Should I retake... Forum

[Caesar Salad]

I know the answer on here is always yes, reading tons of threads telling people to take a year off and retake is what put the idea in my head in the first place, but consider:

I went to Lehigh University and graduated with a 3.55 and got a 163 on the LSAT. I didn't prepare for the test hardly at all, I took a total of 2 practice tests in the weeks leading up to the exam, because I am an idiot. I have no question in my mind that I could pretty easily achieve a much higher score, especially given that I am not in school anymore and could devote 100% of my energies to prepping. As it stands, I got into Seton Hall Law School with a $25k per year, renewed as long as I remain in the top 70% of the class. Both of my parents are Seton Hall alumni and practicing attorneys in the state of New Jersey, which is where I eventually want to work and live. Ideally, I would like to work in Biglaw for a few years out of school and make some $$, which seems to be doable out of Seton Hall, with ~10% of last years class employed FTLT at firms 101+. My parents have both told me to go to Seton Hall and have said that many of their colleagues and bosses are Seton Hall grads and the name will carry me fine in NJ, but there is obviously some amount of alumni bias there. I don't know what to do. If I were to retake and get a 175, would that even be enough to take my 3.55 to HYS or CCN? I also have some CF red flags, with a few arrests for alcohol related offenses during undergrad... Additionally, how much more difficult will it be to get to the top of my class at one of those schools, as opposed to Seton Hall's (presumably) less competitive student body? USNWR ranks Seton Hall 69th, which is not great, but ATL ranks them 36th and I think their methodology is more meaningful. If I knew today that I could go to Seton Hall and achieve all of my dreams, I would no doubt go, I have visited and really liked the school and know that I would be happy there--and I would be close to my family which would be great because my relationships with my family are really important to me. But I would obviously have better odds at getting to Biglaw from a more prestigious school with better employment prospects. I am ABSOLUTELY fishing for reassurance that going to Seton Hall isn't too risky/too much of a gamble to make considering the ~$130k debt I will be taking on. An additional piece of information: my dad has his own law firm so there is no scenario where I will be completely unemployed in 3 years, but he's got a pretty small operation and would likely pay around $50k. Thank you in advance for any and all help!

[rebexness]

Seton Hall is ABSOLUTELY too risky at 130K if you want Big Law (or any job). Seton Hall for free with your connections might not be awful for small law.

A retake with 175+ should get you into NYU at the very least with that GPA.

[Caesar Salad]

Seton Hall is ABSOLUTELY too risky at 130K if you want Big Law (or any job). Seton Hall for free with your connections might not be awful for small law.

A retake with 175+ should get you into NYU at the very least with that GPA.

Sad panda. I just looked on LST, Seton Hall is ranked highest of the 10 schools who place the greatest proportion of their graduates in NJ with 65.2% employed FTLT, but the large firm number still sits at 10% obviously.

[Tuxedo]

Seton Hall is ABSOLUTELY too risky at 130K if you want Big Law (or any job). Seton Hall for free with your connections might not be awful for small law.

A retake with 175+ should get you into NYU at the very least with that GPA.

Sad panda. I just looked on LST, Seton Hall is ranked highest of the 10 schools who place the greatest proportion of their graduates in NJ with 65.2% employed FTLT, but the large firm number still sits at 10% obviously.

Remember though, that many FTLT jobs that Seton Hall grads get are not paying enough to service their debts well. Read the forum for some info on biglaw/shitlaw and revisit those numbers.

[Tiago Splitter]

The great thing is that this exact same Seton Hall offer or very likely a better one will be waiting for you next year after your retake. There is zero risk in waiting and trying again next year. Given that you only go to law school once, you might as well do it right.

[Lacepiece23]

Retake is almost always the right answer.

[Nova]

I went to Lehigh University and graduated with a 3.55 and got a 163 on the LSAT. I didn't prepare for the test hardly at all, I took a total of 2 practice tests in the weeks leading up to the exam, because I am an idiot. I have no question in my mind that I could pretty easily achieve a much higher score, especially given that I am not in school anymore and could devote 100% of my energies to prepping.

Pretty sure you would regret not retaking for the rest of your life.

The test is more important than all 4 years of undergrad, and you took two PTs? Come on...

[Caesar Salad]

Pretty sure you would regret not retaking for the rest of your life.

The test is more important than all 4 years of undergrad, and you took two PTs? Come on...

Yeah I took the June test last year and had a pretty busy semester in terms of course load, in addition to being president of my fraternity which was also a major time suck. That's useless justification though, I still found plenty of time to drink beer and play video games. I know I really screwed up, partially I didn't feel that I really needed to bother because I was always going to end up going to Seton Hall (which my practice scores would have more than set me up for), just as my parents did, and would have a fine legal career, just as they have. But employment prospects have obviously greatly changed in the past few decades. I really wish I had found this site a few years ago :/