158 lsat. 3.6 gpa. URM. Any advice? Forum

[carnitas1209]

Hello this is my very first post i would like some advice as far as attending law school. I graduated from the university of the pacific cum laude with a 3.6 gpa in political science in 2008. I took my lsat in feb 2010 and scored 158. Also i am hispanic, son of immigrants 1st gen college student. I pretty much grew up in and still continue to live in the "hood", those of you familiar with stockton ca, i grew up in the eastside. I also worked for a local non-profit fulltime since graduating.

I recently been accepted to McGeorge with a 12k scholarship and free books. While i am glad i also realize the mcgeorge is highly regional and im not sure i want to live in sac. There are 3 geographical areas i would like to attend law school in they are; California, the DC Or DMV region and NYC. All suggestions are welcome thanks!

[James Bond]

http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com

http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com

Your URM status is going to carry you here

[ChinaMex]

if you aren't sure that you want to stay in the bay area, you should definitely reapply early next year and/or retake. I have the exact same numbers and am Latina and there's no reason you shouldn't be going to a T1 with scholarship money. law school predictor was a pretty good indicator for me (especially towards the end) but you shouldn't limit yourself based on an equation. My screen name on Law School Numbers is the same as here, if you want to take a look.

[bk1]

Retake and reapply. You've got good enough numbers on top of the possibility of studying for the October LSAT that you should be able to get into a much stronger school (especially considering the fact that you are not sure about Sac).

On top of that, applying for the 2010-2011 cycle will allow you to apply early and shoot an ED. Good luck with the next cycle.

[20121109]

What kind of hispanic URM are you? <3

[carnitas1209]

For those who were asking, I am Mexican.

So regarding my question, some of you have mentioned that with my numbers I have better chances at better schools. Well the thing is, is that being out of school for two years already I feel as if I am just wasting my time not doing much. ( got laid off the beginning of the year) Also, there isnt much as far as opportunities where i live, besides warehouse jobs, drug dealing (seriously) or dead end service jobs. If I was to wait for the next admissions cycle it would mean another year of sitting around in Stockton not doing much with my life which I am pretty much tired of. I am however very interested in Cardozo's program that begins in January. Can anyone tell me about that program and what chances I may have there? Also I just checked my GPA is actually 3.55 and not 3.6 if that makes any difference.

[bk1]

For those who were asking, I am Mexican.

So regarding my question, some of you have mentioned that with my numbers I have better chances at better schools. Well the thing is, is that being out of school for two years already I feel as if I am just wasting my time not doing much. ( got laid off the beginning of the year) Also, there isnt much as far as opportunities where i live, besides warehouse jobs, drug dealing (seriously) or dead end service jobs. If I was to wait for the next admissions cycle it would mean another year of sitting around in Stockton not doing much with my life which I am pretty much tired of. I am however very interested in Cardozo's program that begins in January. Can anyone tell me about that program and what chances I may have there? Also I just checked my GPA is actually 3.55 and not 3.6 if that makes any difference.

I understand not wanting to wait another year, but if you can significantly increase your LSAT score it is definitely worth it to wait. Going to a better school is going to open up the option of national portability on top of the fact that you will have access to much better jobs coming out of a better school, or at least a stronger scholarship. While you may be tired of not doing much now, if you can get into a better school or get a bigger scholarship it is going to be worth it down the line and the year you lost will be easily worth it in comparison to the options opened up to you.

I would say don't let impatience hurt your future prospects.

[carnitas1209]

After talking and negociating with uop's financial aid office they offered to up my scholarship from 12k a year ( 36k total) and free books to 15k a year (45k total) and free books. Any thoughts?

[bk1]

Still not worth it, since (as you noted) you are not sure you want Sac, on top of the fact that you have the possibility of getting into a school with much stronger placement.