Top Law Schools

Hello, I am a 21 year old white male who recently graduated from college and I am currently working part time as a financial adviser. However my goal is to attend law school. I took the LSAT last October and scored a 156 after 6 months of study about 20hrs a week. I started out with a 147 so that's not much improvement. My goal is to increase my score 5-7 points so that I can get into a school ranked in the top 40 in the northeast (or possibly southwest?)

My GPA is a 3.75 and I have nothing else going for me besides a huge upward trend. Although I studied Business and Philosophy so its not very impressive. During the time I was in college I refused to sign up for long term employment and I made most of my money in sales as an agent or in eCommerce (3-10X the income). I didn't do any internships however I did some contract based work for various small businesses.

What is the minimum LSAT score I need this October to be a lock-in for these schools? At this point I don't care if I pay sticker price.

What's up with your username bro

Atmosphere wrote:What's up with your username bro

I suffer from depression. Lets get back on topic.

Where specifically would you like to work after school? Getting into the 160s with a 3.75 should get you into some regionals, possibly even with money.

hitting median should make you close to a lock at F/BC/BU/GW

Don't go to law school - do eCommerce for "3-10x" the whatever

Why would getting into a top 40 school be meaningful to you?

Also, why are US News Rankings meaningful to you?

Median LSAT should get you in. But in is like 1/2 the battle, gotta get the school at a reasonable cost and it has to give you a reasonable shot at your career goals.

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

Atmosphere wrote:What's up with your username bro

I suffer from depression. Lets get back on topic.

Um...alright, but, your mental health is more important. I hope you're not thinking of self harm or anything.

ScottRiqui wrote:Where specifically would you like to work after school? Getting into the 160s with a 3.75 should get you into some regionals, possibly even with money.

I would like to work in NYC or Boston. So I would reasonably need a 160 to go to law school?

Nova wrote:hitting median should make you close to a lock at F/BC/BU/GW

So because my GPA is 75% all i have to do is hit above 25% LSAT?

justonemoregame wrote:Don't go to law school - do eCommerce for "3-10x" the whatever

3-10X 7.25 averages out to $65 per hour, I would like more and that is part time maybe 5-10hrs a week.

BigZuck wrote:Why would getting into a top 40 school be meaningful to you?

Also, why are US News Rankings meaningful to you?

Median LSAT should get you in. But in is like 1/2 the battle, gotta get the school at a reasonable cost and it has to give you a reasonable shot at your career goals.

Getting into top 40 is meaningful because its so close to the T14. The rankings are meaningful because I passed on a 80% scholarship to Hofstra in January.

That is right, my career goals are mid-law for 5-10 years then start a practice with friends/colleagues.

TheSpanishMain wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

Atmosphere wrote:What's up with your username bro

I suffer from depression. Lets get back on topic.

Um...alright, but, your mental health is more important. I hope you're not thinking of self harm or anything.

No definitely not its merely a parody on my two college majors, business and philosophy two opposing fields that both point to my current worthlessness since I have no useful skills or spirituality/morality.

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

Nova wrote:hitting median should make you close to a lock at F/BC/BU/GW

So because my GPA is 75% all i have to do is hit above 25% LSAT?

50th

look at http://www.mylsn.info

Nova wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

Nova wrote:hitting median should make you close to a lock at F/BC/BU/GW

So because my GPA is 75% all i have to do is hit above 25% LSAT?

50th

look at http://www.mylsn.info

They don't have 50th on their sites. I don't trust LSN.

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote: my current worthlessness since I have no useful skills or spirituality/morality.

Alright then.

Anyway, if you end up going to a regional school, your goal shouldn't just be "Get in". It should be "Get in with a large amount of scholarship money." Taking on sticker debt is retarded.

TheSpanishMain wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote: my current worthlessness since I have no useful skills or spirituality/morality.

Alright then.

Anyway, if you end up going to a regional school, your goal shouldn't just be "Get in". It should be "Get in with a large amount of scholarship money." Taking on sticker debt is retarded.

Do you think F/BC are regional?

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote: my current worthlessness since I have no useful skills or spirituality/morality.

Alright then.

Anyway, if you end up going to a regional school, your goal shouldn't just be "Get in". It should be "Get in with a large amount of scholarship money." Taking on sticker debt is retarded.

Do you think F/BC are regional?

Yes.

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

Nova wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

Nova wrote:hitting median should make you close to a lock at F/BC/BU/GW

So because my GPA is 75% all i have to do is hit above 25% LSAT?

50th

look at http://www.mylsn.info

They don't have 50th on their sites. I don't trust LSN.

Here's a list of 25/50/75 numbers for both GPA and LSAT for pretty much all the schools.

LSN isn't perfect information (only about 10-15% of a schools' applicant pool shows up in LSN, and the ones that do are stronger on average than the overall applicant pool), but it's one of the best resources we have.

.

TheSpanishMain wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

Atmosphere wrote:What's up with your username bro

I suffer from depression. Lets get back on topic.

Um...alright, but, your mental health is more important. I hope you're not thinking of self harm or anything.

This is where I was coming from.

ScottRiqui wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote: They don't have 50th on their sites. I don't trust LSN.

Here's a list of 25/50/75 numbers for both GPA and LSAT for pretty much all the schools.

LSN isn't perfect information (only about 10-15% of a schools' applicant pool shows up in LSN, and the ones that do are stronger on average than the overall applicant pool), but it's one of the best resources we have.

seems like I could squeeze by with a 162. Thanks.

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

ScottRiqui wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote: They don't have 50th on their sites. I don't trust LSN.

Here's a list of 25/50/75 numbers for both GPA and LSAT for pretty much all the schools.

LSN isn't perfect information (only about 10-15% of a schools' applicant pool shows up in LSN, and the ones that do are stronger on average than the overall applicant pool), but it's one of the best resources we have.

seems like I could squeeze by with a 162. Thanks.

"Squeezing by" would likely involve ruinous debt. Also, conventional wisdom is that "midlaw" really isn't open to new grads. You may need to step back and do a lot more research/rethink things.

TheSpanishMain wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote: Do you think F/BC are regional?

Yes.

Yes.
Also, even with a 3.75 a 162 is not a total lock at Fordham and definitely not a lock with money. (And you don't want to pay sticker, truly.)
Question: why are you interested in going to law school?

TheSpanishMain wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote:

ScottRiqui wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote: They don't have 50th on their sites. I don't trust LSN.

Here's a list of 25/50/75 numbers for both GPA and LSAT for pretty much all the schools.

LSN isn't perfect information (only about 10-15% of a schools' applicant pool shows up in LSN, and the ones that do are stronger on average than the overall applicant pool), but it's one of the best resources we have.

seems like I could squeeze by with a 162. Thanks.

"Squeezing by" would likely involve ruinous debt. Also, conventional wisdom is that "midlaw" really isn't open to new grads. You may need to step back and do a lot more research/rethink things.

I am fine with debt since I can guarantee a decent income if a JD doesn't work out. I have no idea why midlaw is closed off to me, other than the nationwide problem of businesses refusing to train young people. Trust me I have done my research into that and there is nothing to be found other than pessimism.

nygrrrl wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:

MyLfIsNtWrthLvng wrote: Do you think F/BC are regional?

Yes.

Yes.
Also, even with a 3.75 a 162 is not a total lock at Fordham and definitely not a lock with money. (And you don't want to pay sticker, truly.)
Question: why are you interested in going to law school?

Like I said before the money doesn't matter, I am interested in law school because I planned on going to law school before I began undergrad and I am not going to change my plans because of a bad economy. I have always been intrinsically interested in doing many of the things attorneys do.

Flame?

Will_McAvoy wrote:Flame?

Either flame or just really weird.

If not flame, legit mid-sized firms have little to no incentive to bring in fresh grads when they are the ideal landing spot for (1) top biglaw expats with local ties or (2) young attorneys from small firms who have proven they can build a book of business and want more stability/perks/reputation of a larger firm.

Depending on the size of x midlaw firm, they might have a small summer associate program where they bring in one or two grads per year, but these situations are so few and far between (and contingent on serious ties) that TLS says to not even think about them as a realistic possibility as a 0L.

Will_McAvoy wrote:If not flame, legit mid-sized firms have little to no incentive to bring in fresh grads when they are the ideal landing spot for (1) top biglaw expats with local ties or (2) young attorneys from small firms who have proven they can build a book of business and want more stability/perks/reputation of a larger firm.

Depending on the size of x midlaw firm, they might have a small summer associate program where they bring in one or two grads per year, but these situations are so few and far between (and contingent on serious ties) that TLS says to not even think about them as a realistic possibility as a 0L.

OK. Looked up biglaw and midlaw and cleared some things up.