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[GoldfingerMorton]

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[PDaddy]

I just got a 159 on my LSAT. My undergrad (from an HBCU) GPA was 3.66 (Music) and my graduate (New York University) GPA (M.A., Music Business) was 3.57. I'm an African American Male. I've spent time at a major record label and have had some independent success as an entrepreneur in the music industry as well. What are my chances at a T20 school?

Apply wherever you want to. It sounds like your softs, LOR's and essays will play a large part in your admission. I'm not saying you will get into a top-5, and you likely won't. But you should apply to every top-20 you can afford to apply to, so long as you can keep the quality of your applications at a high level. In the not so distant past, anything akin to a 160+ score band (which you are), coupled with your grades, would have gotten you into any school. Unfortunately, that isn't the case of late. HYS CCN has been rejecting African-American/URM Black males with your stats lately.

There are many reasons for this, including the increased number of African-Americans/URM Blacks with higher scores, grades and impressive softs, the increased number of applicants of all backgrounds, and the increased number of foreign-born blacks applying to American law schools. The elite law schools also covet African-American/URM Black females more than they value African-American/URM Black males. Look at the stats and you will see that this is true. As well, the schools just don't seem as compelled to give that LSAT "boost" because of all of the griping about "AA" coming from whites and non-blacks.

You have a good shot at any school outside of the top-5, and it is still worth your time to apply to schools within the top-5. If you are planning on using your law degree in entertainment, focus on Yale, Columbia, NYU, Michigan, Virginia, Duke, Vanderbilt, UCLA, and USC. You might even focus on Penn. Numbers-wise, Cornell is also a good bet for you, though it isn't known for producing entertainment lawyers.