Top Law Schools

I'm a mid-career professional and looking at law school. Since I now have a family to support, the financials are extremely important. So, I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into my chance at a good scholarship (maybe 50% tuition) and what schools you would recommend applying to.. I'm looking at part-time and full-time programs (ideally in the Los Angeles area). Here are the basics:

- 3.5 ug gpa at UCLA (I screwed around a bit the first two years)
- 172 LSAT (this is from four years ago - I am taking it again in June)
- minority: hispanic (probably doesn't count for much in California)
- moderately successful professional (vp at a mid-sized company)

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

bruinnerd wrote:I'm a mid-career professional and looking at law school. Since I now have a family to support, the financials are extremely important. So, I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into my chance at a good scholarship (maybe 50% tuition) and what schools you would recommend applying to.. I'm looking at part-time and full-time programs (ideally in the Los Angeles area). Here are the basics:

- 3.5 ug gpa at UCLA (I screwed around a bit the first two years)
- 172 LSAT (this is from four years ago - I am taking it again in June)
- minority: hispanic (probably doesn't count for much in California)
- moderately successful professional (vp at a mid-sized company)

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Depends on what type of Hispanic. If Mexican or PR, I think you'll get some great scholly offers if you repeat or do better on your June test.

To be more specific on the "minority" status, I'm 50% Mayan Indian. No idea if that makes a difference or not.

You want to work in LA, right?

If so you should go to the best T14/USC/UCLA (or possibly UCD/UCH/UCI) offer you get. Definitely not worth it to go to Loyola/Pepperdine considering their scholarships usually come with top 1/3 stipulations.

If you are MX/PR hopefully you could get something like Michigan/Boalt/UCLA/etc with some money, if not then hopefully USC would at least throw some at you.

Pending your June score, and even if the Mayan Indian thing doesnt help at all, I think you'll have some options with money in the lower t14.
If your minority status does helps, even better options with more money. Either way, you should blanket the t14, UCLA, USC and I guess Loyola and Irvine since you want to go to school in LA.

trudat15 wrote:Pending your June score, and even if the Mayan Indian thing doesnt help at all, I think you'll have some options with money in the lower t14.
If your minority status does helps, even better options with more money. Either way, you should blanket the t14, UCLA, USC and I guess Loyola and Irvine since you want to go to school in LA.

It is definitely possible that he doesn't get much money from the lower T14 so while it can happen, it could go either way.

bruinnerd wrote:To be more specific on the "minority" status, I'm 50% Mayan Indian. No idea if that makes a difference or not.

Mayan Indians are historically associated with Mexico. You're going to have to indicate Mexican if you plan on making note of your diverse heritage. This will bolster your application, which is already numerically strong.

Of course there were some Mayans in Central American locations outside of Mexico, and if you trace your heritage back to another country, the boost would not be quite as significant. In any case, this probably makes for a wonderful diversity statement.

bk187 wrote:

trudat15 wrote:Pending your June score, and even if the Mayan Indian thing doesnt help at all, I think you'll have some options with money in the lower t14.
If your minority status does helps, even better options with more money. Either way, you should blanket the t14, UCLA, USC and I guess Loyola and Irvine since you want to go to school in LA.

It is definitely possible that he doesn't get much money from the lower T14 so while it can happen, it could go either way.

Hmm, you're probably right, though if he applies early with a 3.5/172 (and especially if he can bump that up a few points), I would imagine there is some money to be had at GULC and M, at the very least. But it is a crapshoot. And we also dont really know how his Mayan status was help/not help.

OP, just make sure you apply early. Good luck.

Thanks for all the input. You guys are awesome. My heritage is Guatemalan - I had no idea that made a difference. Before this discussion, I was thinking southwestern was the best fit. But, now I am reconsidering - may even look back east since my wife's family is from Maine. Thanks again.

bruinnerd wrote:Thanks for all the input. You guys are awesome. My heritage is Guatemalan - I had no idea that made a difference. Before this discussion, I was thinking southwestern was the best fit. But, now I am reconsidering - may even look back east since my wife's family is from Maine. Thanks again.

Guatemalan doesn't normally make a difference. There is a small chance that it will but it is unlikely at most places.

bk187 wrote:

bruinnerd wrote:Thanks for all the input. You guys are awesome. My heritage is Guatemalan - I had no idea that made a difference. Before this discussion, I was thinking southwestern was the best fit. But, now I am reconsidering - may even look back east since my wife's family is from Maine. Thanks again.

Guatemalan doesn't normally make a difference. There is a small chance that it will but it is unlikely at most places.

yeah, a really good DS might help.

Money at Northwestern. I know it's not in Cali, but it will get you back there

Don't leave your current job. Assuming everything works out, you will probably have a 30-40% chance of biglaw. Not worth it.