehombre]

I'm applying to 19, but have an app fee waiver for most. If paying for the app fee is not an issue, then I don't think applying to 20 is excessive.

[mynjb26]

Well that's a relief!

My list is at 21 at this point, so no shame

[mynjb26]

Cool...I have an app fee waiver from LSAC and half of the schools on my list are honoring it.

I'm applying to 19, but have an app fee waiver for most. If paying for the app fee is not an issue, then I don't think applying to 20 is excessive.

[Pip]

Here's a novel idea, ask yourself where you want to go. If its a school you don't think you have a good chance of getting into then add to that 1 school you are sure to get into and apply to those two only... applying to multiple schools is really a waste of time. Having a list of 32 schools sounds like you haven't really thought about where you want to go from a practical standpoint.

What are your plans if you apply to 32 schools and get into all of them? How will you pick from that list?

[JJDancer]

My original list was around 17 but right now I have it at 10. There were a few schools that are total reaches and even if I got in (which would be surprising), I would get no money to attend them and I'm not comfortable taking on that much more debt. Others were total safeties because I was paranoid about ending up not getting in ANYWHERE, but then I thought about employment prospects from those safeties for a) biglaw and b) the region I wanted to practice in (not where they are located) and decided that it made little sense to attend.

Just wanted to give you my reasoning in case it helps you cut down. I would say more than 25 is excessive for anyone, but to each his own.

[longdaysjourney]

I don't see any reason why anyone would need to apply to more than 8.

2 safety, 2 maybes, and 4 stretches
1/2/5
2/3/3
2/4/2

Pick your distribution depending on how risk adverse you are. Anything over 10 seems silly, desperate, or ill-conceived.

What is your goal for after law school? If you want a degree that's portable to different parts of the country (which I assume is true based on the fact that you're applying to schools all over) just apply to a wise mix of the t14. If your numbers suck then you need to know where you want to practice. You're not going to go to University of Poop and work in NY...unless U Poo is in or close to NY. The general impression I get from this thread is you don't know what you are doing...you need to have some forethought before you apply to a slew of random schools across the country.

Edit: You need to ask yourself (a) where do I want to live? (b) what are the 25/75s for the schools who place grads in that area, and (c) how does my gpa and my future lsat score (average you last 5 PTs and that should give you a realistic picture) stack up relative to those schools.

I think that if you apply to 20 or 30 schools, your applications will be quantity over quality...you'll be sending out a bunch of terds and no gold. If you spend the time that you would have spent applying to twenty of those schools studying for the LSAT, i guarantee that you will be going to a better law school than if you didn't.

[broker02]

Don't feel bad - I'm a splitter and applying to the Top 20 plus a few targets and safeties. I'm not footing the bill, though.

[CanadianWolf]

More info. would likely result in better advice. With as many as 60 law schools under consideration, your numbers (LSAT & GPA) are probably a bit low. If you have, for example, an LSAT score of 154 & a 2.99 GPA with no well defined geographic preference, then applying to a lot of law schools is understandable.