Non-traditional applicant-- any advice on where I should apply? Forum

[pine707]

Hi guys,

I have heard of this forum today and signed up immediately hehe
As the title suggests, I am a non-traditional applicant (I majored in Biology with concentration in Physiology)... and I am currently a graduate student working on Master's degree in Biotechnology. I want to apply to law schools to become a patent attorney.

My GPA from undergrad is 3.96 (I don't know LSAC GPA... but I did go to a pretty competitive "pre-med" program without the intention of becoming a physician but for the love of learning human physiology).

I took LSAT last month and scored 163. I am planning to retake in October because my PT average was 167ish...

To sum my stats:
Undergrad Major: Biology -- Concentration in Physiology
GPA = 3.96
LSAT= 163

Extra:
Will have Master's degree in Biotechnology. My thesis that I am working on actually focuses on patent law and my thesis adviser is a patent attorney who teaches at my school. My plan is to finish my thesis by August and attach it to my law school applications.

I did lots of research during the undergrad in physiology and molecular & cell biology labs. Have published twice with my name on the journals.
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So given my stats, what schools should I apply to? (Considering the worst case that my LSAT score does not improve in the retake)
Should I do early decision to any school?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[PrezRand]

It's cool how you are going from Biotech to law, and are doing a thesis on patent law. You will probably get into a T14 school with that 163, but if you raise it to that 167, your chances are higher

[shump92]

don't ED anywhere either. It's almost always better to see what your options would be and I think your RD odds would be fine at some of the T14. Definitely think about your preferences but blanket some of those schools to have options hopefully.

[Wildcard]

Just based on my research, take it for what it's worth...

Your GPA is fucking awesome. If I were you... First, I would do the happy dance all around the living room. Then I'd do every damn thing I could to get that LSAT up. You're plenty smart enough to do so. Then the sky is the limit. I'd make a decision based on school quality, location, and scholarship money, which you should have many offers of, including free rides places. Also, I'd check the demographics of the school and try to find a place with a substantial grad population so you're not surrounded solely by a bunch of teeny boppers. And yeah, apply broadly... any place you might possibly go and any competitor of those places that you could use as leverage for scholarship negotiations. You can decide on the final choice later. And with your stats, no way would I ED anywhere.

[stego]

Just curious why you think you're a non-traditional applicant? I thought that term generally referred to applicants who were much older than K-JD's, or to people whose background was really unusual for a law student in some other way. What's unusual about a law student with an undergraduate biology major?

[pine707]

Hey,

Thank you all for your advice!

Oh I thought I was non-traditional because I actually should be about 4 years older than most of the law school applicants since I took two years off after my undergrad doing some teaching and research then took another two years (I just finished one year) earning the Master's degree. I didn't really know true definition of "non-traditional" applicant, so apologies if I do not fit that term appropriately.

As of now, I want to go to California or Boston where there are lots of biotech companies. So maybe I was thinking about applying to UC Berkeley with early decision and apply regular to these schools: UCLA, USC, Santa Clara, BU, and BC. I am not sure if I have a good shot at UC Berkeley, so I was thinking about doing early decision to UCLA instead.

[pine707]

don't ED anywhere either. It's almost always better to see what your options would be and I think your RD odds would be fine at some of the T14. Definitely think about your preferences but blanket some of those schools to have options hopefully.

Hey, could you clarify what "RD" stands for? I am new to this forum so I couldn't understand.

Thanks!!

[Mack.Hambleton]

I would go to LSAC.org to retake

[shump92]

don't ED anywhere either. It's almost always better to see what your options would be and I think your RD odds would be fine at some of the T14. Definitely think about your preferences but blanket some of those schools to have options hopefully.

Hey, could you clarify what "RD" stands for? I am new to this forum so I couldn't understand.

Thanks!!

Sure. Regular decision.

[Clearly]

If you get more multiple choice questions right you can go to Stanford, remember that!

[pine707]

If you get more multiple choice questions right you can go to Stanford, remember that!

Yup! Thanks! I did already register for the October LSAT. I really hope I do better (and closer to my PT average) in October!!

Again, thank you all for answering my questions!!

[hairbear7]

Yo don't apply early decision. It's binding and you lose all leverage for scholarships. Raise your LSAT and you can get Berkeley and other t-14's with $$$

[Clearly]

If you get more multiple choice questions right you can go to Stanford, remember that!

Yup! Thanks! I did already register for the October LSAT. I really hope I do better (and closer to my PT average) in October!!

Again, thank you all for answering my questions!!

Don't just hope you get closer to your average. Improve your average, work harder, start over and really buckle down. 180 is the goal. Trust me, I retook a similar score for a 99%th+ score and my life is immensely better for it, but I didn't just try to do better, I worked my ass off to get perfect. You're clearly a smart kid, the LSAT is the most important part of your application by a wide margin. I'd like to see you work enthusiastically towards a 180 and you can be going to these schools for free.

[pine707]

Hi guys,

I got my October lsat score and I scored 167.

And my chances at some of my top choice schools according to LSAC gpa/lsat search are:

Columbia 25-35%
Harvard 40-50%
Nyu 60-79%
Berkeley 72-84%

Now my question is... I am currently at Columbia and I'd like to stay and go to law school here if it's possible.

If I apply binding early decision at Columbia would that give me more shot than 25-35%? If I can go ro columbia, I can forego scholarships at elsewhere. My priority is to get into a school with the highest ranking.

Also, my chances at Harvard seems unreasonably high... would it be more wise to apply regular and take my chances (despite slim) at Harvard or Stanford?

Thank you very much in advance!!

[antiworldly]

Congrats on the 167! That's a good improvement, I'd recommend trying a third time because you're at the point every little increase matters.

Here's the bad news though: as a rather non-traditional applicant myself (Ph.D. in chemistry from a top program), my results were just about what you'd expect looking at my numbers alone. It may have provided a slight boost, but nothing surprising. The plus side is everything I've heard from people with experiences like ours is that finding summer work and post-grad work is significantly easier.

All that being said, don't ED to columbia. You'd be trading a ton of leverage for basically a negligible advantage. They already know you like the area, you're there already! It's hard to have a better indicator than that, which is all ED is. You've got a shot at the top programs, all you can do is throw in a bunch of apps and see what sticks.