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Hi there,

Nearly two weeks ago I was arrested for public intox and outraging public decency when I was caught peeing in an alley behind some bars by undercover police officers. I am working with my lawyer now and am patiently awaiting my court date on October 1st. I am a senior who took the LSAT in June and made a 164, and have a GPA of 3.60 as of now. I am looking for advice/opinions on how much anyone thinks this is going to affect my chances of being accepted into law school, specifically the University of Oklahoma.

I should also add that I received a ticket for transporting an open container when I was the designated driver for my fraternity as a freshman. I received a deferred sentence and completed all the terms of my probation. Other than these two events, I have always been a model citizen and student. I have been involved in multiple leadership positions on campus as well as completing plenty of community service over the years.

I am just worried that these two terrible events in my life are going to ruin my dream of practicing law.

Thank you all for any advice or support you can give!

-CJB

cjbyrd92 wrote:Hi there,

Nearly two weeks ago I was arrested for public intox and outraging public decency when I was caught peeing in an alley behind some bars by undercover police officers. I am working with my lawyer now and am patiently awaiting my court date on October 1st. I am a senior who took the LSAT in June and made a 164, and have a GPA of 3.60 as of now. I am looking for advice/opinions on how much anyone thinks this is going to affect my chances of being accepted into law school, specifically the University of Oklahoma.

I should also add that I received a ticket for transporting an open container when I was the designated driver for my fraternity as a freshman. I received a deferred sentence and completed all the terms of my probation. Other than these two events, I have always been a model citizen and student. I have been involved in multiple leadership positions on campus as well as completing plenty of community service over the years.

I am just worried that these two terrible events in my life are going to ruin my dream of practicing law.

Thank you all for any advice or support you can give!

-CJB

Not going to affect getting admitted to OU; even if you just killed a guy you'd be an auto admit.

C&F is not gonna like his tho. You might have to abstain from alcohol for an extended period of time to show you don't have dependency probs

On one hand, it's not that big a deal. Pretty petty charges.

On the other hand, it's super recent. Not good.

Write a complete and contrite addendum explaining what happened, thats all you can really do.

Your numbers are great for Oklahoma. It won't ding you.



That having been said...

It wouldn't hurt to sit out a cycle. That way you can retake for a higher LSAT score, get more scholly cash and resolve your case.

whitespider wrote:It wouldn't hurt to sit out a cycle. That way you can retake for a higher LSAT score, get more scholly cash and resolve your case.

No. If OP wants to live in OK for the foreseeable future, is from OK, and has specific non-BL goals, OU with his current stats will be pretty cheap and pretty defensible right away.

OP, deal with the C&F issue once you matriculate w/ the state bar. It will not affect your admissions cycle so long as you don't explain it like an idiot.

I have considered that, possibly seeking work with a law firm if possible. I am retaking in December so hopefully I can boost my score a bit. I would prefer to go somewhere better than OU, it is just my safety school as I have strong ties within the state.

From what I have been able to gather, the character and fitness part of sitting for the Bar would be the only issue I would likely face. It seems that generally issues like this are forgiven as long as you disclose everything, and show that you have taken corrective action regarding the problem. In my case, even though it probably wont matter, the transport of open container violation was simply bad luck on my part, because the full story shows that I was simply trying to get my friends home safe and hadn't touched a drop of alcohol.

I have been on these forums often the past year and have appreciated everyone's advice, so I thought I would come to you all to talk this through.

McAvoy wrote:

whitespider wrote:It wouldn't hurt to sit out a cycle. That way you can retake for a higher LSAT score, get more scholly cash and resolve your case.

No. If OP wants to live in OK for the foreseeable future, is from OK, and has specific non-BL goals, OU with his current stats will be pretty cheap and pretty defensible right away.

OP, deal with the C&F issue once you matriculate w/ the state bar. It will not affect your admissions cycle so long as you don't explain it like an idiot.

If he can get his LSAT up 5 points, he's looking at an extra 30K in cash. I'd say that's pretty good reason to retake...

http://oklahoma.lawschoolnumbers.com/ap ... &sort=lsat

If you don't mind I have another question regarding my retake, I know its off topic but I'd hate to start a new thread for what will be a simple answer for you two. If I apply to a school and am accepted, and then improve my LSAT score somewhere in the 5 point range, will the school take that into account and offer me more money? Or would I need to sit out for a year and apply again the next fall to take advantage of my improved numbers?

100% yes. Lots of people retake December and Feb to try and get some leverage with scholly negotiations.

whitespider wrote:

McAvoy wrote:

whitespider wrote:It wouldn't hurt to sit out a cycle. That way you can retake for a higher LSAT score, get more scholly cash and resolve your case.

No. If OP wants to live in OK for the foreseeable future, is from OK, and has specific non-BL goals, OU with his current stats will be pretty cheap and pretty defensible right away.

OP, deal with the C&F issue once you matriculate w/ the state bar. It will not affect your admissions cycle so long as you don't explain it like an idiot.

If he can get his LSAT up 5 points, he's looking at an extra 30K in cash. I'd say that's pretty good reason to retake...

http://oklahoma.lawschoolnumbers.com/ap ... &sort=lsat

I agree that it can only help but it's not extremely necessary in such a situation. Also there is almost no data on OU money but even granting your one data point and granting the assumption he can get a 170, if OP gets a job that pays like $15/hr post ls he'll make up the difference and have more potential for cumulative growth beyond what another year of farting around pre ls gets.

This has helped a lot, thank you both for your input. I am extremely grateful.

Best advice would be put to put as much time between the incident as possible. Like someone said, sit a few cycles, get some work experience and perhaps re-take into a higher LSAT.

If the off-chance that the bar gets testy with your history (probably not) or the fact that a law firm might not look the other way for it, then the extra $$$ that comes from a higher LSAT would really help in alleviating the tuition burden if you don't end up practicing law. I'm sure you'll end up practicing law anyways seeing as your charges aren't that major, but still the possibility still exists that it might hinder you.

considering he's calling ou his "safety school" and says he would prefer to go somewhere else, i think it's pretty clear the credited response is retake

whitespider wrote:

McAvoy wrote:

whitespider wrote:It wouldn't hurt to sit out a cycle. That way you can retake for a higher LSAT score, get more scholly cash and resolve your case.

No. If OP wants to live in OK for the foreseeable future, is from OK, and has specific non-BL goals, OU with his current stats will be pretty cheap and pretty defensible right away.

OP, deal with the C&F issue once you matriculate w/ the state bar. It will not affect your admissions cycle so long as you don't explain it like an idiot.

If he can get his LSAT up 5 points, he's looking at an extra 30K in cash. I'd say that's pretty good reason to retake...

http://oklahoma.lawschoolnumbers.com/ap ... &sort=lsat

If he can up his score 5 more points, he should go to Texas.

pancakes3 wrote:

whitespider wrote:

McAvoy wrote:

whitespider wrote:It wouldn't hurt to sit out a cycle. That way you can retake for a higher LSAT score, get more scholly cash and resolve your case.

No. If OP wants to live in OK for the foreseeable future, is from OK, and has specific non-BL goals, OU with his current stats will be pretty cheap and pretty defensible right away.

OP, deal with the C&F issue once you matriculate w/ the state bar. It will not affect your admissions cycle so long as you don't explain it like an idiot.

If he can get his LSAT up 5 points, he's looking at an extra 30K in cash. I'd say that's pretty good reason to retake...

http://oklahoma.lawschoolnumbers.com/ap ... &sort=lsat

If he can up his score 5 more points, he should go to Texas.

Just don't tell Texas you ever considered attending OU.

Cradle6 wrote:
Just don't tell Texas you ever considered attending OU.

Now that I think of it, I haven't met a single ou grad here.

But I'd imagine Texas would place very well into Oklahoma.

Attax wrote:

Cradle6 wrote:
Just don't tell Texas you ever considered attending OU.

Now that I think of it, I haven't met a single ou grad here.

But I'd imagine Texas would place very well into Oklahoma.

I have met a couple

You're not a shoe in anywhere anymore. Friend with very similar stats that's at FIU with less problems than you. He applied to all of TT. Retake just because, but an addendum will only do so much. "I felt the need to pee, I felt outside next to a cop would be a good place."

That's super fratty

thequigley wrote:You're not a shoe in anywhere anymore. Friend with very similar stats that's at FIU with less problems than you. He applied to all of TT. Retake just because, but an addendum will only do so much. "I felt the need to pee, I felt outside next to a cop would be a good place."

Dude didn't you say in another thread the friend was "someone you practice with"? If you're talking pre-crash/crash-era admissions then this is a completely irrelevant anecdote.

Also you said he had a pending battery charge... That's certainly a bigger deal to admissions than pissing in a back alley. Am I missing something here?

McAvoy wrote:

thequigley wrote:You're not a shoe in anywhere anymore. Friend with very similar stats that's at FIU with less problems than you. He applied to all of TT. Retake just because, but an addendum will only do so much. "I felt the need to pee, I felt outside next to a cop would be a good place."

Dude didn't you say in another thread the friend was "someone you practice with"? If you're talking pre-crash/crash-era admissions then this is a completely irrelevant anecdote.

Also you said he had a pending battery charge... That's certainly a bigger deal to admissions than pissing in a back alley. Am I missing something here?

Unsure how he'd be practicing since I said he was at FIU law? Never said the word pending...ever. This was a year and a half ago...so also unsure why you said pre-crash or crash-era.

You, sir, are an idiot!

3.6 164 is well within TT sticker territory. The problem isn't getting into LS. It's getting a job after graduating wherever you got in. Every year, hundreds of people graduate dead last in their class and nobody ever thinks it's going to be them.

thequigley wrote:

McAvoy wrote:

thequigley wrote:You're not a shoe in anywhere anymore. Friend with very similar stats that's at FIU with less problems than you. He applied to all of TT. Retake just because, but an addendum will only do so much. "I felt the need to pee, I felt outside next to a cop would be a good place."

Dude didn't you say in another thread the friend was "someone you practice with"? If you're talking pre-crash/crash-era admissions then this is a completely irrelevant anecdote.

Also you said he had a pending battery charge... That's certainly a bigger deal to admissions than pissing in a back alley. Am I missing something here?

Unsure how he'd be practicing since I said he was at FIU law? Never said the word pending...ever. This was a year and a half ago...so also unsure why you said pre-crash or crash-era.

You, sir, are an idiot!

Hey fuckwad you said

One of my colleagues had to settle at FIU law because he had a battery issue. He was 3.5/167. The few places he did get into didn't really offer any sort of scholarship.

Srry didn't assume you were buds with multiple deviant underperforming FIU students and alums

pancakes3 wrote:3.6 164 is well within TT sticker territory.

Uh, how about no
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... _web#gid=9

McAvoy wrote:

pancakes3 wrote:3.6 164 is well within TT sticker territory.

Uh, how about no
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... _web#gid=9

This. Maybe a few years ago is was sticker, but now you can get some great cash from decent regionals with numbers like that.

McAvoy is a moron