Top Law Schools

As a first post I would like to thank the boards for all the information provided. Truly great stuff contained here.

Moving on, I just graduated 3.85 BSc Economics from St. John's University, NY. I am studying for the October exam scoring 171 and 172 consistently on practice exams. During my time off I will be working at a recognized company but not in a prestigious position - middle of the road I would say. LOR will come from Deans of the University or tenured econ professors. Otherwise, I'm pretty vanilla in terms of assets. I'm also literally vanilla.

Schools on my very long list:
Michigan, Duke, NWestern, Cornell, GTown, UCLA, USC, Texas, Vandy, BU.

Then comes Notre Dame, UNC, Fordham, Miami, and St. John's.

What do you think of admission and also $ potential?

Early thanks to all those responding.

All depends on the LSAT. If you actually pull off a 170+ with that GPA you should aim higher, i.e. blanket the T14.

At this point you shouldn't even be thinking this far ahead. If you pull off a 170+ you're golden. Now go get it. PTing in the low 70's right now means you've got the LSAT more or less figured out. You have 5 months to nail it cold and you really ought to be able to. On the other hand, if you start thinking you've got this in the bag because of your current PTs you may wind up very disappointed.

--ImageRemoved--

Good news is you'll get the under-represented species boost.


....

OP, study your ass off for the LSAT. How much and what kind of prep have you already done? What was your cold diagnostic? If you can pull off this score or higher on test day, you should set your sights at higher schools, from YHS on down.

Prep level is mediocre. Work on some sections in the Kaplan and Princeton Review books. I do not have a tailored study plan yet - I'm working hard to identify my strengths and weaknesses and then construct a schedule. My approach is to allocate my resources proportionately in favor of my weaknesses, then reexamine and reallocate when necessary.

Cold score 171. Further practice tests - 171, 172, 172. I assume a pessimistic view with my LSAC gap - 3.7. This is just a complete guess though.

171 cold? I'm not sure you realize how extraordinary that is. You shouldn't aim for less than 180, or settle for anything less than 178 or maybe 177.

Well, I mean, retaking a 176 would be silly, but really, you are starting from a very very very high cold score.

Your complete guess seems unwarranted. There's no reason to simply assume your GPA will go from 3.85 to 3.7. Have you tried the LSDAS GPA calculator at LSP?

Do you have classes you retook or something?

http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-co ... ulator.htm

I predict your initial list will look silly in the end, when your reach is Yale, targets are Harvard and Stanford, and safeties are CCN.

171 cold under exam conditions, or 171 "cold" just playing around with the test? If you actually sat down and did a strict 35 minutes per section straight through, with one 15 minute break in the middle, cold, then that is more than a little bit unusual. If you deviated from exam conditions then don't get "171 cold" in your head.

[Ed. typo]

This whole conversation is irrelevant until you come back with an actual score. Between now and then, if you personally end the war on terror, solve the nuclear fusion problem, and cure cancer, we will all be able to give you better estimates. These are all great softs and a 170+ score is a great score, but until it happens we are doing you a disservice by even guestimating. Good Luck...

Lonagan wrote:171 cold under exam conditions, or 171 "cold" just playing around with the test? If you actually sat down and did a strict 35 minutes per section straight through, with one 15 minute break in the middle, cold, then that is more than a little bit unusual. If you deviated from exam conditions then don't get "171 cold" in your head.

[Ed. typo]

Good point.

Score was under exam conditions. One of the proctored free diagnostics from test review courses offered on campus.

Come back when you have an actual score. None of this matters in the least until then.

rad law wrote:Come back when you have an actual score. None of this matters in the least until then.

BUT HE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT HIS CHANCES ARE!!!!!!!! Just not right now.

If not a flame:

Score a 176+ and choose between Harvard or Hamilton at Columbia (or YS, if they happen, or other full rides at other T14).

Score below a 175- feel like a failure and force yourself to retake in December.

Try to find time to work on some app stuff as well, so you can get that turned in as soon as you have your LSAT score (if it's a matter of waiting another week or two to make sure everything is perfect though, do that).

Start planning your LSAT study schedule right now; you have a lot of studying to do.