Top Law Schools

Hi !

I'm looking to apply to law school. Where ahould I apply to?

Some of my background info is as follows:

lsat: 172 ( 170, 174)
gpa: 3.94
major: physics, mathematics
college: top 100 in usnews
work experience: worked one year as a research assistant in the states straight after college. Worked 3 years as lecturer/ teaching assistant overseas.
Other information: born in Taipei, female, Asian. Wanted to do law earlier, but wasn't ready .

also , any chances of financial aid/ scholarship for non-Americans? Do I have a realistic chance for the top five schools? Thanks!!

Several top 20? You can do way better than that. Blanket the top-14.

Spring wrote:Hi !

I'm new here! .Can someone advise where should I apply for? I'm thinking of applying to several top twenty law schools.

Some of my background info is as follows:

lsat: 172 ( 170, 174)
gpa: 3.94
major: physics, mathematics
college: top 100 in usnews
work experience: worked one year as a research assistant in the states straight after college. Worked 3 years as lecturer/ teaching assistant overseas.
Other information: born in Taipei, female, Asian. Wanted to do law earlier, but wasn't ready .

also , any chances of financial aid/ scholarship for non-Americans? Do I have a realistic chance for the top five schools? Thanks!!

IB Accusations of Flame.

You'll go to one of the top 6, quite possible one of the top 3. Enjoy.

I see Harvard in your future.

I thought maybe flame at first too, but I don't think so. OP, if you are real, apply everywhere you want to. I think you are a lock outside T3 and I'll bet you can even get a T3 or two to bite.

Oh... Actually by top twenty I meant includig safeties... I don't really want to blanket all schools because it'll be really costly. Not sure if schools give internationals waivers.

Spring wrote:Oh... Actually by top twenty I meant includig safeties... I don't really want to blanket all schools because it'll be really costly. Not sure if schools give internationals waivers.

With those numbers, you do not need safeties outside the top 14 schools.

Spring wrote:Oh... Actually by top twenty I meant includig safeties... I don't really want to blanket all schools because it'll be really costly. Not sure if schools give internationals waivers.

Email and ask for fee waivers. Most will be happy to give it to you, but I think NU is a safety school for you.

kalvano wrote:

Spring wrote:Oh... Actually by top twenty I meant includig safeties... I don't really want to blanket all schools because it'll be really costly. Not sure if schools give internationals waivers.

Email and ask for fee waivers. Most will be happy to give it to you, but I think NU is a safety school for you.

oh nice, I didn't know we could do that! Thanks
is nu northwestern? It's one my choices, alog with u Chicago... Visited the city when I was an undergrad... Very nice place

soullesswonder wrote:

Spring wrote:Oh... Actually by top twenty I meant includig safeties... I don't really want to blanket all schools because it'll be really costly. Not sure if schools give internationals waivers.

With those numbers, you do not need safeties outside the top 14 schools.

cool. Do u think top 14 will give any scholarships. Quite important factor because I'm probably going to pay for most of it from my work savings

I think you're going to have to choose between Harvard and some decent scholarships.

Spring wrote:

soullesswonder wrote:

Spring wrote:Oh... Actually by top twenty I meant includig safeties... I don't really want to blanket all schools because it'll be really costly. Not sure if schools give internationals waivers.

With those numbers, you do not need safeties outside the top 14 schools.

cool. Do u think top 14 will give any scholarships. Quite important factor because I'm probably going to pay for most of it from my work savings

Guaranteed. You've probably got a fair shot at a Columbia scholarship (more likely a Butler than the Hamilton, IMO) given the GPA/LSAT combo, WE, and international status. Berkeley with $$ (via match if need be) is a safe bet if you have a west coast preference, and Stanford may bite as well.

Spring wrote:also , any chances of financial aid/ scholarship for non-Americans?

Financial aid in the form of loans is a non-possibility, pretty much. Unless you have a citizen/permanent resident cosigner? It sucks. However, you look like a great applicant, so you have a good shot at a merit-based scholarship, maybe at one of the lower t-14.

Please don't waste your intelligence by spending 3 years on something as unintellectual as law school.

Nightrunner wrote:Spring, send applications to the Top 20 schools. If none of them give you a full ride, then TLS knows absolutely nothing about anything. I'm willing to bet that next year at this time, you'll be asking for feedback about which full ride to take, personally.

Good luck!

Thanks!
what do u think of my chances at top 5 or top 10 schools?

Also, would u know if schools still average LSAT scores?

stratocophic wrote:

Spring wrote:

soullesswonder wrote:

Spring wrote:Oh... Actually by top twenty I meant includig safeties... I don't really want to blanket all schools because it'll be really costly. Not sure if schools give internationals waivers.

With those numbers, you do not need safeties outside the top 14 schools.

cool. Do u think top 14 will give any scholarships. Quite important factor because I'm probably going to pay for most of it from my work savings

Guaranteed. You've probably got a fair shot at a Columbia scholarship (more likely a Butler than the Hamilton, IMO) given the GPA/LSAT combo, WE, and international status. Berkeley with $$ (via match if need be) is a safe bet if you have a west coast preference, and Stanford may bite as well.

thanks, how do I apply for these scholarships - is there a separate application?
West coast is fine too. Not too picky about location.

MTal wrote:Please don't waste your intelligence by spending 3 years on something as unintellectual as law school.

Ok, everyone, be sure to ignore the troll. Don't feed his bitterness with your posts.

OP, you have a good shot at the T3. Certainly the T6. Outstanding numbers. Most schools don't require a separate app/letter for scholarships, but occasionally they will (e.g. Woodruff Fellowship at Emory).

UFMatt wrote:

MTal wrote:Please don't waste your intelligence by spending 3 years on something as unintellectual as law school.

Ok, everyone, be sure to ignore the troll. Don't feed his bitterness with your posts.

OP, you have a good shot at the T3. Certainly the T6. Outstanding numbers. Most schools don't require a separate app/letter for scholarships, but occasionally they will (e.g. Woodruff Fellowship at Emory).

thanks.
do u think my work experience will be a boost - it's not really legally related stuff

and do all schools have some merit scholarships?

OP, if you are not a flame, you will get into at least one of, and possibly all of, the Top 6 law schools in the country. The lower T14 are your safeties. Applying to anything below the T14 is a waste of time and money.

vanwinkle wrote:OP, if you are not a flame, you will get into at least one of, and possibly all of, the Top 6 law schools in the country. The lower T14 are your safeties. Applying to anything below the T14 is a waste of time and money.

thanks for your confidence !

I think the top schools still somewhat a longshot, the few friends that I know who got into schools like Columbia , stanford ( phd programs, not law) all had pretty impressive stuff besides good gpa and test scores(gre).

But yea, think I should still give them a try.

Hope my profs still remember though, been sometime since school. Do you think an employer's letter would be useful as a substitute?

Spring wrote:I think the top schools still somewhat a longshot, the few friends that I know who got into schools like Columbia , stanford ( phd programs, not law) all had pretty impressive stuff besides good gpa and test scores(gre).

Law schools do admissions differently than other graduate programs. It is MUCH more numbers-driven; they care about LSAT first, GPA second, and everything else third. Everyone on here is telling you that you can get into those top schools because with your numbers you easily can. HYS are a longshot (well, H might not be), but everything below them is almost a guarantee as long as you do the rest of your application right.

I applied with one academic LOR and one employer LOR, as someone who'd been out of college a few years, and got into some good schools that way.

Spring, with your numbers, you're obviously an intelligent woman. Do some research: Read through the boards; visit lawschoolnumbers.com and search for applicants with similar stats and see what schools they got into and how much money they were offered; at the same site, look at the graphs of target schools and try to figure out why some might have been waitlisted or rejected with similar numbers; read the profiles on this site of the schools you're interested in; visit school websites for admissions and scholarship information (many have a faq section that might answer some of your questions); contact schools and ask specific questions regarding scholarships and international students, etc. Then put together the best application you can and let the chips fall where they may. Finding the information yourself is better than hearsay from people you've never met. (Not saying people don't give good advice here- just advocating independent thinking and research). That's the best advice I can humbly give. Good luck!

mirpanda wrote:Spring, with your numbers, you're obviously an intelligent woman. Do some research: Read through the boards; visit lawschoolnumbers.com and search for applicants with similar stats and see what schools they got into and how much money they were offered; at the same site, look at the graphs of target schools and try to figure out why some might have been waitlisted or rejected with similar numbers; read the profiles on this site of the schools you're interested in; visit school websites for admissions and scholarship information (many have a faq section that might answer some of your questions); contact schools and ask specific questions regarding scholarships and international students, etc. Then put together the best application you can and let the chips fall where they may. Finding the information yourself is better than hearsay from people you've never met. (Not saying people don't give good advice here- just advocating independent thinking and research). That's the best advice I can humbly give. Good luck!

thanks for the advice!! I'll defintely go check out the sites more and do some research.

vanwinkle wrote: Law schools do admissions differently than other graduate programs. It is MUCH more numbers-driven; they care about LSAT first, GPA second, and everything else third. Everyone on here is telling you that you can get into those top schools because with your numbers you easily can. HYS are a longshot (well, H might not be), but everything below them is almost a guarantee as long as you do the rest of your application right.

I applied with one academic LOR and one employer LOR, as someone who'd been out of college a few years, and got into some good schools that way.

cool! U were a fellow applicant with wok experience! Yea getting a employer's letter would make things much easier.

Another question, if h might not be a longshot,then is it easier to get in then the other top 3 schools?

I believe Harvard and Stanford are fairly numbers-driven, but Yale just doesn't care.