Top Law Schools

I have been doing my due diligence for about a month now and just thought it would be a good idea to gather whatever insights I can from this forum. I have a full merit scholarship to New York Law School and 28k a year at Brooklyn law school.

I have a CPA and am thinking of getting into Tax law, Estate planning or Real Estate. I know what kind of job I want after graduation plays a big role in the decision (Big law vs. Small, Etc.) but I'm not quite sure what I want that job to be exactly.

Any advice?

1) Retake is going to be the majority response, as it should be.

2) What are the stipulations on your scholarships? Brooklyn's is usually particularly awful if I remember correctly.

What are your stats (LSAT/GPA)?

if you can pass the CPA exam you can do better on the LSAT

Edited: Good luck to the OP, sincerely.

secondshot wrote:You're going to find on TLS there are those that attain a 170+ and gain access to T14, and there are those who do not, and should just be quiet. If you do ask about a school under T14 you will inevitably be told to retake, it's just the way it is. That's my personal conclusion. God forbid you have decided to go anywhere besides a T14 due to your own personal circumstances and have anything below a 170. Because you will always hear the same exact response and rhetoric: retake.

I'm not saying it's the wrong response, just saying it's inevitable around here. You do not have the free will to keep your score if below 170 and you certainly do not have the free will to choose any school that is not in the T14. It's TLS law, good or bad, it's just the way it is.

So anyone out there considering asking if any school under T14 is right for you and your score is under 170, save your breath.

I have learned my lesson.

This is absolutely not what TLS consensus is and if that is what you have deduced then you need to go back and read the arguments made for the "retake" response. In fact the general trend now is TLS advising against T14 when compared to regionals at big discounts.

secondshot wrote:You're going to find on TLS there are those that attain a 170+ and gain access to T14, and there are those who do not, and should just be quiet. If you do ask about a school under T14 you will inevitably be told to retake, it's just the way it is. That's my personal conclusion. God forbid you have decided to go anywhere besides a T14 due to your own personal circumstances and have anything below a 170. Because you will always hear the same exact response and rhetoric: retake.

I'm not saying it's the wrong response, just saying it's inevitable around here. You do not have the free will to keep your score if below 170 and you certainly do not have the free will to choose any school that is not in the T14. It's TLS law, good or bad, it's just the way it is.

So anyone out there considering asking if any school under T14 is right for you and your score is under 170, save your breath.

I have learned my lesson.

No. T14 or strong/best regional with $$ in the region you want to work. No one is telling someone with a large scholarship to Alabama who wants to work small law in Birmingham to retake for t14. We're also not telling anyone to attend a school where less than half its graduates become lawyers.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/newyork/2013/
http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/brooklyn/2013/

drevo wrote:

secondshot wrote:You're going to find on TLS there are those that attain a 170+ and gain access to T14, and there are those who do not, and should just be quiet. If you do ask about a school under T14 you will inevitably be told to retake, it's just the way it is. That's my personal conclusion. God forbid you have decided to go anywhere besides a T14 due to your own personal circumstances and have anything below a 170. Because you will always hear the same exact response and rhetoric: retake.

I'm not saying it's the wrong response, just saying it's inevitable around here. You do not have the free will to keep your score if below 170 and you certainly do not have the free will to choose any school that is not in the T14. It's TLS law, good or bad, it's just the way it is.

So anyone out there considering asking if any school under T14 is right for you and your score is under 170, save your breath.

I have learned my lesson.

This is absolutely not what TLS consensus is and if that is what you have deduced then you need to go back and read the arguments made for the "retake" response. In fact the general trend now is TLS advising against T14 when compared to regionals at big discounts.

I guess I should have clarified, this is in relation to scores more than T14 opposed to regionals at a discount. Here's the thing. If I score a 163 and get a substantial discount at a regional that's still in the top 100, it's almost guaranteed I will be told to retake, right? So I think you might have missed my point. It's either 170+, or it's a retake. Just look around, it's in every single thread where someone is under 170 and considering a decent regional.

secondshot wrote:You're going to find on TLS there are those that attain a 170+ and gain access to T14, and there are those who do not, and should just be quiet. If you do ask about a school under T14 you will inevitably be told to retake, it's just the way it is. That's my personal conclusion. God forbid you have decided to go anywhere besides a T14 due to your own personal circumstances and have anything below a 170. Because you will always hear the same exact response and rhetoric: retake.

I'm not saying it's the wrong response, just saying it's inevitable around here. You do not have the free will to keep your score if below 170 and you certainly do not have the free will to choose any school that is not in the T14. It's TLS law, good or bad, it's just the way it is.

So anyone out there considering asking if any school under T14 is right for you and your score is under 170, save your breath.

I have learned my lesson.

This is dumb and you should feel dumb. I never broke 170 (on three takes), my choosing thread was 5 pages long, and not a single person told me to retake.

The OP probably should retake because if he/she has only managed to get a half ride to a bad law school, he/she probably doesn't have the numbers to make attending law school worthwhile (yet?). However, if the OP comes back and says he wants to work in estate planning at his friend's/family's small firm, I don't think TLS is going to suggest he/she go to a T14. If the OP comes back and says they still want the option of big law, of course they will be told to retake.

The advice is always catered towards a) giving the OP the best chance at snagging the job they want and b) helping the OP not drown in debt. It's not because posters here want more people to go to Harvard. A lot of the more vocal retake crowd don't/didn't go to T14s, myself included.

So stop adhoming strawmen bro

NYLS is a school that has been found to be unethical in its employment statistics in a lawsuit by former students. They were found to have published claims that were so preposterous no one could have reasonably relied on them.
It costs as much or more than the best schools in the country.

Honestly, I can't recommend that you go there.

With all the law schools in NYC area, why only these two?

You have another profession, you should wait a year and figure out this process and then come at it in a more educated approach. Neither of these schools will get you where you might want to be in the future if you are looking at biglaw firms. I don't know about small law firms, but the market is extremely crowded.

What salary are you thinking you will make out of law school?

secondshot wrote:

drevo wrote:

secondshot wrote:You're going to find on TLS there are those that attain a 170+ and gain access to T14, and there are those who do not, and should just be quiet. If you do ask about a school under T14 you will inevitably be told to retake, it's just the way it is. That's my personal conclusion. God forbid you have decided to go anywhere besides a T14 due to your own personal circumstances and have anything below a 170. Because you will always hear the same exact response and rhetoric: retake.

I'm not saying it's the wrong response, just saying it's inevitable around here. You do not have the free will to keep your score if below 170 and you certainly do not have the free will to choose any school that is not in the T14. It's TLS law, good or bad, it's just the way it is.

So anyone out there considering asking if any school under T14 is right for you and your score is under 170, save your breath.

I have learned my lesson.

This is absolutely not what TLS consensus is and if that is what you have deduced then you need to go back and read the arguments made for the "retake" response. In fact the general trend now is TLS advising against T14 when compared to regionals at big discounts.

I guess I should have clarified, this is in relation to scores more than T14 opposed to regionals at a discount. Here's the thing. If I score a 163 and get a substantial discount at a regional that's still in the top 100, it's almost guaranteed I will be told to retake, right? So I think you might have missed my point. It's either 170+, or it's a retake. Just look around, it's in every single thread where someone is under 170 and considering a decent regional.

No. If someone has a full ride to the strongest regional they can go to and has modest career goals then no one is going to tell them to retake to hit some arbitrary high score.

If someone has a good enough score to go to UCLA on a full ride and they want to be a prosecutor in LA of course they will get TLS' blessing to go. Me personally I might suggest a retake to snag Berkeley and especially HYS because that might be better in the long run for the OP but its not like they will be hit with a chorus of retakes.

Yep, I definitely wasn't articulate here. I was really harping on the score, not as much about T14. I tried to make an exaggerated point and failed. My bad.

Both options stink, but if you must have one of these, then don't pay tuition.

Nyls doesn't even have regional cachet though. The best thing I've heard said about the school is that sometimes employers mistake it for NYU. I wouldn't go to law school if I were you. The chance of a non-legal career or a doc review outcome from those schools is way too high.

Brooklyn at half off is too expensive
NYLS for free is too expensive

In the voting prompt, theres the option to vote for Hofstra full scholly. Wy didn't you dont propose this as an option in your post? I think Hofstra full is better than NYLS full.

chipotle123 wrote:I have been doing my due diligence for about a month now and just thought it would be a good idea to gather whatever insights I can from this forum. I have a full merit scholarship to New York Law School and 28k a year at Brooklyn law school.

I have a CPA and am thinking of getting into Tax law, Estate planning or Real Estate. I know what kind of job I want after graduation plays a big role in the decision (Big law vs. Small, Etc.) but I'm not quite sure what I want that job to be exactly.

Any advice?

^ in fact, I voted for Hofstra.

But again, all these schools stink.

Retake

Brettanomyces wrote:What are your stats (LSAT/GPA)?

3.45 and 159

chipotle123 wrote:

Brettanomyces wrote:What are your stats (LSAT/GPA)?

3.45 and 159

Are you willing to leave NYC for school?

Can you live at home while attending Hofstra, therefore avoiding loans altogether? That is the most defensible option out of all three. But I say retake.

transferror wrote:
2) What are the stipulations on your scholarships? Brooklyn's is usually particularly awful if I remember correctly.

Brooklyn used to have a reputation for having ridiculous stips, but I think that they have started moving away from that. I believe that it is now just top 80%. Of course, Brooklyn also explicitly says that they cannot guarantee that there will be enough funding to renew the scholarship every year, so it is possible to loose all or part of the scholarship even if you meet all of the stips.

transferror wrote:1) Retake is going to be the majority response, as it should be.

2) What are the stipulations on your scholarships? Brooklyn's is usually particularly awful if I remember correctly.

In the case of Brooklyn's scholarship, I have to remain in the top 80% of my class each year. I also tried to negotiate more scholarship from Brooklyn about a month ago and they said no. So two questions:

1) Would it be alright to request again since deposit deadlines have passed, and if so what's the best way to ask again?

2) How hard is it to transfer from any of the schools in the poll (Hofstra, NYLS, BLS) to a Fordham, NYU or Columbia? I'm assuming it is very difficult but is it do-able?

transferror wrote:

chipotle123 wrote:

Brettanomyces wrote:What are your stats (LSAT/GPA)?

3.45 and 159

Are you willing to leave NYC for school?

No I would really rather not and I could live at home if I really wanted to