Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians? Forum
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Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
Hi all -
I have a 3.45 GPA and a 166 on the LSAT. Can't retake because I've already taken it 3 times. Question is, would it be better to try and get into the best school possible or should I try and get somewhere where I'm going to be above median and thus (hopefully) more likely to get decent scholarship money and a better class rank?
I have a 3.45 GPA and a 166 on the LSAT. Can't retake because I've already taken it 3 times. Question is, would it be better to try and get into the best school possible or should I try and get somewhere where I'm going to be above median and thus (hopefully) more likely to get decent scholarship money and a better class rank?
- TheMostDangerousLG
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
With your stats, a higher ranked school.
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
TITCRTheMostDangerousLG wrote:With your stats, a higher ranked school.
- Tom Joad
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
I would try to limit debt as much as possible. With the schools you are looking at, it is unlikely you are competitive to work in a mid-size or large law firm that places an emphasis on school rank or grades.
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
TCRTom Joad wrote:I would try to limit debt as much as possible. With the schools you are looking at, it is unlikely you are competitive to work in a mid-size or large law firm that places an emphasis on school rank or grades.
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
And take on big debt? Even the best schools I think I have a shot of getting into are definitely more regional than national so would I be in that much stronger of a position graduating from the top regional school at roughly median than from a non-top regional at above median? It just makes me nervous because I feel like any school that I barely get into is going to have a class that is much more competitive than a school where I am clearly above median, at least in LSAT score.TheMostDangerousLG wrote:With your stats, a higher ranked school.
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
To what extent should I focus on limiting debt? Is it better to go to the dominant school in a state for half price or a second or third ranked school in a state for free?Tom Joad wrote:I would try to limit debt as much as possible. With the schools you are looking at, it is unlikely you are competitive to work in a mid-size or large law firm that places an emphasis on school rank or grades.
- Tom Joad
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
This is probably too vague of a question for anybody to answer. If you want an answer you have to cough up costs of attendance and schools. And even then, there might not be a right answer. Most likely boils down to personal preferences and other idiosyncrasies.5678 wrote:To what extent should I focus on limiting debt? Is it better to go to the dominant school in a state for half price or a second or third ranked school in a state for free?Tom Joad wrote:I would try to limit debt as much as possible. With the schools you are looking at, it is unlikely you are competitive to work in a mid-size or large law firm that places an emphasis on school rank or grades.
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
Alright fair enough.Tom Joad wrote:This is probably too vague of a question for anybody to answer. If you want an answer you have to cough up costs of attendance and schools. And even then, there might not be a right answer. Most likely boils down to personal preferences and other idiosyncrasies.5678 wrote:To what extent should I focus on limiting debt? Is it better to go to the dominant school in a state for half price or a second or third ranked school in a state for free?Tom Joad wrote:I would try to limit debt as much as possible. With the schools you are looking at, it is unlikely you are competitive to work in a mid-size or large law firm that places an emphasis on school rank or grades.
Another question - Is where you land on LSAT spread a good predictor of class rank?
- TheSpanishMain
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
Supposedly it has a correlation of .4 or so. So, if you're well above the LSAT median for a school, you're more likely than the next guy to rank highly, but it's still far from guaranteed.
- northwood
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
go for the best ranked school that offers you the best scholarship with no stipulations other then remain in good standing. If there are more than one offer, go to the school that's the closest to your target market. Keep that debt down.
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
It's probably the best predictor out there, but it's really not a good one, especially since at most schools the difference isn't high enough to be statistically significant. It's not like a kid who got a 170 is in the same section as a kid who got a 145. That kid with the 170 would most likely score higher on a law school test, but we'll never know, because s/he went to a better school.5678 wrote:Alright fair enough.Tom Joad wrote:This is probably too vague of a question for anybody to answer. If you want an answer you have to cough up costs of attendance and schools. And even then, there might not be a right answer. Most likely boils down to personal preferences and other idiosyncrasies.5678 wrote:To what extent should I focus on limiting debt? Is it better to go to the dominant school in a state for half price or a second or third ranked school in a state for free?Tom Joad wrote:I would try to limit debt as much as possible. With the schools you are looking at, it is unlikely you are competitive to work in a mid-size or large law firm that places an emphasis on school rank or grades.
Another question - Is where you land on LSAT spread a good predictor of class rank?
At the schools you're looking it, half the class will probably have in the 162-165 range, and no, you're not really more likely to do better than them.
You should go in to school expecting to be around median, because you're more likely to be there than anywhere else. Don't go to a law school where you wouldn't be happy with around median. If you do better than that, good for you.
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
5678 wrote:Hi all -
I have a 3.45 GPA and a 166 on the LSAT. Can't retake because I've already taken it 3 times. Question is, would it be better to try and get into the best school possible or should I try and get somewhere where I'm going to be above median and thus (hopefully) more likely to get decent scholarship money and a better class rank?
Apply to both, use the lower-ranked schools to negotiate scholarships elsewhere, and then make a decision based on the expected ROI compared to your student loan debt based on accurate numbers (such as those provided by LawSchoolTransparency). Going to the best school to which you're admitted might be the best decision, or it might not be. You won't know until you have all that information. But you want to make sure you have options, so apply to a range of schools.
- Happy Gilmore
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Re: Apply to school with highest rank or try and beat medians?
Top regional schools aren't bad. 166 is not the end of the world. You'll still make it into some respectable programs. My personal preference in your shoes would be to take on as little as debt as possible, but that will depend on the scholarship offers.
Good luck, without knowing your personal preferences it's hard to really help here.
Good luck, without knowing your personal preferences it's hard to really help here.
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