Top Law Schools

I need 12 Applications to ABA schools I can get accepted into. I want to attend school in the Fall. I took the Oct LSAT and got a 140, and grauduated with a 2.5 GPA from University of Illinois a Business Degree. I took the LSAT 3 Times Already and got a 132,135, and 140. I believe I cannot take it anymore for 3 years they say. But anyways I must attend a Law School this coming fall. I need some safety school and some useful information so I can attend Law School this comming fall. I hear that newly provisional accredit schools/ probation schools accepts 80%-100% of applicants. I dont know if this is true, but any imput that will be useful in my situation would help. Thanks

Positive and Encouraging Info Only. If there is nothing substantial to say please dont reply. Thanks

can i encourage you to use the other thread(s) you started? i'm positive that'd be a good idea.

or you might want to look at the usnews rankings and work your way up from the bottom.

Schools that are close to your numbers:

1. Cooley
2. Appalachian
3. New England SL - Non accredited though.

ABA schools

Well I must go to Law School, I have no other option. My dad graduated from Harvard Law Top of the Class. If I dont go to law school I would be disowned. So Help.

legalbound wrote:Well I must go to Law School, I have no other option. My dad graduated from Harvard Law Top of the Class. If I dont go to law school I would be disowned. So Help.

Tell your father you need to apply next cycle then.

As people said in the other thread, if you want to go to law school that badly, you pretty much NEED to retake the LSAT. If you do not achieve at least a 150 after intensive studying (I'm talking about at least one month, but two to four months is preferable) then that's a message to you that law school isn't a very good option for you.

The fundamental truth is that a 2.5 GPA is pretty low, and this will hurt you no matter what. Coupled with a 140 on the LSATs, you really will not get into anything but the bottom of the fourth tier, which has, in general, poor career prospects. To get into a respectable third tier school with your GPA, you'll probably have to nail the LSAT pretty well...I'm talking about 160ish.

If you do not take the LSAT and insist on applying to a huge number of schools, apply to the third and fourth tier of US News and World Report. You may get lucky, but expect a large number of rejections except, possibly, at the schools mentioned by JustDude. You are also doing yourself NO favors by applying this late in the cycle with your numbers.

I wish you luck if you choose to apply this cycle, but I believe it is a waste of a significant amount of time and money. I have no clue why you don't wait and apply when the time's right.

Honestly, 2.5/140 will be hard to even get into one of those. Even some non-accredited schools have higher standards than that.

I wish I could offer better news. A friend of mine studied his life away, and got a 137 on the LSAT's. I don't know what's next for him. I don't like seeing the retaking option brought up as much as it is, but for you, it's probably the only option.

Honestly, Mods, the shit you guys pick and choose to let go or allow is beyond me.

And to think, the first time this moron posted, Corsair gave me crap about making jokes....

How many times can I take the LSAT?

Normally, you may not take the LSAT more than three times in any two-year period. This policy applies even if you cancel your score or it is not otherwise reported. LSAC reserves the right to cancel your registration, rescind your admission ticket, or take any other steps necessary to enforce this policy. However, you may retake the LSAT if a law school to which you are applying requires a more recent score than any you have on record, or approves your retaking the test, and the school provides LSAC with written proof of its requirement no later than the last day of registration for the test.

So I must get into school since LSAT and waiting isnt a option.

Knowing that you have 3 tests, none of which are higher than a 140, you can't go to an ABA-approved law school with your statistics.

I find it hard to believe this thread is legit. If so, I strongly recommend a school like University of North Dakota where you get "style points" when applying for jobs later. You can specialize in something obscure and profitable (e.g. oil and gas law) and when people see "U of North Dakota" they will hopefully think "small town kid staying close to home" rather than "below average student, below average logic skills." In my experience, North Dakotans are typically stereotyped as wholesome people with strong work ethic. They'll later find out that you're not really just a farm kid, but I think this would paint a better picture than Cooley.

To the OP dont let the idiots here stop you from trying to become a lawyer. Dont let anyone tell you what you can and cannot be. You can be whatever you want to be. If becoming a lawyer is your passion go for it to the fullest extent and dont let no one stop you. Your world dont stop. These folks on this forum doesnt decide your future, only you can. Im pretty much on the same boat as you a 2.6 and 145 LSAT Score. I too went to a top undergrad school in the nation NYU. I already sent out 20 apps so far, I might be applying to some more. I sent you a formal list in your inbox. Good Luck.

thelegaldreamteam wrote:Dont let anyone tell you what you can and cannot be. You can be whatever you want to be.

Perhaps cowboy and fireman are better options at this point.

P.S. I'm with Bilko on this one.

Its surprising everyone thinks you need to have a 4.0 and perfect GPA to become a good lawyer. This is negative. Have you heard of Willie Gary ? He didnt have top LSAT and top grades. He went to NC&T. He didnt let anyone stop him from becoming an attorney. Now he is the top attorney this country has to offer. He has top tier students from Harvard and other Iveys working for him. This is probaly what most people on this forum will be working for an attorney that went to a low tier school or non-aba schools. While the person at the top makes all the money. Its not the school its the person. Laugh at that.

minneapolisite: Good piece of advice.!.

..

Isn't New England School of Law accredited? I think it is Southern New England that is not.

Positive and Encouraging Info Only

This is funny, I read it as: Please lie to me. Not to be mean, but there isn't much encouraging things to say with those numbers.

I need some safety school

Is there such a thing as a safety school with those numbers?

My opinion, you might get into a school at the bottom of the fourth tier, but those schools are rarely worth attending. I would work for three or four years and make your work experience more relevant than your grades (which would be difficult, but maybe possible) and then reapply.

There are not many encouraging things that can be said.

Apply to USC FTW. You are in the range.

Sparr0w, that was very insightful information for the OP. Thank you for providing it. Do you think you could post some information on programs and benefits of USC over some other similarly ranked schools? Thank you for being a valued asset to the TLS family.

i don't think law school is a good choice for you.

thelegaldreamteam wrote:Its surprising everyone thinks you need to have a 4.0 and perfect GPA to become a good lawyer.

I don't think anyone on this board has ever made such a claim. The claim we've made is more along these lines: "when your academic history clearly suggests that law school is a bad option, then what do you know? Law school is probably a bad option." Of course there are always going to be extreme exceptions to the rule. Yes, great success is possible graduating from a lower Tier 4 school, but it is highly improbable.

Fly wrote:

thelegaldreamteam wrote:Its surprising everyone thinks you need to have a 4.0 and perfect GPA to become a good lawyer.

I don't think anyone on this board has ever made such a claim. The claim we've made is more along these lines: "when your academic history clearly suggests that law school is a bad option, then what do you know? Law school is probably a bad option." Of course there are always going to be extreme exceptions to the rule. Yes, great success is possible graduating from a lower Tier 4 school, but it is highly improbable.

Law, as it stands, is extremely prestige oriented. A T14 graduate has the best chances out of school; a tier 4 graduate has the worst. Unfortunately, for the most part, the people who start out the best in law will continue to do the best, as job hunting is a self-prepetuating cycle. If you start out with a good job, your next one will probably be just as good or even better. If you start out lower on the totem pole, you have to climb a good bit to get to the same spot.

Hence, it's not impossible to do extremely well from a tier 4 school. It's just improbable, as already said. Furthermore, the people who do well after a tier 4 are probably the ones who were overlooked (for one reason or another) by higher ranked schools. Law school admissions is an imperfect system, more akin to an art (and a flawed one at that) than a science. Good people are going to get missed, which is one of the failings of the system.

Nevertheless, I still stand by my assertion that you need to retake the LSAT in a couple of years (allow one of your scores to expire). Three scores, none of which has exceeded 140 (which is approximately the 13th percentile), is not going to look good. If you're going to take the test three times, I suspect schools have a reasonable expectation that you should at least post one score with a statistically significant improvement.

I sincerely suggest you consider your options carefully. I recognize that having a 2.5 GPA is pretty rough as it is in the job market, but going to law school and getting in deep debt might not help your job prospects, anyways.

Lastly, the frustration you see on this board in response to your posts is because you honestly do not have very good prospects for law school at the moment, and, yet, you refuse to believe us. Even the Wall Street Journal had a recent article about the trouble getting a job in the legal market. Please do your research and make sure you are willing to accept the consequences of attending a lower ranked law school.

Understand this, I cannot wait 2-3 years to take the LSAT again. I must go to school this Fall thats the bottom line. Dont tell me to take a year off. Help me with the issue at hand getting into a good school this coming fall.