Top Law Schools

Hey everyone,

First time poster, long time reader of TLS. I am interested in taking the October 2013 LSATs and just wanted to know what would be the best option for me in terms of prep.

For some brief background info, I am currently a full time Mass Tort Paralegal at a Newark NJ Plaintiff Firm. I graduated from Rutgers New Brunswick/Piscataway with a dual major in History and Political Science in May of last year (3.1 GPA). I took the LSAT once before in October 2012 and prepped with a Princeton Review course (cannot recall whether it was Hyperlearning or Ultimate course). I was projecting in the mid 150s and ended up with a 147 unfortunately, probably in large part due to nerves and not preparing enough.

All I am looking to do is get a decent enough score to get into Rutgers Newark (soon to be known as Rutgers University School of Law with the impending Camden/Newark school merger). Cost effective as a NJ resident. According to the school website, GPA is 25/75 3.46/3.03 and LSAT is 25/75 161/155 (Class of 2012 stats). So basically I am looking to just secure a 160 if possible.

Any advice on how to begin my prep? (I am completely fine with shelling out $1500 for a prep course if it means getting into RU Newark.) I see a lot of negative reviews for Kaplan on TLS and I would be open to taking Princeton Review again (Ultimate course that runs through the summer). There are Test Masters and Power Score courses in the New Brunswick area as well, but from what I have read here those courses are better suited for those interested in going to a T30 school. A lot of the courses do not start until mid to late July which is why I was also wondering what books should I buy and begin my prep with now? A lot of posters here seem to favor the Powerscore Bible series.

Please let me know your thoughts and any help/advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

ScarletKnight90

The LSAT can be a very learnable test. Don't settle for a lower score just because you think it's good enough to get into RU Newark. Like the previous poster said, shoot for 165+ so you can try to get a substantial scholarship. Of the options you listed, my vote goes to taking a powerscore class. (And just because powerscore is a good course for those wanting to score 170+ doesn't mean it's not a good course for people wanting to score 160+.)

Also, you should really look more into the state of the legal market right now. You mentioned that RU Newark was cost-effective for instate people--it really isn't. Look at lawschooltransparency.com. It might make sense to go there with a full scholarship, but incurring a decent amount of debt with the very real possibility of not being able to find ANY legal job after graduation is generally not a good idea.

Just to note, I will not be going to law school full time and will very likely be attending part time while working full or part time. I am fortunate enough that I have family/friends in big law and corporate legal departments that should hopefully be able to help me out by the time I would graduate.

Since I would be going part time, I am hoping that the legal market may look different four to five years from now.

ScarletKnight90 wrote:Just to note, I will not be going to law school full time and will very likely be attending part time while working full or part time. I am fortunate enough that I have family/friends in big law and corporate legal departments that should hopefully be able to help me out by the time I would graduate.

Since I would be going part time, I am hoping that the legal market may look different four to five years from now.

Two things:
1) While connections in big law and corporate legal departments are very nice to have, you still will probably have the requisite credentials to get looked at. Coming out of RU Newark means you will probably have to have very high grades to even get looked at.
2) RU Newark and other schools weren't even worth 20K+/yr when the economy was booming. The poor legal economy has helped shine a light on how poorly schools are placing grads in 1) jobs able to pay off substantial debt and 2) legal jobs in general. But for many schools this was still a problem when the legal market looked great on the surface (it was great--for people going to the top schools; not so much for people going to lower-tiered schools).

bump. Thanks in advance for all your advice/help

I go to rutgers new brunswick and i'm studying. I live on college ave on mine, if you want to study together sometimes, let me know!