Full Ride or wait.. Forum

[DportIA]

Dude if you crack 160s as a URM you are looking at Tier 1 full scholarships.

There is a huge opportunity cost to going to Charlotte, namely, that your JD can never come from a good/great school. You will always wear it around your neck.

[Tuxedo]

So going to school debt free at Charlotte isn't worth it to everyone here?

You'd be debt-free, but you can pay back debt. You can't pay yourself back 3 years of attendance at this horrible, horrible school. Please do the right thing and retake. A year between college and law school isn't bad at all, and you might even get to make some money. Even if you did absolutely nothing but study again for the LSAT, you'd still have used the year more profitably than you would have attending Charlotte.

[McAvoy]

URM?

JFC, dude, retake and go to Harvard. For real, it's not out of reach.

[banjo]

I tutored the LSAT off and on before law school. I saw plenty of 15x people retake with tremendous success. It pretty much transforms your career and quality of life.

Did you see people have the same or a drop in score? Does that tend to hurt them drastically?

I wouldn't have been doing my job if people's scores dropped. Some people retook, improved ~10 pts, and studied for a third time on their own (and improved again!).

Multiple scores do not hurt at all. In fact, law schools haven't averaged scores in over 8 years. I don't know why some schools just leave wrong information on their web sites.

[ZGr88n]

I will update you all as I hear back from schools, part of the reason it could be taking so long is my mediocre LSAT score paired with my GPA, and underrepresented minority status.

I graduate from South Carolina undergrad in May and my plan was to attend law school in the fall, but now I guess there are more options for me before law school. I do see the value in a legal internship before legal education, but haven't been able to land one (i have been trying to get one for this summer).

I will wait to withdraw my apps, I still have faith in my GPA, LORs and PS. I may just surprise you all (yay for dropping LSAT medians)

WOAH! You didn't even say that you were a URM. Seriously man, retake is the only option here. With your GPA and URM status, if you get into the mid-160s (which you should definitely be able to pull off, just work at it) there are literally no schools that aren't options and you will certainly get money at some T14s. Please don't waste all that just for one year, it's not worth it

[El Principe]

URM and 156? And the best you've gotten so far is Charlotte?

Is this even real? Did you apply after the deadline for all of the schools? You should at least get some offers from (14-30) and perhaps money too.... from personal experience.

[Knp]

URM and 156? And the best you've gotten so far is Charlotte?

Is this even real? Did you apply after the deadline for all of the schools? You should at least get some offers from (14-30) and perhaps money too.... from personal experience.

Still waiting to hear back, but that would be nice! I did get a reasonable scholarship from SC

[McAvoy]

Still waiting to hear back, but that would be nice! I did get a reasonable scholarship from SC

It is not reasonable: please stop thinking it is reasonable. We're talking about you getting an even better scholarship from T10s with a good retake.

I don't think you realize how few URMs with your GPA try to go to law school. You have huge, huge potential here, and it would be a terrible waste if you didn't retake.

[Nova]

You should just get this cycle out of your mind and starting hitting the books. Nothing you get this cycle will be close to as good as if you apply in the fall with even a 160+

I know URM's with 3.0s and possession charges that got several 100k+ and full ride offers at T1s. Your ceiling is much higher than theirs.

[MistakenGenius]

Post removed.

[Snowboarder1588]

I wish I had your GPA....Anyways, retake and profit..I retook last year and increased by 5 points. It has literally made a night and day difference between last cycle and this cycle. If you are concerned about debt, that's great, but you want a full ride at a STRONG regional school. It really depends on your goals. Honestly you can volunteer at your favorite organization for a year and have that on your resume, but at the end of the day most schools are number whores and if you have a pretty LSAT and pretty GPA (you already have that) you are gonna be fine. GL!

[TheSpanishMain]

Also, what kind of URM are you? (African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, etc)

[Danger Zone]

Wow TYFT. I will go around posting that in every applicable thread.

[El Principe]

Also, what kind of URM are you? (African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, etc)

Probably not AA.... he would have gotten better offers by now.

I'm guessing something that's better represented and therefore doesn't give much of a boost...

[TheSpanishMain]

Also, what kind of URM are you? (African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, etc)

Probably not AA.... he would have gotten better offers by now.

I'm guessing something that's better represented and therefore doesn't give much of a boost...

I agree. I'm just wondering if OP actually IS URM, or is confused about what qualfies.

[Knp]

Also, what kind of URM are you? (African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, etc)

Probably not AA.... he would have gotten better offers by now.

I'm guessing something that's better represented and therefore doesn't give much of a boost...

I'm Chinese Filipino

[TheSpanishMain]

Also, what kind of URM are you? (African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, etc)

Probably not AA.... he would have gotten better offers by now.

I'm guessing something that's better represented and therefore doesn't give much of a boost...

I'm Chinese Filipino

Don't believe that gets you any kind of a boost, unfortunately. Asians are not underrepresented in law school.

You should still retake for sure, though. Your GPA is solid enough that you will have MUCH better options if you can break into the 160s.

[McAvoy]

Well, pry no boost, but you could still go anywhere with a 3.8. Sit this cycle out and retake.

[Knp]

Well, pry no boost, but you could still go anywhere with a 3.8. Sit this cycle out and retake.

too late to sit it out, unfortunately I have 11 apps out there, but I am definitely not willing to settle. If nothing great works out for me this cycle I am fine with waiting a year, especially after reading everyone's comments. Just gives me more options.

[scoobysnax]

I will update you all as I hear back from schools, part of the reason it could be taking so long is my mediocre LSAT score paired with my GPA, and underrepresented minority status.

I graduate from South Carolina undergrad in May and my plan was to attend law school in the fall, but now I guess there are more options for me before law school. I do see the value in a legal internship before legal education, but haven't been able to land one (i have been trying to get one for this summer).

I will wait to withdraw my apps, I still have faith in my GPA, LORs and PS. I may just surprise you all (yay for dropping LSAT medians)

WOAH! You didn't even say that you were a URM. Seriously man, retake is the only option here. With your GPA and URM status, if you get into the mid-160s (which you should definitely be able to pull off, just work at it) there are literally no schools that aren't options and you will certainly get money at some T14s. Please don't waste all that just for one year, it's not worth it

This. Please retake. 160+ is DEFINITELY possible and it could seriously alter the rest of your life.

[TheSpanishMain]

Well, pry no boost, but you could still go anywhere with a 3.8. Sit this cycle out and retake.

too late to sit it out, unfortunately I have 11 apps out there, but I am definitely not willing to settle. If nothing great works out for me this cycle I am fine with waiting a year, especially after reading everyone's comments. Just gives me more options.

Unfortunately nothing 'great' will happen with a 156. Even if you get in to your reach schools, you'll be paying too much for them.

Go ahead and eat the application fees for this year. I know it sucks, but it's nothing in the grand scheme of your life. Better to take the hit of a couple hundred bucks now to save yourself tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars by retaking for a higher score.

[McAvoy]

Well, pry no boost, but you could still go anywhere with a 3.8. Sit this cycle out and retake.

too late to sit it out, unfortunately I have 11 apps out there, but I am definitely not willing to settle.

Well, it's your funeral.

[rebexness]

Well, pry no boost, but you could still go anywhere with a 3.8. Sit this cycle out and retake.

too late to sit it out, unfortunately I have 11 apps out there, but I am definitely not willing to settle. If nothing great works out for me this cycle I am fine with waiting a year, especially after reading everyone's comments. Just gives me more options.

Unfortunately nothing 'great' will happen with a 156. Even if you get in to your reach schools, you'll be paying too much for them.

Go ahead and eat the application fees for this year. I know it sucks, but it's nothing in the grand scheme of your life. Better to take the hit of a couple hundred bucks now to save yourself tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars by retaking for a higher score.

Plus getting a better score should allow you to have plenty of fee waivers for GOOD schools. So basically you are just double paying on the stupid LSAC fee racket job.

[JJ123]

I'll go out on a limb here and say that taking the full ride isn't the absolute, 100% worst life decision you could ever make. Don't be surprised if you wake up in 3 years with no job, but you won't have a ton of debt, either.

Still, you should retake.

[BigZuck]

I'll go out on a limb here and say that taking the full ride isn't the absolute, 100% worst life decision you could ever make. Don't be surprised if you wake up in 3 years with no job, but you won't have a ton of debt, either.

Still, you should retake.

Maybe it won't be THE worst but it will almost certainly be in the pantheon of worst decisions the OP ever made

Retake/reapply