My GPA is 2.9 (3.1) I got a 160 on my lsat. A little known private ug in Texas. I am Latino. I have a variety of pretty good softs including steering committee of a major US labor rights nonprofit, internship with a state senator, internship with a Latino political nonprofit org in DC, a internship in Bolivia with a international relations think tank, a year’s work as a paralegal, a continuing education certificate from the Washington Center, and president of my schools mock OAS.
I applied to law schools in my range from top 30 to 60 knowing I was not having much luck with my numbers. I was accepted in AU WCL, Loyola LA, Cardozo, Tulane and a few others. Most with modest scholarships. For the longest time I have been between American University and Loyola and I’ve even payed down payment for both. I have been aware of the state of law schools and the law market and the risk of debt in going to either of these schools. Being a frequent TLS reader I have read all the bad reviews and criticisms of these lower ranked institutions. For some reason, just like many other TLSers, I ignored all the information plain in front of me, feeling that I have to go to school now, and that things for me would be different for me(My dad owns his own law business that I could fall back on, and being relatively privileged my parents will help me pay my loans). I have been committed to going to law school now until a few days ago when I saw the new 2014 rankings. For some reason seeing the schools I plan to go to precipitously drop in ranking snapped me out of my delusions

I am pretty certain with more study time I can greatly improve my score, but will that really help me get into a better school with my abysmal GPA? If I got a 170 or 175 what school would I be looking at? Any advice is greatly appreciated.