Top Law Schools

First off I'd like to thank this forum for helping change my perspective on law school and the LSAT. Before I started lurking here 3 years ago, I was considering Duquesne with my humble 150. Anyways, I put in my time and scored a 166 in June. This was great since it was 6 points over my average. Now I see I have a fighting chance at some schools I never thought I could attend.

My stats:
3.85(3.9 major)Public
150/166
White
27
Decent Softs and Work Experience

Here's a few of the places I'd like to go:

Safety:
Penn State

Targets:(mostly top 20-30)
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Indiana Bloomington
Pitt

A guy can dream:
UCLA
Cornell

Do I have a shot at a admission at any of these places? How about a scholarship? I left a undergrad with no debt and am scared by the thought of being buried in it from law school. I could handle a little though. I've also decided against a retake, I felt lucky to get that score. I don't think I could handle another 200+ hours of studying. I'd appreciate any replies.

-Mojo

In everywhere except UCLA and Cornell are iffy. Indiana will probably throw a full ride your way. They did that for 164+ this cycle.

I got money from most every strong consider in lawschoolpredictor with numbers akin to yours.

Wow, thanks for the quick replies. I've mostly used LSN and Law School Predictor but I can't gauge how accurate they are. Cornell had me as a strong consider on predictor, which I didn't even think was possible. I also saw people with similar numbers as me being rejected on LSN. Does it pretty much just come down to my letters of reference and personal statement now?

Flips do school typically give scholarships to the same score ranges each year?

Thanks shastaca for the info. I guess I put it as a target because that was the school who's numbers I was aiming for when I first decided to retake.

mrmojojak wrote:Wow, thanks for the quick replies. I've mostly used LSN and Law School Predictor but I can't gauge how accurate they are. Cornell had me as a strong consider on predictor, which I didn't even think was possible. I also saw people with similar numbers as me being rejected on LSN. Does it pretty much just come down to my letters of reference and personal statement now?

Don't use LSP, use LSN. And LSN is as accurate as you're going to get.

There are always occasional red dots in the seas of yellow/green, usually these people had a messed up app somehow (e.g. arrests, convictions, etc).

Agreed.

shastaca wrote:I got money from most every strong consider in lawschoolpredictor with numbers akin to yours. (159 brain fart on my first LSAT)

I would consider Pitt a safety if I were you.

I'll look more into LSN, bk. I just dug through the site and found the search user function, it looks like giddybiscuit and I may be kindred spirits. I never knew the site had this function, it instantly became a lot more useful.

And Lava being the second to say Pitt should be a safety makes me think I need to move it to the sure thing pile. I guess I'll need to research some more target schools.

OP,

I had a 166 and got 12k/yr ND. WUSTL would be worth an app if you want Midwest as well. Make sure to apply as early as possible in the cycle! Best of luck.

WSJ_Law wrote:OP,

I had a 166 and got 12k/yr ND. WUSTL would be worth an app if you want Midwest as well. Make sure to apply as early as possible in the cycle! Best of luck.

WUSTL, at least this year and in recent years, has had a 168 wall up. He can probably expect a WL from them

I got in to WUSTL w/o 168+...

Granted it was off WL and at sticker.

/anecdotal evidence

Flips88 wrote:In everywhere except UCLA and Cornell are iffy. Indiana will probably throw a full ride your way. They did that for 164+ this cycle.

Not necessarily true. I got dinged with a 166, but my GPA was much lower, and I also feel that I got fucked.

I think that all of your target schools are good. FWIW, my 3.2/166 got me a 14k scholly at pitt (which doesnt seem like much, but its as much as they give out unless youre URM)

If you only want Midwest, definitely apply WUSTL (they will waive your application fee if you request it, see the TLS post on requesting a fee waiver). If you are also thinking East Coast, look into William and Mary, Emory, and BC/BU. Knock out a killer PS and I think you're in, maybe not with money. If you are in-state for OSU, you are definitely in.

WUSTL, at least this year and in recent years, has had a 168 wall up. He can probably expect a WL from them

I had 1 point lower LSAT and GPA than the OP and I was in to WUSTL off the waitlist, but also with $15k. I had what I thought were pretty great softs and an above-average PS /anecdotal evidence

idratherbetraveling wrote:If you only want Midwest, definitely apply WUSTL (they will waive your application fee if you request it, see the TLS post on requesting a fee waiver). If you are also thinking East Coast, look into William and Mary, Emory, and BC/BU. Knock out a killer PS and I think you're in, maybe not with money. If you are in-state for OSU, you are definitely in.

I also got into Emory with a 10k a year scholly.

167 got me $115,000 to WUSTL this past cycle.

Don't waste that 3.85 GPA on that 166 LSAT. Retake, get the 172+, and then hit either University of Chicago or Columbia.

Even if you don't get the 172, 2-3 more points will put you in at either Cornell or Georgetown, and will get you more money from the midwestern schools.

I think NDLS with a decent scholarship is likely. You could have an outside shot at Michigan, I would toss an app there just to see.

Unless you're extremely confident with your retake ability for a third time, I wouldn't risk it. A 166 is a good score. You'll probably wanna throw an addendum along with your apps explaining the large jump up from the original 150. A third, lower score would have a really negative affect on your cycle so I wouldn't retake unless your willing to put in the work to increase your score again.

You're not wasting your GPA with a 166. Your grades will get you into some great schools.

Also, in terms of predictability - LSN and LSP was extremely accurate for my cycle.

kwhiteside wrote:Unless you're extremely confident with your retake ability for a third time, I wouldn't risk it. A 166 is a good score. You'll probably wanna throw an addendum along with your apps explaining the large jump up from the original 150. A third, lower score would have a really negative affect on your cycle so I wouldn't retake unless your willing to put in the work to increase your score again.

You're not wasting your GPA with a 166. Your grades will get you into some great schools.

Also, in terms of predictability - LSN and LSP was extremely accurate for my cycle.

I wouldnt say its a waste, but if you could do better I would. If my GPA was as good as yours I would have signed up for the next test date as soon as I sobered up after receiving my first score.

Since you said that your PT average was a 160, I would likely forgo another taking. Youll get into some great schools regardless.

So many replies where to start...

I had a 166 and got 12k/yr ND. WUSTL would be worth an app if you want Midwest as well. Make sure to apply as early as possible in the cycle! Best of luck.

I'm happy to see a chance at ND with possible money since that is a school that I can confidently answer the "why ____?" question. I feel like I would be a good fit there. But I'd also like to pursue other options as well. I'll check into WUSTL. I'm not just looking at the midwest though, I mostly just selected schools near areas I like.

bport hopeful wrote:
I think that all of your target schools are good. FWIW, my 3.2/166 got me a 14k scholly at pitt (which doesnt seem like much, but its as much as they give out unless youre URM)

I noticed they don't seem to give much, but I could also get instate tuition so it wouldn't be outrageous.

idratherbetraveling wrote:If you only want Midwest, definitely apply WUSTL (they will waive your application fee if you request it, see the TLS post on requesting a fee waiver). If you are also thinking East Coast, look into William and Mary, Emory, and BC/BU. Knock out a killer PS and I think you're in, maybe not with money. If you are in-state for OSU, you are definitely in.

I was curious about tuition wavers I started getting some for this coming fall but not from anywhere I'd want to go, and I can't attend until 2012 anyway.

idratherbetraveling wrote:
I had 1 point lower LSAT and GPA than the OP and I was in to WUSTL off the waitlist, but also with $15k. I had what I thought were pretty great softs and an above-average PS /anecdotal evidence

I don't know if my softs are great, I don't have legal work but I do have good variety of work experience. I'd say I'm more of a rounded candidate, I've been published in lit mags, I'm an actor, and I graduated at the top of my department in school. I'm looking forward to writing my personal statement, but I'll have to do some research on what others have done also.

dissonance1848 wrote:Don't waste that 3.85 GPA on that 166 LSAT. Retake, get the 172+, and then hit either University of Chicago or Columbia.

Even if you don't get the 172, 2-3 more points will put you in at either Cornell or Georgetown, and will get you more money from the midwestern schools.

I was expecting someone saying retake, but honestly I don't think I could do much better. This test was well above my average(30+ tests), actually it was my all time high so I felt pretty happy with my jump. The problem is I struggle with reading comprehension(a little odd for an English major). I've tried many things to improve this but haven't ever missed less than 7. I think I'll keep my 166 and take what I can get.

ndirish2010 wrote:I think NDLS with a decent scholarship is likely. You could have an outside shot at Michigan, I would toss an app there just to see.

That's good to hear. I'd like to try for Michigan but I don't know if I'd opt for an ED there.

kwhiteside wrote:Unless you're extremely confident with your retake ability for a third time, I wouldn't risk it. A 166 is a good score. You'll probably wanna throw an addendum along with your apps explaining the large jump up from the original 150. A third, lower score would have a really negative affect on your cycle so I wouldn't retake unless your willing to put in the work to increase your score again.

You're not wasting your GPA with a 166. Your grades will get you into some great schools.

Also, in terms of predictability - LSN and LSP was extremely accurate for my cycle.

Thanks I have similar feelings. I've already locked myself out of HYS three years ago with my 150 and honestly that isn't too big of a deal to me. I'd like to throw in a couple of applications to the lower t14 but if I get rejected it isn't that big of a deal for me. I could still be very content being in the top 30, or even at Pitt. I think I'm done with worrying about the LSAT for the rest of my life though.

Once again thanks for the replies, sorry if I missed anyone. You're all being very helpful.

-mojo