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I really want to go to a T-14 school, preferably high in the T-14. I am also especially interested in PI work. I took the LSAT in June at got 172. My LSAC GPA is around a 3.79, but substantial upward trend (darn that B freshman year!). Softs: some work experience, travel, volunteer, fellowships, leadership on campus, etc... I am a rising senior in undergrad. My question is two-fold: am I disadvantaged applying directly out of undergrad for T-14 schools? And, would it be better to delay a year to raise my LSAC GPA to somewhere around a 3.82 and apply in the next cycle? I would really like to go straight away, but I don´t want to feel like I have to settle in order to do that.

depends what you're going to do during your year off, but why not apply and see what happens? and retake while you're at it.

fatduck wrote:depends what you're going to do during your year off, but why not apply and see what happens? and retake while you're at it.

Do law schools look down at re-applications? As in, ¨oh, she already applied, and we said no, so we won´t really bother to give her the same consideration again¨ or is it a clean slate?

Take a year off. My biggest regret is that I didn't. You'll raise your GPA, get a break in between UG and law school, and it's nice to have WE for legal hiring. Especially if you want to do PI, having a year or two of relevant experience will be awesome to talk about in interviews. And I wouldn't apply twice. Focus on your GPA senior year, get a job, and apply to law school later.

whippersnappery wrote:

fatduck wrote:depends what you're going to do during your year off, but why not apply and see what happens? and retake while you're at it.

Do law schools look down at re-applications? As in, ¨oh, she already applied, and we said no, so we won´t really bother to give her the same consideration again¨ or is it a clean slate?

I applied twice to a few schools with better results the second time. If anything, I think it can help if you show you are really interested in attending. It won't hurt you, regardless. But you definititely want to add something to your application--don't let it be a wasted year.

Moreover, work experience can be a big boost at OCI.

Lincoln wrote:It won't hurt you, regardless. But you definititely want to add something to your application--don't let it be a wasted year.

It will hurt you if your application doesn't change in some appreciable way.

To OP - you can certainly apply now, and the outcome might be the same as an application 1-2 years from now after getting work experience (that .03 bump probably won't do you all that much good at most schools, though there are a few where you'll split the percentiles).

However, you'll definitely be in a stronger position with 1-2 years of work experience, especially when it comes time to find a job, ESPECIALLY if you're interested in PI and have relevant work experience. PI is extremely competitive, so you need something besides the JD to stand out.

Ozymandias wrote:Take a year off. My biggest regret is that I didn't. You'll raise your GPA, get a break in between UG and law school, and it's nice to have WE for legal hiring. Especially if you want to do PI, having a year or two of relevant experience will be awesome to talk about in interviews. And I wouldn't apply twice. Focus on your GPA senior year, get a job, and apply to law school later.

This. Do something "meaningful" in that year off (or several years off if you find that you like what you're doing) and enjoy some time off school. I don't know a single person who regretted taking time off in between, but I do know people who didn't take time off who regret it. Personally, I came very close to going "straight through," but thankfully didn't and I feel much, much better about going in now (though I'm a bit of an anomaly with 6 yrs off in between).

bp shinners wrote:

Lincoln wrote:It won't hurt you, regardless. But you definititely want to add something to your application--don't let it be a wasted year.

It will hurt you if your application doesn't change in some appreciable way.

Right, that's what I meant. Assuming that OP does something worthwhile with his year, applying a second time may help OP, or may make no difference (numbers are most important anyway, and OP would only have been working for <6 months by the time applications are submitted), but won't hurt OP, as he seemed to think.

Waiting a year is overwhelmingly more often than not a good idea. The situation it might not be such a good idea is if you start taking on more debt toward a worthless Masters, so if that is your plan you might as well just go straight to LS.

I would have really hated LS coming straight from UG. Take a year off and do something fun & interesting.

Ozymandias wrote:Take a year off. My biggest regret is that I didn't. You'll raise your GPA, get a break in between UG and law school, and it's nice to have WE for legal hiring. Especially if you want to do PI, having a year or two of relevant experience will be awesome to talk about in interviews. And I wouldn't apply twice. Focus on your GPA senior year, get a job, and apply to law school later.

I strongly agree with all of this.