Top Law Schools

Hey Everyone,

Four years ago I graduated from a top 30 undergraduate university and came out with a 2.94 (the major wasn't difficult - my low GPA is a result of being involved in a lot of student clubs - President and VP of two major clubs - while being pretty irresponsible with school. School was in a vibrant urban setting so I pretty much just had fun in college - all play no work).

During school I took the LSAT and came out with a 149 because I didn't care about getting into law school. I wanted to work before deciding on a graduate school but my parents pushed me to study for the LSAT. I took it a second time and got a 152. I know what you are all going to say - this is just DUMB. I agree. Anyway... I decided after three years that I actually do want to go to law school, so I started studying properly and I am now scoring consistently in the mid 160s range (planning to take it in October).

I feel like having taken it twice before is going to make my cycle horrendous this year. But I want to see what you all think, because although I took it twice before (with barely an increase), the third time should be a really high jump (165 to 170)

Oh also, I've been abroad teaching kids for a summer and worked at a few non-profit organizations (administrative work and research). I am also currently taking a course at a top ten university and working part-time in the same city. I am planning to get a recommendation from my current professor (since I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get a great recommendation from anyone at my Alma Mater) and I have two employers writing for me as well. All recommendations are (will be) pretty outstanding.

Verdict?

Sorry -

I'm looking to get into mid-level schools like

Pepperdine
Brooklyn
Cardozo
Temple
Villanova
American* (first choice)

etc etc.

Not sure about the others, but a 165+ will put you in really good shape at American. If you do even better on the LSAT, consider George Mason or Washington & Lee.

Get a 170 and try WUSTL, although you'll be paying a shitton for it

actually with a 170 you'll be paying (relatively) very little for WUSTL

mattviphky wrote:actually with a 170 you'll be paying (relatively) very little for WUSTL

Didnt know you were on WUSTL Scholarship Committee?

Sub 3.0 isnt going to earn the traditional $100k+ that 170 usually commands from WUSTL, though a downtrend in apps could loosen their standards...

The WUSTL graph on LSN is hilarious. A 170 would get pretty good money, even with that GPA.

sorry for the derail op. but check out the lsn site i posted, it can have some good info for the schools ur looking at...although i think cardozo will be a little bit harder to get into than you might think

Why hasn't anyone chimed in with the old "do NOT pay sticker at these schools" ??

hkn87 wrote:Hey Everyone,

Four years ago I graduated from a top 30 undergraduate university and came out with a 2.94 (the major wasn't difficult - my low GPA is a result of being involved in a lot of student clubs - President and VP of two major clubs - while being pretty irresponsible with school. School was in a vibrant urban setting so I pretty much just had fun in college - all play no work).

During school I took the LSAT and came out with a 149 because I didn't care about getting into law school. I wanted to work before deciding on a graduate school but my parents pushed me to study for the LSAT. I took it a second time and got a 152. I know what you are all going to say - this is just DUMB. I agree. Anyway... I decided after three years that I actually do want to go to law school, so I started studying properly and I am now scoring consistently in the mid 160s range (planning to take it in October).

I feel like having taken it twice before is going to make my cycle horrendous this year. But I want to see what you all think, because although I took it twice before (with barely an increase), the third time should be a really high jump (165 to 170)

Oh also, I've been abroad teaching kids for a summer and worked at a few non-profit organizations (administrative work and research). I am also currently taking a course at a top ten university and working part-time in the same city. I am planning to get a recommendation from my current professor (since I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get a great recommendation from anyone at my Alma Mater) and I have two employers writing for me as well. All recommendations are (will be) pretty outstanding.

Verdict?

I dunno, anything interesting you can do the next two years? After 5 years I believe your LSAT scores drop from your record. Wait to take it until you're consistently practicing in the high 160s-170s. Apply w/ high score w/o low score on record. ?????? Profit.

TheZoid wrote:Why hasn't anyone chimed in with the old "do NOT pay sticker at these schools" ??

This, which is why you shouldn't jump the gun for the *third* time on taking the LSAT. Wait until your practice scores can consistently hit the 170s. That can either get you some money, and specifically target schools like WUSTL that eat up high LSATs

Wait until you actually have a third LSAT score before deciding which law schools are likely to accept you.

CanadianWolf wrote:Wait until you actually have a third LSAT score before deciding which law schools are likely to accept you.

Came here to say this. I can't even count the number of times prospective students have made boards with their practice scores, assumed they would test the same on the actual LSAT, then dropped eight, nine, sometimes ten or more points. Just focus on studying, you'll have plenty of time to think about what schools to apply to afterwords.