Top Law Schools

Ok so here's my deal: I graduated from Northeastern University in May 2011 with a BS in Political Science and a double minor in Economics and Urban Studies with a 3.613 GPA. I've completed a number of internships including one in the UK Parliament.

I took the LSAT for the first time in October 2010 during my senior year of college and I received a 158. To be honest I probably was not as prepared for the exam as I probably should have been and I think I was kind of naive about the whole thing. That being said I did manage to do decently.

I retook the LSAT in December 2011 and I received a 171, after preparing for the test a lot better.

1st question: Would my 13 point score jump a year later look good in the eyes of an admissions director? Or does my 158 reflect to negatively? Is the first test irrelevant?

2nd question: I would say my top two choices are the University of Michigan and Georgetown University. I am also very interested in some Manhattan schools- New York University, Columbia University, and Fordham University.

What are my chances if I apply now? Or should I wait?

CORRECTION: My LSDAS GPA is actually 3.55.

tagging this one to look at some of the responses.

It seems that almost every school only cares about your highest score, but that big of a jump might require an addendum. I think you have almost no chance at the schools you want. It would make sense to wait until the next application cycle and apply as early as possible. And if you're deadset on those schools (and debt isn't a huge factor), you could always do early decision.

Write an adendum if the school asks for it - otherwise, no one cares.

NYU and Columbia are out though. If you can hit 175 on the LSAT either *may* be in play. Fordham is an easy in.

I had really similar numbers (3.53/171). You should be good at Penn or UVA with ED, or Michigan without. T6 is out unless you can boost your LSAT another point or 2. You're definitely good at Georgetown too. You should probably figure out where you want to practice, though. Seems like you want NYC or DC, and that may be harder if you go to Michigan (though far from impossible!). Realistically if you want to work in NYC your best option is Penn (though I am biased since I am going there ), but Cornell would be a really good choice as well (followed by Virginia/Duke/Georgetown).

Just thought I would provide an update. I decided to apply this cycle.

So far, I've gotten waitlisted at Georgetown, but admitted to GW, Illinois, William & Mary, Emory, & Georgia (in-state).

Still haven't heard back from any of the top 15 schools besides GTown, still waiting to hear from Harvard, Columbia, UChicago, NYU, Michigan, UPenn, UVA, Northwestern, and UCLA, fingers crossed!

ainba07 wrote:Just thought I would provide an update. I decided to apply this cycle.

So far, I've gotten waitlisted at Georgetown, but admitted to GW, Illinois, William & Mary, Emory, & Georgia (in-state).

Still haven't heard back from any of the top 15 schools besides GTown, still waiting to hear from Harvard, Columbia, UChicago, NYU, Michigan, UPenn, UVA, Northwestern, and UCLA, fingers crossed!

How late did you apply? Should get a bite from MVP. If not, might want to think about applying again next year.

Good luck! Although with that GPA (I'm even worse), don't lose too much sleep over Harvard/Columbia/Chicago

I applied in late January-early February.

Believe me, I know to be realistic about the top schools. A "bite from MVP," as you say, is really what I am looking for.

Just another update: Rejected from UChicago (as expected really), waitlisted at Michigan , but accepted to Northwestern!

ainba07 wrote:Just another update: Rejected from UChicago (as expected really), waitlisted at Michigan , but accepted to Northwestern!

Gratz at NU!

Congratulations re: Northwestern. Did you apply to any financial safeties ?

Congrats!! The moral of this story for all future applicants: RETAKE.

Congrats on the ones you got accepted too!
I'm very curious about your progress because my GPA was similar (3.51 ) and so far my diagnostics show I will get likely get around a 171 when I take the LSAT in June (though I am working hard to improve that score!). So please keep us updated for where you got in.

justicefishy wrote:

ainba07 wrote:Just another update: Rejected from UChicago (as expected really), waitlisted at Michigan , but accepted to Northwestern!

Gratz at NU!

t14fanboy wrote:Congrats!! The moral of this story for all future applicants: RETAKE.

Micdiddy wrote:Congrats on the ones you got accepted too!
I'm very curious about your progress because my GPA was similar (3.51 ) and so far my diagnostics show I will get likely get around a 171 when I take the LSAT in June (though I am working hard to improve that score!). So please keep us updated for where you got in.

Thanks folks! Its true, if I hadn't retaken the LSAT, I wouldn't have had a chance of even sniffing these schools.

CanadianWolf wrote:Congratulations re: Northwestern. Did you apply to any financial safeties ?

My financial safeties include Georgia, for which I have in-state tuition and a substantial scholarship, and William & Mary, which waived out of state tuition and offered me a Graduate Fellowship stipend.

I also found out this week that I got waitlisted at Virginia as well .

Yet the more I find out about Northwestern, the more I like about it. After doing undergrad in a big city like Boston, I think I might find it hard to transition to a smaller college town like Ann Arbor or Charlottesville, as good as UMich and UVA are. I have a lot of friends and family in the Chicago area and its a city I love. In addition, I also had no idea how much Northwestern stressed work experience, which probably contributed a lot to my acceptance as I have a lot of substantial experience on my resume.

I'll make sure to keep everyone posted as things develop. Peace!

UPDATES

Waitlisted at UCLA, but I was never really keen on heading out to Cali anyway.

In at Fordham!

Application on "Hold" at Columbia, what the hell does that mean? Is that the same as the waitlist? I never thought I had a chance at even getting close to Columbia.

I'll dissent with other posters: I think you can get one of the NY schools to bite. I have nearly the exact same stats and got into many schools in the T-14 (including NYU). Re: the latter, I think it is important to stress the voice you will add to incoming class. My statement focused on language skills, because I'm fluent in muliple languages, and felt that worked well with NYU's international law focus. If you're intent on getting into NYU or Columbia, I'd write a LOCI tailored to that school's empahsis(ses). Note: you probably want to make sure that your LOCI, though tailored, is still of a piece with the narrative you pitched in your initial application.

But to be honest, these are just my two cents. Though my cycle has played out fairly well, there have been disapointments: I got rejected at Chicago when nearly everyone else with our numbers has been waitlisted or accepted.

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Waitlisted at UPenn I'll probably end up sending a LOCI.

So far I've been waitlisted or held at SIX top 15 schools, I'm bound to get in to at least one of them right? LOL

Man am I glad I decided to apply to Northwestern.

Waitlisted at NYU as well this is starting to get old haha

Interested to see of the 6 schools you've been WL'ed at which of them will admit you. I will be applying in the upcoming cycle with similar numbers and, maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I certainly hope that you get at least 2 acceptances and think you will. Good luck and keep updating please.

Edit: LSN profile? Also from my limited knowledge, it seems as though if you would have applied earlier you would not have been waitlisted at some of these schools, again maybe wishful thinking.

I'm surprised you haven't had more acceptances as well but congrats on Northwestern! Did you do the interview?

According to LSN and LSP, you should have a pretty decent shot at just about every T14 out of the T6 so I'd expect a few to bite.

I have fairly similar numbers too 164/171/3.51 and will be applying next cycle so I'll be interested to see. Good luck!

To be completely honest, I had no clue I would score as high as I did the second time I took the LSAT, considering that I wasn't scoring higher than 166 on practice tests. My high LSAT score actually changed the caliber of schools I ended up applying too. The December 2011 LSAT results didn't come in until early January, so I really hand no choice but to apply a bit late.

I guess I could taken the October 2011 LSAT, but whats to say I would have scored as highly? In addition, my personal statement concerned events in my life that didn't take place until November and December, and I feel thats played a big part in my cycle.

I understand the weakest part of my application for these schools is my GPA, and I wouldn't have applied if I didn't have as strong of a performance on the LSAT and as compelling of a personal statement. I can't complain about being waitlisted at so many schools in the Top 14, considering a year ago this time I didn't think I had any chance at them.

Did you do the interview at Northwestern? Any updates?

I never did the interview at Northwestern, but I still got in. I'm not sure how much interviewing weighs into their process.

I actually just paid my deposit for Northwestern yesterday. I am on "reserve" at Columbia now, and still on the waitlist at NYU, UPenn, Virginia, Michigan, and Georgetown. I would pick any of those schools over Northwestern expect for probably Virginia and Georgetown - I'l make that decision if and when the time comes.

I got rejected from Harvard - in a way I'm relieved, I wasn't too keen on returning to Boston.