Top Law Schools

Hello all.

I have been lurking for some time and have been a little scared to post .

I'm going to try and keep this as short as I can. I'm 30 and looking to get out of my current career and into law. With that said, I am not sure if I am wasting my time and should just look into getting my MBA, even though that is not what I want to do. Anyway, like the subject states, I was academically dismissed in undergrad and not sure if this will have a huge effect on getting into any law school. To be honest, I am not aiming high and looking to get into Suffolk Law or New England Law by Fall 2015, so I am not sure if my issue will be a huge factor or none at all.

Undergrad was an OK experience for me. I excelled freshman year, but not so much sophmore year. Sophmore-Junior year were the worst years of life and that definitely showed through my academic perfomance. Not only was it bad, but I also welcomed a baby boy during that time . Unfortunately, I couldn't handle the stress and pressure of school, baby and unhealthy relationship- blah blah blah. Anyway, I ended up being academically dismissed after the first semester of Junior year. I had the baby and enrolled into another school and was able to maintain a 3.2gpa, not great but way better than what it had been at my previous school.

Anyway, do you think that this will have a huge impact or none at all ? Should I disclose this in a character and fitness statement or will an addendum suffice? Or should I just give up and get my MBA

Yeah, pursuing law school is probably not the best use of your time. If you failed out of your first undergrad, I assume your LSAC GPA would be too low to salvage. Also, Suffolk and New England are really, really bad schools and most of their grads end up unemployed. You have a kid to think about, which makes gambling on a shit school even more irresponsible than usual.

I think you'd be best served by looking at other options, honestly.

Yeah, don't go to law school for reasons stated above.
Best of luck!

Yeah, I hate to say it, but law school is probably not a realistic option. Being dismissed is a huge deal. Your LSAC GPA will also be crazy low. Your 3.2 will get dragged down well below a 3.0, how far I cannot say, but from what you've said its prob going to be brutal. Because the academic issues were over the course of a few years, even a well written addendum may not help you much. Your only shot would be if you get an amazing LSAT score, have $$$ saved to pay for law school AND have a close relative essentially waiting to give you a spot at an existing law firm.

Going to the schools you mentioned would be a terrible decision unless you have a guaranteed job waiting for you.

If you really, really want to be an attorney I guess you could pay for the LSAC GPA service to calculate your official GPA (see what the damage is), take a practice test, and then pay for a consultant to give you real talk. But the time and money involved in that seems a bit like a futile investment.

Not trying to be a jerk, just don't want to see another 0L get taken advantage of. But hey, if you have some sort of amazing story (wounded veteran, started super successful business, Olympian, have a genius level IQ) maybe it's worth exploring. If you consider yourself a nice, normal everyday type person-well, then MBA is a better choice. MBA programs look more holistically at a candidate and you'll be given way better consideration.

Cpt Zapp Brannigan wrote:If you really, really want to be an attorney I guess you could pay for the LSAC GPA service to calculate your official GPA (see what the damage is), take a practice test, and then pay for a consultant to give you real talk. But the time and money involved in that seems a bit like is an futile extremely unwise investment and a financial death sentence.

FTFY.

I appreciate all the honest feedback...

Cpt Zapp Brannigan, your response does not make you seem like a jerk at all. You're being honest and I appreciate that!

Good on you for being rational about it. Best of luck in whatever you decide to pursue.

What is your lsat?

I'm assuming you're from Massachusetts based on your school selection.
http://www.lstscorereports.com/state/MA/
Be very wary of those low employment scores and high underemployment scores.

TheSpanishMain wrote:Good on you for being rational about it. Best of luck in whatever you decide to pursue.

Thank you, TheSpanishMain.

Learn_Live_Hope wrote:What is your lsat?

I actually just sat for the LSAT yesterday, and had been consistently scoring around 165-170 on the diag/practice tests.

Shininglaw wrote:

Learn_Live_Hope wrote:What is your lsat?

I actually just sat for the LSAT yesterday, and had been consistently scoring around 165-170 on the diag/practice tests.

Damn that's actually very pretty.
I assumed you hadn't taken it yet.

Shininglaw wrote:

Learn_Live_Hope wrote:What is your lsat?

I actually just sat for the LSAT yesterday, and had been consistently scoring around 165-170 on the diag/practice tests.

...

And OP, figure out exactly what your GPA is.
Get your transcripts and plug them into cites online that calculate your cumulative GPA.
I hope you did well on your LSAT, but overall, I still don't think law schools sounds like a good idea for you given amount of debt you'd likely take on and the employment prospects from those two schools.

Dirigo wrote:And OP, figure out exactly what your GPA is.
Get your transcripts and plug them into cites online that calculate your cumulative GPA.
I hope you did well on your LSAT, but overall, I still don't think law schools sounds like a good idea for you given amount of debt you'd likely take on and the employment prospects from those two schools.

...

Learn_Live_Hope wrote:

Dirigo wrote:And OP, figure out exactly what your GPA is.
Get your transcripts and plug them into cites online that calculate your cumulative GPA.
I hope you did well on your LSAT, but overall, I still don't think law schools sounds like a good idea for you given amount of debt you'd likely take on and the employment prospects from those two schools.

He can get into T14 depending on his lsat, and GPA. Academic dismissal will not be a barrier to him -pending the circumstances. There is a lot to consider...

Will elaborate tomorrow.

Regardless, it would be good if we had actual numbers.
Look into a retroactive withdrawal from your first school, OP. If it's possible, start that process.

Dirigo wrote:And OP, figure out exactly what your GPA is.
Get your transcripts and plug them into cites online that calculate your cumulative GPA.
I hope you did well on your LSAT, but overall, I still don't think law schools sounds like a good idea for you given amount of debt you'd likely take on and the employment prospects from those two schools.

I'll definitely do that real soon.

To be honest, I am not too concerned with the possible low employment prospects. My ultimate goal is to practice family law with a small boutique firm. I'm not necessarily looking to work with a BIG or large firm.

I do know people who have successfully gone down that route after going to Suffolk and even Massachusetts School of Law.

but maybe, I should just give it up. I guess, I'll just wait and see what I scored on the LSAT and make my decision.

Dirigo wrote:

Learn_Live_Hope wrote:

Dirigo wrote:And OP, figure out exactly what your GPA is.
Get your transcripts and plug them into cites online that calculate your cumulative GPA.
I hope you did well on your LSAT, but overall, I still don't think law schools sounds like a good idea for you given amount of debt you'd likely take on and the employment prospects from those two schools.

He can get into T14 depending on his lsat, and GPA. Academic dismissal will not be a barrier to him -pending the circumstances. There is a lot to consider...

Will elaborate tomorrow.

Regardless, it would be good if we had actual numbers.
Look into a retroactive withdrawal from your first school, OP. If it's possible, start that process.

How can I do this retroactive withdrawal?? Would it matter that it has been about 11 years since undergrad/dismissal?

Shininglaw wrote:

Dirigo wrote:

Learn_Live_Hope wrote:

Dirigo wrote:And OP, figure out exactly what your GPA is.
Get your transcripts and plug them into cites online that calculate your cumulative GPA.
I hope you did well on your LSAT, but overall, I still don't think law schools sounds like a good idea for you given amount of debt you'd likely take on and the employment prospects from those two schools.

He can get into T14 depending on his lsat, and GPA. Academic dismissal will not be a barrier to him -pending the circumstances. There is a lot to consider...

Will elaborate tomorrow.

Regardless, it would be good if we had actual numbers.
Look into a retroactive withdrawal from your first school, OP. If it's possible, start that process.

How can I do this retroactive withdrawal?? Would it matter that it has been about 11 years since undergrad/dismissal?

and I am a SHE.. Lol, not that it matters.

It being 11 years makes it more likely that it is possible. Go to the school's website and search for retroactive withdrawing. If you can't find it, email and/or call the registrar.

Thank you so much, Dirigo! I am looking into it now..

If you're able to get your grades retroactively wiped and you end up with a 3.3 and a 165-170 LSAT, the calculus changes dramatically. BC/BU with a big scholarship would actually be a defensible decision. Good luck.

Tag. This is personally relevant

Just to be clear, what would a retroactive withdrawal look like? I assume it is difficult to persuade your UG institution to allow this; additionally, how would a RW be reflected in one's LSAC report?

TIA

TheSpanishMain wrote:If you're able to get your grades retroactively wiped and you end up with a 3.3 and a 165-170 LSAT, the calculus changes dramatically. BC/BU with a big scholarship would actually be a defensible decision. Good luck.

I am unable to find anything on my schools website about retroactively withdrawing and will call them in the morning.

If I am able to do this, wouldn't it change my credit hours and wipe out some of the classes I needed to complete my degree? I