Top Law Schools

I am currently in graduate school at William and Mary, but also applied to law school. At first I only applied to W&M law (it was somewhat of a back up plan), and took the LSAT in February. However, I got a 174 on the test, and my undergrad GPA was a 3.71 at a top small private univ. My friends have told me I should apply to better places, so i hastily completed apps for UVA and Penn Law. I was wondering if my extremely late app has already doomed me to rejection or not. Also, I;m a VA resident so that would help for UVA, and I'll have my MA in hand by August with a solid (around 3.6) GPA.

Congratulations on your numbers! You have numbers competitive with all law schools including the top 3. If you waited a year I would almost guarantee you would go a top 5 school. Your extremely late admission is definitely going to hurt you but your numbers are so far above UVA and Penn that you have a very strong shot. Here is the gameplan I would follow:

1.) Assess where you are in the William and Mary graduate program. Have you obtained a masters or are you near obtaining one? If you could grab a masters in 2006 and go to law school in Fall 2007 I would strongly consider this. I picked up a masters first and I am glad I did- a side of me that is interested in my graduate field was fullfilled and I have an additional degree that makes me stand out.

2.) Of the T14 schools, are UPenn and UVA the only schools you want to attend? If you fished the net widely right now it is very likely several top 14 schools would take you because your numbers are so far above their average. Law school committees are on 174 LSATs like ants on sugar. Someone will bite on your app but only applying to UVA and UPenn might not be enough.

3.) Do I value going to a top 5 school and if so is it worth waiting until Fall of 2007?

I would act based on the answers to these questions. When you send your apps in now make sure you also include a small supplementary essay on why yoiu want their school. I think that if a school like UPenn knew your situation and knew that you would accept their offer they would take you. Your numbers are going to be vastly superior to those they have waitlisted ; as widthdrawls come back in April they may bump you in over those on the waitlist.

Thank you for the advice. I'm sort of new to an earnest search for law schools, so I'm trying to internalize as much information as I can get my hands on. My gameplan for now is to apply to those two schools, and if I get in to either, I will attend. If I don't get in due to tardiness of application or what have you, I will take a year off, do something law-related, and apply to every top-ten school for Fall '07. Although there are other T-14 schools I am interested in, those two are my tops outside of HLS, YLS and Stanford, of course, and so that is why I chose those two. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

nicksta83 wrote:I am currently in graduate school at William and Mary, but also applied to law school. At first I only applied to W&M law (it was somewhat of a back up plan), and took the LSAT in February. However, I got a 174 on the test, and my undergrad GPA was a 3.71 at a top small private univ. My friends have told me I should apply to better places, so i hastily completed apps for UVA and Penn Law. I was wondering if my extremely late app has already doomed me to rejection or not. Also, I;m a VA resident so that would help for UVA, and I'll have my MA in hand by August with a solid (around 3.6) GPA.

Nope. UVA's late ED program means that your 'late' app shouldn't be a problem.