2.5 / 150 (Dec retake) Deep South Schools Forum

[jcm043]

Looking at applying to Deep South schools: MS College, Ole Miss, Loyola New Orleans, Southern, Cumberland & Jones.

I know my GPA is horrible and LSAT is not blowing out of the water, but I do have some positives.

I have been out of college for several years and have terrific work experience with a top international company, as well as a strong resume' while in undergrad. I also have two strong LOR's from past professors and one from a top politician in my state. (I have known the politician since I was in diapers and I have also worked for him, so the letter is very personal.) My personal statement discusses a tragedy I overcame that inspired me to apply to law school to seek a career in a certain field of law. I have a very strong personality and I feel if I could get in front of someone in admissions at a school, it would do a lot of good.

What do you think my chances are at the schools above? Ole Miss is my #1 right now, but I'm worried. (I will be applying to Ole Miss as a non-resident.) I am a 27 year old white male.

[CodyRuegger]

This may seem a bit rough, but any law school that will let you in with your current numbers probably isn't worth attending. Your gpa is pretty far in the past and there's nothing you can do about it now, but you can still produce a much stronger LSAT. Do not be content with anything under a 160. It's nice that your soft factors are as strong as they are, but they are merely that - soft factors that are only supplementary to the meat of your application, your numbers.

[jcm043]

Thanks for the honest reply. I look forward to to showing you that I will get into a good law school. FYI - I have zero desire to be a big corporate lawyer. I simply want to have a solo shop in a small town and do my own thing.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

[DoubleChecks]

The amount of hard work you'd have to put in to succeed in a solo shop coming from a very low ranked law school is much greater than the work it would take you to do better on the LSAT and go to a better school with better employment prospects (in general, not just talking corporate biglaw) or a school willing to give you more $$$.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

OP-
If you are really committed to going solo immediately after law school, then it is absolutely vital that you limit debt and try to get a full-ride in the area you want to practice. Unless you have some generous financial-backers, you are most likely screwed trying to go solo when you already are drowning in debt. You are probably going to be losing money at first going solo--so you don't need extra debt weighing you down.

That said, what's your biggest obstacle? Your LSAT score. You have an uphill battle right now to just get into ANY law school, let alone get a full ride from any law school. Your GPA will hold you back at a lot of schools too, but the time to fix that is long gone. So my advice? It's absolutely necessary for you to improve your LSAT score as much at possible. You need to boost it at least 10 points IMO. Go to lawschoolnumbers.com and try to find schools in areas you want to work that are splitter friendly, both in terms of acceptances and scholarship money. The schools out there that will throw money your way with that GPA, even with a much higher LSAT, are limited, but some exist. I think going solo immediately after law school is possible for the right kind of person, but it's a hard path. It's going to be near impossible though if you are weighed down by debt though.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

The amount of hard work you'd have to put in to succeed in a solo shop coming from a very low ranked law school is much greater than the work it would take you to do better on the LSAT and go to a better school with better employment prospects (in general, not just talking corporate biglaw) or a school willing to give you more $$$.

If OP is really committed to going solo, the rank of the law school actually doesn't matter as much. What matters is how good of a businessman the OP and how well he can sell himself. What matters most is low debt and making as many local connections as possible during law school.

[Grizz]

Stay at your job you can't get into anywhere worth going to.

[smokemonsterfromLOST]

I have been out of college for several years and have terrific work experience with a top international company, as well as a strong resume' while in undergrad.

Will your company provide any tuition assistance? If not, I agree with Richie that debt might be an issue in staying above water with a solo practice.

[BuckinghamB]

This may seem a bit rough, but any law school that will let you in with your current numbers probably isn't worth attending. Your gpa is pretty far in the past and there's nothing you can do about it now, but you can still produce a much stronger LSAT. Do not be content with anything under a 160 170. It's nice that your soft factors are as strong as they are, but they are merely that - soft factors that are only supplementary to the meat of your application, your numbers.

FTFY

[swilson215]

OP-
If you are really committed to going solo immediately after law school, then it is absolutely vital that you limit debt and try to get a full-ride in the area you want to practice. Unless you have some generous financial-backers, you are most likely screwed trying to go solo when you already are drowning in debt. You are probably going to be losing money at first going solo--so you don't need extra debt weighing you down.

That said, what's your biggest obstacle? Your LSAT score. You have an uphill battle right now to just get into ANY law school, let alone get a full ride from any law school. Your GPA will hold you back at a lot of schools too, but the time to fix that is long gone. So my advice? It's absolutely necessary for you to improve your LSAT score as much at possible. You need to boost it at least 10 points IMO. Go to lawschoolnumbers.com and try to find schools in areas you want to work that are splitter friendly, both in terms of acceptances and scholarship money. The schools out there that will throw money your way with that GPA, even with a much higher LSAT, are limited, but some exist. I think going solo immediately after law school is possible for the right kind of person, but it's a hard path. It's going to be near impossible though if you are weighed down by debt though.

credited. i'm not a "retake or don't go" automaton, but...retake or don't go.

I honestly don't think you'll even get into Cumberland with those numbers, much less Ole Miss. Your softs and LORs won't do you any good at this point.

[Bodhi_mind]

I think you should stay with your current job at a top international company. It's a better job than you would land coming out of one of those schools, and you wouldn't have the opportunity cost and huge amount of debt