Law School Advice Forum

[LBJ2016]

I've been looking on this site for about a month now and I haven't seen much encouraging information about the law schools I've applied to. I've applied to campbell, chapman, howard, usf, santa clara, and golden gate. According to what I have read these are all poor choices, but with my stats I was unsure of how much I should reach. I have a 2.71 gpa and 152 lsat and I am an URM. Studying for the lsat was a challenge because of some on going family issues. With that being said I really want to start law school this fall, but I am unsure if there are better options for me with my stats. I want to go to school in CA or DC and my goal was to get into IP/ Entertainment law. I would love to hear what your thoughts are good and bad lol keeping in mind I am set on starting law school this fall.

[fliptrip]

Well you have to start with the LSAT. With your GPA so low, you're going to absolutely have to maximize your LSAT to have any chance of getting into a school that will work for you. If studying for the LSAT doesn't work for you right now, you should delay all of this until you can devote enough time to the LSAT to be sure you're testing at your potential.

There's a lot left before you're ready, but none of it's relevant until you get a much better LSAT score. I'm assuming you're AA. You'll need to get north of 163 to begin to touch decent outcomes.

[LBJ2016]

I know that the lsat is the best way to improve my outcomes, but I am set on starting in the fall so that wouldn't be an option now. I had thought about going in with the plan of transferring, however after reading from this site I saw that it is not wise to make a decision based on transferring. With that being said do you think Howard is the best option out of the schools I mentioned? Also are there any other schools I should look at?

[fliptrip]

There's no legitimate reason, other than stubbornness, for you to "have" to start law school this fall. You're insisting on heading down a very precarious path fraught with danger on all sides.

If you insist on making this colossal error, your best chance out of a set of bad options would be Howard. If you're getting some kind of stipulation free discount, you have at least some chance of actually getting a job. But, #1, we don't know how bad the situation is from Howard, because 37% of their graduating class DID NOT COMPLETE the employment survey. Even from the limited data we do have, we know that only 55% of their class got a legal job. Do you want to spend 3 years of your life and considerable money for a coin flip's chance of becoming a lawyer? I'm not even talking about getting a "good" job, I'm talking about getting a job, any job, practicing law.

[totesTheGoat]

- Are you patent bar eligible? If not, you're going to have a hard time getting into IP law from those schools. If you're interested in soft IP (or litigation), you're still technically eligible for those jobs, but it will be hard to get into the industry from the schools you listed.
- You may as well write off entertainment law, because it's "unicorn" law (as in you'll meet a unicorn before you find an entertainment law job).
- SF and DC are two of the most oversaturated legal markets in the country. There are a bazillion law schools in those cities pumping out a bazillion lawyers each year.

Now that I've torn apart your hopes and dreams, let's give you a path to putting them back together.

First, don't go to law school this year. I know you really want to, but you're going to have an extremely tough time getting any decent employment outcome from the schools you're considering. Even if you do get a job, your debt is going to be life-consuming for a decade after you graduate.

Second, retake the LSAT, shooting for the mid 160s or higher. That will open up some schools with better outcomes.

Finally, do some research into the types of law you're interested in. The two types that you have listed either require special credentials or divine intervention. See whether you'll actually be able to accomplish your goals from the schools you've applied to.

[LBJ2016]

Thanks for both of your replies I'm going to really think about retaking. Also I know entertainment law is a hard field to crack, but I'm specifically interested in licensing, publishing, and copyright contracts. I'm not looking to be an agent or litigator in the entertainment field I just know that IP covers a lot of the areas I want to practice in. What are some good LSAT prep materials? I tried Kaplan and that didn't work well for me. Thanks again for both of your replies.

[jdcumlaude]

I've been looking on this site for about a month now and I haven't seen much encouraging information about the law schools I've applied to. I've applied to campbell, chapman, howard, usf, santa clara, and golden gate. According to what I have read these are all poor choices, but with my stats I was unsure of how much I should reach. I have a 2.71 gpa and 152 lsat and I am an URM. Studying for the lsat was a challenge because of some on going family issues. With that being said I really want to start law school this fall, but I am unsure if there are better options for me with my stats. I want to go to school in CA or DC and my goal was to get into IP/ Entertainment law. I would love to hear what your thoughts are good and bad lol keeping in mind I am set on starting law school this fall.

I can only comment on Campbell Law. Do not go. Cum Laude and now I am working making less than 40k per year doing a job I hate. School is great for the daughters and sons of judges and lawyers who could not get their LSAT above 155. Their career center is a glorified PR firm for the school.

[reasonable_man]

Thanks for both of your replies I'm going to really think about retaking. Also I know entertainment law is a hard field to crack, but I'm specifically interested in licensing, publishing, and copyright contracts. I'm not looking to be an agent or litigator in the entertainment field I just know that IP covers a lot of the areas I want to practice in. What are some good LSAT prep materials? I tried Kaplan and that didn't work well for me. Thanks again for both of your replies.

Soft IP (which is what you are describing) is VERY hard to get into. Many struggle and never find their way in... You really do not want to try to break into this area of law coming from a low ranked law school. Your chances of doing so are very limited. If you are going to law school specifically to be an IP attorney, you need to be coming from a much better school. I would heavily advise against going to any of the schools you've applied to if your dream is to do IP. The graduates of the schools you've applied to generally work in more run of the mill type areas of law. Personal injury, general litigation, low end transactional. Or they straight up don't find jobs and never join the profession.

Study and re-take the LSAT and give up on the idea of law school this fall. One more year will not kill you. Improve your score. Find a job you'll enjoy for the year, or better yet, work at a firm and learn what its like to actually practice law. Some people love it (I do) and some hate it.