Top Law Schools

Hello,

I'm thinking of applying to law school for the class of 2015 and wanted to know my chances. I'll be 4 years out of college by matriculation.

UGPA: 3.5/4.0, class of 2008
Asian American male (Thai)
Undergrad: Top 10 non-HYP (Duke/Columbia/Penn level)
Major: Math/Chemistry
Currently working in Finance

Took the LSAT twice:
1. 170 (took 4 years ago, in 2007)
2. 179 (took last December... hopefully they'll weight this one more?)

Extracurrics: nothing all too special, though I was no slacker (an exec. editor of a journal, volunteering on the side, etc.)

I'm targeting the schools below:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
Chicago
Penn

Ordinarily I feel like my stats would leave me out of H/S entirely, but maybe if they factor in my W/E (diluting my lower GPA) and perhaps give a little more credence to my more recent LSAT, I'd have a shot.

Thoughts?

If you're worried about the older LSAT, LSAT scores become invalid after 5 years so if you wait a year later (I think) than you intend then you'll only be applying with a 179.

I'm not entirely sure how it works and would call LSAC and the schools to ask about it.

lawschoolbound11 wrote:I'm targeting the schools below:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
Chicago
Penn

Thread title wrote:Chances at T5?

Haha, they always say there are 7 schools in the T5.

Honestly I feel like I'm okay at Penn (though I know anything can happen), but I'm really only asking about the others.

Harvard - Out
Stanford - Out unless you have been doing something amazing since graduation
Columbia - In
Chicago - In if you have a good application
Penn - In

vanwinkle wrote:

lawschoolbound11 wrote:I'm targeting the schools below:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
Chicago
Penn

Thread title wrote:Chances at T5?

Yeah seriously.

lsbound stop trolling against nyu plz.

Running Veyron alt check, 34% complete...

Haha, I'm not Veyron, who I'm guessing is a troll?

I'm not against NYU, I just want to focus on law and economics, which the other schools are quite strong in.

lawschoolbound11 wrote:Haha, I'm not Veyron, who I'm guessing is a troll?

I'm not against NYU, I just want to focus on law and economics, which the other schools are quite strong in.

Dude, NYU has some pretty badass law and econ professors. I think I might even consider their faculty to be superior to Columbia in that area.

Check out the faculty pages

NYU
http://www.law.nyu.edu/academics/areaso ... /index.htm

Rubinfeld has also been teaching at NYU for several years despite being on the faculty at Berkeley.

Columbia
http://www.law.columbia.edu/center_prog ... liated_fac

Hmm, okay I'm convinced. I'm guesing my chances at NYU are nestled somewhere between Chicago and Penn.

Anyone else on chances? I'll apply as early as possible in the fall.

Also, since when is duke ugrad on the same level as columbia and penn?

Well I'll take that as a compliment, since I didn't go to Duke

I guess I was being conservative here.

You guys are pretty brutal btw.

I'd love to tell you that law schools use a diving judges method & throw out the highest & lowest scores which is why you can take the LSAT 3 times in 2 years, but that would be untrue. Law schools will use your 179 LSAT score especially since the prior score will be over 4 years old when you apply.

P.S. Northwestern may be worth a look especially if you have any interest in a joint JD/MBA degree.

lawschoolbound11 wrote:Well I'll take that as a compliment, since I didn't go to Duke

I guess I was being conservative here.

You guys are pretty brutal btw.

I assumed you were trolling for duke. Anyways, to answer your question, you are in everywhere in the country, most likely, besides harvard, yale, and stanford. Your gpa is just too low for those three.

I assumed you were trolling for duke.

Fair point. I've seen much more ballsy trolls though, like "Top Ivy (Harvard/Yale/Dartmouth)".

don't worry about the 170, it won't factor into the decision equation

you are basically in at columbia and below. your 3.5 will probably count you out of harvard and stanford, as unfair as it may seem because a 3.5 in math/chem at a top notch UG is pretty badass... for this very reason you are probably not going to get offered merit scholarships at columbia, but maybe get something at NYU. apply RD and shop your offers next spring.

on the bright side, if you have 2+ years of work experience in finance (assuming front office) you will have a leg up come recruiting season after your first year of law school.

So I'm guessing that lawschoolpredictor.com isn't all that reliable?

lawschoolbound11 wrote:So I'm guessing that lawschoolpredictor.com isn't all that reliable?

It just doesn't allow for intricacies, like a gpa floor at stanford that is only broken by urm's and incredible softs. Instead it just notices you have a higher lsat than most so it gives you good chances even though your shot is not nearly that good.

Duke UG is pretty close to as good as Penn (not Wharton) and Columbia. It's not as wide of a separation as there is between CLS and Duke Law, that's for sure.

lawschoolbound11 wrote:

I assumed you were trolling for duke.

Fair point. I've seen much more ballsy trolls though, like "Top Ivy (Harvard/Yale/Dartmouth)".

They all accept like 7-12% of applicants. Same w/ Caltech MIT Duke etc. HYP have the name recognition though, no question.

retake

ndirish2010 wrote:Duke UG is pretty close to as good as Penn (not Wharton) and Columbia. It's not as wide of a separation as there is between CLS and Duke Law, that's for sure.

Lol, no it's not.

Dartmouth accepts like 20% of candidates.

Patriot1208 wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:Duke UG is pretty close to as good as Penn (not Wharton) and Columbia. It's not as wide of a separation as there is between CLS and Duke Law, that's for sure.

Lol, no it's not.

Actually, it really is. Yet another person blinded by the Ivy League designation. The Ivy League is an athletic conference. Why is Duke not as good because they are in the ACC?

ndirish2010 wrote:

Patriot1208 wrote:

ndirish2010 wrote:Duke UG is pretty close to as good as Penn (not Wharton) and Columbia. It's not as wide of a separation as there is between CLS and Duke Law, that's for sure.

Lol, no it's not.

Actually, it really is. Yet another person blinded by the Ivy League designation. The Ivy League is an athletic conference. Why is Duke not as good because they are in the ACC?

No, if you look at my post history I actually made an argument against the ivy league distinction. But duke just isn't as good as penn or other non ivy privates. Uchicago, stanford, even NU are a step above the level of duke, nd, emory, rice, etc. outside a few select areas in the south duke is just considered a good school, nothing great.