Hey guys
I have 2 semesters left of undergrad( really 4 if you count summer semesters- I’ll be taking a couple classes this Summer, Fall, Spring, and next Summer- and then I’m done( should graduate in Summer 2026) I had some questions
1. My GPA is currently 2.6( haven’t taken the LSAT yet but scoring in the mid 160s on PTs) Here are the law schools I’m looking at ( in no particular order)
URichmond
Catholic U
Suffolk
Regent
Brooklyn
Howard
Hofstra
I plan to take the LSAT in August. Let’s say I get around a 165. Could I get into these schools if I applied this Fall with a 2.6/165 or would it be better to wait a year( ideally I’d like to raise my GPA to 2.8 or 2.9 by the time I graduate in Summer of 26) Again, I’m asking whether I should apply this Fall with my 2.6 GPA or wait until next Fall when my GPA is higher and I’ve graduated. I’m a disabled URM( though not sure how much that matters to schools anymore)
2. I want to be a public prosecutor in a big East Coast city( NYC, Boston, or DC) Does what law school you attend matter for ADA jobs? How important is the location of the law school? If I go to law school in NYC and do well, could I land a job as an ADA in Boston? ( or vice versa)
Various Questions Forum
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crazywafflez
- Posts: 706
- Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 8:02 pm
Re: Various Questions
I can't answer number 1 for you. You'll just need to ace the LSAT and then see. As for number 2, going for cheap to a local state U is your best bet. Wanna be in Boston? Suffolk or Northeastern for free. Philly? Temple, Drexel or Nova. Baltimore? UMD. NYC? CUNY, NYLS, Brookyln, Hof, St John's, Doza. And so on. Good luck!
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nealric
- Posts: 4383
- Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:53 am
Re: Various Questions
1. Probably at least one of them. A sub 3.0 is far from ideal at any school, but a 165+ would make you a "splitter." Splitters can have unpredictable cycles, and it's good to apply widely. If you can get a few points above that, you may be able to get into schools a tier or two above most on your list, or more scholarship money for lower tier schools.
2. All schools are regional to a degree, but the lower ranked you go the more regional they tend to become. You'll need to balance cost against rank. While rank doesn't matter in an absolute sense, it's a rough proxy for employment outcomes in the region as well as the size of the regional school. The most regional schools may only have a usable network in a particular city or even part of a city. Even though you are looking to be a public prosecutor, many of the large city prosecutor's offices are very competitive to get into (especially Manhattan).
As a side note, that list seems to be a bit all over the place other than generally focusing on the East Coast. A conservative religious school like Regent is VERY different from an HBCU like Howard, which is very different from a secular urban law school only institution like Brooklyn. While there are types that would fit in anywhere, you might want to decide which type is a better cultural fit when putting together a final list. You don't have to be an evangelical Christian to go to Regent or a Catholic to go to Catholic, but you will likely be in the minority if you aren't. Of course cultural fit isn't everything, but second and third tier law school hiring can be very network dependent, and you need to be sure that you can be comfortable around the school's student and alumni population to effectively utilize that network.
2. All schools are regional to a degree, but the lower ranked you go the more regional they tend to become. You'll need to balance cost against rank. While rank doesn't matter in an absolute sense, it's a rough proxy for employment outcomes in the region as well as the size of the regional school. The most regional schools may only have a usable network in a particular city or even part of a city. Even though you are looking to be a public prosecutor, many of the large city prosecutor's offices are very competitive to get into (especially Manhattan).
As a side note, that list seems to be a bit all over the place other than generally focusing on the East Coast. A conservative religious school like Regent is VERY different from an HBCU like Howard, which is very different from a secular urban law school only institution like Brooklyn. While there are types that would fit in anywhere, you might want to decide which type is a better cultural fit when putting together a final list. You don't have to be an evangelical Christian to go to Regent or a Catholic to go to Catholic, but you will likely be in the minority if you aren't. Of course cultural fit isn't everything, but second and third tier law school hiring can be very network dependent, and you need to be sure that you can be comfortable around the school's student and alumni population to effectively utilize that network.
