Use of Law School consultants Forum

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Lynx_4eva

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Use of Law School consultants

Post by Lynx_4eva » Thu Jul 22, 2021 6:50 pm

Getting some conflicting input from my consultant. Told them I’m interested in working in DC, VA or Boston and they’re pushing schools like UGA, MN and IA vs lower ranked schools in the cities I’m interested in W&M, Northeastern, Richmond. Note: my preferred top 5 are: BU, BC, Vandy, GW

I’m also being told to expect median LSATs to be 2-4 pts higher vs Class of 2023.

As I mentioned before, my stats: 167LSAT; 3.96 GPA.

Thoughts?

DebtPrisoner

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by DebtPrisoner » Thu Jul 22, 2021 10:34 pm

Lynx_4eva wrote:
Thu Jul 22, 2021 6:50 pm
Getting some conflicting input from my consultant. Told them I’m interested in working in DC, VA or Boston and they’re pushing schools like UGA, MN and IA vs lower ranked schools in the cities I’m interested in W&M, Northeastern, Richmond. Note: my preferred top 5 are: BU, BC, Vandy, GW

I’m also being told to expect median LSATs to be 2-4 pts higher vs Class of 2023.

As I mentioned before, my stats: 167LSAT; 3.96 GPA.

Thoughts?
Uhhh...I'm no expert, but this seems crazy to me. What is your UG school/tier? I know it was a crazy cycle but with your stats and goals you should apply to WUSTL and GULC for sure as well as Duke, Cornell, and the lower T-14. People are getting crazy LSATs now, but not everyone can get a 3.9+ GPA.

TTTTorbust

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by TTTTorbust » Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:43 am

I'm with DebtPrisoner here. I agree with your consultant in terms of having options that are presumably full tuition scholarships, but you should be applying to schools T1 in those markets as well as GULC/UVA/Duke, and frankly wherever else you want outside of HYS. Throw an app at H if you really want to. If your consultant is for some reason advising against schools in the T-14, fire them. You don't need them at all to get into your target schools with your numbers. You presumably hired them to punch up, so make sure they're helping you with that, i.e. they should be making your application attractive to schools in the T-14 and helping you great scholarships at the top 5 you've listed.

Lynx_4eva

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by Lynx_4eva » Fri Jul 23, 2021 1:10 pm

Thanks for the advice. My consultant is having me target schools in the 20-35 range east of the Rockies (schools whose 50-tile LSAT was 164 for class of ‘23), and considers 12-20 reaches. They note that during this past cycle students with my stats struggled with acceptances to T-20 schools

The reason I hired a consultant was to maximize my chances of getting into a top 25-ish school that have reach into the Boston or DC markets. Big Law is not a priority for me.

eastcoast_iub

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by eastcoast_iub » Sat Jul 24, 2021 11:05 am

Law School admission is like 75% LSAT and GPA, and there is a plethora of publicly available data on law school medians. Why would you need a consultant?

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TTTTorbust

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by TTTTorbust » Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:42 pm

Lynx_4eva wrote:
Fri Jul 23, 2021 1:10 pm
Thanks for the advice. My consultant is having me target schools in the 20-35 range east of the Rockies (schools whose 50-tile LSAT was 164 for class of ‘23), and considers 12-20 reaches. They note that during this past cycle students with my stats struggled with acceptances to T-20 schools

The reason I hired a consultant was to maximize my chances of getting into a top 25-ish school that have reach into the Boston or DC markets. Big Law is not a priority for me.
They may have struggled with their particular dream school in the 12-20 range, but I think you'd be hard pressed to strike out if you blanketed 7-20 and not get a few acceptances, you might even get half a dozen admits. You can convince me UVA might be a reach, and even then you have a healthy shot, but nowhere 14 down is. Quite frankly, if you don't want to go to Iowa or UGA, there's no reason for you to spend the money to apply. If you don't get into 3-4 of your top 5 and at least one admit in the T-13/a few in the 14-20 range, your consultant should retire.

Lynx_4eva

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by Lynx_4eva » Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:40 am

eastcoast_iub wrote:
Sat Jul 24, 2021 11:05 am
Law School admission is like 75% LSAT and GPA, and there is a plethora of publicly available data on law school medians. Why would you need a consultant?
Because my test scores put me in the middle of the pack among my top choice schools. I'm looking for guidance on application strategy and my personal statement. As a WF from an upper middle class family I need to make sure that ‘other’ 25% is as strong as possible.

CanadianWolf

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by CanadianWolf » Mon Jul 26, 2021 6:13 am

In my opinion,the posters above have given solid advice.

How many times have you taken the LSAT ?

Do you have any post undergraduate degree full time work experience ?
Or are you a potential K-JD applicant ?

Are you seeking a scholarship ?

Does your consultant charge an hourly fee, a package fee, or by number of schools to which you apply ? I ask because I think that you should apply to more schools than just the few suggested by your consultant. Once your consultant assists you on one or two applications, you should be able to handle the rest.

Why not apply to all 10 schools that you listed above plus any others which interest you ?

The implicit messages from your consultant is that you should retake the LSAT for a higher score and that currently you are a weak candidate for admission to law schools ranked higher than those that the consultant suggested.

What do you expect from your consultant ? I have read all of your 8 posts and it seems clear that you have a valid reason for applying to certain law schools such as Vanderbilt & Peabody.

Not sure what you mean by "conflicting information".

Lynx_4eva

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by Lynx_4eva » Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:39 am

CanadianWolf wrote:
Mon Jul 26, 2021 6:13 am
In my opinion,the posters above have given solid advice.

How many times have you taken the LSAT ?

Do you have any post undergraduate degree full time work experience ?
Or are you a potential K-JD applicant ?

Are you seeking a scholarship ?

Does your consultant charge an hourly fee, a package fee, or by number of schools to which you apply ? I ask because I think that you should apply to more schools than just the few suggested by your consultant. Once your consultant assists you on one or two applications, you should be able to handle the rest.

Why not apply to all 10 schools that you listed above plus any others which interest you ?

The implicit messages from your consultant is that you should retake the LSAT for a higher score and that currently you are a weak candidate for admission to law schools ranked higher than those that the consultant suggested.

What do you expect from your consultant ? I have read all of your 8 posts and it seems clear that you have a valid reason for applying to certain law schools such as Vanderbilt & Peabody.

Not sure what you mean by "conflicting information".
Thanks. Agree the posters have given good information. The conflict is, from what I’ve read, after the T14 the focus should be on regional markets where you want to work. That’s why I’ve targeted the schools I have. Vandy is a slight outlier, but I’ve spent a lot of time in that area and like it. It also places on DC pretty well.
When my consultant threw in IA, MN, AL and GA it seems they were more concerned about rank vs my target markets.

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CanadianWolf

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by CanadianWolf » Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:44 am

I agree that your consultant may not be listening to you as well as he/she should be.

Have you taken the LSAT more than once ?

Any post undergraduate work experience ?

Lynx_4eva

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by Lynx_4eva » Mon Jul 26, 2021 8:48 am

I took the LSAT 2x. First was a disaster at 161. Computer issues and the Procter wanting to see my room, really threw me off. Took my 2nd in June. The 167 was at the high end of my practice tests which were consistently 164-166.
I’m going to law school straight from undergrad. My summer work and volunteering all align with my career goals.
I’m fully funded for Law school as my parents saved and I chose undergrad based on cost/benefit. This saved me ~$120k.

CanadianWolf

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Re: Use of Law School consultants

Post by CanadianWolf » Mon Jul 26, 2021 10:15 am

https://law.duke.edu/childedlaw/

Apply to law schools which offer a clinic related to your interests.

With your numbers, Georgetown Law should be considered. Georgetown offers a couple of courses related to education law and allows students to earn up to 6 credits in other schools within the university (public policy) which offer education courses.

Consider applying to:
Duke Law
Cornell Law
Georgetown Law
Vanderbilt Law
Boston University
Boston College
George Washington University School of Law

Many state flagship law schools will give you access to courses in their respective school of education related to education law & disability rights.
Arizona State (ASU), Wisconsin, and many others.

Google law clinics related to education policy/ education law/disability law

Additionally,you may want to search for law schools with dual degree options which permit you to earn a masters degree in education policy.

Harvard has an interesting program. Not sure if BU law or BC law & masters in education at Harvard can be accommodated. One masters program at Harvard used to be tuition free, but not sure if still true. I looked into this about a decade ago when the program was new. (The program was designed to equip grads with the skills & knowledge to advise school districts on a variety of matters.)

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