Kinda sorta unique retake LSAT question? Forum

[zapper]

Edited for brevity's sake:

After studying LG exclusively, I ended up with a 170 on the Sept 2009 LSAT. I was very happy to get this score. However, I feel like I underperformed my stronger sections (LR and RC, 8x total), and was capable of 175+ on that test. I never studied LR and RC in any structured fashion the way I did LG. For some reason, over the course of my studying, I got better at LG and worse at the other sections.

I have ~3.8 GPA. I want to go into legal academia, and I know how competitive it is. Assuming I don't get into a T5 school this cycle, should I study RC and LR like mad, retake and reapply next year or get $$$ and try to transfer from lower ranked school after 1L? I have been out of school for a few years, have a decent job in finance and while it's not my passion, I don't know if I want to go into tons of debt for law school unless I'm putting myself in a good position to do what I really want to do. (JD+PhD, teach, write)

Any advice would be appreciated.

[drew]

Edited for brevity's sake:

After studying LG exclusively, I ended up with a 170 on the Sept 2009 LSAT. I was very happy to get this score. However, I feel like I underperformed my stronger sections (LR and RC, 8x total), and was capable of 175+ on that test. I never studied LR and RC in any structured fashion the way I did LG. For some reason, over the course of my studying, I got better at LG and worse at the other sections.

If you took the exams in chronological order, this is likely a reflection of the decreasing difficulty of the logic games and increasing difficulty of the remaining two sections from 1991 to today.

I have ~3.8 GPA. I want to go into legal academia, and I know how competitive it is. Assuming I don't get into a T5 school this cycle, should I study RC and LR like mad, retake and reapply next year or get $$$ and try to transfer from lower ranked school after 1L? I have been out of school for a few years, have a decent job in finance and while it's not my passion, I don't know if I want to go into tons of debt for law school unless I'm putting myself in a good position to do what I really want to do. (JD+PhD, teach, write)

Any advice would be appreciated.

You probably won't get into a [T6] with those stats. You should do well in the MVP bracket, however.

It still blows my mind how TLSers can know that they want to go into legal academia having never taken a real law class. Either way, outside of a HYS acceptance, it is not a wise move to go to law school to become a law professor.

With that in mind, I guess my ultimate advice is to study and retake. Your chances of transferring to a school prestigious enough to usher you into academia are slim to none (first because getting accepted as a transfer is going to be a crapshoot, and second because, as a transfer, you will not be viewed in the same light of your peers.)

You need to get a 174+ to reasonably aspire to legal academia.

[Veyron]

1: Wait a year
2: Apply ED to CHICAGO
3: ???
4: Profittt!

[zapper]

1: Wait a year
2: Apply ED to CHICAGO
3: ???
4: Profittt!

Thanks for the responses and advice!

I don't get #3 and #4 above though...

To drew: I know it's a longer shot but it's not IMPOSSIBLE to get into T6 with 170/3.8. At least according to this site, it's within the range of the 25-75th percentile numbers, right? (C'mon, keep my hopes alive...)

I did take the exams in chronological order, so you must be right there. It was weird that my scores were pretty level throughout, but RC and LR got worse and worse while LG got better and better.

Are you saying legal academia -> 174+ because you think LSATs are somehow taken into account, or because you think it takes 174+ to get into a school that gives you a chance in legal academia?

Also, what's more mind-blowing about TLSers "knowing they want to go into legal academia having never taken a real law class" than TLSers "knowing they want to go into biglaw having never worked in a law firm/in the real world"? Not trying to incite an argument but you make it sound like it's completely naive to want to be a professor. I've gone to college (obviously), I've worked at an NLJ 250 law firm (paralegal), I've worked in finance going on 3 years, and I aspire to be a legal academic. I won't go into it here, but I do have reasons for wanting to teach law, vs. something else.

Thank you for your feedback! Ugh, the thought of taking the LSAT again...

[Veyron]

Parts 2 and 3 = NVMD just take a year off and apply to Chicago ED you idiot. Chicago is the credited CCN for academia anyways and the one with the lowest (numerical) requirements for admission.

Edit: I got into NYU with similar #'s.

[bees]

174+ because of the schools it will get you into, not because they won't let you be a legal academic because of your LSAT.

[zapper]

Yeah, I figured, wasn't trying to be dense...

Veyron, you give me hope despite calling me an idiot, because I really want to get in to NYU. I am more of a Dworkin person than a Leiter person...

[09042014]

Edited for brevity's sake:

After studying LG exclusively, I ended up with a 170 on the Sept 2009 LSAT. I was very happy to get this score. However, I feel like I underperformed my stronger sections (LR and RC, 8x total), and was capable of 175+ on that test. I never studied LR and RC in any structured fashion the way I did LG. For some reason, over the course of my studying, I got better at LG and worse at the other sections.

I have ~3.8 GPA. I want to go into legal academia, and I know how competitive it is. Assuming I don't get into a T5 school this cycle, should I study RC and LR like mad, retake and reapply next year or get $$$ and try to transfer from lower ranked school after 1L? I have been out of school for a few years, have a decent job in finance and while it's not my passion, I don't know if I want to go into tons of debt for law school unless I'm putting myself in a good position to do what I really want to do. (JD+PhD, teach, write)

Any advice would be appreciated.

If you really want academia, why not get that PhD now? Then study for the LSAT when you are almost done with the PhD, and then see if you still want law.

If you want law first, you need to restudy and get into Yale or Harvard.

BTW wtf were you thinking only doing LG before the LSAT its only 25% of the test.

[zapper]

If you really want academia, why not get that PhD now? Then study for the LSAT when you are almost done with the PhD, and then see if you still want law.

If you want law first, you need to restudy and get into Yale or Harvard.

BTW wtf were you thinking only doing LG before the LSAT its only 25% of the test.

Seemed like a good idea at the time...

No, actually, it was because I was consistently doing 0-5x on all three other sections combined when I started studying. And there wasn't really a pattern to which ones I was getting wrong. It was always a stupid oversight. The LG on the other hand were a disaster starting out (ran out of time before even getting to the third game) so I focused all of my studying efforts on those.

It's law first for me. Also I have zero chance of getting into a PhD program right now. Going back to a previous poster's opinion - to what extent are transfer-ins at HYSCCN looked at differently?

[Veyron]

Focus less on transfering. Honestly dood, you have a good chance at CCN in a fresh cycle. I don't know about C and C but N tends to favor high LSAT over high GPA anayways. If you refuse to believe this, I refer you to:

http://officialguide.lsac.org/UGPASearc ... SidString=

which will show you your prob of admission based on LSAC reported #'s.

[zapper]

Thanks for the link. I applied in late December. The wait is driving me crazy, so I've started speculating now...

[drew]

1: Wait a year
2: Apply ED to CHICAGO
3: ???
4: Profittt!

Thanks for the responses and advice!

I don't get #3 and #4 above though...

To drew: I know it's a longer shot but it's not IMPOSSIBLE to get into T6 with 170/3.8. At least according to this site, it's within the range of the 25-75th percentile numbers, right? (C'mon, keep my hopes alive...)

I did take the exams in chronological order, so you must be right there. It was weird that my scores were pretty level throughout, but RC and LR got worse and worse while LG got better and better.

Are you saying legal academia -> 174+ because you think LSATs are somehow taken into account, or because you think it takes 174+ to get into a school that gives you a chance in legal academia?

Also, what's more mind-blowing about TLSers "knowing they want to go into legal academia having never taken a real law class" than TLSers "knowing they want to go into biglaw having never worked in a law firm/in the real world"? Not trying to incite an argument but you make it sound like it's completely naive to want to be a professor. I've gone to college (obviously), I've worked at an NLJ 250 law firm (paralegal), I've worked in finance going on 3 years, and I aspire to be a legal academic. I won't go into it here, but I do have reasons for wanting to teach law, vs. something else.

Thank you for your feedback! Ugh, the thought of taking the LSAT again...

A valid retort. I just don't understand the interest. 174+ for school caliber.

[Fevsi]

I would suggest to wait and see how this cycle plays out for you before you make this decision. As others have mentioned, you have a good chance at least at NYU. Even if they are generally regarded as the lesser of the T6, they actually seem to put a special emphasis on preparing people for a career in legal academia, so if admitted, just go visit during the admit week in March and ask about your specific situation. As to PhD, I think they must have a special concurrent program where you can do both simultaneously, so that you save some time and effort on this front, too. Keep in mind that legal academia, like any other academia, is more weighted towards what you actually produce (=write and publish) than on what school you went to, although it is obviously important, too. I would say visit NYU or any school in T10 that accepts you and see if they are actually doing something concrete to help people streamline their academic career aspirations. I know that NYU does have a special program for that, where you meet with profs and develop a plan to pursue this goal, but not sure about other schools. Good luck!

[zapper]

Thanks! Keeping my fingers crossed...