Foreign student aplying to top law schools Forum

[xuug]

I'm a former spanish law student in Spain and this past year I have taken an LLM at PSU Law. I enjoyed the experience so much that I decided I wanted to become a lawyer in the US. I know that chances to become a lawyer with an LLM are slim, so I decided to pursue a JD Program for fall 2020 (I'm 22, so I would be 23 by that time). I'm taking the LSAT in October and I'm already putting in lots of hours of work.

I'm not really worried about getting 170+ at the test, since i'm already very close to getting to that range. However, I'm not sure how top law schools take into consideration the fact that you're a foreign student. My undergrad law GPA has a completely different system than the one in the US. I guess (and hope) that they will take more in consideration my LLM GPA (3,98), but i'm not certain since I haven't found anyone in the same situation as me.

I already got two good letters of recommendation from 2 law school professors that I had at PSU law, so that wouldn't be a problem. My issue is more related on how much will they care about 1) undergrad GPA from a foreign country, 2) LLM GPA from PSU Law and 3) LSAT Score. Also, I would like to know which would be my chances on getting into a top law school if I got a 170+ LSAT score or maybe a little bit less than that.

[kinge]

I don't know anything about how international applications work, especially applicants with a foreign law degree and ESPECIALLY applicants who already have an American LLM. Are you sure you can still apply as a JD candidate? Most international GPAs are converted into a category like "Superior" or something so international applicants can have widely varying results.

Also, you posted 2 threads within a short time span and they give very different info. One of them says that you are struggling to break 170 and struggling with RC, which is by far the hardest section to improve on, especially if English is not your native language.

[xuug]

Yep! It's two of us using the same account. We both studied together, that's why the info is different. I know I can apply to a JD 100%.
I didn't know about the LSAC translation. My transcripts have been sent there recently and they are still being evaluated. I guess that whenever they finish the review it'll say something.
Thanks!

[ESQ92]

Just to throw out another option, if you’re considering California at all you should be able to take the bar without the need for a JD. (I know foreign LLM students who did that). It could be way more cost effective for you to take a year to study for the bar directly and pass it, and you shouldn’t feel under credentialed since you have an LLM. HOWEVER, if you don’t have some kind of employment prospect already, you might still want to go to law school just so you can get a job through OCI. But if you aren’t looking for BigLaw, then I would just skip law school and go for the bar - you seem like a good test taker and got a high LLM GPA so you can totally do it with proper study.

[xuug]

Thanks! I already knew about the California option. However, as you mentioned, I don't have any job prospects waiting for me there. That is the main reason of why I would like to do the whole JD program. Also, getting the chance of getting into big law is one of my main goals (very difficult in my situation), but i guess I won't know til I try.