Top Law Schools

LSAT:154,172(2010)
GPA:3.79 (Finance)
Softs: 3 years out of school doing asset management at GS/JPM. NCAA Division 1 letter, founder of the school's business journal, student council, two year service mission for my church, bilingual, Court Appointed Special Advocate.

I could stay at the bank, but I need a break and I have always wanted to go to law school. I would only go to law school if accepted at HYS or CCN. I would also consider Northwestern because of the dual degree with Kellogg. What are my chances at these schools? I need to know if I should start applying to my bank's associate program or give it up for law school.

Thank you in advance.

PS: I know I shouldn't go to law school but let's assume I am dumb enough to leave my job for debt.

bankingallstar wrote:LSAT:154,172(2010)
GPA:3.79 (Finance)
Softs: 3 years out of school doing asset management at GS/JPM. NCAA Division 1 letter, founder of the school's business journal, student council, two year service mission for my church, bilingual, Court Appointed Special Advocate.

I could stay at the bank, but I need a break and I have always wanted to go to law school. I would only go to law school if accepted at HYS or CCN. I would also consider Northwestern because of the dual degree with Kellogg. What are my chances at these schools? I need to know if I should start applying to my bank's associate program or give it up for law school.

Thank you in advance.

PS: I knowI shouldn't go to law school but let's assume I am dumb enough to leave my job for debt.

FTFY.

Thank you for that extremely helpful reply haha. You couldn't even take a stab at my chances at HYSCCNN?

Out at HYS, in at CCNN

You're ibanking experience is a really good soft. You could probably get NYU/Chicago/Columbia, and I'd guess a decent but less-than-50% chance at HYS. If a JD/MBA is in the cards I'd definitely check out Penn/Wharton too.

If I were you, I'd just apply to an MBA program, but if you know what you're getting yourself into with law school, you'd certainly be able to break into the top schools.

Stay in the world of business where you already have a good job. Get an MBA from Northwestern or UChicago (are you from Chicago?) instead if you want higher education. Your company will probably pay for it.

Thanks for all of the responses. I am not going to solely get my MBA because a) business school is just good for networking and I have already built a good network and 2) if I pay for graduate school, I want there to be some value-add. In law school I would obtain skills and knowledge that would set me apart from other people if I decided to go back to somewhere like MBB or a distressed debt PE firm or HF.

Is there ANYTHING I could do to get into Harvard?

bankingallstar wrote:Is there ANYTHING I could do to get into Harvard?

Sure, retake and get a better LSAT.

moonman157 wrote:Out at HYS, in at CCNN

How the hell is he out for H. Yes that 154 hurts, but he has great softs. You should throw an app to H. Non URM have gotten in with worse numbers. You have an outside chance.

Throttle wrote:

moonman157 wrote:Out at HYS, in at CCNN

How the hell is he out for H. Yes that 154 hurts, but he has great softs. You should throw an app to H. Non URM have gotten in with worse numbers. You have an outside chance.

He's below both medians. He's not absolutely out but it's very unlikely. Check LSN.

.

Thank you for all of the responses. Is the only thing I can do at this point to better my chances at Harvard is retake the LSAT?

bankingallstar wrote:Thank you for all of the responses. Is the only thing I can do at this point to better my chances at Harvard is retake the LSAT?

Pretty much, the rest of your app is solid, and your Gpa is set.

bankingallstar wrote:Thank you for all of the responses. Is the only thing I can do at this point to better my chances at Harvard is retake the LSAT?

Yeah and you should. A 174 and you got a legit shot. I actually think you have a decent chance right now. Also to the person who said he is below both medians, we don't know that. We still don't know Harvard 2015 median and if it isn't a 172 it is conceivable that the 2016 median will be.

wert3813 wrote:

bankingallstar wrote:Thank you for all of the responses. Is the only thing I can do at this point to better my chances at Harvard is retake the LSAT?

Yeah and you should. A 174 and you got a legit shot. I actually think you have a decent chance right now. Also to the person who said he is below both medians, we don't know that. We still don't know Harvard 2015 median and if it isn't a 172 it is conceivable that the 2016 median will be.

You have 0 evidence to suggest H's median will drop. Even with declining apps H got more this year. We're not psychics here; we base judgments on precedent. HTH.

bankingallstar wrote:LSAT:154,172(2010)
GPA:3.79 (Finance)
Softs: 3 years out of school doing asset management at GS/JPM. NCAA Division 1 letter, founder of the school's business journal, student council, two year service mission for my church, bilingual, Court Appointed Special Advocate.

I could stay at the bank, but I need a break and I have always wanted to go to law school. I would only go to law school if accepted at HYS or CCN. I would also consider Northwestern because of the dual degree with Kellogg. What are my chances at these schools? I need to know if I should start applying to my bank's associate program or give it up for law school.

Thank you in advance.

PS: I know I shouldn't go to law school but let's assume I am dumb enough to leave my job for debt.

OP: pretend your best friend asked you this question, what would you tell them?

Me, I say stick with the bank and make it work. Law school is not a good move for you. I'm not sure why you are even considering it? What would your career plan be?

Crowing wrote:

wert3813 wrote:

bankingallstar wrote:Thank you for all of the responses. Is the only thing I can do at this point to better my chances at Harvard is retake the LSAT?

Yeah and you should. A 174 and you got a legit shot. I actually think you have a decent chance right now. Also to the person who said he is below both medians, we don't know that. We still don't know Harvard 2015 median and if it isn't a 172 it is conceivable that the 2016 median will be.

You have 0 evidence to suggest H's median will drop. Even with declining apps H got more this year. We're not psychics here; we base judgments on precedent. HTH.

Source?

jym_dawg wrote:

Crowing wrote:

wert3813 wrote:

bankingallstar wrote:Thank you for all of the responses. Is the only thing I can do at this point to better my chances at Harvard is retake the LSAT?

Yeah and you should. A 174 and you got a legit shot. I actually think you have a decent chance right now. Also to the person who said he is below both medians, we don't know that. We still don't know Harvard 2015 median and if it isn't a 172 it is conceivable that the 2016 median will be.

You have 0 evidence to suggest H's median will drop. Even with declining apps H got more this year. We're not psychics here; we base judgments on precedent. HTH.

Source?

NYT reported only 4 law schools have had apps increase this cycle. IIRC Duke reported to be one of them, H commented here: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/ ... ers-trend/

Rereading the article and I suppose it doesn't strictly says apps INCREASED but that they simply didn't "follow the national trend." So I guess depending on how you interpret that, it's possible that they changed minimally or stayed about the same as well.

Crowing wrote:

jym_dawg wrote:

Crowing wrote:

wert3813 wrote:
Yeah and you should. A 174 and you got a legit shot. I actually think you have a decent chance right now. Also to the person who said he is below both medians, we don't know that. We still don't know Harvard 2015 median and if it isn't a 172 it is conceivable that the 2016 median will be.

You have 0 evidence to suggest H's median will drop. Even with declining apps H got more this year. We're not psychics here; we base judgments on precedent. HTH.

Source?

NYT reported only 4 law schools have had apps increase this cycle. IIRC Duke reported to be one of them, H commented here: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/ ... ers-trend/

Rereading the article and I suppose it doesn't strictly says apps INCREASED but that they simply didn't "follow the national trend." So I guess depending on how you interpret that, it's possible that they changed minimally or stayed about the same as well.

As I said when this article was posted two weeks ago, nowhere does it say applications increase. In fact is expressly says they wouldn't comment on application numbers. RC FTW.

Also:

wert3813 wrote: to the person who said he is below both medians, we don't know that.

This is still true. That damn RC again.

Of course I didn't provide evidence--you know why? Because I didn't say Harvard's median was going to drop. I said we didn't know. Turns out that's true. Read carefully. HTH.

Go to business school for the connections and to move from being a basic analyst to an associate.

I don't really see how law school could possibly be worth it. It's over $150,000 in debt from tuition alone, plus cost of living for three years. Not to mention the opportunity cost of 3 years' salary as an ibanking analyst at GS/JPM, which is at least $300,000 and probably more. With interest, you're looking at throwing away a million dollars--for what? "Harvard" on your resume?

You know what I don't like being mean. I'm not trying to be a douche, but here's the reasoning:

"I actually think you have a decent chance right now." <- 2 ways to interpret this, 1) right now as in literally right now, or 2) right now as in whenever he applies with his current stats. I assume you mean the 2nd.

OP's current stats are below both of H's current medians. Therefore he does not anything close to a "decent" chance when compared to the current statistics. Thus, in order for his current stats to provide a "decent chance," then H's medians have to drop. That being the case, the context of your statement implies that you are suggesting there is a good chance that H's median will drop.

If you just say H's median could change, then sure you don't need to provide any evidence. But 1) I assume that's not all you're saying since that's utterly superfluous information and 2) that neutral statement is not what's suggested by the context of your statement anyway.

tl;dr: context of your post suggests you expect H's median to drop and therefore I would expect evidence to be provided. RC requires context, context is the basis of interpretation, blah blah blah.

Thanks all. I would be throwing money away by going to law school but if there is something you learn from having the life sucked out of you at a bank it is that some things are more important than money. I've always wanted to go to law school, especially Harvard. I have enough people supporting me at the bank as well as other consulting firms and HF's that said it would be great if I went to law school and went back to one of those positions. I'll make enough money in my life to "waste" 3 years at law school. I guess now it just comes down to retaking the LSAT to get into H.

Crowing wrote:You know what I don't like being mean. I'm not trying to be a douche, but here's the reasoning:

"I actually think you have a decent chance right now." <- 2 ways to interpret this, 1) right now as in literally right now, or 2) right now as in whenever he applies with his current stats. I assume you mean the 2nd.

OP's current stats are below both of H's current medians. Therefore he does not anything close to a "decent" chance when compared to the current statistics. Thus, in order for his current stats to provide a "decent chance," then H's medians have to drop. That being the case, the context of your statement implies that you are suggesting there is a good chance that H's median will drop.

If you just say H's median could change, then sure you don't need to provide any evidence. But 1) I assume that's not all you're saying since that's utterly superfluous information and 2) that neutral statement is not what's suggested by the context of your statement anyway.

tl;dr: context of your post suggests you expect H's median to drop and therefore I would expect evidence to be provided. RC requires context, context is the basis of interpretation, blah blah blah.

Decent chance means I kinda like his softs enough to think they could get a slight bump.

Conceivable means possible. It implies that the user of the word believes the outcome is (in my mind) between 25% and 60%. It certainly doesn't imply likely. It's why I used the word conceivable.

Internet fights are dumb so I'm out and you can have the last word.

.

Regulus wrote:

wert3813 wrote:Internet fights are dumb so I'm out and you can have the last word.

*Last word stolen by Regulus*

Bro if you steal my word ima steal your kotatsu.