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Hey everyone,

I just created this account to get some feedback on a unique situation I'm in. I attend Northeastern University in Boston and was recently in touch with an admissions rep from their law school about a scholarship to attend NUSL at half sticker. Apparently this is a new program recently granted by the ABA that allows undergrad students that meet certain criteria to go straight to their University's law school without submitting an LSAT score.

The dilemma here is that NU students who meet these requirements would have to commit to the binding offer without ever really testing the application market. I assume this is a rankings motivated move by Northeastern to retain their quality students and avoid losing them to better regional schools like BU/BC.

Due to the stipulation that I would be disqualified from this half sticker scholarship if I took the LSAT, I have postponed my June 2015 test to October 2015 in order to give myself time to consider this offer and prepare more for the LSAT if I decide to reject this opportunity.

What's the smartest move from here? I definitely want to practice in the Boston area, would graduate NU with a near 3.8 gpa, and have been PTing at low 160s on the LSAT as of about 3 weeks ago when I stopped prepping in order to consider this offer. I'm someone who doesn't come from a ton of money so minimizing debt/securing a job after graduation matters to me far more than which school's name appears on my diploma.

Basically my question is this: Is it smarter to settle with Northeastern at 50% off instead of shooting for BU/BC at full price?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

How long have you been studying for the LSAT and what is your target (both what you think a realistic target is and your 'reach' score)?

And, what did you get on the verbal SAT?

Do you know the Groucho Marx line, "I would never belong to a club that would have me as a member"?

A 162+ will probably get you a full ride there. Keep prepping and good luck in October.

Why would you assume that half sticker from Northeastern is decent? If you look at BC/BU medians a 162 would probably open up the door for potential scholarships. Considering you have a 3.78 you would be really foolish to fall into this trap. Just by looking at Northeastern's FTLT JD stats - 140/216, including 6 solos and 26 other students in very small firms you would be doing yourself a disservice to not even try to test the market. If you got a 160 you would probably get offered the same scholarship by Northeastern anyway. Don't do this. Take the Test.

Thanks for such quick replies..

I studied for the LSAT roughly 2 hours per day 4 days a week from March-Start of May. Nothing hardcore but I was definitely putting in some work and slowly but surely improving. I think a reasonable target for me was 165 or so with a max'reach' of 168. My diagnostic at the end of Feb was a 149.

My SAT scores way back in the day was a 690 on reading, 610 writing, and 620 on Math

@togoornottogo

Thanks for the input. If you could point me to where I can find more stats like that I'd appreciate it

Tom Haverford wrote:@togoornottogo

Thanks for the input. If you could point me to where I can find more stats like that I'd appreciate it

Just go on the school's website. Look for employment stats. Also there is a thread on here with every school's employment stats.

Here I linked the Northeastern Stats.

https://www.northeastern.edu/law/pdfs/c ... s-2014.pdf

togoornottogo wrote:

Tom Haverford wrote:@togoornottogo

Thanks for the input. If you could point me to where I can find more stats like that I'd appreciate it

https://www.northeastern.edu/law/pdfs/c ... s-2014.pdf

This site compiles all that info:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/northeastern/

Score in green is how many students get jobs as lawyers

SAT score can roughly translate to LSAT ability - so you could be looking at a 169.

I agree with the other advice here. I'd be very surprised if you find anybody on this board who will recommend going to NE at less than a fully scholarship, particularly coming in with that GPA.

Good luck with it - and enjoy the test.