Top Law Schools

Hey everybody,

First off, I am freaking out. I had my retake this June and scored a 169 (down from a 171 in December). Extremely disappointed. My dean said there would be almost no negative feedback, but I don't think this would be the case in actuality.

I am looking to ED. I know I want to and I am aware of the disadvantages. I am also beyond looking for money. Simply put, I want to go to the highest ranked school that is humanly possible. Any scholarship money would be further icing on the cake but I will not go to a lower ranked school with money when I have been accepted to a higher ranked school. This, also, I have firmly decided on.

(Sorry everybody, too many people don't really comment on my issue at hand and end up telling me miscellaneous things).

My top two choices are: UChi and then Penn.

I am an AA (sorry for misunderstanding, I meant, Asian American, not black....SORRY!!!!) male who had average softs in school and now I'm working at a small law firm in the south.

Please help!! What are your thoughts on EDing and my chances?

P.S. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I appreciate all of your helpful feedback!!!

emperorsony wrote:Hey everybody,

First off, I am freaking out. I had my retake this June and scored a 169 (down from a 171 in December). Extremely disappointed. My dean said there would be almost no negative feedback, but I don't think this would be the case in actuality.

I am looking to ED. I know I want to and I am aware of the disadvantages. I am also beyond looking for money. Simply put, I want to go to the highest ranked school that is humanly possible. Any scholarship money would be further icing on the cake but I will not go to a lower ranked school with money when I have been accepted to a higher ranked school. This, also, I have firmly decided on.

(Sorry everybody, too many people don't really comment on my issue at hand and end up telling me miscellaneous things).

My top two choices are: UChi and then Penn.

I am an AA male who had average softs in school and now I'm working at a small law firm in the south.

Please help!! What are your thoughts on EDing and my chances?

P.S. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I appreciate all of your helpful feedback!!!

ED Chicago and RD Penn. With your LSATs and GPA + URM status you have good prospects at Chicago and Penn.

DO NOT ED UNLESS THERE IS A PARTICULAR SCHOOL YOU WOULD WANT TO ATTEND AT STICKER.

You will get money in the T14 with your stats, so don't ED unless you'd be willing to pay full price and have no other options.

shadowofjazz wrote:

emperorsony wrote:Hey everybody,

First off, I am freaking out. I had my retake this June and scored a 169 (down from a 171 in December). Extremely disappointed. My dean said there would be almost no negative feedback, but I don't think this would be the case in actuality.

I am looking to ED. I know I want to and I am aware of the disadvantages. I am also beyond looking for money. Simply put, I want to go to the highest ranked school that is humanly possible. Any scholarship money would be further icing on the cake but I will not go to a lower ranked school with money when I have been accepted to a higher ranked school. This, also, I have firmly decided on.

(Sorry everybody, too many people don't really comment on my issue at hand and end up telling me miscellaneous things).

My top two choices are: UChi and then Penn.

I am an AA male who had average softs in school and now I'm working at a small law firm in the south.

Please help!! What are your thoughts on EDing and my chances?

P.S. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I appreciate all of your helpful feedback!!!

ED Chicago and if rejected, ED Penn. With your LSATs and GPA + URM status you have good prospects at Chicago and Penn.

You think I have a chance at Chicago? I just don't want to waste the ED chance although I want to go to Chicago more than anything

It's impossible to say whether you'd have a better chance EDing to one of CCN than the others. Just pick the one you'd most like to attend at sticker and ED. You'll probably get everything below, with money.

emperorsony wrote:

shadowofjazz wrote:

emperorsony wrote:Hey everybody,

First off, I am freaking out. I had my retake this June and scored a 169 (down from a 171 in December). Extremely disappointed. My dean said there would be almost no negative feedback, but I don't think this would be the case in actuality.

I am looking to ED. I know I want to and I am aware of the disadvantages. I am also beyond looking for money. Simply put, I want to go to the highest ranked school that is humanly possible. Any scholarship money would be further icing on the cake but I will not go to a lower ranked school with money when I have been accepted to a higher ranked school. This, also, I have firmly decided on.

(Sorry everybody, too many people don't really comment on my issue at hand and end up telling me miscellaneous things).

My top two choices are: UChi and then Penn.

I am an AA male who had average softs in school and now I'm working at a small law firm in the south.

Please help!! What are your thoughts on EDing and my chances?

P.S. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I appreciate all of your helpful feedback!!!

ED Chicago and if rejected, ED Penn. With your LSATs and GPA + URM status you have good prospects at Chicago and Penn.

You think I have a chance at Chicago? I just don't want to waste the ED chance although I want to go to Chicago more than anything

LSNs doesn't lie

With your numbers you'll likely have to ride out a waitlist to get accepted but the odds are in your favor. ED would bump that waitlist up to a possible admit without waitlist. You can always ride out the waitlist and try for some money too. With your URM status you might get some from Chicago and probably Penn.

shadowofjazz wrote:

emperorsony wrote:

shadowofjazz wrote:

emperorsony wrote:Hey everybody,

First off, I am freaking out. I had my retake this June and scored a 169 (down from a 171 in December). Extremely disappointed. My dean said there would be almost no negative feedback, but I don't think this would be the case in actuality.

I am looking to ED. I know I want to and I am aware of the disadvantages. I am also beyond looking for money. Simply put, I want to go to the highest ranked school that is humanly possible. Any scholarship money would be further icing on the cake but I will not go to a lower ranked school with money when I have been accepted to a higher ranked school. This, also, I have firmly decided on.

(Sorry everybody, too many people don't really comment on my issue at hand and end up telling me miscellaneous things).

My top two choices are: UChi and then Penn.

I am an AA male who had average softs in school and now I'm working at a small law firm in the south.

Please help!! What are your thoughts on EDing and my chances?

P.S. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I appreciate all of your helpful feedback!!!

ED Chicago and if rejected, ED Penn. With your LSATs and GPA + URM status you have good prospects at Chicago and Penn.

You think I have a chance at Chicago? I just don't want to waste the ED chance although I want to go to Chicago more than anything

LSNs doesn't lie

With your numbers you'll likely have to ride out a waitlist to get accepted but the odds are in your favor. ED would bump that waitlist up to a possible admit without waitlist. You can always ride out the waitlist and try for some money too. With your URM status you might get some from Chicago and probably Penn.

TO ALL FUTURE POSTERS! THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT! I am not black, sorry if you took AA to mean African American! I am second gen Korean....Once again SORRY!!!

Why so many caps?

You would most likely get into Penn with an ED. I think you'd get WL at Chicago even if you ED. Also, by going to the most highly ranked school possible, you don't mean you're just blindly relying on USNews rankings, are you--like you would go to Berkeley over Northwestern no matter what? That's pretty silly. But if you're saying you would just go to the most prestigious school you get into (in your mind, or whoever informs your opinion) I guess that's a little more defensible.

Also--no, I don't think the 169 will hurt you at all. I wouldn't even write an addendum or anything. It's obvious you got two scores in roughly the same range, and they will report the highest one.

ahnhub wrote:Why so many caps?

You would most likely get into Penn with an ED. I think you'd get WL at Chicago even if you ED. Also, by going to the most highly ranked school possible, you don't mean you're just blindly relying on USNews rankings, are you--like you would go to Berkeley over Northwestern no matter what? That's pretty silly. But if you're saying you would just go to the most prestigious school you get into (in your mind, or whoever informs your opinion) I guess that's a little more defensible.

Also--no, I don't think the 169 will hurt you at all. I wouldn't even write an addendum or anything. It's obvious you got two scores in roughly the same range, and they will report the highest one.

Thanks for clearing it up! I am not applying with the US News in mind, but more on the prestige like you said. Also, I am a little turned off from California in general and would like to stay in the East Coast

emperorsony wrote:

ahnhub wrote:Why so many caps?

You would most likely get into Penn with an ED. I think you'd get WL at Chicago even if you ED. Also, by going to the most highly ranked school possible, you don't mean you're just blindly relying on USNews rankings, are you--like you would go to Berkeley over Northwestern no matter what? That's pretty silly. But if you're saying you would just go to the most prestigious school you get into (in your mind, or whoever informs your opinion) I guess that's a little more defensible.

Also--no, I don't think the 169 will hurt you at all. I wouldn't even write an addendum or anything. It's obvious you got two scores in roughly the same range, and they will report the highest one.

Thanks for clearing it up! I am not applying with the US News in mind, but more on the prestige like you said. Also, I am a little turned off from California in general and would like to stay in the East Coast

Someone with your exact stats was able to snag NYU with an ED, though Penn is much more likely.

Killingly wrote:

emperorsony wrote:

ahnhub wrote:Why so many caps?

You would most likely get into Penn with an ED. I think you'd get WL at Chicago even if you ED. Also, by going to the most highly ranked school possible, you don't mean you're just blindly relying on USNews rankings, are you--like you would go to Berkeley over Northwestern no matter what? That's pretty silly. But if you're saying you would just go to the most prestigious school you get into (in your mind, or whoever informs your opinion) I guess that's a little more defensible.

Also--no, I don't think the 169 will hurt you at all. I wouldn't even write an addendum or anything. It's obvious you got two scores in roughly the same range, and they will report the highest one.

Thanks for clearing it up! I am not applying with the US News in mind, but more on the prestige like you said. Also, I am a little turned off from California in general and would like to stay in the East Coast

Someone with your exact stats was able to snag NYU with an ED, though Penn is much more likely.

Do you guys think the ED at UChi is wasted? I'm debating between Chicago, NYU and Penn, the other schools ranked higher...I'm not even hoping for it

I didn't think that Asians got the URM boost. you guys sure about that?

ED to Penn or NYU for best chance at the highest ranked schools.

Harvard, Yale, Stanford & Columbia are unlikely to accept a non-URM 171/3.58.

After a quick look at lawschoolnumbers.com, ED to NYU since Penn doesn't look promising.

Overall, Michigan, Cornell & Georgetown are likely to admit you RD.

Chances at NYU ED are pretty good. They love the LSAT, and finding EDs in the 170s is getting tougher. Penn is much more sensitive to GPA than NYU would be, so that might be a risk. Chicago chances are lower, but you're definitely not an auto-deny.

If your goal is rankings, then I'd say ED NYU. You've got a good shot everywhere below that with RD anyway, and I think an ED to NYU would probably get you in the door.

What is the consensus on the lower retake?

Br3v wrote:What is the consensus on the lower retake?

It's not going to help, and schools with a rep for being more holistic (Boalt, possibly Penn) might penalize you for it. But on the whole, it's not going to be a major factor. If an adcomm wants to accept you, your highest LSAT score is more than enough justification. If they don't, a poor retake or uneven testing history is just going to hurt your case.

All in all, I doubt there are many situations where a retake with a slightly lower score is going to prevent someone from being accepted where no retake would have resulted in an acceptance.

mbd1200 wrote:

Br3v wrote:What is the consensus on the lower retake?

It's not going to help, and schools with a rep for being more holistic (Boalt, possibly Penn) might penalize you for it. But on the whole, it's not going to be a major factor. If an adcomm wants to accept you, your highest LSAT score is more than enough justification. If they don't, a poor retake or uneven testing history is just going to hurt your case.

All in all, I doubt there are many situations where a retake with a slightly lower score is going to prevent someone from being accepted where no retake would have resulted in an acceptance.

given op's numbers...what would you guys do? he says similar numbers and almost same situation so i'm just throwing this out...where would you guys ED?

chicago_or_bust wrote:

mbd1200 wrote:

Br3v wrote:What is the consensus on the lower retake?

It's not going to help, and schools with a rep for being more holistic (Boalt, possibly Penn) might penalize you for it. But on the whole, it's not going to be a major factor. If an adcomm wants to accept you, your highest LSAT score is more than enough justification. If they don't, a poor retake or uneven testing history is just going to hurt your case.

All in all, I doubt there are many situations where a retake with a slightly lower score is going to prevent someone from being accepted where no retake would have resulted in an acceptance.

given op's numbers...what would you guys do? he says similar numbers and almost same situation so i'm just throwing this out...where would you guys ED?

Me personally? If I were going to ED, I'd go with NYU. They favor the LSAT to GPA, and with a 171, your ED chances would be pretty strong. I think it's the happy medium between Chicago and Penn. Chicago is a bit of a long shot, but if you're going to be using your ED and eliminating chances at $, you should aim to stay in the CCN tier. MVP is going to be there for you regular decision, and worst-case scenario, an ED to Virginia late in the process (they accept ED until March) is probably a near-lock.

That being said, if Chicago is really standing out for you, it's not at all out of the question with an ED 3.6/171. Your chances are decent enough that it wouldn't be a bad decision. I don't mean to eliminate Penn. It's a great school and EDing there wouldn't be a bad decision. But your chances are pretty good RD if you emphasize your interest, and Penn isn't really the most logical anything for you. If you want to use your ED on a reach, the answer is Chicago. If you want to use it on your highest-percentage, highest-ranked option, the answer is NYU. If you want to go completely risk-averse and get accepted, the answer is Virginia.