Should I drop out and reapply? New LSAT score. Forum

[i_wish_i_was_smart]

Hi,

I'm in a pretty unique situation. I'm a Canadian and attending a Canadian school right now. I underperformed and got a 169 on the LSAT in February. I hadn't gotten accepted to any schools at that point. So, I decided to retake in June and got a 178. (My PT scores were consistently ~175 even when I scored 169). Subsequently, I got accepted into a Canadian school.

A part of me still wishes I had applied to the T14 law schools and I prefer working in the US, specifically NYC. But the school I'm in has a solid reputation in Canada and places pretty well into Canadian biglaw. It also gives me a shot at NYC biglaw but only if I am in the top 10-15 % of my class. Would it be completely irrational to drop out and reapply? My GPA is 3.6.

[RamTitan]

I am very interested in hearing what people have to say about this. I am inclined to say yes, because you have a good explanation for dropping out, but do not take my word for it.

If you scored a 178 in June, why did you even start school this fall?

[esther0123]

Hmm.. if you are set on NY market then T14 is substantially better, since only one or two Canadian grads are hired at those firms that do hire. But if you end up going to T14, moving back to Canada is kind of difficult, unless you go to HYS (and even then, it's a bit dicey). It depends on where you want to end up ultimately. Dropping out of law school after one year is weird and certainly will raise eyebrows (e.g. why didn't you just wait a year and apply later/why do you keep changing your mind), if NY big law is your end game, it might be worth it? But you should look into immigration issues before making that jump. If you don't land big law (could be the case if you end up doing not-too-great at the lower T14), then you're a bit hooped.

ETA: 3.6 and 178 probably gives you a solid shot at T6 but maybe not HYS. I would venture and say no scholarship either... so probably will graduate with massive debt. Something to consider.

[dabigchina]

What's the Canadian school?

[Denning'sSkiTrip]

Are you at U of T? If so U of T places decently (considering it is in Canada) in biglaw in NYC (15+ people this year got summer jobs there through 2L OCIs, great firms too). Yes those people did very well at U of T to get those jobs but it's certainly possible. If you're at another school they don't tend to place as well in NYC, a few people from osgoode make it but they tend to be at the absolute top of their class. Other than that I don't think any other Canadian school really places in NYC, and I'm not sure if it's even possible to go to New York from a school outside Ontario. Even U of T and Osgoode aren't associated with the ABA like the US schools are, you're just allowed to write the New York and Massachusetts bar. In any case yes, at U of T top 10-15% of the class will have a shot at a NYC job, at other schools that would probably be stretching it, you'd need to do better, if you could go at all.

I also don't believe you can transfer to a US school from a Canadian law school (but I'm not 100% on this). It's my understanding that you would have to start from scratch if you went down there even if you had completed 1L (but again, I'm not 100% sure about this).

As far as what you should do I don't really have any advice because I just don't know. I guess research what schools you think you could get into with those numbers and how they place in NYC. Also take a look at how easy it would be to come back to Canada with a US JD, and maybe give the law society in your province a call. There was someone at Davies (I think Davies) in Toronto last summer who goes to Columbia, and someone at I think the MAG from Harvard.

Something else to keep in mind is that if you kill it in law school you can always go to one of the elite US institutions for an LLM. Anyway best of luck with your decision!