Top Law Schools

What are my chances at top 14 ED, specifically UVA, michigan, duke, gtown. T20 with $?

-2009 ivy undergrad, polisci major
-history paper published in an ivy UG journal
-Leadership in my sorority
-Mentoring underprivileged kids during UG
-good PS/decent DS
-non URM female
-VA resident

I know the prospects are dim but is there any shot?

Should I retake? How bad would it look with four scores? I can retake in Oct since my FIRST time taking was Sept 2008, but I don't know if I want to. I was practicing in the 170s (170-3 weeks leading up to last TWO tests.. and that 162 was out of left field and very damaging) but I can't seem to pull through on test day even though I know the damn test.

nada chance at uva. you need to work on that lsat.

I don't think you have any chance at UVA; you're significantly below both medians. Same deal at the rest of the T14.

I don't think you should retake again. But I guess it depends on how much you studied previously, and how badly you want the T14. It looks like you've been plugging away at this test for almost two years now. Have you figured out what you're doing wrong on test day? If not, then what's the point of taking it again?

first test was sept 2008 and I got killed by RC (talkstory) and the bus game. Second time, it was almost solely LG that de-railed me. I got -11 on LG on Dec 2009. I studied and was doing very well... rocking the games was in the groove and then got hit with June 2010 interns which put me at -7 LG. LR anywhere from -0 to -3 MAX.

Basically.. I have some mental block with games when I'm in the real deal. I'm so desperate at this point and I want law school so badly but I know how rough the economy is making it for job prospects both in and out of t14. I'm willing to try anything... hypnosis?

How much would a retake honestly hurt at this point after that 162?

no shot at any T14 (except for a slim chance at Cornell), UCLA, or Vandy
slim chance at Texas and USC
decent chance at T20s like WUSTL (with $) and GW

I'm curious, what would this person's chances look like if they were a URM?

Impossible to say. Most likely the op's life would have drastically different features if op was born a URM. In return they would have affected the school she went to, numbers etc.. She may not even be posting right now if she was a URM, maybe she would be an astronaut..... Millions of possibilities. ( you may even need to see how her course of life matches up with the average white female, and find the equivalent based off the average black female.)
But lets say she lived op's life up until this point, her exact life. And suddenly she was a URM, out of the blue, no explanation. A marvel of science! Then I would guess -in at all the schools. But hey then she would have more important things to do than applying to law school.. like writing a book about it, dealing with her new identity, and making it into Ripley’s believe it or not.

I say retake, with a new approach. Shows tenacity.

sophia.olive wrote:Impossible to say. Most likely the op's life would have drastically different features if op was born a URM. In return they would have affected the school she went to, numbers etc.. She may not even be posting right now if she was a URM, maybe she would be an astronaut..... Millions of possibilities. ( you may even need to see how her course of life matches up with the average white female, and find the equivalent based off the average black female.)
But lets say she lived op's life up until this point, her exact life. And suddenly she was a URM, out of the blue, no explanation. A marvel of science! Then I would guess -in at all the schools. But hey then she would have more important things to do than applying to law school.. like writing a book about it, dealing with her new identity, and making it into Ripley’s believe it or not.

An annoying answer to an obnoxious question.

Numbersdefineme wrote:What are my chances at top 14 ED, specifically UVA, michigan, duke, gtown. T20 with $?

-2009 ivy undergrad, polisci major
-history paper published in an ivy UG journal
-Leadership in my sorority
-Mentoring underprivileged kids during UG
-good PS/decent DS
-non URM female
-VA resident

I know the prospects are dim but is there any shot?

Should I retake? How bad would it look with four scores? I can retake in Oct since my FIRST time taking was Sept 2008, but I don't know if I want to. I was practicing in the 170s (170-3 weeks leading up to last TWO tests.. and that 162 was out of left field and very damaging) but I can't seem to pull through on test day even though I know the damn test.

You're not going to get a lot of positive responses from the echo chamber on this one. You're below median at all of these schools, so the deck is already stacked against you. Conventional wisdom is that softs barely matter unless they are years of work experience or something truly exceptional. Not sure about the Ivy UG.

I would pick the school that I liked best and ED to it with the expectation that I would be paying sticker. Then I would blanket Vandy through W&L hoping for some small scholarship money.

KMaine wrote:

sophia.olive wrote:Impossible to say. Most likely the op's life would have drastically different features if op was born a URM. In return they would have affected the school she went to, numbers etc.. She may not even be posting right now if she was a URM, maybe she would be an astronaut..... Millions of possibilities. ( you may even need to see how her course of life matches up with the average white female, and find the equivalent based off the average black female.)
But lets say she lived op's life up until this point, her exact life. And suddenly she was a URM, out of the blue, no explanation. A marvel of science! Then I would guess -in at all the schools. But hey then she would have more important things to do than applying to law school.. like writing a book about it, dealing with her new identity, and making it into Ripley’s believe it or not.

An annoying answer to an obnoxious question.

Not obnoxious at all, I'm a URM with VERY similar numbers, instead of posting an entirely new thread I felt taking advantage of this one would be a better option.

blackwater88 wrote:Not obnoxious at all, I'm a URM with VERY similar numbers, instead of posting an entirely new thread I felt taking advantage of this one would be a better option.

While in general I agree with this principle, an exception should be made for the "What are my chances?" forum because these threads are very individual. While a duplicate thread in another forum may get you yelled at, here it probably won't.

bk187 wrote:

blackwater88 wrote:Not obnoxious at all, I'm a URM with VERY similar numbers, instead of posting an entirely new thread I felt taking advantage of this one would be a better option.

While in general I agree with this principle, an exception should be made for the "What are my chances?" forum because these threads are very individual. While a duplicate thread in another forum may get you yelled at, here it probably won't.

The OP has only two posts and the thread is 11 days old, didn't feel it would be inappropriate. Care to answer my question?

EDIT: And when I said I had similar numbers I meant the three LSAT scores and GPA.

blackwater88 wrote:The OP has only two posts and the thread is 11 days old, didn't feel it would be inappropriate. Care to answer my question?

EDIT: And when I said I had similar numbers I meant the three LSAT scores and GPA.

Probably somewhere MVP and above (outside shot at CCN), not sure how having 3 LSAT's will change things though. Check LSN and LSP.

bk187 wrote:

blackwater88 wrote:The OP has only two posts and the thread is 11 days old, didn't feel it would be inappropriate. Care to answer my question?

EDIT: And when I said I had similar numbers I meant the three LSAT scores and GPA.

Probably somewhere MVP and above (outside shot at CCN), not sure how having 3 LSAT's will change things though. Check LSN and LSP.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=107648

The thread above suggests most schools take the highest score. However, GULC, USC, Virginia and a few others, average the scores. I still think that my 169 probably doesn't look as attractive as a 167 that someone got on their first try. Thanks for answering my question though