Top Law Schools

Hello everyone,

First off I just wanted to say thank you for your time. Right now, I am just finishing my B.Sc in Microbiology at UBC in Canada. It's a top rank school. My first year was not the best, 2.7 GPA but my last two years are strong, 3.7 GPA and right now in my last term I am holding a 4.0 and only have a couple finals, so most of my grades are in. As I decided half way in my degree that I didn't want to pursue a job in the health field, I decided I wanted law. Because I didn't want to jeopardize my application, I decided to withhold from applying to Canadian law schools or US schools (I'm a dual citizen). I did decided to apply to one, Elon Law, a T4 school just as a backup if my fourth year was bad. I also wrote a 155 on the LSAT and believe if I work from the end of April through September, I have a solid chance of improving. The issue is I got not only accepted but an entrance scholarship of $35 000 to Elon which will cover about half of the non-living expenses.

My options are to go to Elon

or

Go to Elon and try to transfer to a more prestigious American Law school

I am hoping to transfer to a T1 or T2 school. Possibly Georgetown if I could pull the top of my class or Pepperdine Law.

or should I withhold and wait a year?


So my question is what would you do in my shoes and what would be the best approach? Any advise would be much appreciated. Thank You!

James.K.Polk wrote:

lol, be niceeeeeeeeeee.

I come in peace...

First, I'd advise reading up a lot more on law school admissions and school choice. It is very unusual to consider Elon and Pepperdine together. You should be thinking about your goals for legal practice and where you would like to live and also what areas you have the most ties to.

Second, you should definitely retake the LSAT and execute a more comprehensive application strategy. I don't think anyone would advise a solo shot to Elon without a ton of additional information/reasons for that move.

Absolutely sit out this cycle and retake the LSAT, without a question.

thescienceguy13 wrote:.

or should I withhold and wait a year?

Withhold, man. For the love of God, withhold.

ETA seriously though, retake the LSAT, get some work experience, design a more well-crafted application strategy, and apply in a year or two.

I'd highly recommend Richard Montauk's "How to Get Into the Top Law Schools."

First, I'm going to ask that you check the title of this thread for a typo. I've never created a thread on TLS before, but if you can edit the title I recommend you do so before you attract the bullies of TLS.

Secondly, going to a low ranked school with the expectation that you can then transfer to Georgetown is unrealistic. Take a year off and bring up your LSAT score. I personally took a Testmasters class and my score jumped 20 points so I would look into what LSAT prep classes are available in your area. Spend your summer working on your personal statement and resume, then send out your applications sometime between September and November. If you do all of this I guarantee you will be a lot happier come this time next year. Best of luck!

what is elon?

Did you expect to get expected to Elon?

https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/law/car ... 202014.pdf

You can expect a 30% chance of being unemployed and 0% chance of landing a BigLaw position.

Retake is the TCR.

The_Lorax wrote:Did you expect to get expected to Elon?

Don't be an asshole

BasilHallward wrote:https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/law/car ... 202014.pdf

You can expect a 30% chance of being unemployed and 0% chance of landing a BigLaw position.

Retake is the TCR.

This is lower than I thought it would be.

Hey there, most of the replies here are going to condescendingly tell you to retake the lsat. Despite how dickish they sound, they are mostly correct. The 35k scholarship is nice, but if you have the time you can wait a year and bump that up several tens of thousands of dollars with a higher score. Even better, you could end up at a better school with better employment prospects. If I were you I'd consider my options and think about retaking because it really can pay off.

edditb wrote:Hey there, most of the replies here are going to condescendingly tell you to retake the lsat. Despite how dickish they sound, they are mostly correct. The 35k scholarship is nice, but if you have the time you can wait a year and bump that up several tens of thousands of dollars with a higher score. Even better, you could end up at a better school with better employment prospects. If I were you I'd consider my options and think about retaking because it really can pay off.

Not fair. When OP first posted, I, like everyone else expected a cavalcade of snark, but do you really think that on balance the folks that have responded have sounded dickish?

fliptrip wrote:

edditb wrote:Hey there, most of the replies here are going to condescendingly tell you to retake the lsat. Despite how dickish they sound, they are mostly correct. The 35k scholarship is nice, but if you have the time you can wait a year and bump that up several tens of thousands of dollars with a higher score. Even better, you could end up at a better school with better employment prospects. If I were you I'd consider my options and think about retaking because it really can pay off.

Not fair. When OP first posted, I, like everyone else expected a cavalcade of snark, but do you really think that on balance the folks that have responded have sounded dickish?

+1 this has been surprisingly tame

oliverotis wrote:

fliptrip wrote:

edditb wrote:Hey there, most of the replies here are going to condescendingly tell you to retake the lsat. Despite how dickish they sound, they are mostly correct. The 35k scholarship is nice, but if you have the time you can wait a year and bump that up several tens of thousands of dollars with a higher score. Even better, you could end up at a better school with better employment prospects. If I were you I'd consider my options and think about retaking because it really can pay off.

Not fair. When OP first posted, I, like everyone else expected a cavalcade of snark, but do you really think that on balance the folks that have responded have sounded dickish?

+1 this has been surprisingly tame

It has been, honestly it was more preemptive than anything lol. Most of them have been constructive but if you haven't been on this site before some of the responses can be offputting so I wanted to reinforce the good advice people were giving.

On top of a personal moral obligation, you also have a social responsibility to not attend this school. Spend an evening perusing this website for information that will change your life.

edditb wrote:Hey there, most of the replies here are going to condescendingly tell you to retake the lsat. Despite how dickish they sound, they are mostly correct. The 35k scholarship is nice, but if you have the time you can wait a year and bump that up several tens of thousands of dollars with a higher score. Even better, you could end up at a better school with better employment prospects. If I were you I'd consider my options and think about retaking because it really can pay off.

I just wanted to thank you for your input. I am well aware of elon and the prospects of going there, at the time of applying, I already had the plan of taking a year off to focus on a better application.

Anyways, thanks!

I live in the region and would very strongly advise you not to attend that school or live in that city. Best of luck.