165/3.78 issues with LOR, chances? Forum

[julius305]

As stated above my gpa is a 3.78 and my LSAT is a 165. I'm an anthropology major. My softs are habitat for humanity, volunteering at a soup kitchen and an exotic animal sanctuary in addition to fostering dogs. My only issue is recommendation letters as two of the professors I was going to ask are either having personal or family medical issues and have taken the next semester off and I feel that asking for letters at this time would be inappropriate. I know I can get one strong letter from a professor still there and my other letters will probably be so-so. I don't expect negative letters from them but I don't expect stellar letters from them either.
My list includes:
University of Florida
Florida State University
University of Miami
Tulane
Uni of Michigan
Uni of Virginia
Duke
I am open to school recommendations too.

[Nova]

In at UF/FSU/Miami and Tulane. Doubt you will crack the T14, but it is possible.

Dont worry too much about LORs. They wont make or break you.

[Spritzpiggy]

if you get into those schools i would suggest attending FSU - their employed after graduation statistics are the highest of the Florida schools, plus they are the cheapest. Its kind of a no-brainer (unless you crack the t14). Definitely in at UM (they accept like 50% of all applicants - but the law school is ugly as hell), should be in at both UF and FSU as well. Good luck

[goldenflash19]

Where do you want to work, what type of law do you want to do, and where do you have ties? It would be easier to give you advice on a school list if you said what exactly you wanted. As is, you have seemingly four safety schools and three reaches.

[julius305]

I'm interested in corporate law. The reason I chose the Florida schools is because my family lives in FL and I attend UG at one of the schools listed here already and I chose Tulane due to the fact that I have some family in LA as well. Considering the legal market I would rather not get myself into loads of debt unless there was a decent chance at a payoff. I would be fine working in FL or LA but I would prefer to work in either NY or IL given the opportunity. I will be retaking the LSAT in October and working towards a higher score.

[goldenflash19]

Especially since you want corporate law, your retake is going to be huge. UF and FSU are top dogs in Florida, but they aren't great for biglaw. Look at LST- UF has a large score of 11% and FSU of 6%. An improved LSAT could get you a scholarship at Southern non-T14s like Emory or Vandy and help your chances. T14 with ties would put you in relatively good shape for Florida (keep Duke and UVA on your list), and pending which T14, could put you in good shape for NYC (Cornell, Mich) or Chi (NU/UChi). Good luck.

[hookem7]

If you like LA then LSU wouldn't be a bad option. Doubt there's much opportunity out of the state, but their page on LST doesn't look nearly as bad as you might expect. In fact, I'd say it puts Tulane to shame. Plus you would be in line for a good scholarship, I had a lower GPA and I think it would have cost ~12k/yr from out of state.

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[julius305]

I have many 1L friends who go to LSU law and the consensus is that if you want to work in Louisiana LSU is the place to go, but if you are trying to get into big law, especially outside the state Tulane is where you should go.

[buckilaw]

retake

[nebula666]

if you get into those schools i would suggest attending FSU - their employed after graduation statistics are the highest of the Florida schools, plus they are the cheapest. Its kind of a no-brainer (unless you crack the t14). Definitely in at UM (they accept like 50% of all applicants - but the law school is ugly as hell), should be in at both UF and FSU as well. Good luck

A "no brainer" to attend FSU over UF if you have no brain.

[Doorkeeper]

You should still email the professors and ask for recommendations. Just because they're taking the semester off doesn't mean that they're not working. Professors consider writing LORs as part of their job, so I would be surprised if they declined to write them, especially if you were close with them.

Just make sure to include a line in your email saying, "I understand that you have taken the semester off for personal reasons, and I completely understand if you do not believe you have time to write a letter of recommendation for me at this time."

[radar714]

I'm an anthropology major.

Woot woot for a fellow anthro major!