Top Law Schools

I took the LSAT for the 2nd time in october with little improvement from the first take. My GPA was on an extreme ascending trend (2.0 first semester to 4.0 last semester)..I was also a student athlete at a d-1 school. I am wondering how much this could actually help me out..if at all. Social studies secondary education degree from state school.. white dude
Two years work experience: One as the head of an at-risk "intervention" type program in a middle school, the other as a court researcher..

I am interested in public interest schools and the top 3 I am looking at are:
CUNY Law (I feel like a good chance)
Northeastern (who knows)
American U (reach school)

There are others I will probably apply to, but these are my top 3 in my interest area that I am looking at..

Thanks!

P.S. Please no d-bag responses from those of you tossing and turning at night worrying about which top 3 school you will attend...lol

You are going to get a lot of "retake" comments, and they would be right. In my opinion, you will have a hard time making law school worthwhile as things currently stand. It's not so much that you won't get into a "good" school, but that you won't be able to get scholarships to manage the risk of going somewhere else.

How did you study the first two times? If you didn't study properly, I would urge you to do that.

Unfortunately, an upward trend and good softs (your work experience) only matter at the margins, your admissions cycle will be almost wholly determined by your LSAT/GPA profile.

Also, where do you want to practice? Unless you're going to a nationally-reputable school, you should assume you will end up working near wherever you go to school.

I have considered retaking, however I have been under the impression that taking the LSAT more than 2 times is frowned upon..is that not the case?

MUherd wrote:I have considered retaking, however I have been under the impression that taking the LSAT more than 2 times is frowned upon..is that not the case?

At this point, only elite schools like Harvard and Yale seem to care about retakes.

I retook and my cycle has played out like the first score never happened.

minnbills wrote:

MUherd wrote:I have considered retaking, however I have been under the impression that taking the LSAT more than 2 times is frowned upon..is that not the case?

At this point, only elite schools like Harvard and Yale seem to care about retakes.

I retook and my cycle has played out like the first score never happened.

Same here.

I'll address the student-athlete part of your post since I am one also at a D1 school.

it's a good soft to have, looks good on your resume, and certainly makes for interesting personal statement or interview material. But it certainly won't open any doors for you that are closed off due to your LSAT and GPA.

So basically it'll help distinguish you from the pack....but if you aren't in the pack to begin with, it'll be useless.

Also, let me guess, you go to marshall?

thats unfortunate..kind of what I figured though

If you're for sure doing it and know you want PI, look for a super cheap school that is in/near a medium sized or big city.