Top Law Schools

UGPA: 3.3
LSACGPA: 3.1 -/+
LSAT: I took about 10 practice tests, last 5 were all 167-168, been studying for a little over 2 month, taking it in Oct.
WE: graduating college in 2016 May, so no full time WE
Some soft, some leadership at school, but nothing super impressive

With my gpa, should I stick with my goal of getting into a T14 maybe even considering taking couple years off or blanket a bunch of T40 school try to get a good price this cycle? Application starts in September and I still didn't make up my mind of whether applying this year or not.

I am in a position that my GPA is bad because of 2 very bad quarter during freshman year, but still admissible for most school ranked t20-t40 maybe even some bottom T14-T20. My LSAT score is decent but not good enough to make myself stand out for T14.

So what should I do?

P:S, I want to work in NY, Boston or Chicago, (Chicago over Boston over NY), hopefully in big-law (It doesn't have to I know is hard) and in very faraway future I want to become a prosecutor. (not-so-realistic I know).

(I know my writing skill needs improvement, taking loads of writing and grammar class on the side right now, just give me some advice thank you)

Tiny123 wrote:UGPA: 3.3
LSACGPA: 3.1 -/+
LSAT: I took about 10 practice tests, last 5 were all 167-168, been studying for a little over 2 month, taking it in Oct.
WE: graduating college in 2016 May, so no full time WE
Some soft, some leadership at school, but nothing super impressive

With my gpa, should I stick with my goal of getting into a T14 maybe even considering taking couple years off or blanket a bunch of T40 school try to get a good price this cycle? Application starts in September and I still didn't make up my mind of whether applying this year or not.

I am in a position that my GPA is bad because of 2 very bad quarter during freshman year, but still admissible for most school ranked t20-t40 maybe even some bottom T14-T20. My LSAT score is decent but not good enough to make myself stand out for T14.

So what should I do?

P:S, I want to work in NY, Boston or Chicago, (Chicago over Boston over NY), hopefully in big-law (It doesn't have to I know is hard) and in very faraway future I want to become a prosecutor. (not-so-realistic I know).

(I know my writing skill needs improvement, taking loads of writing and grammar class on the side right now, just give me some advice thank you)

Study for that 170+ LSAT, and apply when you're there. I'd take a few years off if I were you.

gnomgnomuch wrote: Study for that 170+ LSAT, and apply when you're there. I'd take a few years off if I were you.

My biggest and only concern is even if i got a score around 172. (Which is probably the highest i will ever be, 175+ is out of my reach, I will still be bad for T14 schools, then I just wasted years of time and achieve nothing.

Tiny123 wrote:

gnomgnomuch wrote: Study for that 170+ LSAT, and apply when you're there. I'd take a few years off if I were you.

My biggest and only concern is even if i got a score around 172. (Which is probably the highest i will ever be, 175+ is out of my reach, I will still be bad for T14 schools, then I just wasted years of time and achieve nothing.

You'll easily get in to T-14 schools with a 170 or better. The question is whether that's a good decision given the ridiculous price and the fact that your GPA means they won't give much in the way of scholarships.

Tiago Splitter wrote:

Tiny123 wrote:

gnomgnomuch wrote: Study for that 170+ LSAT, and apply when you're there. I'd take a few years off if I were you.

My biggest and only concern is even if i got a score around 172. (Which is probably the highest i will ever be, 175+ is out of my reach, I will still be bad for T14 schools, then I just wasted years of time and achieve nothing.

You'll easily get in to T-14 schools with a 170 or better. The question is whether that's a good decision given the ridiculous price and the fact that your GPA means they won't give much in the way of scholarships.

THIS.

I could see a 3.3/173 getting Columbia at sticker. Is Columbia worth roughly 300k in debt? The thing is, you'd prob get no more than 1/3rd scholarship from Cornell. Now instead of 300k you're at about 200k, and with less prospects.

You might consider extending undergrad, trying to push it to a 3.4 (don't know if that would help in scholarship terms, but I'd doubt it since you'd still be well below most schools 25%) or working for a few years to save money/get experience. Then, you could apply to WUSTL/BC/NU ED (whichever one of those you like best) and hope for a full ride... which might be your best bet. Though, I think a 3.3 puts you out of the running for NU.

If you want to become a prosecutor at the state level, then any accredited law school should suffice.

if you want to be a prosecutor, i don't think you need to go to a T14. but you should still try to maximize your score, so you can get a strong scholarship offer to minimize your debt