Top Law Schools

Hey y'all. So, I'll be five years out of undergrad when I start law school next fall and I have a pretty good resume. My numbers are 167/3.47 (3.632UGPA before the lsdas stuff). I'm going to be applying to a bunch of reach schools (because why not?) but I'm wondering if need to apply to more safety schools as well. This is my list so far (I realize many of these are reaches) but with my numbers where do you think I'm looking?

Berkeley, UVA, Duke, NWern, Gtown, Cornell, UCLA, Texas, USC, Wash U, GW, BU, Emory, William and Mary, BC, Fordham, American

The inflection point for that list will be Wash U, GW, or BU (i.e. the point at which you'll start getting acceptances). Without being over median for LSAT or GPA at a school, you won't get in (unless you're a minority).

Don't waste the app fees on pipe dreams. Law school admission is a very mechanical, predictable process.

Unless you have some kind of epic soft or are an URM:

Berkeley - Out
UVA - Out
Duke - Out
NWern - Out/WL (edited: 5 years WE might make the difference and tip it in your favor)
Gtown - Out
Cornell - Out/maybe WL (I'd lean towards out, based on what happened this cycle)
UCLA - Out
Texas - Out/WL
USC - WL (assuming this is SoCal)
Wash U - In
GW - WL/In
BU - WL/In
Emory - In/WL
William and Mary - WL
BC - WL
Fordham - WL/In
American - In (Unless YP, and then WL)

The only safety you appear to have on this list is American, and their graphs in LSN from this last cycle smacks of YP. If I were you I'd add a couple more targets (ND, UNC, W&L, Davis - I don't know what region you want) and maybe reduce the number of reaches. I mean, go ahead and shoot for your favorite school - don't regret not trying - but that's eight application fees to apply to schools where your chances are slim to none at those first eight on your list.

If GW and WUSTL don't try to up their medians, you may have a shot at some money there (a better shot at WUSTL than GW). And, of course, if you don't get YP'd then AU is your best shot for good money as it stands.

Thanks a lot - I think that all seems pretty dead on. I live in DC now and I'd say my top choices for dream schools are Texas and UCLA and for legit chances are USC, GW. As for experience, I interned at the White House (sounds cool but I have no clue if that will make any difference) and manage a dept of a law firm. Prob doesn't help too much if at all with the law school stuff, huh?

username99 wrote:Thanks a lot - I think that all seems pretty dead on. I live in DC now and I'd say my top choices for dream schools are Texas and UCLA and for legit chances are USC, GW. As for experience, I interned at the White House (sounds cool but I have no clue if that will make any difference) and manage a dept of a law firm. Prob doesn't help too much if at all with the law school stuff, huh?

Maybe a decent tie-breaker, but they aren't going to be game-changers.

UFMatt is right. You will be auto-ding above USC, you're on the bubble at USC, and you're in from WUSTL down.

3.45/168 non-URM here. Of the schools on your list that I applied to this year:

Berkeley - Rejected after being deferred to Faculty Review
UVA - Rejected
Duke - Rejected
Northwestern - Waitlisted
Georgetown (PT) - Waitlisted
Cornell - Deferred from Early Action -> Reserve List -> In/Attending
UCLA - Waitlist
Texas - Did not apply
USC - Waitlist
WUSTL - In with money
George Washington - In
BU - In with money
Emory - Did not apply
William and Mary - In with money
BC - In with money
Fordham - In with money
American - Did not apply

Wow, congrats on Cornell. I'd love to have the same results!

Cornell is likely your best shot at the T14. Unfortunately, LSN for the 09-10 cycle shows only yellow and red below a 3.6 on the 167 line.

I agree with Romo, your softs might be a tie-breaker if competing against someone with similar numbers. And I do tend to believe that softs can have some sway - Dani and I have nearly numbers twins but our cycles were certainly not the same. However, I don't think that your internship will be a deciding-factor, so I agree with Romo there.