Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects Forum

Not sure where your numbers will get you? Dying to know where you stand? Come have your palms read by your fellow posters!
Post Reply
Denmark

New
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:48 am

Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects

Post by Denmark » Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:58 am

Numbers: 160 Lsat, 3.2 UGPA(3.7 in Major w/highest honors)
Softs: Black male, MBA, 15+ years of work experience in various investment roles, 2-3 work experience LOR's. Academic LOR's unavailable.

Thanks

User avatar
sophia.olive

Silver
Posts: 885
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:38 pm

Re: Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects

Post by sophia.olive » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:02 am

Denmark wrote:Numbers: 160 Lsat, 3.2 UGPA(3.7 in Major w/highest honors)
Softs: Black male, MBA, 15+ years of work experience in various investment roles, 2-3 work experience LOR's. Academic LOR's unavailable.

Thanks
Can you retake the lsat?
How will you handle your debt, given your age?
I think you can get into a top 20, but without considerable scholaships i dont know if it is worth it.
Why do you want to become a lawyer at this stage in your life?
What kind of job are you leaving and why?

Denmark

New
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:48 am

Re: Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects

Post by Denmark » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:11 am

160 was a 5 point increase from prior exam sitting.
I am willing to take on $40k to attend a top 20. My other personal debts are zero.
Currenly, I am a Registered Investment Advisor in California with a small high net worth individual client base. The JD and most likely and LLM in Tax will enable me to offer Tax/estate Planning to my client offering.

What's your background, sophia.olive?
Last edited by Denmark on Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:33 am, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
sophia.olive

Silver
Posts: 885
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:38 pm

Re: Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects

Post by sophia.olive » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:26 am

Denmark wrote:160 was a 5 point increase from prior exam sitting.
I am willing to take on $40k to attend a top 20. My other personal debts are zero.
Currenly, I am a Registered Investment Advisor in California with a small high net worth individua client base. The JD and most likely and LLM in Tax will enable me to offer Tax?estate Planning to my client offereing.

What's your background, sophia.olive?
Black, similar gpa, higher lsat, 2 years out of ug.
I dont know how the five point increase is important, but how long did you study for the test? Did you use the bibles? How many practice tests did you take?
They wont care about your major gpa, though i wish they did. :P
Law school will cost you well more than 40k. More like 150k + plus money you would have earned those three years if you were not in school, without major scholarships, which i dont believe you will get at a t20 without retaking the lsat. If your goal is strickly having the function of a jd and you already have a job i dont think t20 is that important. Cal has a lot of good schools that are not t20, and you wont have to move. And you can offer tax?estate planning. use the law school calculator or predictor to get statistical information.

I do not think the reward will outweigh the cost.

Denmark

New
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:48 am

Re: Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects

Post by Denmark » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:38 am

I agree regarding cost/benefit. For that matter, regardless of age, the cost benefit would be the same. To that end, I am willing to spend 1000 dollars applying and not attend if cost/benefit is poor.

I've looked at lower ranked schools in California. The economics are just as poor, since their scholarships dollars are smaller.

Thanks for the timely and extensive response.

I studied the Powerscore books and worked 80 hours a week full-time. Not an excuse. I have never scored well on verbal-based exams. GMAT was 720 and Math Sat 710 with a poor verbal of 570. Of course ther SAT is when the scale was 400-1600.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


User avatar
sophia.olive

Silver
Posts: 885
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:38 pm

Re: Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects

Post by sophia.olive » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:58 am

I dont know about "regardless of age" because if you graduate from law school at the age of 27 you will be getting the salary from the jd for 30+ years where as if you graduate at the age of 40 it will be 15+ years. Even though in both circumstances you would pay 150,000........ It also depends on what you are doing, right now i'm making 11 dollars an hour so i wont be missing much in those three years of school.

If this is something you are passionate about i suggest taking the lsat again whether or not you think you are bad at "verbal tests." (im not sure the lsat is even really verbal, or mainly logical patterns that are easily learned) It will not count against you and if you increase another five points you would be in a substantially better position. There are millions of blueprints for studying online here, and maybe you can take a month off of work to commit yourself to doing the best that you can do which is probably higher than a 160.

It would not hurt to see if you can get a full ride at davis, hastings, pepperdine....... I'm not sure if the "economy" would prevent them from giving you a full ride if your numbers are improved a little.

If i may, at your age i think you should do what you want to do. So if you really want to get into a t20 school for law retake the lsat and devote 25-35 hours a week studying for it. If you dont, dont.

User avatar
merichard87

Silver
Posts: 750
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:31 pm

Re: Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects

Post by merichard87 » Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:51 am

I agree with sophia.olive, if you are simply going to law school to add a credential there is no need for you to spend 100K+ on a school. I also think you should retake the LSAT to increase chances of scholarship money and apply throughout your region. Also, as far as I have researched there are only a few tax LLM programs worth attending (Florida, NYU, etc..) so you would probably be moving out of state to get the most bang for your buck for that degree.

User avatar
Duralex

Bronze
Posts: 449
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:25 pm

Re: Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects

Post by Duralex » Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:22 am

Would he really need one of the more nationally prestigious tax LLMs for it to be worthwhile from a practice standpoint? He has clients already--he's not looking to polish his resume (or so it seemed to me.) Plus, having a book of business can compensate for other less tangible shortcomings if he did want to join a firm.

UCLA has a tax LLM...

User avatar
merichard87

Silver
Posts: 750
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:31 pm

Re: Over 40 years of age T-20 prospects

Post by merichard87 » Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:57 am

Duralex wrote:Would he really need one of the more nationally prestigious tax LLMs for it to be worthwhile from a practice standpoint? He has clients already--he's not looking to polish his resume (or so it seemed to me.) Plus, having a book of business can compensate for other less tangible shortcomings if he did want to join a firm.

UCLA has a tax LLM...
After getting a JD I'm not really sure why one would need a LLM in the first place but if you are going to get a specialized degree I think it would be more beneficial to get a nationally prestigious one. And yes of course he could always go to UCLA and its still a UCLA LLM. I'm not sure he really needs the LLM in the first place though.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


Post Reply

Return to “What are my chances?”