Top Law Schools

Retake is impossible at this point since I am living outside the country for the remainder of the year.

My softs/background are a bit unique:
-Non-URM (South-Asian)
-B.S. in engineering
-M.S. in engineering at an Ivy (graduated #1 in class)
-Started a company
-Started a non-profit chapter in undergrad
-2 published conference proceedings, 1 working peer-reviewed manuscript

Fulbright-like engineering fellowship
-first one from program to the country, and co-principle investigator/lead author of research study with ivy medical school
-45,000 research grant to pursue pilot study in developing country

Now I know my numbers should be an auto-reject from most T14's. But do my softs/WE give me a slight chance in terms of a WL->accept or chance with an ED to Penn Round 2, and/or at a PT program (GULC)?

What would you say about lower-ranked schools below:
GW
BU
BC
Fordham
Cardozo

Your softs are relatively good, but it is very unlikely you will be admitted to any T30. You are well below every T30's medians.

Cardozo is also unlikely.

You are more in the Arizona/Utah/Florida/FSU/Baylor/Houston/SMU range.

Re-take is not impossible. Don't let your whole future be dictated by a geographical snag.

Wow really? I thought may be at least I could get GW/GULC PT since my softs and background would compensate for numbers.

I retook in December, felt confident about the exam, and even thought I at least matched my PT average (169-170). I was shocked when I saw my score. But I have no other options for this cycle.

I know it's unlikely but the softs don't do anything?!

collegebum1989 wrote:Wow really? I thought may be at least I could get GW/GULC PT since my softs and background would compensate for numbers.

I retook in December, felt confident about the exam, and even thought I at least matched my PT average (169-170). I was shocked when I saw my score. But I have no other options for this cycle.

I know it's unlikely but the softs don't do anything?!

Your softs will do something. They will help break ties at schools in your range. They just won't put you in a completely different school range.

You are competing for a VERY limited amount of non URM below median seats.

Here are the LSN stats over the last 5 cycles for your numbers...

1/36 at GULC admitted
1/65 at GW admitted
5/69 at Fordham admitted
0/20 at BU admitted
2/29 at BC admitted
http://myLSN.info/gs8qsp

So you cant retake in Feb or June?

You will very likely regret attending law school with an LSAT in the low 80 percentiles when you are capable of of scoring in the 96th+ percentile.

no i way can retake since I am contracted to live in another country until july for the fellowship.

I guess I'll apply this cycle, hope for best and reapply or reevaluate if necessary.

about retake: I don't know wtf it is...I've taken the LSAT twice, both times I've felt confident and both times I felt amazing after the exam and underscored by 9 points both times.

Your softs are very impressive. They will give you an edge over every other 161 / 3.2 applicant at any particular school. However, someone with a 162/3.4 who worked at McDonalds for a week is probably going to have a better shot. There is no asterisk on law school reports that says "yes our medians are X but are students are like super awesome".

You have a 0% chance at GW, BU, BC, and Fordham. Howver, maybe Fordham will waitlist you along with Cardozo (not likely).

You need to either retake or seriously re-evaluate where and why you are going to law school. The T-14 is at least 7 points out of reach right now.

Your softs are impressive. Add half a point to your LSAT; round down any fractions

jimmyjoh12 wrote:about retake: I don't know wtf it is...I've taken the LSAT twice, both times I've felt confident and both times I felt amazing after the exam and underscored by 9 points both times.

That sucks bro

Good luck

a buddy of mine took the most recent LSAT in a country that usually does not administer it. He had to pay extra for LSAC to find a proctor and location, but it happened. Your location should not stop you if this is important to you.

Well- I am certainly impressed by your softs and it is too bad the top law schools will not be equally impressed. I am usually not impressed by high LSAT scores or high GPA's (depends on major- history, philosophy or engineering??).

A Master's in Engineering from an Ivy League school- good for you. You didn't take the "easy major" route and study for a full year for the LSAT. I hope you get rewarded for taking the hard route. My uncle is the hiring partner for M&A for a Top 50 firm and you are the type of guy he always talks about hiring. Similar to the 1500 meter run- hire the guy who is in last place but keeps working hard when the chips are down. Also assumes you have a good personality and can talk about everyday things.....

Yes- this is a pep talk. Good luck.

Retake or don't go due to bad job prospects.

rad lulz wrote:Retake or don't go due to bad job prospects.

Exactly. Why do you want to go to law school when you are so obviously kicking ass at engineering?

francesfarmer wrote:

rad lulz wrote:Retake or don't go due to bad job prospects.

Exactly. Why do you want to go to law school when you are so obviously kicking ass at engineering?

Because engineers don't have amazing careers in the long-run. They start off well and end up plateauing (both in their careers and in their salaries). Everyone thinks engineers have great job prospects but they end up doing grunt work for the majority of their careers.

Patent lawyers, however, have more flexible options in terms of living (not limited by industrial companies for engineers) and in terms of salary.

Meh, I'll see ief I can be one of those 1/63, but I doubt it as well. If not, retake and apply next year I guess :/