Top Law Schools

Hey All! These are my stats and background:

Attending an Ivy League College
GPA: 3.3 (upward trend)
LSAT: 175
**Reasons for low GPA: Was pre-med my freshman year, had to deal with the death of a best friend and have had a number of family problems (father is ill with two cancers)

Work Experience so far:
UN General Assembly Intern
Legal internship at a Children's Law Center
Housing Micro-finance Program Intern at an NYC Afghan NGO
Finance Intern at a Museum
Constituent Services Intern at a Councilman's office

Extracurricular Activities:
Treasurer, Vice President, and President of a Pakistani Students Club - I established (did massive planning in fact by myself (sorry I'm not one to flaunt myself) and spearheaded a humanitarian relief coalition on campus and off campus that has raised around $38,000 in about one month and will continue to raise money in the remaining year

Will plan on taking 3-4 years off and pursue a position as a legal assistant or analyst but I am also planning on pursuing several internships at a firm or business such as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, etc... to test out my interest in the financial industry. I can't apply to law school right away given my family situation (am also on welfare) so I'll wait to save up $ and become financially stable.

I'd love your honest opinion as to my chances at a top law school! Thanks!

Are you still in school? If you can get that GPA up, you'll have a great shot. You have a shot as it is for some t14 schools as it stands now (ie NU after you get your WE, UVA).

If still in school, get as many A's as possible and boost it up. Obviously, but I'd even take a few extra easy classes outside of my major.

Also, if you've taken summer school or any other classes at other schools, you may have a higher GPA than you actually think.

Anyways, good luck. Sounds like you have a lot going for you and your LSAT will certainly help you when you do decide to apply.

Get a 3.7+ senior year to pull up your GPA to a 3.4+ which puts you in the running for CCN.

don't wait too long to apply with that LSAT score. Some schools prefer a score that is within 2-3 years and many schools won't accept a score more than 5 years old.

[quote="tls1989"]Hey All! These are my stats and background:Attending an Ivy League College
GPA: 3.3 (upward trend)
LSAT: 175
**Reasons for low GPA: Was pre-med my freshman year, had to deal with the death of a best friend
Work Experience so far:
UN General Assembly Intern
Legal internship at a Children's Law Center
Housing Micro-finance Program Intern at an NYC Afghan NGO
Finance Intern at a Museum
Constituent Services Intern at a Councilman's office

Extracurricular Activities:
Treasurer, Vice President, and President of a Pakistani Students Club - I established (did massive planning in fact by myself (sorry I'm not one to flaunt myself) and spearheaded a humanitarian relief coalition on campus and off campus that has raised around $38,000 in about one month and will continue to raise money in the remaining year

Will plan on taking 3-4 years off and pursue a position as a legal assistant or analyst but I am also planning on pursuing several internships at a firm or business such as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, etc... to test out my interest in the financial industry. I can't apply to law school right away given my family situation (am also on welfare) so I'll wait to save up $ and become financially stable.

I'd love your honest opinion as to my chances at a top law school! Thanks![/quote]

Chances high! Irrelevant material redacted.

+1 to most of the advice above.

For once, the answer is not "retake."

OP: Get your GPA as HIGH as possible. Apply broadly. Choose a school wisely, and keep your debt low. Start investigating firms and networking EARLY, as in NOW. Oh, and hop over to the employment forum. Shit's rough out there. Make sure you understand what's going on before you take the leap. You're in too deep, though. Welcome aboard. Just don't take on huge debt unless you pull a miracle and get into your dream school. Even then, I'd be wary. Full ride gives you more options if law school turns out to be distasteful to you or if you strike out at OCI.

You'll probably get Penn, Michigan, Northwestern, Cornell, and Georgetown.

Got a possible shot at NYU maybe.

Desert Fox wrote:You'll probably get Penn, Michigan, Northwestern, Cornell, and Georgetown.

Got a possible shot at NYU maybe.

Penn doubtful unless ED.

Veyron wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:You'll probably get Penn, Michigan, Northwestern, Cornell, and Georgetown.

Got a possible shot at NYU maybe.

Penn doubtful unless ED.

Yea, probably, but I think his Ivy status will help. He'll be better than a regular 3.3/175, but yea, still probably a long shot.

Desert Fox wrote:

Veyron wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:You'll probably get Penn, Michigan, Northwestern, Cornell, and Georgetown.

Got a possible shot at NYU maybe.

Penn doubtful unless ED.

Yea, probably, but I think his Ivy status will help. He'll be better than a regular 3.3/175, but yea, still probably a long shot.

Yah, truf. And if the ivy is Penn, then he might be good to go either way.

Thank You guys! I'm actually a she and I attend Columbia College but I've heard from others that its more difficult attending a graduate institution belonging to the same undergraduate university you attend. Is that true?

tls1989 wrote:Thank You guys! I'm actually a she and I attend Columbia College but I've heard from others that its more difficult attending a graduate institution belonging to the same undergraduate university you attend. Is that true?

Depends entirely on the school we're talking about. Columbia law does not give preference to its UGs. In contrast, Penn gives some slight preference and Georgetown gives slightly more. Harvard also gives some preference but I'm unaware to what extent.

P.S., no one cares if you have a vagina but thanks for letting us know. I'm glad that my use of pronouns was of sufficient concern to warrant informing me of this fact.

lol I figured gender differences also impact the app =/ or no?

tls1989 wrote:lol I figured gender differences also impact the app =/ or no?

Ah, in this case, your query is sensible. However, unlike admissions to some other programs, gender really doesn't have much of an impact as far as law school admissions are concerned.

Also, the fact that you didn't take umbridge at my needling suggests that you might fit in well at Penn .

Serious question (no offense intended): do you have Asperger's or some other form of autism?

Veyron wrote:

tls1989 wrote:lol I figured gender differences also impact the app =/ or no?

Ah, in this case, your query is sensible. However, unlike admissions to some other programs, gender really doesn't have much of an impact as far as law school admissions are concerned.

Also, the fact that you didn't take umbridge at my needling suggests that you might fit in well at Penn .

whitman wrote:Serious question (no offense intended): do you have Asperger's or some other form of autism?

Veyron wrote:

tls1989 wrote:lol I figured gender differences also impact the app =/ or no?

Ah, in this case, your query is sensible. However, unlike admissions to some other programs, gender really doesn't have much of an impact as far as law school admissions are concerned.

Also, the fact that you didn't take umbridge at my needling suggests that you might fit in well at Penn .

I love it how people try to combat mean people on the internet by dogging on people with developmental disabilities. Really warms the heart but hey, I guess hypocrisy is for the privileged few.

Agh, you're right. I needed that. My apologies to anyone who has that ___ (I won't call it a disability because people with asperger's are highly functional and smart as hell and whatnot.) I should have just said you were kind of a dick.

whitman wrote:Agh, you're right. I needed that. My apologies to anyone who has that ___ (I won't call it a disability because people with asperger's are highly functional and smart as hell and whatnot.) I should have just said you were kind of a dick.

Ah, much better. Yes, I am kinda a dick. It gives me great pleasure to offend people by telling them the truth.