3.3/167 Forum

[Cornelius]

GPA: 3.3
LSAT: 167, retaking in October since that score is well below my PT average (just an all-around bad day). I definitely expect to hit 171 or 172 at a minimum.
Softs: Decent to good. Worked through undergrad in a student leadership type position. Degree granting GPA is 3.50 - I transferred from another school and the last semester there torpedoed my GPA down to the 3.27. Three years of business-type (non-law) work experience since graduating.

Currently living in NJ, but really looking to get out of the region and down to Virginia or, preferably, North Carolina, so chances/money at the schools there? I'll have to take a road trip down at some point, but right now I'm looking at UNC as my preference (which sucks since I'm out of state).

If I decide to stay here, the T2 schools in the area (Rutgers, Temple, Nova, etc.) are all pretty much a lock with $$, right?

If it matters, goal after school is prosecution.

[snapdragon]

GPA: 3.27
LSAT: 167, retaking in October since that score is well below my PT average (just an all-around bad day). I definitely expect to hit 171 or 172 at a minimum.
Softs: Decent to good. Worked through undergrad in a student leadership type position. Degree granting GPA is 3.50 - I transferred from another school and the last semester there torpedoed my GPA down to the 3.27. Three years of business-type (non-law) work experience since graduating.

Currently living in NJ, but really looking to get out of the region and down to Virginia or, preferably, North Carolina, so chances/money at the schools there? I'll have to take a road trip down at some point, but right now I'm looking at UNC as my preference (which sucks since I'm out of state).

If I decide to stay here, the T2 schools in the area (Rutgers, Temple, Nova, etc.) are all pretty much a lock with $$, right?

If it matters, goal after school is prosecution.

The state schools may be tricky with $$. I got 0 from Temple with a 3.1 / 167. But Temple in-state is pretty freaking cheap anyway, no?

Best of luck on the retake!

[drays917]

I'm not 100% sure what you're asking. My numbers are very similar to yours, so I thought I could help...Basically, if possible I would retake. I didn't, and really wish I had tried for the 170.

Don't go to a T2. You can do better. Try for UNC, or WF, if you're looking for NC. If you do manage to get that LSAT up, then you'll probably get some money, and improve your odds at somewhere like W&M.

Moral of the story: don't go somewhere shitty, and do break that 170 mark.

[law4vus]

I had the exact numbers you did, and I'm attending GW off the waitlist. I also got into Emory with 42K, Wash and Lee with 30K, and several T2 schools. I think you can do better.

[Yeshia90]

If you can break 170, you have a good shot at GULC or Cornell.

[NYCbound35]

If you want to move down to the mid-atlantic area; best bet is to retake for 171+ and ED to UVA. Also send out apps to Duke and Vandy; as well as whatever you prefer of T14.

If you don't improve, apply to UNC, although there won't be any guarantees. You should get all or most of the other area T1 schools, however (Wake w $$, W&M, W&L, GM etc).

For South Jersey/Philly, those schools are pretty safe bets.

[Cornelius]

I'm not 100% sure what you're asking. My numbers are very similar to yours, so I thought I could help...Basically, if possible I would retake. I didn't, and really wish I had tried for the 170.

Don't go to a T2. You can do better. Try for UNC, or WF, if you're looking for NC. If you do manage to get that LSAT up, then you'll probably get some money, and improve your odds at somewhere like W&M.

Moral of the story: don't go somewhere shitty, and do break that 170 mark.

Yeah, my preference based on where I stand right now is probably WF or UNC (which is a crapshoot as an out-of-stater). Depending on how October goes, that preference may change to UVA.

If you want to move down to the mid-atlantic area; best bet is to retake for 171+ and ED to UVA. Also send out apps to Duke and Vandy; as well as whatever you prefer of T14.

If you don't improve, apply to UNC, although there won't be any guarantees. You should get all or most of the other area T1 schools, however (Wake w $$, W&M, W&L, GM etc).

For South Jersey/Philly, those schools are pretty safe bets.

UVA would definitely be great, but then I'd be looking at 0 scholarship money and be obligated to pay sticker. Of course that's mitigated greatly, if not entirely, by UVA's superior LRAP since I'm planning on prosecution, but the thought of ~$200k law school debt is scary. The main issue would be the fiancee (wife soon) finding work where we move, and an ED app, obviously, takes away any flexibility. Does anyone know of any such threads about moving with your SO while they're still looking/trying to find work?

Also, waiting for October scores and submitting my apps at the very end of October/beginning of November won't hurt too much, right?

[MumofCad]

I'm in the same boat with spousal issues. Without being sure what your wife does, Charlottesville has a decent job market right now from my experience. I live roughly in the area, being in a MD suburb of DC. I was recently offered a position in Charlottesville, so we looked around the area and while not ideal, your wife can always commute to DC if you live somewhere like Fredericksburg. My husband didn't want to leave his job in Arlington, VA and that was our plan if I chose to accept the new position. Depending on where she gets a job, her commute would be about an hour (which for my husband coming from MD, even though we are close to a metro stop was a wash) and yours would be about 45 minutes. When you take that little factor into account, the potential job market is actually very large.

[Cornelius]

Quick question, though I'm pretty sure I know the answer.

If I submitted an ED app to NYU, what kind of LSAT score would I need on my retake in October to have a reasonable, if any, chance?

GPA in title is from a public state school
Had a student leadership position/job in college.
Will have 3 years full-time business (non-law) work experience by the time apps get submitted.

I'm pretty sure the answer is somewhere between "177+" and "lol no."

[Real Madrid]

You're below their 25th GPA, so you'd probably need a 175+.

[bport hopeful]

Slightly worse numbers on both sides than you.

You should get damn near a full ride from SHU if youre trying to stay in Jersey.

No money from Temple.

[westinghouse60]

Almost the same numbers as you but I'm an NC resident. If you're interested in NC you might want to look at Wake Forest, you could probably get a decent scholly which would make it cheaper than paying out of state sticker for UNC. UNC is ranked slightly higher but they're essentially peer schools.

[Eco]

I think you can get into GW Law and a few other schools in t-20/t-25, but who knows. Definitely the part-time program.

[law4vus]

I think you can get into GW Law and a few other schools in t-20/t-25, but who knows. Definitely the part-time program.

Probably will have to ride the waitlist at GW law (I did). But I agree that if you're proactive with your LOCIs and visit, GW will take you. Considering this coming cycle is supposed to be easier than this past one, you might have an even better shot.

[Eco]

I think he can easily get GW Law.

On a side note, I wouldn't reccomend going to law school now. Look at the economy. It sucks.

[bport hopeful]

I think he can easily get GW Law.

On a side note, I wouldn't reccomend going to law school now. Look at the economy. It sucks.

what are you doing?

[law4vus]

I think he can easily get GW Law.

On a side note, I wouldn't reccomend going to law school now. Look at the economy. It sucks.

They uniformly waitlisted 167 splitters this year, so how would it be easy for him?

As for the second sentence, I think everyone on TLS already knows that haha

[Cornelius]

We'll see how my retake goes. Frankly, I'm expecting to improve to at least 171 considering how I've been performing on practice tests, and even how I was scoring in May before the actual test - consistently in the upper 170s. The day of the test just had so many non-disastrous things go wrong/poor decisions on my part - couldn't sleep well the night before, LONG drive to the test center in traffic, didn't really eat, got there way too early and sat around, tiny tiny desk. I've rectified the long drive and the small desks (from what I hear) this time around already, just have to make sure to sleep better and actually eat, and bring some food.

Because of my fiancee's career it would probably be easier to stay in the Philly/NYC/NJ area since I don't see how we could afford an apartment and our bills if she was unemployed. If I do well enough in October, I'll have to decide between throwing an ED app at NYU (less likely) or Penn (more likely). I'd prefer NYU, but realistically it probably won't happen, even if I do markedly better on the LSAT, and I'd rather have a better shot of staying in the area at Penn, which is a great school, than having to choose between leaving the area and praying she can find a new job (say if I did ED NYU then ED to UVA if NYU didn't come through) or going to a T2 school locally. Looking at law school numbers, the 3 or 4 people who applied to Penn ED last year with ~3.3 GPA and 170-171 LSAT got accepted. Here's hoping I test more in-line with expectations this time and break the 170 barrier, hopefully by a good margin.

Debt at UPenn is still a concern, given that their LRAP benefits are capped at 14,000/year, and the annual cost of financing the full COA debt load on the 10-year plan is $29,000. Of course I could go with IBR which would be much more manageable, but then there's the concern of not making it to the 10-year forgiveness mark for whatever reason and having negative amortization (which was Penn's only benefit since they don't require you to be in IBR).

So much to think about.